SENA BIANNUAL MEETING

Dr Alexander Thompson

Associate Professor

Alexander Thompson is an Associate Professor at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on developing neurochemical markers for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and motor neurone disease, with particular interest in cerebrospinal fluid and extracellular vesicle biomarkers to improve early diagnosis, disease stratification, and therapeutic development.

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.

Prof Isabel Leite

Cases and updates from the Neuromyelitis Optica Service

Maria Isabel Leite is a Consultant Neurologist and an Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Oxford. Her clinical and research work focuses on autoimmune neurology, including myasthenia gravis, neuromyelitis optica and other antibody-mediated disorders of the nervous system.

Dr Adam Handel

Consultant Neurologist & Associate Professor

Adam Handel is a Consultant Neurologist and Associate Professor at the University of Oxford. He has a specialist clinical interest in autoimmune and neuroinflammatory neurological disorders, particularly autoimmune encephalitis, and he runs the Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Clinic at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Prof Zameel Cader

Consultant neurologist & Professor of Neuroscience and Neurology

Zameel Cader is a Consultant Neurologist and Professor of Neuroscience and Neurology at the University of Oxford. He directs the Oxford Headache Centre and leads a research group focused on migraine, headache disorders, neurogenetic disease, and translational stem cell-based approaches to drug discovery.

Prof. Michele Hu

Consultant neurologist & professor of neurosurgery

Michele Hu is a Consultant Neurologist and Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Oxford. consultantHer research focuses on Parkinson's disease, particularly early and prodromal disease, biomarkers, sleep disorders such as REM sleep behaviour disorder, and the use of digital and wearable technologies to improve diagnosis and care.

Dr Vasiliki Tsirka

Senior Consultant in Clinical Neurophysiology and Epilepsy

Dr Tsirka is a Senior Consultant in Clinical Neurophysiology and Epilepsy at the Royal London Hospital and Clinical Lead for Neurophysiology. She trained at St Thomas' Hospital, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and King's College Hospital, and holds a PhD in Neurophysiology. Her expertise includes nerve conduction studies, electromyography, EEG, and video telemetry in adults and children, with a research focus on neurophysiology techniques and electrophysiological analysis tools in collaboration with Queen Mary University.

Prof David Bennett

Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology

David Bennett is Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology at the University of Oxford and Head of the Division of Clinical Neurology. His clinical and research interests focus on peripheral neuropathy, neuropathic pain, and pain channelopathies, and he leads major translational pain research programmes at Oxford.

Dominic Howard

Consultant neurosurgeon & Professor

Dominic P Howard is an academic vascular surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a Senior Clinical Fellow in the Oxford Vascular Study at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on the epidemiology, treatment and prevention of vascular disease, with particular interest in carotid, aortic, and peripheral vascular disease.

Prof. Peter Rothwell

Professor of Neurology

Peter Rothwell is Professor of Neurology at the University of Oxford and an international leader in stroke prevention research. He leads major studies on transient ischaemic attack, stroke, hypertension, and aspirin, and his work has influenced clinical practice worldwide.

Consultant Neurologist

Enrico Flossmann is a Consultant Neurologist in Reading and Oxford with a specialist interest in stroke and cerebrovascular disease. He is involved in both acute stroke care and clinical research, with a focus on improving prevention, diagnosis, and outcomes for patients with cerebrovascular conditions.

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.

Welcome and Opening Address, SPR Presentation Results & Closing remarks

Lina Nashef has been a trustee of FQMS for many years. She was also the chair of the charity between late 2010 and the summer of 2016. She has facilitated postgraduate training for Palestinian doctors in the UK within the Medical Training Initiative Scheme sponsored by The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

She is a consultant neurologist and reader working in London. She graduated from the University of Bristol in 1980. She has co-authored the Oxford Specialist Handbook on epilepsy and co-edited a textbook on Neurology and Pregnancy. Her research field included mortality and sudden death in epilepsy.

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.

Welcome and Opening Address & Closing remarks

Jakub Scaber is a Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and a Neurology Consultant at Great Western Hospital. His research focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular drivers of motor neuron disease and frontotemporal dementia. By utilizing high-throughput sequencing and computational biology, he explores how specific genetic variants—such as C9orf72 and TDP-43—impact cell vulnerability in these neurodegenerative conditions. Dr. Scaber earned his DPhil from Oxford in 2017 and is actively involved in clinical trials through the Oxford MND Research Centre.

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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