Sources of Funding

• Medical Research Council
• British Medical Association
• John Fell Fund
• OHBA
• Medical Research Fund
• HDH Wills 1965 Charitable Trust

D.Phil PROJECTS / RESEARCH PLACEMENTS

Thank you for your interest in our research group. All our D.Phil project positions are currently filled. 

Sadly we are unable to offer research internships, shadowing, or other work experience placements due to limited space.

News and updates

Congratulations to Tim for his paper on micro bleeds in the very acute phase following head trauma. Available open access from Neuroscience Letters (direct access here). 

Research Summary

Our translational research uses non-invasive brain imaging measures to understand how chronic disease, particularly drug-resistant epilepsy and tumours, affects how the brain represents and processes information relevant to memory and other cognitive functions. 

Focused on understanding mechanisms driving brain plasticity and behaviour, our research ultimately aims to improve individual patient management by identifying specific brain patterns predictive of clinical outcome after brain surgery. Accordingly, our multidisciplinary research, based at the FMRIB Centre, is conducted in close collaboration with both the Oxford Epilepsy Surgery Programme and Oncology neurosurgical service as well as neuroscientists at the Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity.

Additional translational interests include the effects of head trauma on the brain's structural and functional networks, a project spearheaded by one of my D.Phil students, consultant neurosurgeon Tim Lawrence. 

Biography

I am a Research Fellow at the FMRIB Centre (now part of the new Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging) setting up a dedicated translational imaging group applied to neurosurgical problems, particularly temporal lobe epilepsy and brain tumours. 

I studied Experimental Psychology at Oxford (1999-2002) before completing a D.Phil at the FMRIB Centre (2002-2005) under the supervision of Prof. Paul Matthews focused on Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.  Following a post-doctoral position with Prof. Tipu Aziz’s Deep Brain Stimulation research group, I spent 3 years as imaging scientist at the GlaxoSmithKline Clinical Imaging Centre (now Imanova), assessing the sensitivity of multi-modal neuroimaging measures as early markers of efficacy for drugs targeting memory impairment among others.  In 2009, I moved to the MNI to work in the NeuroImaging of Epilepsy laboratory before returning to the Oxford FMRIB Centre on a MRC Fellowship later that year.