Dr Karren Towgood

Name: Karren Towgood

Title: Dr

Languages spoken: English

Areas of Expertise (conditions):

I am a consultant neuropsychologist and my specialist field is adult clinical neuropsychology. This includes working with traumatic brain injury, brain tumpours, MS, encephalitis, meningitis, dementia, mild cognitive impairment, epilepsy, long-covid and other neurological conditions that present with cognitive, behaviour or mood symptoms. 

Education:

Qualification in Clinical Neuropsychology (Distinction) – British Psychological Society (December 2014-October 2017)

Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Neuropsychology (Merit) – University of Glasgow (September 2015-September 2017)

Statement of Equivalence, Salomons, Canterbury Christ Church University (Jan 2009 – Dec 2010) 

UK conversion course to recognise New Zealand Clinical Psychology Qualifications.

Postgraduate Diploma of Clinical Psychology – University of Auckland, New Zealand (Feb 2000 – March 2004)

New Zealand Clinical Psychology Training.

PhD – University of Auckland, New Zealand (January 2000 – March 2003)

“The Neurological, Neuropsychological and Psychosocial Outcome of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysm Treatment”. Supervisor: Associate Professor Jenni Ogden.

BA Psychology (Honours – First Class) – Macquarie University, Australia (1995-1998)

Honours Thesis Topic: 

 “Memory Blocking:  The Role of Attention and Controlled Processes in the Word Fragment Completion Task”. Supervisor: Dr Sachiko Kinoshita.

Career History:

Lead Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist – Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre, Princes Royal Hospital (August 2012-Present). Job share position leading the neuropsychology department and Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust, conducting neuropsychological assessments and providing brief interventions for clients with a range of cognitive difficulties including dementia, stroke and head injury. 

Clinical Psychologist – Re:Cognition Health (Sept 2011-Present). Part time, private consultancy work conducting neuropsychological assessments, clinical trials assessment, rehabilitation and therapy with clients with a range of cognitive difficulties including dementia, stroke and head injury. 

Clinical Psychologist – Virgin Care Surrey (December 2013-January 2015). Part time work conducting psychological assessment, neuropsychological assessment and psychological interventions with older adults presenting to inpatient stroke ward, inpatient complex older adults ward and to outpatient clinics.

Clinical Psychologist – Royal Hospital for Neurodisability (February 2013-November 2013). Part time work conducting psychological assessment, neuropsychological assessment and psychological interventions with clients suffering from severe brain injury and their families.

Postdoctoral Research Worker – Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London (May 2009-Sept 2011). Co-ordinating and conducting a project investigating the validity and reproducibility of methods of assessing memory with fMRI, in patients with epilepsy. 

Locum Psychologist – Neuro-rehabilitation Team, Lambeth Community Health (Oct 2010-Dec 2010). Part time locum position. Psychological assessment, neuropsychological assessment and brief psychological interventions with clients within a neuro-rehabilitation team. 

Postdoctoral Research Worker – Institute of Psychiatry, King College London (May 2007-May 2009). Co-ordinating and conducting a project investigating the cognitive, neuropsychiatric and structural brain changes associated with aging in people with HIV and age-matched non-HIV volunteers. This post also involved regular attendance and participation at the St Thomas’s Memory Disorders Clinic.

Postdoctoral Research Worker – Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, (June 2006-May 2007)

Conducted a project investigating the cognitive profile of adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Also involved in a project investigating the neural basis of attention processing in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Private Contractor – Concussion Specialists, (January 2006-May 2006)

Conducted cognitive assessments and prepared assessment reports for clients of a mild traumatic brain injury concussion clinic. 

Private Contractor – Neuron Pharmaceutical, (November 2005-May-2006)

Consulted on the development of research protocols with specific reference to aspects experimental design and neuropsychological assessment in clinical trials.

Clinical Neuropsychologist, Mental Health Services for Older People – Middlemore Hospital (2.5 days per week, March 2004-May-2006)

Psychological assessment, neuropsychological assessment and treatment of clients from the Mental Health Services for Older People Unit, inpatient and outpatient services.  

Clinical Neuropsychologist, Assessment, Treatment and Rehabilitation – Middlemore Hospital (2.5 days per week March 2004-May-2006)

Psychological assessment, neuropsychological assessment and treatment of clients from the Assessment, Treatment and Rehabilitation ward, inpatient and outpatient services.  

Neuropsychology Locum, Auckland Hospital, Neurology Department (3 days per week, August-December 2002 – Part Time)

Conducted pre-surgery and post-surgery neuropsychological assessments for the epilepsy surgery programme.  Regular attendance at the weekly epilepsy surgery multi-disciplinary planning team meeting and weekly neurology case review meeting. 

Associations:

I am a HCPC registered chartered clinical psychologist (Registration Number PYL26378), a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society (Membership Number 146236), a member of the British Psychological Society Division of Neuropsychology and I am listed on the BPS Specialist Registrar for Clinical Neuropsychologists. In addition to my work with Re:Cognition Health I also currently work at Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre, Brighton and Sussex University NHS Trust, where I am a lead consultant neuropsychologist.

Published papers / Media:

Haynes, BI, Pitkanen, M, Kulasegaram, R, Casey, SJ, Schutte, M, Towgood, K, Peters, B, Baker, GJ, Kopelman, MD (2018). HIV: ageing, cognition and neuroimaging at 4-year follow-up. HIV Medicine.

Towgood, K., Barker, G., Caceres, A., Crum, B., Elwes, R., Costafreda, S., Mehta, M., Morris, R., von Oertzen, T. And Richardson, M. (2015). Bringing memory fMRI to the clinic: comparison of seven memory fMRI protocols in temporal lobe epilepsy. Human Brain Mapping.

Keller, S.S., O’Muirchetaigh, J., Traynor, C., Towgood, K., Barker, G.J., and Richardson, M.P. (2014). Thalamotemporal impairment in temporal lobe epilepsy: A combined MRI analysis of structure, integrity, and connectivity. Epilepsia, 2, 306-315.

Towgood, K. Pitkanen, M., Kulasegaram, R., Fradera, A., Kumar, A., Soni, S., Sibtain, N.A., Reed, L., Bradbeer, C., Barker, G.J., Dunn, J.T., Zelaya, F.  and Kopelman, M.D (2013). Regional cerebral blood flow and FDG uptake in asymptomatic HIV-1 men. Human Brain Mapping, 10, 2484-2493.

Volle, E., Costello, A., Coates, L., Forbes, C., Towgood, K., Gilbert, S., Kinkingnehun, S., McNeil, J., Greenwood, R., Papps, B., van den Broeck, M. and Burges, P. (2012). Dissociation between verbal response initiation and suppression after prefrontal lesions. Cerebral Cortex, 22(10), 2428-2440.

Towgood, K. Pitkanen, M., Kulasegaram, R., Fradera, A., Kumar, A., Soni, S., Sibtain, N.A., Reed, L., Bradbeer, C., Barker, G.J., and Kopelman, M.D (2012). Mapping the brain in younger and older asymptomatic HIV-1 Men. Frontal volume changes in the absence of other cortical or diffusion tensor abnormalities. Cortex, 48(2), 230-241.

Towgood, K, Meuwese, J., Gilbert, S & Burgess, P (2009). Single Case Series Study of Neuropsychological Function in Adults with Asperger Syndrome. Neuropsychologia, 47, 2981-2988.

Gilbert, S., Meuwese, J., Towgood, K., Burgess, P. (2009). Abnormal functional specialisation within medial frontal cortex in high-functioning autism: A multi-voxel correlation approach. Brain, 132, 869-878.

Towgood, K., Ogden J. & Mee, E. (2005).  Psychosocial effects of harbouring an untreated unruptured intracranial aneurysm.  Neurosurgery, 57, 858-864.

Towgood, K., Ogden J. & Mee, E. (2005).  Neurological, neuropsychological and psychosocial outcome following treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms.  Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 11, 522-534.

Towgood, K., Ogden J. & Mee, E. (2004).  Neurological, neuropsychological and psychosocial outcome following treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms: a review and commentary.  Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 10, 114-134.

Kinoshita, S. & Towgood, K. (2000).  Effects of dividing attention on the memory-block effect.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition.  27(3), 889-895.