Email: portico-services@ucl.ac.uk
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- Honorary Associate Professor
- Neuroinflammation
- UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
- Faculty of Brain Sciences
I trained in medical and veterinary sciences Tripos at Clare College Cambridge (part II in Experimental Psychology with Prof Barry Everitt), clinical medicine at Cambridge with elective as externe in neurology at the Salpêtrière, Paris with Bertrand Fontaine, then general medical training to MRCP(UK), neurology training in Cambridge, Norwich and London, as part of an Eastern Region Neuroscience Training Fellowship with PhD at Cambridge University in biomarkers of neuropsychiatric lupus and NMDAR encephalitis, with time in the laboratories of Professor Alasdair Coles in Cambridge, and Professor Angela Vincent at Oxford University. Elected FRCP Jun 2018. I have funding support from the UCLH/UCL Biomedical Research Centre and have received funding from the National Brain Appeal.
I am Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London and Honorary Associate Professor in the University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology Department of Neuromuscular Diseases.
I run an autoimmune encephalitis and neuroimmunology clinic, and co-chair the weekly UCL Queen Square National Hospital COVID-19 neurology and encephalitis meeting.With funding from the National Brain Appeal Dr Patricia McNamara and I run a clinical service for those with neurological symptoms and complications of Covid-19, and long Covid.
I am a PI on the UCL Neuroimmunology 1.4 study, MRC funded SINAPPS2, and NIHR funded ENCEPH-IG trials, UKRI funded COVID CNS study, investigator on the NIHR funded STIMULATE-ICP long covid study, a member of the UCL repurposing therapeutic innovation network group, and on the steering committee of Coronerve. I have provided input on NICE guidance for long covid and input into NHS England policy on Covid treatment in neurology patients with the ABN; secretary and on occasion acting chair of the Queen Square Medical Committee.


We are working on mechanisms and treatments of autoimmune encephalitis (including the T cell biology of NMDAR and LGI1 encephalitis with Rachel Brown - MRC funded, Lunn, Morris), neuroimmunology of catatonia (Jonathan Rogers - Wellcome funded, Lewis, David), Covid-19 neurology, cerebral amyloid angiopathy related inflammation (with Werring, Jaunmuktane), links between autoimmunity and neurodegneration (with DRI colleagues, Duff, Hardy, Morris, Lees), neurological complications of SLE (with Isenberg), neuroimmunology of central and peripheral disorders (with Lunn, Hart and colleagues in the Neuroimmunology laboratory at UCL/UCLH). We are supported by the UCL/UCLH NIHR BRC and have received funding from the National Brain Appeal.
Our paper in Brain on the neurological complications of Covid-19 features in the following media and editorials: Guardian, New York Times, This Week in Virology (TWIV), Science, El Pais, Le Figaro, The Conversation, BBC feature by Fergus Walsh with Arvind Chandratheva and Michael Zandi, France 5 C dans l’air feature with Michael Zandi, Jornal da Cultura Brazil Michael Zandi, CNN interviews with Hadi Manji and Michael Zandi, TV3 Catalunya Michael Zandi, MSNBC Michael Zandi, New York Times, Nature, New Statesman, Guardian.
I teach and lecture on UCL Queen Square MSc courses and have co-supervised MSc students (Veronika Suchankova with Prof David Werring and Dr Zane Jaunmuktane; Hannah Priday, lab converted to library due to Covid-19, co-supervised with Prof David Werring and Prof Angela Vincent; Pantila Panichnantakul, library co-supervised with Dervis Salih), Eleanor Taylor, library; David Robaldo, library, and Alexis Cassecuelle, lab with Dr Rob Pitceathly and Prof Angela Vincent); and co-supervise PhD fellows (Dr Rachel Brown and Dr Jonathan Rogers).
Selected recent and upcoming invited Lectures
12 October 2017 - Association of British Neurologists autumn meeting, London
21 March 2018 - King's College London Immunopsychiatry meeting, London
25 June 2018 - Royal College of Psychiatrists, Birmingham
20 September 2018 - British Society of Rheumatology Case Based Conference, London
8 October 2018 - Royal College of Psychiatrists Faculty of Old Age Psychiatrists winter meeting, London
19 October 2018 - East Anglian Regional Neurological Association, Norwich
2 November 2018 - British Medical Journal Practical Neurology Masterclass, London
28 Mar 2019 - Queen Square Leading Edge Course, London
24 July 2019 - Camden and Islington Mental Health Trust academic meeting, London
2 Oct 2019 - UCL Institute of Mental Health first symposium: immunopsychiatry, London
15 July 2020 - SINAPPS2 trial webinar, UK
8 August 2020 - McGill University, Montreal
28 August 2020 - Washington University Julius Axelrod Brain series lecture, Washington
4 September 2020 - Eastern Network for Rare Autoimmune Diseases, Stevenage/Cambridge
17 October 2020 - Sociedade de Neurologia da Bahia
27 October 2020 - Henry Stewart Talks
29 October 2020 - Norwegian Neurological Association National Meeting
5 November 2020 - Brain Infections Global Liverpool 5 November 2020
7 December 2020 - Cultura UNAM Festival El Aleph - Festival de Arte y Ciencia Mexico
24 June 2021 - Trinity College Dublin, Neuroscience Society
25 June 2021 - University California, Irvine, Neurology Grand Round
10 September 2021 - Pitié-Salpêtrière
15 October 2021 - Copenhagen University Hospital
4 November 2021 - Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Vatican City.
09-JUL-2019 | Honorary Associate Professor | Neuromuscular Diseases | Queen Square Institute of Neurology, United Kingdom |