Associate Head (Research) - Peninsula Medical School

Chair of Clinical Neurobiology - Plymouth University Peninsula Medical School

Neurology Consultant - University Hospitals Plymouth Hospital NHS Trust 

Qualifications:

I trained at Medical School in Hamburg, Glasgow, Johns Hopkins and Harvard. After a DFG research fellowship in molecular neurobiology, in which I cloned the myelin protein PMP22 I was neurology registrar at Medical School in Duesseldorf with Prof Freund. During that period I participated in resolving gene-defect and pathogenesis of the most frequent hereditary neuropathy CMT1A, became lecturer for Neurology and Neurobiology and honorary consultant at that department in 1998 and started work on benign glial tumours. From 2000 I was consultant incl. clinical lead and senior lecturer at the medical school in Ulm continuing my work on benign glia tumours and neuropathies focussing more on motor neuropathies. During that time I was also trained as a medical geneticist. In 2005 I became chair of clinical neurobiology at the Peninsula medical school establishing clinical neurobiology research and administering different independent researcher groups. I successfully bridge basic and clinical sciences. I have been Associate Medical Director for R&D Plymouth Hospital NHS Trust and Academic lead department of Neurology PHNT 
I was founding director of the Institute for Translational and Stratified Medicine where my remit was to champion research across traditional boundaries and focus on world-leading research. I was Associate Dean Research 2015-2017. Currently I am Associate Head (Research) Peninsula Medical School and lead the Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence at the University of Plymouth.

EANO, BNOS, ABN

Nationally I am neurology lead in the Peninsula Neuro-oncology network, member BNOS council and DeNDRON, (currently research director MND in the SW), I was member of scientific advisory boards in multiple organisations (currently GOSHH),. I am reviewer for more than 20 international journals including Brain, Cancer Res, Oncogene Nature Communications and Human Mol Gen, and reviewer for a variety of granting agencies incl Wellcome, MRC, CR-UK and DFG. I am editor of Cancer Letters.

The Brain Tumour Centre comprises three research groups with roughly 30 staff including PhD students.

Involved in research SSU's, case units, lectures

Serving as external examiner:

External PhD examiner at: University of Exeter, University of Portsmouth, University Cardiff, Queen Mary University, UCL, University Jena, University Ulm.  Regular extranl academic reviewer for ARCPs.

Research interests:

My own focus is on neuromuscular disease esp. motor neuron disease and neurooncology. I supervised more than 30 PhD students quite a few finished with distinction and started a career in academia. Our current work on motor neuron disease is mainly clinical and includes genotype-phenotype analysis and clinical trials. In neurooncology we focus on cell biology studies to find and validate new therapeutic targets as there is a great medical need to find new treatments. Following our aim to work translational I also look after many patients with these diseases as a honorary consultant.  My current h-index is 56.

Grants contracts:

Over 4 Million £ previously excluding FEC. Currently Brain Tumour Research centre grant, Children's Tumour Foundation.