Siegward Elsas, M.D. is a physician and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland. His medical training was at the University Witten/Herdecke in Germany. Siegward Elsas is pursuing a phenomenological approach to neuroscience, with a particular interest in electrophysiology and the sensory organization.

Siegward is currently studying behavioral aspects of epileptic seizures in order to develop new therapeutic approaches. He is using sensory triggers of seizures and introspective accounts of seizures to design individual behavioral strategies to prevent seizure occurrence or interrupt epileptic auras from developing into full seizures. Seizure diaries and cognitive tests in correlation with EEG frequency analysis and heart rate variability analysis enable him to assess the outcome of the interventions.

Siegward describes his interests this way:

"My interest in phenomenological natural science began in medical school in Herdecke, where my hopes for a holistic approach to anatomy and physiology were not met. I became familiar with Goethe's writings on the metamorphosis of plants and animals, and then initiated a student study group on phenomenological science, which met for about five years during my time as a student. This group was inspired by activities of the Carus Institute in Öschelbronn (near Pforzheim/Germany). We studied, organ by organ, embryology and comparative anatomy and physiology.

"My interest in the complexities of the nervous system then led to 4 - 5 years of postdoctoral research in the basic neurosciences and eventually to becoming a clinical neurologist. My interest to take this impulse back to the academic world then brought me to my current position at Oregon Health and Sciences University. A recent award of a federal NIH research grant allows me to pursue research in holistic treatments of epilepsy, including related mind-body questions."