Susan Axelrod

Susan Axelrod is Founding Chair of Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE). In 1998, Axelrod and two other mothers, frustrated with their inability to protect their children from the devastation of uncontrollable seizures and the side effects of medications, joined forces to spearhead the search for a cure for epilepsy. Under Axelrod’s leadership, CURE successfully redefined the goals of epilepsy research funding cutting-edge research grants, exploring new areas and sponsoring landmark conferences. Axelrod and CURE’s commitment to the health of epilepsy patients earned the organization the prestigious 2008 Child Neurology Foundation Advocacy Award of Merit.

Axelrod has served on the NIH’s National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council and as a consumer reviewer for the Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program within the Department of Defense. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors for her passionate advocacy. A mother of three, Axelrod resides in Chicago with her husband David.

Her oldest child, Lauren, began having uncontrollable seizures at seven months old, which have caused significant developmental delays and for which no cause has been identified. After 18 desperate years spent trying to control her seizures -- over 20 medications, special diets, an electronic implant, and repeated surgical evaluations -- Lauren finally achieved seizure freedom in 2000. Lauren now lives and works in a supported residential program in Chicago.