the MS-Blog Team

Professor of Neuroimmunology

I have been investigating the development of experimental treatments for relapsing and progressive MS and in the development of symptom control agents, some of which have been tested in humans and some of which have become treatments for MS.

Research days, Meet the Scientist, Digesting Science Ambassador, Twitter – @prof_mouse

I spent my academic career at different places of the University of London. I was awarded a BSc (Hons) in Zoology from Bedford College in 1983 and was awarded a PhD from London University in Immunology/Pathology in 1987 for work at the Institute of Basic Medical Science on immunological tolerance induction in delayed hypersensitivity of the skin.

I spent the following six years as the Angela Limerick Lecturer, for multiple sclerosis research at the Hunterian Institute, The Royal College of Surgeons of England, working on delayed hypersensitivity in the brain, where I developed an active research interest in multiple sclerosis.

I took a 5 year Principal Fellowship to the Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London in 1994 and became the first Senior Fellow of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. I moved to the Institute of Neurology, University College London in 1999.

I became a senior lecturer in 2003 and got a personal chair in 2004 as Professor of Neuroimmunology. I moved to Queen Mary in the autumn of 2006.

Follow @prof_mouse on twitter.

Neurology registrar & PhD candidate

• Genetic determinants of MS risk in diverse ancestral backgrounds
• Causes, prediction, and prevention of MS

I’m an occasional blogger these days. I work closely with the MS Society and a participant steering group as part of my PhD project to ensure we are engaging effectively with the wider MS public.

I got interested in MS in my 5th year at medical school. I started working on the blood-brain barrier with Gabe DeLuca’s lab and found it so interesting that I continued to work with them throughout my degree.

I came to East London to start my clinical training and continue working on MS with ProfG and the team. I’m now in the second year of my specialty neurology training and do my research at the Preventive Neurology Unit at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine (QMUL), mainly supervised by Dr Ruth Dobson. My PhD is focussing on the genetics of MS in people from non-European ancestral backgrounds. More broadly I am interested in the roles of genetics and environmental factors in the earliest stages of MS. Long-term I want to translate findings from this basic genetic epidemiology work into practical prediction and prevention strategies.

It’s a dynamic and highly-motivated team dedicated to improving care for people with MS.

I’m spending time with my partner, my friends and my family; cycling; running; playing football; watching football; or reading about football.

Research Fellow

All aspects of MS, particularly neuroprotection and symptom relief

MS Life, Meet the Scientists; Barts/UCL annual Research Day; Digesting Science Ambassador Programme

Autoimmunity of thyroid disease, blood:brain barrier and cell migration in MS, experimental models of various aspects of MS with MD for over 20 years.

Autoimmunity of thyroid disease, blood:brain barrier and cell migration in MS, experimental models of various aspects of MS with MD for over 20 years.

I want to make a difference for pwMS. I think we are

I’m a guitar hero!

Lecturer in Public Engagement and Patient Public Involvement

Improving the patient experience for people with MS through design

Involving and engaging the public and people with MS in research is a huge part of my work. Examples are Digesting Science (engaging families affected by MS), this blog, the Burning Debates series at ECTRIMS (engaging Neurologists through social media), MS: The Big Knit, Clinic Speak. @somehow_related

I met the Barts MS team in 2009 when I was doing my MA in Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art. From then I have worked with them on many different projects to improve the patient experience for people with MS. These take the form of public engagement projects, research studies and service improvement projects. My PhD research looks more specifically at the different versions of patient experience that are currently used by healthcare, science, charities and patients themselves

They are an incredibly fun and inspiring bunch of people.

I’m running or recovering from a running injury!

Lecturer in Neuroscience

The effects of temperature changes on nervous system function – particularly in the ‘white matter’ that is composed of nerve fibres. Some years ago we found that optic nerve axons (our ‘model’ of white matter) are much more sensitive to changes in temperature than peripheral nerve, and we are working out what the mechanism is. This has a clear tie-up with MS, because MS has famously temperature dependent symptoms, with symptoms getting worse with warming.

ALSO Amyloid b, a truncated and misfolded protein that evidence suggests is key to initiating Alzheimer’s disease. We look at amyloid b ‘ion channels’ that can form when amyloid is in a particular physical state (known to exist like this in the human brain in Alzheimer’s disease) and we have found that these channels can form in real cell membranes, and they have properties that we are sure makes them toxic. This work is in collaboration with a colleague who is a biochemist and knows about protein folding, John Viles.

I’ve helped out at MS Research days. I give talks to school kids. I’ve helped advise at the Centre of the Cell here in Whitechapel, particularly on ‘Sophie’s sensational holiday’, a narrative to help young kids think about our senses.

BSc (hons) Leeds University; PhD St Andrews University; PGCAP Queen Mary University of London. First became interested in axonal function and demyelination in 1984. I worked with Hugh Bostock at ION, Queen Square, for a number of years. Gained an interest in drugs and pharmacology at Pfizer UK, and then at Yale University Pharmacology Department, working with Murdoch Ritchie. I worked at UCL with John Wood on the molecular biology of sodium channels, before becoming a university lecturer.

I have been interested in axons since the early 1980’s and I would love to be able to do something to help make the lives of MSers better

I’m cycling or walking – probably to a country pub for a glass of cider. Bird watching and gardening (neither very seriously). However, I am gradually getting more serious about wine ( I seem to be definitely going through a Pinotage phase at the moment) and I really enjoy cooking food that people like to eat. I like to think I’m gradually getting better at that!

Clinical Training Fellow

Multiple Sclerosis, Neuroimmunology, Social capital and Global health.

Speaker for the annual MS patient education symposium at the Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá in Bogotá, Colombia for the last 5 years.

I have been selected as an ECTRIMS clinical training fellow to ProfG. I am a young Colombian neurologist and my clinical and research work focuses on MS. In 2013, I worked as a research fellow in MS and related disorders at the Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá in Bogotá, Colombia. I received my training in general Neurology at the Universidad El Bosque under the mentorship of Dr. Jaime Toro (who has been my role model ever since I met Neurology). I have the honour to work with the MS and related disorders research group led by Dr. Toro. The team has an enormous amount of goodwill that has been materialized in valuable research on the epidemiology, genetic predisposition and environmental risk factors for MS in our population. The diagnosis and treatment of MS in Colombia remain an important challenge. My goal is to become an MS specialist and bring some knowledge and expertise to my country to support the development of MS specialized clinics. The ECTRIMS fellowship will be the most educational and important experience of my training as an MSologist.

I’m backpacking around the world! Travelling offers a hard-to-replicate opportunity to disconnect from everyday life and reconnect with yourself and the real world. I only need two things for any trip: Laura (my partner in crime for more than 10 years!) and my not very fancy camera. Hopefully, the road of life will give us just enough ways to travel farther and farther away.

Consultant Neurologist (St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Princess Alexandra Hospital), Honorary Senior Lecturer

Biomarkers, clinical trials, and Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy

Talks to general public on MS, MS charities on line and in person

Qualified from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, PhD from UCL Institute of Neurology and now working at Barts Health and Princess Alexandra Hospital and Queen Mary University of London

I’m part of the BartsMS team because I always was and probably always will be!

I’m far far away on a mountain or up a rock/iced waterfall.

Professor of Neurology

Advanced/progressive MS. Exploring disease modifying treatment of people with MS at any stage of their disease. MS pathology & pathophysiology. Standardisation of MRI protocols for better accuracy and more equity in patient care. Registry initiatives; remote monitoring using old and new tools.

Research days, occasional blog posts, trial-related PPI, BartsMS Charity, engaging with the “big” MS charities, Twitter @KlausSchmierer

I did my undergraduate studies at the Freie Universität Berlin, including a stint at Hebrew University’s Hadassah Medical Centre Jerusalem before completing my PhD (summa cum laude) at the Ernst Moritz Arndt-Universität Greifswald. Mentored by Rolf Zschenderlein I undertook my speciality training in neurology at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin (Humboldt University Berlin). In July 2001 I moved to the UCL Institute of Neurology & The National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery to pursue a career in academic neurology. I worked closely with David Miller and the team at the NMR Research Unit throughout my eight years at Queen Square, five of which as a Wellcome Intermediate Clinical Fellow.

In 2009 I was awarded a HEFCE Clinical Senior Lectureship and appointed at The Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine & Dentistry (Queen Mary University of London), as well as a consultant neurologist at The Royal London Hospital (Barts Health NHS Trust). I was promoted to Professor of Neurology in September 2019.

I’m usually working on something else! Unless spending time with family, by the sea, or on skiing slopes. Also enjoy reading, running, hiking.