About Us
The NIHR BRC Epilepsy Centre is a collaborative initiative between UCL and UCLH, hosted by UCLH.
People
Jane de Tisi
Jane is Epilepsy Centre Coordinator & Data Manager, fully funded by the BRC. Jane manages the “UCLH Epilepsy Surgery Database” under the auspices of Chief Investigator, Prof John Duncan. She collaborates with colleagues from the epilepsy team and those at other hospitals and universities on audits, service evaluations and research regarding the long-term outcome of epilepsy surgery and vagal nerve stimulation. Jane has had regular contact over the years with a large number of individuals discharged from the National Hospital with regard to their health and quality of life following epilepsy surgery.
Jane also coordinates the team’s patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) activities and works closely with NHNN patient support group, Brain Buddy UK, who connects people considering epilepsy surgery with those who have had surgery.
Jane is also creating an Epilepsy Centre Registry where people can log their interest in hearing about our activities and how to get more involved. For further details and to register an initial interest, please see here, Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement | UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences.
Email: j.detisi@ucl.ac.uk or j.detisi@nhs.net. Tel: +44 (0)20 3448 8612.
Research delivery team
Dr Riham Muhammad
Riham is the Clinical Operations Manager for the Epilepsy Trials Team. She is a medical doctor with 19 years of clinical, academic and research experience. As the team’s line manager, she provides strategic and operational leadership for a growing portfolio of epilepsy clinical trials. She is fully funded by the BRC and is the primary point of contact for epilepsy Principal Investigators (PIs) / study teams seeking advice and help in all aspects of clinical trials. Prior to joining the Epilepsy Team, Riham had four years of clinical trial experience in Stroke. Before transitioning into NHS clinical research operations, Riham held several academic and research positions at the William Harvey Research Institute and Cairo University, where she developed extensive experience in research delivery, operational management, and team leadership, supported by a strong publication record and a long-standing commitment to improving patient care and research quality.
PIs/ study teams/ Sponsors/ CROs: Please contact Riham if you are interested in running a commercial or non-commercial epilepsy study at UCLH.
If you are a patient who is interested in participating in trials, please take a look here for further details, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/ion/research/research-departments/department-clinical-and-experimental-epilepsy/clinical-research/brc-epilepsy-centre/research-and-clinical-trials
Email / Tel: riham.muhammad@nhs.net / +44 7484 481 109
Jess Guinto
Jess joined the epilepsy research team as our very first epilepsy senior research nurse in 2024. Jess has responsibility for the coordination and management of a subset of the commercial clinical research portfolio. She is responsible for pre-screening patients and recruitment of participants, the coordination of care of patients on trials, collection and preparation of biological samples. She is well-skilled in phlebotomy, IV therapy and processes all blood samples in the local site laboratory for shipment to central labs. She is also responsible for the data entries, data management and data completion of CRF/eCRF, and for swift site data query resolution, the administration of experimental agents as per the study protocol and monitoring and reporting to sponsors of the expected and unexpected side effects of trial drugs and other treatment modalities in accordance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines. Jess has previously worked with other research departments within UCL & UCLH and has contributed to the UCL Discovery library, a depository of their research team’s publication of articles and conference presentations. Jess has worked in a range of non-CTIMP (observational & portfolio studies) and CTIMP studies (commercial) at UCL & UCLH since 2013, involving intravenous, subcutaneous and oral trial drugs. Jess is funded by commercial trials income.
For interested UCLH epilepsy patients:
Please contact Jess if you want to find out more about taking part as a participant in an epilepsy study at UCLH.
Email: uclh.epilepsytrials@nhs.net. Tel: +44(0)777 986 1209.
Sife Tshuma
Sife joined the epilepsy team in 2025. Sife is an experienced senior research nurse with a strong background in both clinical and research settings. She has responsibility for the coordination and management of a subset of the commercial clinical research portfolio. Sife has worked across a range of CTIMP and non CTIMP studies (NHIR portfolio adopted), some involving intravenous and oral trial drugs, with particular experience in monitoring their safety and efficacy. She is skilled in phlebotomy and IV therapy and processes all blood samples in the laboratory for shipment to central labs. Her role includes pre-screening patients and recruitment of participants, the coordination of care of patients on trials, collection and preparation of biological samples. She is also responsible for Case Report Forms /electronic Case Report Forms completion, swift query resolution, the administration of experimental agents and monitoring of expected and unexpected side effects of drugs and other treatment modalities in accordance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines. Sife is funded by commercial trials income.
UCLH epilepsy patients: Please contact Sife if you want to find out more about taking part as a participant in an epilepsy study at UCLH.
Email: uclh.epilepsytrials@nhs.net. Tel: +44(0)777 913 3798.
Janine Norris
Janine joined the epilepsy clinical trials team in January 2026. She is an experienced nurse with a strong clinical background, having worked in epilepsy care since 2014 across a range of inpatient and outpatient settings. Janine has extensive experience supporting people with complex seizure disorders and is recognised for her compassionate approach, patient advocacy, and commitment to high‑quality care.
As part of the epilepsy research team, Janine contributes to the coordination of care for patients participating in clinical trials. Her role includes supporting pre‑screening and recruitment, assisting with study assessments, and ensuring that participants receive safe, consistent, and patient‑centred care throughout the research pathway. She works in accordance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines and is developing her skills in research governance, data collection and documentation, and preparation of biological samples. Janine is passionate about advancing treatment options for people with epilepsy and is enthusiastic about expanding her research expertise within a dynamic and growing portfolio of studies.
Email: uclh.epilepsytrials@nhs.net. Tel: +44(0)777 913 3798.
Clinical academics
Matthew Walker
Matthew is partially funded by the BRC. Following the development of a new dietary therapy for epilepsy, Matthew has extended his work to a potential new drug to replace Sodium Valproate, but without its teratogenic potential. He has received MRC DPFS funding to undertake preclinical testing of this compound, with the plan to complete a clinical trial application in 2027/8.
Together with Professors Dimitri Kullmann, Gabriele Lignani and Stephanie Schorge, Matthew has founded a spinout company EpilepsyGtx to take a gene therapy that they have developed for focal refractory epilepsy into the clinic.
He is also involved in the development of advanced neurophysiological investigation including novel EEG analysis and the use of optically pumped magnetometers.
Matthew Walker’s full UCL Profile
Sofia Eriksson
Sofia is partly funded by the BRC. She participates in the Valproate stakeholder network, a group linking patient organisations, healthcare professionals, and regulators to improve safety related to Valproate treatment.
Sofia also participates in the MHRA-led Valproate safety implementation group, providing clinical input on the implementation of new Valproate regulations.
Sofia Eriksson’s full UCL Profile
Meneka Sidhu
With the support of the BRC, Meneka has worked on projects including the longitudinal study, “Cognitive fMRI: surgery in temporal lobe epilepsy”, with novel descriptions of post-surgical plasticity in memory and language networks; “Improving the precision of presurgical functional imaging” (in collaboration with UCL Centre for Medical Image Computing-Prof Geoff Parker); and the “Development of resting state fMRI protocols, using hyperband imaging in people with epilepsy”.
Meneka has worked with research assistant, Ms Amrita Gupta, on a clinical service evaluation looking at the “short and longer term complications of invasive EEG recordings”. This has forged the basis of an imaging study to study regional and remote brain atrophy associated with cognitive and behavioural effects in people who have had invasive EEG but did not proceed to surgery.
Meneka has recently secured MRC-CARP funding to describe and predict outcomes following less invasive studies for refractory focal epilepsy, including LITT, which is now available at Kings College Hospital.
Meneka Kaur’s full UCL Profile
Umesh Vivekananda
Dr Umesh Vivekananda was supported by the BRC between 2023-2024. He has contributed to the key theme of advancing the use of optically pumped magnetoencephalography (MEG) in the management of epilepsy. He has recently been awarded a Wellcome Career Development Award towards “Understanding the neural mechanisms of anhedonia in epilepsy.
Umesh Vivekananda’s full UCL Profile
Sanjeev Rajakulendran
With previous support from the BRC, Sanjeev’s research has included work on first epileptic seizures, drug treatment of epilepsy, and status epilepticus from its early stage through to the refractory and super-refractory stages. With ongoing support from the BRC, Sanjeev will be investigating the cognitive and functional outcomes of status epilepticus and its long-term consequences.