Who We Are

Professor Mark Edwards is a Professor of Neurology with a specialist interest in Functional Neurological Disorder, Parkinson’s Disease, Tourette’s Syndrome and other movement disorders and the common overlap between neurological and psychiatric difficulties in those with neurological illnesses.

• Professor of Neurology and Interface Disorders, Kings College London
• Honorary Consultant Neurologist Maudsley and Kings College Hospitals
• Chair of the Association of British Neurology Movement Disorders Special Interest Group
• Board and Founding Member of the International Functional Neurological Disorder Society
• International Executive Committee Member of the International Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Society
• Associate Editor of the European Journal of Neurology
• Medical Advisor to FND Hope and Dystonia UK

In NHS practice Professor Edwards works within specialist neuropsychiatry services at the Maudsley Hospital providing neurological expertise in assessment, medical treatment and rehabilitation for people with a mixed neurological, psychiatric and psychological need. This includes seeing patients in acute, outpatient and rehabilitation settings. He is also involved in regional and national work in developing improved care pathways for patients with neurological illness.

Professor Edwards is the author of over 350 peer reviewed publications, many book chapters and also the Oxford Specialist Handbook of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders.

Research interests:

Professor Edwards leads research into the pathophysiology and treatment of people with Movement Disorders, Functional Neurological Disorder and conditions which bridge neurological and psychiatric problems, and is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and training events for doctors and other health professionals.

Previous affiliations:

• Professor of Neurology and Honorary Consultant Neurologist, St George’s University of London and St George’s Hospital
• Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Neurologist, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London

Dr Michael Dilley is a Consultant Neuropsychiatrist in Brain Injury at King’s College Hospital with special interests in traumatic and acquired brain injury and severe and complex functional neurological disorders requiring interdisciplinary rehabilitation.

• Chair, Faculty of Neuropsychiatry, Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2020
• Member, NHS England Clinical Reference Group, Rehabilitation, Disability & Spinal Cord Injury, 2022
• Trustee of the United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF)

In his NHS practice, Dr Dilley provides expertise across the entire integrated care pathway for patients with neuropsychiatric needs associated with brain injury.  This includes seeing patients in intensive care, in the acute brain injury and neurology units at King’s College Hospital, London and the Brain Injury Team Multidisciplinary Outpatient Service. He has extensive experience of rehabilitation for cognitive and neuropsychiatric problems across neurological conditions and in particular brain injury and functional neurological disorder.

Research interests:

Dr Dilley has a research interest in traumatic brain injury. He is a co-investigator in the National Institute of Health Research funded STOP-D Randomised Trial, a definitive trial of the prevention of depression after traumatic brain injury (https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR131125)

Previous affiliations:

• NHS England National Clinical Lead, Neuropsychiatry, 2022
• Consultant Neuropsychiatrist in Neurorehabilitation, The Wolfson Neurorehabilitation Services, St George’s Hospital, London, 2015-2021
• Member of the National Neurosciences Advisory Group, 2020
• Consultant Neuropsychiatrist and Clinical Lead, The Maudsley Hospital, 2010-2015
• Consultant Psychiatrist and Inpatient Clinical Lead, Borough of Westminster, 2005-2010
• Honorary Consultant Neuropsychiatrist, National Hospital for Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, Queen Square, London, 2005-2010

Dr Sotiris Posporelis is a Consultant Liaison Neuropsychiatrist at King’s College Hospital, London. He leads a Team providing care for inpatients presenting with a wide range of neurological and neurosurgical diagnoses and comorbid neuropsychiatric symptoms, including, yet not limited to: Brain Injury, Epilepsy, Encephalitis, Movement Disorders, and Functional Neurological Disorders. He also runs a National Specialist Clinic as part of the Maudsley Neuropsychiatry Outpatient Service, funded by NHS-England.

• Consultant Liaison Neuropsychiatrist at King’s College Hospital, London
• Hon. Senior Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neurosciences (IoPPN),      King’s College London
• The Maudsley MRCPsych Course Organiser
• Academic Lead, The Maudsley/IoPPN Grand Round(s)
• Academic Secretary, London Division, Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Clinical Placement and Module Lead for the MSc in Clinical Neuropsychiatry, IoPPN
• Member of The British Neuropsychiatry Association

Areas of clinical and research interest:

• Acutely disturbed behaviour (agitation, aggression, violence)
• Deep brain stimulation
• Movement and impulse control disorders
• Functional neurological disorders
• Psychosis
• Tics

Previous affiliations:

• Liaison Psychiatrist, King’s College Hospital, London
• Post-doctoral Clinical Research Fellow, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA

Dr David Okai is a Consultant Neuropsychiatrist with specialist interests in movement disorders; traumatic and acquired brain injury; and severe and complex functional neurological disorders requiring interdisciplinary rehabilitation.

• Consultant Neuropsychiatrist at The Maudsley Hospital, Department of Neuropsychiatry
• Consultant Neuropsychiatrist in Orpington Neurorehabilitation Unit, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Faculty of Neuropsychiatry, Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Associate Medical Director for National and Specialist Services, Maudsley Hospital
• Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Oxford (Neurosciences)

In his NHS practice, Dr Okai provides expertise across the entire integrated care pathway for patients requiring neurorehabilitation at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. This includes a wide range of disorders, including neuropsychiatric needs associated with brain injury, functional neurological disorder, and Parkinson’s disease. Dr Okai often supports a patient’s entire recovery journey from acute care to community integration.

He has 12 years of post-qualification clinical experience, with specific expertise in the subspecialty of Neuropsychiatry, and Liaison Psychiatry, including work in several National Specialist NHS services at both The Maudsley Hospital and The National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, London.

He has an MD(Res) in psychology (PhD equivalent), based on study of the assessment and management of complex neuropsychiatric illness.

Research interests:

Neuropsychiatric sequelae of movement disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, acquired and traumatic brain injury, autoimmune neurological disorders, Wilson’s disease, and the presentation of neurologically unexplained symptoms.

Previous affiliations:

• Neuropsychiatry consultant, Oxford University NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust
• Director of the British Neuropsychiatric Association
• Advisor on an All-Party Parliamentary Group on the management of the neuropsychiatry of Parkinson’s.
• Clinical Advisor Parkinson’s UK
• Consultant Neuropsychiatrist, National Hospital for Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, Queen Square, London
• Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist (locum), Charing Cross and Hammersmith Hospital
• Clinical Fellow, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience

Dr Ana Miorelli is a consultant liaison psychiatry and neuropsychiatrist with specialist interests in severe and complex functional neurological disorders and traumatic and acquired brain injury requiring interdisciplinary rehabilitation.

In her NHS practice, Dr Miorelli provides expertise across the entire integrated care pathway for patients with neuropsychiatric needs associated with functional neurological disorder and acquired brain injury. Her job also includes assessing and treating patients in outpatient settings for a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions as well as outreach visits and liaison with regional referrals to neuropsychiatry services. She has worked as the neuropsychiatry consultant lead in the FiND programme at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and as a part of an interdisciplinary team for people with Multiple Sclerosis across King’s Health Partnership.

As part of her liaison psychiatry experience in acute hospital settings, Dr Ana Miorelli has worked with patients with complex and severe neuropsychiatric presentations arising from physical health conditions such as gastroenterological disorders, brain injury, both traumatic and non-traumatic, and other neurological illnesses. Dr Ana Miorelli supports patient’s entire recovery journey from acute to community care.

In 2013 she completed her PhD thesis at King’s College London on genetic influences on brain volumes in psychosis.

• Execute Member of the Neuropsychiatry Faculty at Royal College of Psychiatry
• Neuropsychiatry representative and Executive Member of the Psychiatry Division at the Royal Society of Medicine
• Member of the British Neuropsychiatry Association.

Previous affiliations:

Dr Ana Miorelli has worked as a liaison psychiatry consultant at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and previously as a liaison psychiatry and neuropsychiatrist at Wessex Neurology Centre at Southampton General Hospital. Currently, Dr Miorelli works at the neuropsychiatry department at St George’s Hospital, Southwest London. She is a leading member of the Southwest London regional Functional Neurological Disorders network. Dr Miorelli leads strategies for service development to improve access to appropriate services and treatment options for patients in the region.

Dr Adam Handel is a Consultant Neurologist in Liaison Neurology at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Locum Consultant Neurologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with special interests in autoimmune encephalitis and the interface between neurology and psychiatry.

• Member, Encephalitis Working Group, Royal College of Psychiatry
• Deputy head, Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group
• Examiner, Graduate Entry Medicine, University of Oxford
• Retained Lecturer in Neurophysiology, Wadham College, University of Oxford

In his NHS practice, Dr Handel provides specialist neurology input into patients looked after by psychiatry teams in hospital and in the community. He runs the Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Clinic, which sees patients with a wide variety of different types of autoimmune encephalitis. He provides neurology input into community services delivering specialist psychotherapy to patients with functional neurological disorders. Dr Handel is the neurology lead on a teaching seminar on functional neurological disorders at the University of Oxford, and regularly teaches psychiatrists on the assessment and management of functional neurological disorders. He is also a co-host on the Brain podcast, on which he interviews the authors of novel high-impact neurology research articles (https://academic.oup.com/brain/pages/podcast).

Research interests:

Dr Handel has a research interest in neuroimmunology and autoimmune encephalitis. He is deputy head of the Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Group at the University of Oxford, overseeing a team of post-doctoral researchers and DPhil students. He has published 82 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and has secured >£1.4m in research funding over the course of his career. Dr Handel leads research projects on multiple different types of autoimmune encephalitis and immune-associated epilepsy. He has a particular focus on applying single cell sequencing technologies in order to understand the immunopathogenesis of disease and on using advanced statistical methods to understand clinical features of neuroimmunological diseases. He is a Sub-Investigator on the Legione trial of rozanolixizumab in patients with LGI1 antibody encephalitis (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04875975).

Previous affiliations:

• Honorary Clinical Lecturer in Neurology, University of Oxford, 2021–2023
• NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Neurology, University of Oxford, 2016–2021

Dr Ivan Koychev is a Consultant Neuropsychiatrist at the Department of Psychological Medicine of Oxford University NHS Foundation Trust. He has a special interest in acquired brain injury, cognitive and movement disorders, and how digital technology can facilitate detection of risk for deterioration and support recovery.

• Senior Clinical Researcher, University of Oxford, 2019 – present
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Technology Assessment Committee member, 2021 – present
• Thames Valley Alzheimer’s Research UK board member 2021 – present
• Chief Medical Officer, Five Lives SAS (https://www.fivelives.health/), 2021 – present

In his NHS practice, Dr Koychev focuses on the assessment and management of patients presenting with psychiatric needs in the context of neurological or neurosurgical disorder. He works in an acute medical trust, seeing patients on acute and intensive care wards as well as outpatients. Dr Koychev provides neuropsychiatric inputs into disease specific multi-disciplinary teams: cognitive disorders, movement disorders, epilepsy, and neurofibromatosis.

Research interests:

Dr Koychev has a research interest in detection and intervention in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. He is the Chief Investigator of the Impact of Semaglutide as part of which his team is testing whether a drug prescribed in diabetes can affect the processes underlying Alzheimer’s disease in ageing adults free of dementia. Dr Koychev leads the Dementias Platform UK Great Minds research volunteer network which supports targeted recruitment into brain health studies. He is a co-investigator on the RADAR AD study which tests the utility of digital technology to assess daily function across the dementia disease spectrum.

Previous affiliations

Academic Clinical Lecturer, University of Oxford, 2015 – 2019

Academic Clinical Fellow, King’s College London, 2012 – 2015

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Foundation Trust, 2011-2012

DPhil Student, University of Manchester, 2008 – 2011

Dr Marianne Novak is a Consultant Neurologist with specialist interests in Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) and Huntington’s Disease (HD). Her NHS practice involves assessment and treatment of patients with a wide range of neurological conditions, including both FND and HD.

More specifically, Dr Novak works in the St George’s Hospital FND service and also set up and works in the Kingston FND service. She assesses patients at all stages of their FND and works with colleagues to create individualised treatment plans. She is keen to improve access to treatment for patients with FND and, for this reason, she co-chairs the South West London and Surrey regional FND network – one of the aims of which is to optimise local pathways for FND treatment.

Dr Novak also works in both the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and South West London, Surrey and West Sussex HD services. She works with colleagues from a variety of professional backgrounds to assess and treat patients at all stages of HD, and to support their families and other care givers in parallel. Between 2007 and 2011, she held a clinical research post at the UCL Institute of Neurology and later undertook a PhD on the changes seen in the brains of people who carry the expanded HD gene. She continues to participate in clinical research.

Alongside her work with patients with FND and HD, Dr Novak works as a general neurologist in South West London and sees patients with a broad range of acute and chronic neurological conditions in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

• Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford

• R&D Director, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

• Associate Director, Dementias Platform UK

• Joint Deputy Chair, NIHR Dementia Translational Research Collaboration
• NIHR Clinical Research Network Dementia Lead, Thames Valley and South Midlands

• Honorary Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Centre for Dementia Prevention, University of Edinburgh

In her clinical practice, Professor Raymont provides 30 years of post-qualification experience and expertise across neuropsychiatric needs associated with brain injury and cognitive disorders, having trained in old age and general adult psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital and Insitute of Psychiatry in London.

Dr Tiago Teodoro is a Consultant Neurologist with specialist interests in Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), Movement Disorders, and Botulinum Toxin treatment for Movement Disorders.

Dr Teodoro has been involved in the specialist FND clinic at St George’s University Hospitals (London) since 2016. This pioneering clinic has been at the forefront of the development of innovative diagnosis and management strategies for FND. He is one of the Consultant Neurologists offering diagnosis and advice on the management of FND at St George’s Hospitals. He first became interested in FND during a clinical research fellowship at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in 2015 (supervised by Professor Mark Edwards).
Dr Teodoro completed a PhD on the mechanisms underlying functional neurological symptoms, focusing on biomarkers of abnormal attention, and remains involved in clinical research. He has published his research on FND in high-impact scientific journals.

He co-chairs the South-West London and Surrey regional FND network, aiming to improve multidisciplinary care for FND across the region.

Outside the scope of FND, Dr Teodoro has set up a weekly Botox clinic in Surrey (St Peter’s Hospital) offering EMG-guided and non-guided injections for movement disorders, including cervical and craniofacial dystonia, and other more challenging indications. He also runs a monthly Movement Disorders clinic in the same hospital.

In parallel, Dr Teodoro remains intensely involved in General Neurology, in both outpatient and inpatient settings in Surrey and South-West London.

Finally, he has provided medico-legal advice in cases of functional neurological disorders and a diverse array of other neurological conditions.

Mr Erlick Pereira is a Consultant Neurosurgeon with specialist interests in functional neurosurgery for movement disorders, pain (chronic and cancer), spinal injury, hydrocephalus and complex spinal surgery.  In his NHS practice, Mr Pereira works closely with multi-disciplinary teams in movement disorders, pain, cancer pain, spasticity, oncology, hydrocephalus and spinal surgery.

He is an Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon in London at St George’s Hospital, The Royal Marsden Hospital, The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, also University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire.  Privately he treats patients at HCA Wellington Hospital and The London Clinic.  His first degree was in psychology at Cambridge University before medicine at Oxford University, neurosurgical training at Oxford University Hospitals and spinal surgery fellowship at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and Evelina Hospitals.  He has held committee positions in the Society of British Neurological Surgeons and British Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and is a member of the UK Deep Brain Stimulation network.  He has advised and created several deep brain stimulation surgery services in the UK and abroad.

Mr Pereira leads research into neuromodulation and neurosurgical treatments for movement disorders, pain, brain injury and spinal cord injury.  He is Reader in Neurosurgery at St George’s, University of London and has won prizes from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and American Academy of Neurological Surgeons.  He has been Hunterian Professor of The Royal College of Surgeons of England, is a visiting Professor at the University of Porto and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.  He has authored 200 papers and two books.  He writes the basal ganglia and spinal cord chapters of Gray’s Anatomy and Gray’s Surgical Anatomy.

Clare Sweasey is a Consultant Nurse Brain Injury Specialist. Clare works within the brain injury team at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London. Her role includes the management of complex needs including neuropsychiatric and functional neurological symptom presentations in people who have had a brain injury in inpatient and outpatient settings, working with people after discharge in the community.

Clare has completed a Master’s in Advanced Clinical Practice, and as part of that developed her skills as a nurse prescriber being able to manage several brain injury related problems. Clare has a specialist interest working with people who present with challenging behaviour and has recently developed an eLearning module to help train staff from all disciplines in supporting the management of challenging behaviour. Clare’s skills in consulting on and supporting education about challenging behaviour makes her an extremely valued member of the services that she works with.

Clare previously worked at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit, she went on to set up the Oxford Head Injury Service as a Clinical Nurse Specialist.

Clare’s role is not only to work with patients who have an acquired brain injury but also in working closely with their families, their treating teams and offering support and information. Clare has helped to establish a complex interdisciplinary outpatient clinic and enjoys working with other professionals to deliver patient-centred care.

Cairstiona is our Operations Manager, overseeing the day-to-day functioning of the business and ensuring operational efficiency. With a background in clinical psychology, she brings a unique perspective to her role, understanding the conditions we treat and their impact on our patients. Beyond her role as a point of contact and guide through the referral pathway and treatment process, Cairstiona plays a pivotal role in running the business as a whole.

Her responsibilities encompass a wide range of tasks, from strategic planning to team management, ensuring smooth operations across all facets of the organisation. With her expertise and dedication, Cairstiona is committed to providing comprehensive support to patients and fostering the growth and success of our business.

Daren is our Medical Secretary. He has a background in Customer Service, Data and Records Management and with almost 8 years in St Georges Hospital in the Neurosciences department as both a Clinic Co-ordinator and Medical Secretary he has good experience in patient care. He is part of your point of contact for general enquiries and will help guide and co-ordinate your appointments and assessments.

Dr Glenn Nielsen is a clinical and research neuro-physiotherapist with a special interest in functional motor disorders.

Current roles:

• Senior Lecturer in Neurological Physiotherapy, St George’s University of London
• Consultant Physiotherapist, St George’s University NHS Trust

In his NHS practice, Dr Nielsen leads a specialist physiotherapy service for functional motor disorder at St George’s University Hospital in London.

Research Interests:

His research interest is developing evidenced based treatment for functional motor disorders. He leads the NIHR funded Physio4FMD multi centre randomised controlled trial of specialist physiotherapy for functional motor disorder. He has also been awarded an NIHR lectureship to study functional somatosensory symptoms.

Previous affiliations:

• Senior Research Fellow, UCL Institute of Neurology and Specialist Physiotherapist, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London
• Specialist Neurological Physiotherapist, The National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London
• Rotational Physiotherapist, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Western Australia

Meenal trained as a Physiotherapist at Sheffield Hallam University, graduating in 1998.  She has over 20 years experience working within a neuro-rehabilitation setting. She had previously worked at some large NHS teaching sites  before joining the rehabilitation unit at The Wellington Hospital in 2005. Since then, she has enjoyed a career working in several roles across the acute and rehabilitation services with her  current position as clinical lead of the rehabilitation physiotherapy team.  

Meenal has wide experience of working in neurosurgery, neuromedicine, stroke, neuro-rehabilitation, neuro outpatients and pain management. She Is Pilates trained under APPI  and can also provide acupuncture treatment. Her clinical interests are in complex pain management and Functional Neurological disorders. 

Meenal has led with the setup of the multidisciplinary programs for both complex pain and FND patient groups offered here at the Wellington Hospitals. She has a great manner with her patients and always strives to deliver an excellent patient experience. She demonstrates a great communication style  and has had vast experience working alongside legal teams and case managers, who are very often the key stakeholders with these patient groups.  She enjoys providing the clinical input along with the leadership and coordinating of the programs.