I'm not so up to date on the medical research side of things. I'm not doing research in that field anymore, but I know there are a lot of people involved in research. My previous supervisor is certainly working on some new things.
It's much needed. As I mentioned, a lot of the medications aren't successful in many cases. There are other treatment options, such as surgery, but I think it can only be used in about 10% of cases and only for certain types of epilepsy. The ketogenic diet is another treatment, but it's often ineffective. Certainly more research needs to be done, and I know there are active researchers out there working toward that goal.