The Department of Neurology will welcome Jacqueline French, M.D., as its featured speaker for the 17th annual Gertrude and Dewey Ziegler M.D. Professorship Lecture at 8 a.m. on Friday, August 28. 

French is a professor of neurology and director of translational research and clinical trials at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. French’s lecture, “Failure of the first ASM: Is every drug the same?” will discuss common side effects of anti-seizure medicines and the most important factors one should consider when selecting an anti-seizure medication. The lecture pulls from French’s extensive research efforts developing new therapeutics for epilepsy and new methodologies for clinical trials. 

French’s lecture will take place in Clendening Auditorium on the University of Kansas Medical Center’s main campus. Attendees may also join the lecture via Zoom. 

The annual Ziegler lectureship honors Dewey Ziegler, M.D., who led the section of neurology at KU Medical Center from 1966 until 1974, when it became the Department of Neurology. Ziegler served as chair of the department until 1985. During his tenure, he established the neurology residency program. 

National and internationally recognized, Ziegler helped establish neurology as an independent field and was one of the first headache specialists in neurology. He served a term as president of the American Academy of Neurology. Ziegler received emeritus status in 1990 and remained on the faculty until his death in 2012.