Dr Peter Connick
Consultant Neurologist & Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer

- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences
- Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Research
- Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic
Contact details
- Email: pconnick@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Background
I'm an academic neurologist who trained in Cambridge and London before taking my current position at the University of Edinburgh, Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic.
Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Cambridge:Autologous mesenchymal stem cells as a neuroprotective therapy for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, University of Glasgow
Bachelor of Science, University of Glasgow
Research summary
The big challenge in 21st century neurology is to develop treatments that can slow, stop, or reverse the loss of brain cells in neurodegenerative diseases like the dementias, motor neurone disease, and MS.
Part of the reason why we don't already have these treatments is because we lack the tools to measure neuroprotection and brain repair in clinical trials. My work aims to develop the measurement tools we need.
Separately, by defining diseases through their symptoms rather than through the underlying (patho)biology, most patients in any regenerative neurology trial will have little prospect of benefit. I also work on methods to ""stratify" neurodegenerative diseases so that the right person gets the right treatment at the right time.
Research Interests
Regenerative neurology spanning two principal themes. First: developing and improving existing techniques to measure the impact of regenerative therapies in brain diseases, and second: developing techniques to stratify phenomenologically defined patient groups according to the undelying pathology - i.e. stratified medicine in the neurodegenerative disorders.
Related links
Research into neurodegenerative conditions at the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences
Clinical research & trials at the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences
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Systematic, comprehensive, evidence-based approach to identify neuroprotective interventions for motor neuron disease: using systematic reviews to inform expert consensus
In:
BMJ Open, vol. 13, pp. e064169
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064169
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) as a tool to screen for depression in people with multiple sclerosis: a cross-sectional validation study
In:
BMC Psychology, vol. 10, pp. 281
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00949-8
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Network analysis characterizes key associations between subjective fatigue and specific depressive symptoms in early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
In:
Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, vol. 69, pp. 104429
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msard.2022.104429
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Remyelination varies between and within lesions in multiple sclerosis following bexarotene
In:
Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51662
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Gut microbiome of multiple sclerosis patients and paired household healthy controls reveal associations with disease risk and course
In:
Cell, vol. 185, pp. 3467-3486.e16
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.08.021
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)