The MELD Project

Dr Konrad Wagstyl and Dr Sophie Adler co-lead the MELD project, an international collaboration between epilepsy hospitals worldwide creating Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to assist in the identification of epilepsy causing abnormalities on MRI scans.

Funded by the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging Public Engagement Innovation Fund and working in collaboration with the charities Young Epilepsy and Epilepsy Research UK, Dr Konrad Wagstyl and Dr Sophie Adler will be running workshops with parents and guardians of young people with epilepsy to better understand how they feel about the use of this AI technology in their child’s care.

During the group sessions, participants will share their hopes and fears regarding the use of AI in assisting epilepsy diagnosis. Following this discussion, the participants and researchers will co-create an information leaflet about the MELD project and how AI technologies are used. This information leaflet will be created with the help of a professional illustrator and will be disseminated to the wider epilepsy community by epilepsy charities and the 25 epilepsy centres worldwide that participate in the MELD project. Future research aims for the MELD project will be shared with the participants for discussion and input, and this feedback will be incorporated into the MELD focal epilepsies project.

Working with Young Epilepsy, Epilepsy Research UK, and the parents and guardians of young people with epilepsy, this project aims to strengthen community partnerships with epilepsy patient groups and epilepsy charities, building a culture of engagement and feedback into the MELD project.

“We are extremely grateful to the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging Public Engagement Innovation Fund for supporting our project. We are excited to work with patients and their families to learn what their feelings and worries are about the use of machine learning in their clinical care and create information leaflets that explain the work and address any concerns.”