The Epilepsy Research Centre has recruited twin pairs with epilepsy through the Australian Twin Registry and other sources since 1988. Using classical twin analyses we have shown which common syndromes have a major genetic component and identified new forms of inherited epilepsy.

We evaluate twin pairs, review medical records and store genomic DNA samples for most twin pairs. Our database currently contains 372 twin pairs in which one or both twins had seizures, with 169 monozygous ('identical') and 203 dizygous pairs.

Our recruitment of twins with epilepsy is ongoing as we focus on utilising this special cohort for the discovery of new epilepsy genes using next generation technologies.