Workshop Leaders

Dr. Katia Cikurel is a consultant neurologist in London, specialising in neurooncology, epilepsy, headache, and brain tumour management. She graduated from Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School in 1990 and earned her MD from the University of London. Dr. Cikurel has worked in top London hospitals and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. She is a Consultant Neurologist at King's College Hospital and practices privately at The Harley Street Clinic.

With over two decades of research and clinical experience, his work focuses on epilepsy, neuromodulation, and brain monitoring technologies. He has led and co-led major research grants, including EU Horizon 2020 and NIHR-funded projects on intracranial neuromonitoring and adaptive deep brain stimulation. Dr. Valentin has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, co-edited Introduction to Epilepsy (Cambridge University Press), and is an international lecturer and course co-director for the ILAE VIREPA EEG Advanced Course.

Dr. Christos Tolias is a Consultant Neurosurgeon at King’s College Hospital, specialising in neuro vascular conditions, spinal surgery, and adult hydrocephalus. He holds a PhD in Biological Sciences and has extensive experience in traumatic brain injury research. Mr. Tolias trained in Neurosurgery in the UK and the USA, and he pioneered the non-occlusive cerebral vascular bypass technique in the UK. His expertise includes stroke, trauma, and degenerative spine disease.

Her research interests centre on understanding the cognitive and neural mechanisms that drive variability in developmental trajectories. In this context, she runs a number of prospective longitudinal studies of typical and atypical neurodevelopment in infants with genetic conditions and a family history of autism and ADHD and directs electrophysiological and eyetracking acquisition across several large-scale European and Global Health studies of children an adults with neurodevelopmental conditions.

Dr Gerald Finnerty leadss a basic science lab group and hold an Honorary Consultant Neurologist post at King’s College Hospital, where he has a specialist interest in neuro-oncology. His research focuses on brain tumours, brain plasticity, epilepsy and the neural basis for cognition. They use live human brain tissue to study how brain tumours grow and interact with the surrounding brain and cause symptoms, such as seizures. Disease mechanisms are investigated with a multidisciplinary approach, which includes electrophysiology, cellular and synaptic imaging.

Dr. Serenella Tolomeo's research explores brain mechanisms underlying psychiatric and addictive disorders, integrating preclinical studies and clinical psychiatry using neuroimaging and decision-making neuroscience. She aims to advance translational psychiatry and has collaborated with companies like Lundbeck, Merck Serono, and Indivior. Dr. Tolomeo has published in top journals such as Brain, Biological Psychiatry: CNNI, and Neuroimage: Clinical. Her expertise includes major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and substance use disorders.

Dr. Joshua Raine completed his PhD in Marine Biology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 2020. He then worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Essex before joining NUS Department of Physiology in 2022. His current research focuses on the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in addiction behaviours to nicotine and alcohol, using zebrafish models. His past research spans topics such as marine microalgae signaling and biofouling adhesion systems. Outside the lab, he enjoys board games and miniature painting.

David Grüning is a Science Director at "one sec | delay distracting apps" and a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge. He holds a PhD in Psychology from Heidelberg University and is pursuing additional doctoral studies in measurement and statistics at GESIS. He also serves on the Science Board of the Prosocial Design Network.

Dr. Eamonn Walsh is Programme Lead for MSc Neuroscience at King’s College London, where he supports and inspires students to become future neuroscientists. His research explores how verbal suggestions affect the brain's representation of the body. Dr. Walsh is also the chair of the NHS Health Research Authority, London Queen Square Research Ethics Committee.

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