Meet Neurologist Ognen Petroff, MD, FANA, FAAN, FACNS

Ognen A. C. Petroff, MD, is a neurologist who often collaborates with a variety of other specialists to treat first seizures, acute seizures and epilepsy, all problems for which treatment has improved dramatically in the last several years. “Our ability to diagnose and, more importantly, successfully maintain seizure freedom without unpleasant side-effects continues to improve rapidly,” he says. “Long-term remission of epilepsy continues to be our primary goal.” In addition, Dr. Petroff is the medical director of Yale New Haven Hospital’s outpatient EEG laboratory, where “the nursing staff and infrastructure is dynamic and supportive, creating a patient care environment that is second to none,” he says. An associate professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine, his primary research goal is to understand brain chemistry changes that trigger seizures, and the neurochemical changes that increase the susceptibility of the human brain to develop epilepsy. “My research has focused on noninvasive imaging methods that can help me understand the electrical and neurochemical changes that herald seizures, altered mood, anxiety and changes in cognitive function of my patients,” he says.