Lukas Imbach has been elected President of the Swiss League Against Epilepsy. Thanks to several new members joining, there are now more women than men on the board.
6 June 2024 – The Swiss League Against Epilepsy has a new president: At the General Assembly in Basel on 6 June 2024, Dr. Lukas Imbach was elected President of the Epilepsy League, taking over from Prof. Barbara Tettenborn. Dr. Pamela Agazzi from Lugano was elected Vice President, the first time that someone who lives and works in Ticino has held this position.
All three are neurologists specializing in epilepsy. The members of the Epilepsy League board all give their time voluntarily, without remuneration.
Lukas Imbach has been medical director of the Lengg Clinic at the Swiss Epilepsy Centre in Zurich since 2021. He has been a member of the Epilepsy League board and its vice president since 2022. Pamela Agazzi has been head physician at the Sleep and Epilepsy Center at the Ospedale Civico in Lugano since 2010.
Commenting on the elections, Barbara Tettenborn said: “I’m delighting to be handing over to a superbly qualified successor who already knows the role well, and would like to congratulate Lukas and the Epilepsy League wholeheartedly.” In accordance with the statutes of the League, Barbara Tettenborn has stepped down as president after four years in office, and will stay on the board for a further two years as past president. Following the pattern above, the new vice president Pamela Agazzi will likely become president in 2028.
Three further new members were elected to the Epilepsy League board:
• Dr. Elisabeth Roggenhofer, senior physician at the Epileptology and EEG Service at the Institution de Lavigny
• Prof. Athina Tzovara, assistant professor at the University of Berne Institute of Computer Science and Department of Neurology
• Dr. Rebekka Zimmermann, deputy head physician and head of epileptology at the Tschugg Rehabilitation Clinic
Dr. Fréderic Zubler (Biel/Bienne), Dr. Noëlle Mercier (Lavigny) and Prof. Johannes Sarnthein (Zurich) did not stand for re-election, either due to their term of office ending or out of personal choice.
This means the board of the Swiss League Against Epilepsy now consists of 8 women and 5 men – a first because until now men always made up the majority.