The University of Washington’s School of Pharmacy announced on Thursday, Sept. 12, a collaboration with global biopharmaceutical company UCB to improve access to care for people living with epilepsy. This interdisciplinary project will explore ways in which community pharmacists can better support people living with this neurological disorder.

The roughly 3.4 million people nationally and 75,000 people in Washington state who live with epilepsy often get fragmented and uncoordinated healthcare and community services.

“For the growing population of people living with epilepsy, this fragmentation of resources makes it harder to manage multiple co-existing health conditions and take anti-seizure drugs,” said Steve White, professor and chair of the UW department of pharmacy, and a global expert on epilepsy. “And given the importance of medication adherence to manage epilepsy, poor adherence can have profound effects including injury, hospitalization, even unexpected death.”

Read the entire story at UW News. Andy Stergachis, professor of Global Health, is one of the leaders of this project.