Franck Kalume, PhD

Franck Kalume, PhD

Academic Title: Associate Professor, Neurological Surgery; Adjunct Associate Professor, Global Health and Pharmacology

Research Center: Center for Integrative Brain Research

"Unfortunately, my family suffered a tragedy when my nephew passed away from an epilepsy complication called Sudden and Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, or SUDEP. This motivated me to study how genetic mutations cause epilepsy, and to understand the mechanisms behind SUDEP and other epilepsy-related conditions. I hope my research will contribute to the discovery of preventive approaches for SUDEP and help children overcome epilepsy and live happy, healthy lives."

  • Biography

    Dr. Franck Kalume is a principal investigator in the Center for Integrative Brain Research (CIBR) at Seattle Children's Research Institute and associate professor in the departments of neurological surgery, pharmacology and global health at the University of Washington. He received a BS in biology from LeMoyne-Owen College and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Washington, under the mentorship of Professor William A. Catterall, in the Department of Pharmacology. He served as acting instructor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Washington before joining the faculty of the Department of Neurological Surgery and the CIBR at Seattle Childrens Research Institute in late 2012. His current research interests include understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying sleep disturbance and sudden unexpected death, and investigating the anti-seizure properties of the ketogenic diet in Dravet syndrome and other genetic epilepsies.

    • Related Resources

    • Related Pages

    • Kalume Laboratory

      Kalume Laboratory

      The Kalume Laboratory investigates the mechanisms that drive epilepsy and related conditions, and pursues improved treatments for affected children and adults.

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  • Publications

    Other Publications

    • Cheah CS, Westenbroek RE, Roden WH, Kalume F, Oakley JC, Jansen LA, Catterall WA
      Correlations in timing of sodium channel expression, epilepsy, and sudden death in Dravet syndrome.
      23965409 Channels (Austin, Tex.), 2013 Nov 1 : 7(6)468-72
    • Kalume F
      Sudden unexpected death in Dravet syndrome: respiratory and other physiological dysfunctions.
      23850567 Respiratory physiology & neurobiology, 2013 Nov 1 : 189(2)324-8
    • Kalume F, Westenbroek RE, Cheah CS, Yu FH, Oakley JC, Scheuer T, Catterall WA
      Sudden unexpected death in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome.
      23524966 The Journal of clinical investigation, 2013 Apr 1 : 123(4)1798-808 PMCID:PMC3613924
    • Cheah CS, Yu FH, Westenbroek RE, Kalume FK, Oakley JC, Potter GB, Rubenstein JL, Catterall WA
      Specific deletion of NaV1.1 sodium channels in inhibitory interneurons causes seizures and premature death in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome.
      22908258 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012 Sep 4 : 109(36)14646-51 PMCID:PMC3437823
    • Dutton SB, Sawyer NT, Kalume F, Jumbo-Lucioni P, Borges K, Catterall WA, Escayg A
      Protective effect of the ketogenic diet in Scn1a mutant mice.
      21801172 Epilepsia, 2011 Nov. : 52(11)2050-6 PMCID:PMC3204183
    • Oakley JC, Kalume F, Catterall WA
      Insights into pathophysiology and therapy from a mouse model of Dravet syndrome.
      21463282 Epilepsia, 2011 April : 52 Suppl 259-61 PMCID:PMC3547637
    • Catterall WA, Kalume F, Oakley JC
      NaV1.1 channels and epilepsy.
      20194124 The Journal of physiology, 2010 Jun 1 : 588(Pt 11)1849-59 PMCID:PMC2901973
    • Oakley JC, Kalume F, Yu FH, Scheuer T, Catterall WA
      Temperature- and age-dependent seizures in a mouse model of severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy.
      19234123 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009 Mar 10 : 106(10)3994-9 PMCID:PMC2656193
    • Kalume F, Yu FH, Westenbroek RE, Scheuer T, Catterall WA
      Reduced sodium current in Purkinje neurons from Nav1.1 mutant mice: implications for ataxia in severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy.
      17928448 The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2007 Oct 10 : 27(41)11065-74
    • Yu FH, Mantegazza M, Westenbroek RE, Robbins CA, Kalume F, Burton KA, Spain WJ, McKnight GS, Scheuer T, Catterall WA
      Reduced sodium current in GABAergic interneurons in a mouse model of severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy.
      16921370 Nature neuroscience, 2006 Sept. : 9(9)1142-9
    • Kalume F, Lee SM, Morcos Y, Callaway JC, Levin MC
      Molecular mimicry: cross-reactive antibodies from patients with immune-mediated neurologic disease inhibit neuronal firing.
      15197740 Journal of neuroscience research, 2004 Jul 1 : 77(1)82-9
    • Levin MC, Lee SM, Kalume F, Morcos Y, Dohan FC Jr, Hasty KA, Callaway JC, Zunt J, Desiderio D, Stuart JM
      Autoimmunity due to molecular mimicry as a cause of neurological disease.
      11984596 Nature medicine, 2002 May : 8(5)509-13 PMCID:PMC2703733

Overview

Research Description

The Kalume Lab is focused on understanding the pathophysiological basis of genetic epilepsies and their comorbid conditions. The goal of this lab is to pave the way for developing future drugs and therapeutic approaches for these disorders. The current research in the lab is aimed at understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying sudden unexpected death, sleep disturbance and the anti-seizure properties of the ketogenic diet in Dravet syndrome. Dravet syndrome is a drug-resistant and life-threatening epilepsy that starts in infancy, and is caused by heterozygote loss-of-function mutations in SCN1A, the gene encoding the type1 sodium (NaV 1.1) channels. The lab uses innovative approaches by combining behavioral assay, patch-clamp electrophysiology, pharmacology, electroencephalography, electrocardiography, electromyography, immunohistochemistry, biochemistry and mouse genetic techniques to identify changes in NaV channel function, as well as changes in neuronal and network excitability that cause epilepsy and associated conditions in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome.

Research Focus Area

Epilepsy