Consultant Neurologist, Brain and Mind Ltd, London
Professor Mark Edwards is a neurologist who studies how the brain controls movement and how abnormalities of movement occur in people with neurological illness. He holds the Eleanor Peel Chair for the Study of Ageing at St George's, University of London.
He leads the Motor Control and Movement Disorder Group which is comprised of neurologists, neuropsychiatrists, physiotherapists and basic scientists. As a group they use psychophysical and neurophysiological techniques to study motor control and how it is disrupted in common movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, functional movement disorders, and Tourette’s syndrome. There is a focus on movement disorders associated with ageing, in particular Parkinson’s disease, with ongoing studies relating to gait disturbance, falls and cognitive decline – all issues which particularly affect older people.
There is a strong clinical and translational component to the work, using the group’s clinical expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of people with movement disorders. They are especially interested in the use of rehabilitative techniques (both physical and cognitive/psychological) in treatment of people with movement disorders and with the overlap between psychiatry and neurology.
Professor Edwards graduated in Medicine at the Royal London Hospital in 1997. He did his PhD at the UCL Institute of Neurology with Professor John Rothwell and Professor Kailash Bhatia using electrophysiological techniques to understand the pathophysiology of dystonia. Following completion of his specialist training he was awarded an NIHR Clinician Scientist Fellowship to study the pathophysiology of functional movement disorders. He was then a senior lecturer at the UCL Institute of Neurology and consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology before joining St George’s in September 2015.
He is widely published in the movement disorders field, and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international meetings. He is the recipient of the Jon Stolk Award for Young Movement Disorder researcher, the Uschi Tschbacher award for Movement Disorder research from the EFNS and the David Marsden Award for Dystonia research from the European Dystonia Society.