Re: Team

Dr Steven Allder

Dr Allder is a Consultant Neurologist. He offers both clinical and medicolegal neurological services. He is also the local Primary Investigator on several global Phase 3 studies relating to Parkinson’s Disease.

Dr Allder’s main clinical focus is traumatic brain injury (TBI), and functional neurological disorders (FND). With respect to TBI, Dr Allder provides a clinical and medicolegal services for the assessment of patients with TBI across the whole spectrum of injury severity i.e moderate – severe to mild; and across diverse aetiologies of TBI i.e. civilian, sport’s and military.

Recognition Health, are completing a 4 years collaboration with the Aston Brain Centre looking at the clinical utility of Magnetoencephalography (MEG) in TBI, especially mTBI where MRI including DTI is normal. This has been a successful collaboration which will lead to the development of several improved diagnostic tools for mild TBI . The collaboration has also led to further projects across a wide spectrum of TBI aetiologies, engaging new partnerships with Nottingham University, Toronto Sick kids, and several commercial organisations.

Since 2020, Dr Allder and Recognition Health have developed a new primary academic collaboration with King’s College Hospital. This joint work is exploring two complementary areas. Firstly, the utility of more sophisticated MRI sequences to further enhance diagnostic and pathophysiological insights into mild TBI, especially sports related TBI. Secondly, we are exploring how deployment of state-of-the-art neuro-computational techniques can reveal the mechanisms underlying how structural injury from TBI creates the clinical profiles seen in these conditions. It is hoped this will lead to improved treatment strategies.

With respect to Functional Neurological Disorder Dr Allder has long standing interest and is a founding member of the FND Society. Dr Allder offers a clinical and medicolegal service for the assessment of patients with suspected FND. Dr Allder has a long-standing collaboration with Dr Leo Russell and Prof Allan Abbass, who are leading practitioners and researchers in a treatment modality for FND termed Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP). ISTDP is modality with a strong neuroscience rationale and empirical evidence base supporting its effectiveness. Dr Russell has recently joined Recognition Health and is working with Dr Allder to enhance our clinical offering for this patient group and extend research into the mechanisms by with this treatment modality creates improvements for patients

Recent publications

Allder, S and MacSweeney, E. Recent developments in Neuro-Imaging for Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Personal Injury Law (in Press)

Russell, L., Abbass, A., Allder, S A Review of the Treatment of Functional Neurological Disorder with Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). Archives of Medical Psychology (submitted)

Allder S, Post Traumatic Pain – A Neurological Perspective. Pain News (in press)

Bigler & Allder Traumatic Brain Injury, Neural Networks and Neuroimaging: Practical Approaches for the Neurorehabilitation Clinician. NeuroRehabilitation (in press)

Bigler, E. D., & Allder, S. (2021). Neuroimaging in functional outcome. N.Y.: Springer.

Hall M, Allder S and Furlong P. Resting state and task induced oscillations in chronic post-concussion syndrome: A pilot study. 21st International Conference on Biomagnetism (BIOMAG), Philadelphia, PA, USA, August 26-30, 2018

Russell, L., Abbass, A., Allder, S. and Noborsky, R., Applying intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy to the treatment of medically unexplained symptoms: integrating theories of cause and theories of change, Archives of Medical Psychology, August 2017 (Volume 9, Issue 1), 1-24.

Russell, L.A., Abbass, A.A., Allder, S.J., A pilot study of reduction in healthcare costs following the application of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, Epilepsy & Behaviour 63 (2016) 17-19.

Education

He trained in Nottingham in general medicine and carried out his specialist neurology training at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Allder’s main interests are the management of acute neurological emergencies, in particular cerebrovascular disease and traumatic brain injury. Dr Allder ran a general neurology outpatient practice during his NHS work and had specific sub-specialist interest in neuro-otology (assessment of dizzy patients), neurological pain syndromes and medically unexplained symptoms.

Dr Julius Bourke

Consultant Neuropsychiatrist

Dr John Janssen

Consultant Neuropsychologist

Dr Karren Towgood

Dr Karren Towgood

Consultant Neuropsychologist

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.

Education

Dr Towgood was awarded her BPsych (1st Class Honours) from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia before completing her PhD and Clini-cal Psychology Training at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is an experienced researcher having completed post-doctoral posts with world leading experts at the ICN, University College London, and the IOP, Kings College London. Dr Towgood’s research interests include individual case study approaches to profiling neuropsychological conditions and assessment of memory using fMRI in neurological conditions. She has presented her work at a number of international conferences and in journal articles and has received awards for her research contributions.

Dr Dimitrios Paschos

Consultant Psychiatrist in Intellectual Disabilities

Dr Dimitrios Paschos

Consultant Psychiatrist in Intellectual Disabilities

Dr Paschos is a Honorary Research Fellow at King’s College London and since 2004 he has been lecturing regularly at the MSc in Mental Health Studies (Learning Disabilities module) at the Institute of Psychiatry and has published in peer-reviewed journals.

He served on the board of medical and scientific charities and is currently President of the Hellenic Medical Society of the UK. He regularly teaches Psychiatry of Learning Disabilities to medical students at University College London. He is currently research collaborating investigator in a study of the genetics of learning disability and a clinical trial of a novel psychotropic medication.

Since 2008 he worked as Consultant Psychiatrist for the following organisations: South London & Maudsley NHS FT, The Cambian Group and Camden and Islington NHS FT. Dr Paschos currently works for the NHS part-time where he focuses on the mental health of adults with learning and developmental disabilities. He has a special interest in ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders and the mental health of people with Learning Disability. He leads the Blue Sky Adult ADHD Clinic.

Education

Dr Dimitrios Paschos completed his basic medical training in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He graduated in 1998 and started his specialist training as a psychiatrist in England in 1999. He trained at the South London and Maudsley. He gained experience in General Psychiatry, Old Age Psychiatry, Rehabilitation, Liaison Psychiatry, Substance Misuse, Learning Disabilities and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. During his training he worked at Lewisham, Lambeth, Maudsley, Royal Bethlem and Guy’s Hospitals.

Dr Paschos continued his higher specialist training (SpR) in South London and Maudsley and completed his specialisation in the Psychiatry of Learning Disabilities. This included training at the National Adult ADHD Centre at the Maudsley Hospital. He holds certificate of completion of specialist training (CCT) and is on the GMC specialist register.

Dr Maite Ferrin

Dr Maite Ferrin

Dr Maite Ferrin (MD, MSc, PhD) is a Consultant Psychiatrist with with extensive expertise in treating children and adolescents with all types of mild and more severe psychiatric conditions, including anxiety/depression, psychosis, bipolar disorder, PTSD, ASD/ADHD, eating disorder, and emerging Personality Disorder.

Dr Ferrin has been providing tailored medical treatments and non-pharmacological approaches including CBT and psychoeducation to these patients and their families.

Dr Ferrin has published more than 40 international peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in the field of child psychiatry. She is part of the steering committee of the Continuum ADHD Project, an expert-led pan-European educational initiative in the ADHD field. Dr Ferrin is also one of the few UK members of the Eunethydis Group (European Network for Hyperkinetic Disorders) and the European ADHD Guidelines Group (EAGG), independent international leading groups with special clinical and research interest in the ADHD/ADD field

Education

Dr Ferrin graduated from University of Navarre (Spain) in 2001 and subsequently completed her training in General Psychiatry in Pamplona, Spain, and then undertook specialist fellowship training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Imperial College in London. In 2005-2006 Dr Ferrin completed her MSc training in Child and Adolescent Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, King´s College London. In 2010 she completed her European PhD in Neurosciences at the University of Granada/King´s College London, and she was qualified with the prestigious Cum Laude (equivalent to Distinction grade). During these years Dr Ferrin continued working as CAMHS Consultant Psychiatry, specialising in diagnosis and treatment of ADHD/ASD and comorbid conditions throughout the lifespan.

Dr Ferrin is Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the Brain and Behaviour Laboratory, at the University of Southampton

Dr Claudia Wald

Dr Richard Perry

Dr Alberto Cifelli

Speech and Language Therapist

Lisa Harris

Lisa Harris

Speech and Language Therapist

Lisa Harris is Senior Specialist Speech and Language Therapist who has 18 years of experience working in the rehabilitation of adults with communication, cognitive and swallowing difficulties resulting from neurological injury or disease.

Lisa provides detailed assessment of cognitive and communication disorders that can result from a stroke, head injury (TBI), Parkinson’s Disease, Motor Neurone Disease, brain tumours, Alzheimers disease and Multiple Sclerosis (MS).Once an assessment is completed Lisa will work closely with a client looking not only at developing a suitable treatment plan, but how to support and enable the client and their family to communicate effectively and manage any cognitive difficulties such as memory or processing problems.

Lisa also provides a paediatric service alongside her neurological work which specialises in Language Processing Disorders (difficulty understanding and using language successfully). Lisa uses both the traditional paediatric forms of treatment and those developed from her cognitive, neuroscience background to develop strategies to enable children with language and cognitive difficulties to process and understand information more successfully.

Education

Since graduating from City University in 1995 she has held several specialist posts in London NHS hospitals (St George’s Hospital; Atkinson Morley’s Hospital, London; Harrowlands and The Wolfson Medical Rehabilitation Centre) and has been head of department for two neurological rehabilitation units (Unsted Park Neurological Rehabilitation centre and The Brain Injury Centre, The Queen Elizabeth Foundation, Banstead.) She has also been a post graduate clinical tutor at The City University, London.

Dr Paul Butler

Consultant Neuroradiologist

Dr Stephen Pearson

Dr Alakendu Sekhar

Dr Alakendu Sekhar

Dr Sekhar is employed as Consultant Neurologist with Walton Centre NHS Foundation trust Liverpool for last 7 years. He is also visiting stroke neurologist at Aintree University NHS Foundation Trust and Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust. His day to day work mainly involves direct clinical care for all aspects of general neurology including stroke & epilepsy. He is the trust clinical lead for stroke thrombectomy service. His pioneering work was setting up the stroke thrombectomy service at Walton Centre which now serves the whole of the Cheshire & Merseyside.

He is the deputy lead for hyper acute stroke research centre (HSRC) at Cheshire & Merseyside which is NIHR funded. His research interest is in acute stroke treatments including thrombolysis and thrombectomy.

He serves on the stroke advisory group at association of British Neurology (ABN).

He is the regional advisor for Royal College of Physician Edinburgh and involved in promoting education and fellowship of the College.

He is the honorary senior lecturer for Liverpool Medical school and involved in medical student teaching.

Private & Medicolegal work

He is empanelled as medicolegal expert with Re-cognition Health 77 Wimpole Street, London and takes instruction for both clinical negligence and brain injury cases.

He is available to see medicolegal client on prior arrangements at London Clinics.

Dr Sekhar has privileges and rights at Spire Liverpool and Murrayfield hospitals for private clinical and medicolegal consultations.

He is on Medicolegal practice for last 5 years and has taken instructions from several law firms in the Country mainly on behalf of the claimant. His medicolegal interests are mainly around stroke and all aspect of vascular neurological injuries and he is now expanding on brain injury cases.

Education

Dr Sekhar has completed his specialist training in Neurology & stroke in 2012 in Southwest of England. He has dual accreditation for Neurology & Stroke and is on general medical council specialist register.

He had extensive training in all aspect of neurology & stroke and is well published in the field.

He is the peer reviewer for several medical journals and was reviewer of the year for Elsevier publishing last year.

Dr Philip Paul Nichols

Dr Valerie Suarez

Consultant Psychologist

Dr Arianna Marconi

Dr Arianna Marconi

Dr Marconi started working in CAMHS in UK since 2014, both in inpatient and outpatient settings, including psychiatric intensive care units for young people suffering from severe mental health conditions.

Areas of Expertise (conditions)

Anxiety, Mood disorder, ADHD

Associations

GMC, Royal College of Psychiatrists

Published papers / Media

Ardizzone, I., Nardecchia, F., Marconi, A., Carratelli, T. I., & Ferrara, M. (2010). Antipsychotic medication in adolescents suffering from schizophrenia: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Psychopharmacol Bull, 43(2), 45-66.

Using antipsychotic medication for the treatment of schizophrenia in children and adolescents
M Ferrin, G Helen, M Arianna, MR Joseph – … International Association for , 2016 – iacapap.org

Proportion of patients in south London with first-episode psychosis attributable to use of high potency cannabis: a case-control study
M Di Forti, A Marconi, E Carra, S Fraietta, A Trotta – The Lancet …, 2015 – Elsevier

Meta-analysis of the association between the level of cannabis use and risk of psychosis
A Marconi, M Di Forti, CM Lewis… – Schizophrenia …, 2016 – academic.oup.com

Cannabis use has been reported to induce long-lasting psychotic disorders and a dose-response relationship has been observed. We performed a systematic review of studies that investigate the association between the degree of cannabis consumption and psychosis and Daily use, especially of high-potency cannabis, drives the earlier onset of psychosis in cannabis users
A Trotta, L Ferraro, SA Stilo, A Marconi- Schizophrenia …, 2014 – academic.oup.com

Obstetric complications and early-onset schizophrenia: a case-control study
I Ardizzone, A Marconi, F Nardecchia – Rivista di Psichiatria, 2009 – europepmc.org

Marconi, Arianna, and Ignazio Ardizzone. “Autobiographical delusion and subjectivation: problems in diagnosis and treatment during adolescence.”
Psychosis 4.1 (2012): 74-80.

Education

Dr Marconi completed her medical training with distinction in one of the best universities in Italy, “La Sapienza” University of Rome. During her 5-year post-graduate program, she was awarded with an honorary placement where she completed a mixed research/clinical attachment at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College of London. In this context, she was involved in several European Research projects about gene-environment interplay in the etiology of psychosis.

Ifigeneia Mourelatou

Autism Practitioner & ESDM Specialist

Dr Thomas MacLaren

Dr Thomas MacLaren

Having qualified as a consultant in 2017, with extensive experience of general and older adult psychiatry, Dr MacLaren led the Brent Memory Service from 2018 to 2020, developing remote consultation services including an advice line for GPs (shortlisted for a Health Service Journal award) and creating new care pathways for faster diagnosis and treatment of people with dementia.

He established a clinical network linking all dementia specialist consultants across the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust. During the pandemic, he led the older people’s mental health service in Brent, working to support people experiencing a wide variety of mental health problems, with both in-person and remote consultation. In June 2020, Dr MacLaren took up a consultant psychiatrist role at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, supporting their Emergency Department and wards with mental health care for adults of all ages. He has worked with the hospital to improve support for people with alcohol use problems and confusion; in addition to quality improvement work with local mental health teams and research.

Areas of Expertise (conditions or services)

Memory loss and dementia
Mental capacity assessments
Anxiety, depression and psychosis
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex-PTSD
Personality disorder
Adult ADHD assessment

Associations

Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists; Certificate of Completion of Training; Section 12 approved Mental Health Specialist; Honorary Clinical Lecturer, Imperial College London; Fellow of the Higher Education Academy; Quality Improvement Coach with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Published papers / Media

Maclaren T, Ahmed N and Edwards S. (2021), An online forum to support consultant psychiatrists in their first five years of practice, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. European Journal of Psychiatry. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.1257.

Shaw E, Catherine Adams C, Maclaren T and Brown F. (2020) PLAN standards and writing to patients: quality improvement by audit, BJPsych Open. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2021.589

Sanatinia R, Afzal S, Maclaren T, McNulty A, Adele C, Morah A and Crawford M, (2019), Improved mental health among LABILE study participants: A qualitative exploration: Exploring improved mental health in LABILE study. Personality and Mental Health 13: 75–83

MacLaren T, Warner J. (2016) Will the journal club survive? BJPsych Advances. Commentary On… Are Journal Clubs Useful In Teaching Psychiatry? BJPsych Advances, 22 (3) 211-212; DOI: 10.1192/apt.bp.115.015479.

MacLaren T (2016), On-line module updated for the Royal College of Psychiatrists Continuing Professional Development, Quickbite: Suicide in the elderly, [On-line, available from: http://www.psychiatrycpd.co.uk/learningmodules/quickbitesuicideintheelde.aspx].
MacLaren T, Townell J, Shanmugham S, Argent V, De Ridder L, Venkataraman A, Clarke M, and Khwaja M. (2016) Knowledge of patients’ voting rights amongst mental health professionals working in the London Borough of Westminster during the 2015 UK general election. European Psychiatry 33: 450 [On-line] Available from DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.1637.
Townell J, MacLaren T, Argent V, De Ridder L, Shanmugham S, Venkataraman A, Clarke M, and Khwaja M. (2016) Knowledge and uptake of voting rights by adults with mental illness living in supported accommodation in Westminster (London) during the 2015 UK general election. European Psychiatry 33: 453 – 454. [On-line] Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.1649
Townell J, MacLaren T, De Ridder L, Shanmugham S, Argent V, Venkataraman A, Clarke M, and Khwaja M. (2016) Knowledge and uptake of voting rights by psychiatric inpatients in Westminster, London during the 2015 UK general election. European Psychiatry 33: 454. [On-line] Available from DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.1650.
MacLaren T and Warner J (2015) Spotting the difference: Mental Health Issues In Older Patients. General Medical Council Viewpoints, [On-line, available from: http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/26099.asp]
Crawford M, MacLaren T, Reilly G. (2014) Are mood stabilisers helpful in treatment of borderline personality disorder? British Medical Journal; 349: g5378

Education

Dr MacLaren began his career in psychiatry at St Thomas’ Hospital and completed his training in the St Mary’s Hospital Scheme, North West London. He became a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2013 and entered the Specialist Register in 2017. He has completed a Master’s Degree in Education at Imperial College London and uses these skills to develop training in mental health to healthcare professionals, trainee Psychiatrists, volunteers and carers supporting people with mental illness.

Dr Stefania Bruno

Consultant Neuropsychiatrist

Dr Stefania Bruno

Consultant Neuropsychiatrist

Dr Stefania Bruno is a Consultant Neuropsychiatrist with extensive experience in cognitive disorders, acquired brain injuries and movement disorders (Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Tourette’s Syndrome). As well as working for Re:cognition Health, she is Lead Clinician and Medical Director of a NHSE-funded tertiary care neuro-rehabilitation service for patients with acquired brain injuries (trauma, encephalitis, stroke, hypoxic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, etc) and she is a member of the Pan London specialist rehabilitation collaborative.

Her research has focused on the application of advanced neuroimaging techniques to the study of cognitive deficits in mood disorders and to the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. She has a visiting appointment at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (King’s College London). She has written over forty peer-reviewed articles and co-authored two book chapters in neuroimaging books and a chapter of the Oxford Textbook of Neuropsychiatry.

Education

Dr Bruno obtained a first-class medical degree with honours in 1995 with a thesis on cognitive functions of the cerebellum. She carried out her post-graduate education at University College London (UCL) and at the Maudsley Hospital. Throughout her post-graduate training, and as a clinical research fellow, she spent over a decade at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, where she acquired a very robust experience in the diagnosis and management of most neuropsychiatric disorders. She also held a previous consultant post at the Burden Centre in Bristol, where she acquired a lot of experience in sleep disorders and epilepsy.

She has a PhD in advanced neuroimaging from the Institute of Neurology (UCL) with a thesis with title: “Magnetisation transfer imaging, diffusion tensor imaging and voxel-based morphometry in bipolar disorder”.

Dr. Alzbeta Karlikova

Barbara Blanco

Clinical Psychologist

Dr Ben Marlow

Consultant Paediatrician

Marilyn Gulland

Consultant Psychologist

Dr Mphala Mogudi

Dr Mphala Mogudi

EMDR/CBT/Couples Therapist

Name: Mphala Mogudi

Title: Dr (BSc, MBchB, MPH, FcPsych)

Languages spoken: English; Sotho

Areas of Expertise (conditions): Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, anxiety and depression.

Education:

2010 Postgraduate Certificate in senior management, Open University Business School, UK

1997 FcPsych (South Africa)

Fellowship in Psychiatry, South African College of Medicine: Sub specialty – Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

1988 MPH – Master’s Degree in Public Health

Harvard University, School of Public health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Focus on Health Education and Community Development

1985 MBchB (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery)

University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Received class prize for Community Paediatrics

1980 BSc Degree: Biology (Major) Psychology (Minor)

Brown University, Rhode Island, USA

Career History: Dr Mogudi has worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist in the UK since 2006, both within the NHS and in the private sector, in inpatient and outpatient settings. She led a multidisciplinary team on a psychiatric intensive care unit assessing and treating young people suffering from severe mental health conditions. She is a medical appraiser of doctors in all specialities and grades. She is an expert witness in Child and Adolescent psychiatry medicolegal cases.

Associations:

GMC (General Medical Council) -on specialist register

RcPsych (Royal college of Psychiatrists)

ACAMH (the association of child and adolescents Mental Health)

IACAPAP (International association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions)
Publications and Conference Presentations:

1. Riley B; Mogudi M; Jenkins T; Williamson R, American Journal of Medial Genetics (Neuro Psychiatric Genetics) 67:515-522 (1996). No evidence of linkage of chromosome 22 markers to Schizophrenia in Southern African Bantu speaking families.

2. Mogudi M. From chaos to order in family life; lessons from Southern Africa. Keynote address; conference proceedings. International commission on marriage and family life. May 2000, Berlin, Germany

3. Mogudi-Carter. Challenges experienced by a therapist working with multi-cultural families: case studies. Keynote address June 2001. International Association for Counselling – annual conference, Lonavla, India. International Journal for the advancement of Counselling, 23:237-243. 2001

Education

Shikainah Champion

Shikainah Champion

EMDR/CBT/Couples Therapist

Name: Shikainah Champion

Title: Consultant Psychological Therapist

Languages spoken: English, Hindi, Urdu and Tamil

Areas of Expertise (conditions):

Individual therapy

PTSD, Anxiety, Trauma-type symptoms, OCD, Specific phobias, Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social phobia, Health anxiety, Panic disorder and Agoraphobia, Depression, Depression in context of Long -Term Conditions (LTC), Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Bulimia nervosa (BN) or Binge-eating

Main therapy models used: EMDR, Imagery Rescripting (IR) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

Group therapy

Group therapy to treat depression, anxiety, social phobia and OCD has been proven to be effective. Some advantages of engaging in group work are group cohesion due to shared experiences, interpersonal learning and group members learning to be co-therapists

Main therapy model: CBT and EMDR

Behavioural Couples therapy (BCT)

The therapy has shown to be an effective treatment when a person’s physical or mental health issues impact their relationship with their significant other. Additionally, if there are issues in the relationship that are contributing to or maintaining someone’s depression, this is also an indication that BCT could be appropriate.

Behavioural Couples Therapy (BCT) is a type of therapy where a couple is taught certain skills on communication, joint decision-making, problem-solving etc. so that difficult conversations can be had without it escalating into conflict. An additional component of BCT is something called Sensate Focus which particularly is for those couples where sexual intimacy has become minimal or non-existent.

Main therapy model: Behavioural Couples Therapy

Education:

Post Graduate Certificate in Behavioural Couples Therapy (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)

Post Graduate Diploma in Behaviour and Cognitive Psychotherapies (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)

Eye Movement Densitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) Level 3 (EMDR Academy, UK)

Masters in Clinical Psychology (University of Pune, India). University first rank and recipient of The Chancellor’s gold medal

Post Graduate Diploma in Children, Youth & Development (Institute of Social Studies, Den Haag, The Netherlands)

Bachelors in Psychology (University of Madras, India)

Career History:

Shikainah is a psychological therapist. She works privately and with the NHS in a London-based Primary Care psychological therapies service; where she has been for the last 12 years. Prior to this, for around 10 years, she worked in India in both grass root level charities as well as a training organisation for the third sector.

Her core training is in Clinical Psychology and later in the UK, she specialised in evidence-based therapies like CBT, EMDR, Behavioural Couples Therapy (BCT) and Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET). She treats clients who present with Depression, PTSD, Childhood Trauma, OCD, Specific Phobias, GAD, Health Anxiety, Social phobia, Panic & Agoraphobia, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Bulimia nervosa.

Additionally, she supervises trainee psychologists in her NHS Service; having done her Supervisory training from University College London (UCL) and Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL). She also offers regular workshops for various staff groups across the UK on how to deliver culturally responsive therapy and advises NHS Boards on Diversity in Decision-Making.

Alongside her clinical work, she also leads on projects to make inroads into hard-to-reach Asian ethnic minority communities in certain pockets of London. Essentially, she has been instrumental in designing and delivering bespoke trauma-focussed interventions for Refugees and Asylum seekers like the Sri Lankan Tamil community, the Ahmadiyya Muslim community etc. The clinics she helped establish in their communities have now been cited as an example of best practice in the British Psychological Society (BPS) manual for Community Psychologists.

When she’s not working, she can be found savouring a good book with a cup of Earl Grey tea in hand; occasionally trying her hand at writing too.

Associations:

Fully accredited practitioner of the British Association of Behaviour and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) www.babcp.com

Associate Member of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) www.rsm.ac.uk

Member of EMDR Association UK

Published papers / Media:

A selection of publications and presentations

Guidance for psychologists on working with community organisations (Sep 2018).PDF (bps.org.uk)

Invited to present at BABCP International Conference in Manchester (Jul 2017) Co-Production: Culturally Adapted CBT Group for Tamil refugees and asylum seekers in South-West London

Champion Samuel, S. ‘Role of Indigenous Folk Arts in fostering mental and emotional health in children’. Presented at XIV Congress of the International Family Therapy Association at Reykjavik, Iceland (Oct 2006)

Champion, S, ‘Innovative use of dance and movement therapy to teach specific skills in learning disabled children’. 28th International Congress of Psychology, Beijing, China, (mimeo) Aug 2004.

Champion, S, ‘Type A behaviour pattern and Triguna in Coronary Heart Disease’, Presented at 27th International Congress of Psychology, Stockholm, Sweden. Jul 2000.

Education

Dr. Sylvia Baker MBBS, BSc, MSc, MRCpsych

Child Psychiatrist

Dr. Sylvia Baker MBBS, BSc, MSc, MRCpsych

Child Psychiatrist

Languages spoken: English

Areas of Expertise (conditions): All types of psychiatric conditions in Childhood and adolescence period , including anxiety and depression, Autism diagnosis particularly in females, ADHD. Wide scope of knowledge in other neurodevelopmental disorders such as Tic disorders. Special interest and expertise in all eating disorders in children and adults. Can diagnosis Adult ADHD in over 18s.

Education:

Medical degree ( MBBS): University College London and Royal free Medical School 2006

Bachelor of science ( BSC in Medical Humanities): University College London 2003

Post Graduate Examinations for Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) 2012

Masters Degree in Psychiatry and psychological medicine (MSc) -Achieved overall Merit with Distinction in research: Cardiff University 2014

Certificate in Completion of Training in Psychiatry ( Consultant Higher Specialty Training recognised by GMC) with specialism in Child and Adolescent Mental health 2017 ( Wales Deanery)

Psychological training in Cognitive Behavioural Training (CBT) for children with anxiety/depression/Anorexia/Bulimia. Dialectical behavioural therapy training in distress tolerance in adolescents. ( Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre)

Career History:

General Medicine and surgical employment rotations at Royal United Hospital, Bath 2007 & Lister hospital, Stevenage from 2007-2009

General Adult Psychiatry training at Cardiff hospitals rotation 2009-2012

Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) employment and specialty training at Cardiff and South Wales Training Scheme 2012-2017

Worked as NHS consultant In Child and Adolescent Mental Health at Tonteg Child & Family centre 2017-2020

Consultant Psychiatrist for Inpatient Specialist Eating Disorder Unit at Priory Hospital, Bristol 2020-2022

Prizes:

The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Wales & Welsh Psychiatric Society Poster Prize 2011 ( 2^nd place): Audit of Diagnostic Pathways in Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in CAMHS Cardiff.

Education

Dr Anthony Fafiolu

Dr Anthony Fafiolu