Dr. W. Curt LaFrance Jr., assistant professor of psychiatry and neurology (research) and director of neuropsychiatry and behavioral neurology at Rhode Island Hospital, received the American Academy of Neurology’s Dreifuss-Penry Epilepsy Award in San Diego last month. “Dr. LaFrance has done seminal work on non-epileptic seizures. His work has not only identified the risk factors and markers for such events, but also he has pioneered innovative treatments that are improving the patients’ symptoms and quality of life,” said Dr. Shlomo Shinnar, the ANN chair of the epilepsy subcommittee. For his part, LaFrance traces his inspiration to his residency at Brown. “My interest in seizure disorders was sparked while attending the J. Kiffin Penry Epilepsy Minifellowship Program during my combined neurology psychiatry residency at [the Warren Alpert] Medical School,” LaFrance said.