SENA BIANNUAL MEETING

Update on Organisation and Commissioning of Neurology Services

Dr Niranjanan Nirmalananthan is a London-based Consultant Neurologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at St George's. Since 2023, he has served as the National Clinical Director for Neurology at NHS England, while also co-chairing the South West London & Surrey Neurosciences Network and leading specialised neurology services. He is also the Clinical Director of Neurosciences at St George's University Hospitals. His research focuses on service redesign, digital health integration, and expanding access to specialist care. He plays a key role in shaping the new neurology training specification across the UK.

Peripheral sensory ataxia and other sensory presentations

Dr Vijay Nar is a Consultant Neurologist and the SENA Representative for St George's Hospital. He is also the organiser of the 2025 Autumn Meeting.

Peripheral sensory ataxia and other sensory presentations

Dr Lina Nashef is a London-based Consultant Neurologist and epilepsy specialist known for her research on SUDEP and her contributions to medical education and international training.

Peripheral sensory ataxia and other sensory presentations

Dr Ahmed Abbas is a dual-qualified Consultant in Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology at St George's Hospital, London, with subspecialty expertise in peripheral nerve diseases and sensory ataxia. He specialises in the diagnosis and management of conditions such as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), motor neuron disease, and myasthenia gravis.

His research focuses on atypical sensory presentations, diagnostic approaches to small fibre neuropathy, and the relationship between sensory loss and motor coordination. He has published on fatigue in CIDP and the role of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy, as well as peripheral nerve electrophysiology. Alongside his clinical and research work, Dr Abbas is a Senior Clinical Fellow in Clinical Neurophysiology, and previously held a fellowship at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

Genetic therapies in Neuromuscular disorders

Dr Clare Galtrey is a Consultant Neurologist with over five years' experience, specialising in neuromuscular disorders such as motor neurone disease, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. She leads the Regional SMA Service at Frimley Park and St George's Hospitals, and also contributes to neurology and acute stroke care.

Dr Galtrey is actively involved in clinical trials for gene therapies and her research spans muscle channelopathies and translational approaches to inherited myopathies. She graduated with distinction from the University of Cambridge's MB/PhD programme, trained at leading London hospitals, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. She is also trained in expert medical report writing.

New therapies in the treatment of Myasthenia Gravis

Dr Pablo Garcia-Reitboeck is a Consultant Neurologist at St George's Hospital and Honorary Senior Lecturer at St George's University of London. He specialises in acute neurology, myasthenia gravis, motor neurone disease, and cognitive neurology.

A neurologist and neuroimmunologist by training, his research spans neurodegeneration and immune-mediated diseases. He is currently focused on therapeutic advances in myasthenia gravis and identifying biomarkers for treatment response, building on earlier work examining microglial activation in Alzheimer's disease. Dr Garcia-Reitboeck is also actively involved in clinical research and medical education.

Beyond seizures: comorbidities of epilepsy and mental health

Dr Marco Mula is a London-based Consultant Neurologist and Epileptologist at the Atkinson Morley Regional Neurosciences Centre, St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Professor of Neurology at St George's University of London. He is internationally recognised for his expertise in epilepsy and its psychiatric comorbidities, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, and dissociative states.

Dr Mula's research explores the neurobiology of these conditions, as well as the cognitive effects of antiepileptic drugs. He has authored over 200 publications and plays an active role in international epilepsy research, education, and advocacy.

Who are you, again? - Rethinking the neurologist's role in dementia diagnosis and care

Dr Jeremy Isaacs is a Consultant Neurologist at St George's and Kingston Hospitals, and was the NHS's first National Clinical Director for Dementia. He specialises in cognitive neurology, with a particular focus on dementia diagnosis, care pathways, and support for patients and families. He currently serves as Clinical Lead for the NHS London Dementia Clinical Network and has played a key role in shaping national dementia strategies.

His research explores diagnostic accuracy in dementia, the use of biomarkers in early Alzheimer's disease, and the development of multidisciplinary approaches to care. He also leads public engagement initiatives on memory and identity, and is active in teaching and mentoring the next generation of clinicians.

Parkinson's disease (?)

Dr Dominic Paviour is a London-based Consultant Neurologist specialising in movement disorders, with particular expertise in Parkinson's disease, atypical parkinsonian syndromes, and neurological conditions in pregnancy. He is the Clinical Lead for Movement Disorders at the Atkinson Morley Regional Neurosciences Centre, part of St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at St George's University of London.

Dr Paviour graduated with the Medical School Gold Medal from Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals in 1998 and completed a PhD at the Institute of Neurology, followed by specialist neurology training in London. His research focuses on the clinical and genetic aspects of Parkinson's disease, neuroimaging biomarkers, disease progression, and the impact of non-motor symptoms on quality of life. He provides comprehensive care for people with Parkinson's and related disorders, and also offers private consultations at Parkside Hospital in Wimbledon and One Welbeck in Central London.

Autoregulation and Stroke in Pregnancy

Dr Anthony Pereira is a Consultant Neurologist and Stroke Physician at St George's Hospital, London, specialising in stroke medicine, cerebral small vessel disease, and monogenic stroke. He trained in medicine at the University of Cambridge and in neurology in London.

Dr Pereira's research focuses on cerebral autoregulation, stroke in pregnancy, and the use of transcranial Doppler in acute stroke care. He contributes to national guideline development for stroke in complex medical contexts and serves as Chair of the UK Neurology and Stroke Specialty Advisory Committees. He also co-leads the neurology and stroke training programme at St George's.

The science of signs in FND and their clinical implications

Dr Jan Coebergh is a Consultant Neurologist at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Ashford & St Peter's Hospitals, specialising in movement disorders, cognitive neurology, Wilson's disease, and Functional Neurological Disorder (FND). He leads the FND specialist clinic at St George's, which integrates multidisciplinary care including specialist physiotherapy, and also runs a Movement Disorders clinic at Ashford & St Peter's.

Dr Coebergh's research focuses on the semiotics of neurological signs, patient narratives in FND, the neurocognitive basis of symptom generation, Parkinson's disease, neuropsychiatry, and he is currently following a cohort of patients with musical hallucinations. A strong advocate for interdisciplinary approaches, he serves as Clinical Lead for Neurosciences at Ashford & St Peter's and Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care System.

He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a member of the Movement Disorder Society, the Association of British Neurologists, and the British Neuropsychiatry Association. Dr Coebergh regularly lectures medical students at King's College London, Surrey Medical School, and St George's University of London.

New therapies in Headache

Ms Anne Marie Logan is a Consultant Physiotherapist and Headache Specialist Nurse at St George's Hospital, London, and Co-Lead of the Headache Service. She specialises in musculoskeletal physiotherapy for chronic migraine, cluster headache, and other headache disorders.

Anne Marie qualified from St Thomas' Hospital and completed her MSc in musculoskeletal physiotherapy at UCL in 1994. She became an Independent Non-Medical Prescriber in 2015 and has been with the headache service since 2010. Her research focuses on patient-reported outcomes, nurse-led interventions, and integrating CGRP-targeted therapies into clinical practice.

She actively contributes to national headache working groups, aiming to improve treatment access, and regularly lectures on headache management and self-management strategies. She is a member of the Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists and the British Association for the Study of Headache.

How to evaluate a patient with Primary Progressive Aphasia

Prof Peter Garrard is a Consultant Neurologist and Professor of Neurology at St George's, University of London, specialising in neurodegenerative dementias such as Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). He directs the dementia research group at St George's Neuroscience and Cell Biology Research Institute, with a focus on language deterioration in dementia, semantic memory loss, computational linguistics for diagnosis, imaging of progressive aphasia, and molecular pathology of frontotemporal dementia.

Prof Garrard graduated from the University of Oxford in 1985, earned his MD ChB from the University of Bristol in 1990, and completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge in 1999. He has held clinical posts at leading UK hospitals and academic roles at UCL and the University of Southampton. His research has been supported by major funding bodies including the Medical Research Council and the Leverhulme Trust.

Clinically, he specialises in cognitive and language disorders, early-onset dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. He is also noted for his work on literary analysis in dementia, bridging neurology and the humanities.

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