As well as being a full time NHS Consultant, I am the Clinical Lead for Neurology Teaching and Education at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (2005-2014).
Since 2012 I have undertaken advanced training in Movement Disorders and Neurostimulation (Deep Brain Stimulation) and from November 2014 will be working as an Honorary Consultant with one of the UK’s foremost Movement Disorders Team (Parkinson’s and related disorders) based at King’s College Hospital, London. I am virtually unique in the UK in simultaneously holding 2 posts in two major Teaching Hospitals (Brighton & Sussex and King’s). This allows me to provide patients in Sussex and Surrey access to both state of the art care and most exciting research.
I am the Sussex Parkinson’s Disease Lead and am part of the UK Parkinson’s Disease Network of Excellence.
I am part of a select handful of physicians forming a newly established research network for atypical Parkinsonian disorders including Multiple System Atrophy and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy/Corticobasal Syndrome.
I work closely with patient charities (including Cure Parkinson’s Trust, Parkinson’s UK, PSP Association, MSA Trust and Facial Palsy UK) and am recognised as a Regional Key Opinion Leader for Innovation and Service Development in Parkinson’s Disease and Related Disorders.
I believe that you should not have to travel to London just to participate in clinical trials. So for the last eight years I have not just been actively participating in clinical trials in the fields of Parkinsonian Disorders, BUT ALSO Stroke (due to cardiovascular disease) Migraine, Epilepsy, Motor Neuron Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. I have also supervised a number of medical student research projects in these diverse neurological disorders and participated in a number of National audits for Muscular Dystrophy and Peripheral Nerve Disorders.
Sussex Neurology Network
I work as part of a team of ten Consultant Neurologists employed by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust. Together we share our collective expertise to provide a locally based yet comprehensive neurology clinical and academic/research unit.
I am part of the Sussex Neurology Network (centred around Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre). There are also NHS Neurologists based in Worthing, Chichester, Hastings, Eastbourne, Crawley and Redhill.
We are fortunate to have a state of the art clinical investigation and research unit (CIRU) based at the Royal Sussex County Hospital site in Brighton.
My colleague, Dr Waqar Rashid, leads a Research Team made up of Doctors and Specialist Nurses with a particular interest in MS treatment and research.
Professor Nigel Leigh is our current Chair in Academic Neurology. Professor Leigh is internationally recognised as a leader in the field of Neurodegenerative Disorders (in particular Motor Neuron Disease and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy). We are now involved in exciting Phase 2 and 3 Clinical Trials for Novel Disease Modifying Agents in Neurodegenerative Disorders.
Together with Dr Julia Aram, I am involved in audit projects and research in epilepsy.
Together with Professor Nigel Leigh and Dr Norman Kock we are trying to create a repository of patient data and biological material that can be used to better understand underlying disease processes and factors determining prognosis, thus identifying novel candidates for Disease Modifying Trials in Neurodegenerative Disorders.
Brighton and Sussex Medical School has identified Neuroscience as a key strategic development area. In 2014 we will be appointing a further Professor in Neurology supported by two new Senior Lecturer posts. This would strengthen translational medicine from laboratory bench to patient bedside by affording a robust link between basic science and imaging research based at the University of Brighton and Sussex with the Clinical Neurology Team at Hurstwood Park.
If you would like more information about clinical trials we are currently undertaking within our department then you can contact our Research Nurse Dee Mullan at CIRU (http://www.bsms.ac.uk/ciru/index.htm).
