Loss of function (LOF) mutations in hundreds of genes are associated with human epilepsy. However, the high frequency of sequence variation among individuals presents a challenge to ascribe missense variants as causing epilepsy. This highly multidisciplinary research team develops a modular platform approach to characterize the functional, pharmacological, neuronal network and whole-animal consequences of genetic variants of uncertain significance (VUS) encountered in patients with a range of epilepsy types. The ultimate goal is to devise strategies for establishing diagnostic criteria and identifying potential targets for intervention. To this end, Project 1 begins the in vitro interrogation of multiple VUS in frequently encountered, non-ion-channel encoding epilepsy genes, focusing on one to two genes at a time.