Two main areas of research interest include: first, investigating the relationship between particular genetic syndromes and associated psychiatric and behavioural disorders (e.g. Prader-Willi Syndrome and over-eating, and Down’s Syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease) and, secondly, clinico-legal studies, including studies investigating the capacity of people with learning disabilities to make particular decisions.

Grants/Prizes:    Appointed to the Health Foundation, Chair in Learning Disabilities as from September 2002, following a grant of £3 million over fifteen years for learning disability research. Fellow and a Vice President of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disability (IASSID). Teaching:   Postgraduate and undergraduate teaching to medical students and to psychiatrists in training. Editor of the Journal of Intellectual Disability Research President UK Prader-Willi Association. President Cambridge MENCAP.

My CIDDRG publications

In my neurorehabilitation research I aim to draw together two elements  stemming from my vocational and academic training in Physiotherapy and Cognitive Neuropsychology. The first is within the field of neuropsychology, at the intersection of vision and motor control.  The problems that interest me have been rather neglected in neurorehabilitation and relate to: 1) neuro-visual conditions (neglect, hemianopia, agnosia); and 2) altered motor control (dyspraxia, every day actions  disorganisation); both often seem to be mediated by executive and attention functions (divided attention, selective attention, sustained attention).  A second concerns the application of modern psychometric techniques to develop objective measurement  in rehabilitation outcomes through the use of  Item Response Theory(Rasch Analysis) techniques with Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS). This methodological topic is of interest beyond neuropsychological rehabilitation, as it has implications for many of the self-report and other assessments which are widely used in psychiatry, psychology, and other disciplines. These two elements have influenced my approach to assessment and rehabilitation as the Director of Research at The Oliver Zangwill Centre for Neuropsychological Rehabilitation.  For further information about my research: http://www.ozc.nhs.uk/default.asp?id=51.

My research interests reflect my academic background in psychology and criminology and my professional and personal experiences as a clinical and forensic psychologist with men and women with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. At present, my main interests lie: a) at the intersection of clinical and legal studies, with recent studies focussing on the conceptualisation and implementation of different aspects of the Mental Capacity Act 2005; people with intellectual or other developmental disabilities (particularly autism spectrum conditions) as suspects, perpetrators, witnesses, and victims of exploitation, abuse, criminal offending or ‘challenging behaviour’; b) in topics relating to ‘moral' and other everyday decision-making by people with intellectual or other developmental disabilities; c) in service provision for, and responses to, adults with intellectual disabilities and mental health needs and/or behavioural difficulties. I am a member of one of the three clinical themes, the ‘adult’ theme, which forms part of the NIHR’s CLAHRC for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and aims to identify good practice in specialist health care provision for men and women, who, because of a long-term condition, are at risk of social exclusion.

I am a consultant forensic psychiatrist. I moved to the UK from Ireland, working first in Enfield, which established one of the first NHS forensic intellectual disability services. In 2006, I moved to the independent sector. Teaching has always been part of my career. From1988 to 2005, I was a senior lecturer in the academic department of Psychiatry at the Royal Free Hospital (UCL) academic department of psychiatry. My association with the CIDDRG is long-standing. I have collaborated on projects relating to offenders with autistic spectrum conditions and more recently on the role of cortisol and stress in people with learning disability. I have completed other research, including work relating to Fragile X syndrome, offenders in hospital, and care pathways. At present, my interests lie in how we might most effectively provide forensic services to people with intellectual disabilities and the link between the clinical and social aspects of our care. I am particularly interested in the needs of those with borderline intellectual disability and the management of this group in the criminal justice system.

I am a Chartered Forensic Psychologist, and Lead Psychologist at the National High Secure Learning Disability Service at Rampton Hospital. The unit treats around 50 men with intellectual or other developmental disabilities who require high secure care, and is the national service for England and Wales. My research interests and publications are related to the assessment and treatment of personality disorder among people with intellectual disabilities. I am also particularly interested in the neurobiological bases and trauma- linked causes of aggressive behaviour in these groups and the development and evaluation of appropriate interventions.
My publications

The intellectually exciting aspects of my post, as a social scientist in a multidisciplinary environment, are researching the practical aspects of how people with intellectual disabilities can become part of mainstream society, and how we, the affluent and mentally able, understand our responsibilities towards people who are financially poorer, and mentally less able. I am currently researching the treatment of epilepsy in people with an intellectual disability; the support profound disabled people receive to help them eat and drink safely, and how health services can better support the mental health and well being of adults with either a developmental condition or a traumatic brain injury. Other projects I am involved in address health inequalities, welfare reform, the right to vote, and aspects of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

My CIDDRG publications

My long research and clinical interests are in the neuropsychiatric aspects of developmental and acquired brain damage and epilepsy.  Current research projects are focused on epilepsy and on autistic spectrum disorders.  In the field of epilepsy, I am investigating the nature of epilepsy as it presents to locality-based psychiatric learning disability services and investigating the effects of different treatment approaches.  I am also researching the relationship between psychopathological disturbances in people with epilepsy and brain pathology assessed along several axis.  In people with autism I am using electrophysiological and functional imaging approaches to investigate language and the way in which differences in semantic processes can be manipulated by external factors.  I am also involved in research using physical and neurocognitive methods to examine manifestations of weak central coherence in people with autism.

For information about the LD-ROME project

My CIDDRG publications  ...    

Various aspects of Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), especially cognition and behaviour and how this relates to the genetic abnormalities.  Current projects concerns psychiatric illness in PWS (with Sarita Soni and Tony Holland), IQ, emotion, recognition, childrens play interests and some aspects of executive function. A further project concerns the transition from the early phenotype of PWS (0-2 years approx.) and the later phenotype.

My CIDDRG publications            My complete publications

I am a consultant psychiatrist and a neuroscientist who has published in the following areas: the molecular pharmacology of GABAA receptors, neurosteroids, hippocampal synaptic plasticity (long-term potentiation), familial Alzheimer’s disease (presenilin) and female autism. I am interested in understanding the neuronal mechanisms that underlie deficits in learning and memory in people with intellectual disabilities and exploring ways of ameliorating or treating these. I am currently involved in research in dementia in Down’s syndrome. There are plans to explore the role of sleep in memory and learning in this population.

My CIDDRG publications