Dr Suvankar Pal (BSc(Hons) MBBS(Dist) MRCP(Neurol) MD(Res) PGCME FHEA FRCP)
Consultant Neurologist & Senior Lecturer

- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences
- Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic
- Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Research
Contact details
- Email: suvankar.pal@ed.ac.uk
Background
I have research interests in neurodegenerative disorders including 1) Early Onset Dementia, 2) Motor Neurone Disease, and 3) Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease. I have established and lead regional and national registries and tissue BioResources for these disorders which support a range of inter-disciplinary clinical phenotype-genotype-biochemistry/pathology studies. I have also established relevant infrastructure/platforms and support delivery of observational and interventional studies.
National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit, University of Edinburgh
I have been clinical lead at the National CJD Surveillance and Research Unit (NCJDRSU) since April 2017 providing clinical supervision of research registrars undertaking comprehensive clinical surveillance of CJD across the UK. Since August 2017, I am also clinical lead of the National CJD Nursing Care Team and National CJD Care Package. I am actively involved in the Progressive Intellectual and Neurological Deterioration (PIND) and Transfusion Medicine Epidemiology Review (TMER) studies. I have established the NCJDRSU tissue BioResource for collection and storage of cerebrospinal and blood samples for future research studies.
Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh
I have led the regional inter-disciplinary early onset cognitive disorders clinic at the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh since January 2012. We assess patients from across the region presenting with a wide range of neurodegenerative dementias including early onset Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, progressive aphasias, posterior cortical atrophy, and Parkinson’s plus syndromes. I am chief investigator for the Edinburgh Cognitive Diagnosis, Audit, Research & Treatment (Edinburgh Cognitive DART study), a prospective longitudinal cohort study of patients presenting with early onset dementia. I am also a co-investigator for Scottish Regenerative Neurology Tissue bank. Clinical phenotypic, DNA, cerebrospinal fluid, and neuroimaging banks have been established supporting a wide range of inter-disciplinary research studies. In collaboration with Professor Mary Porteous (SE Scotland clinical genetics), I established a clinical/research gene panel for neurodegenerative diseases.
Scottish Motor Neurone Disease Register (CARE-MND)
Since August 2015 I have been a clinical co-lead for the Scottish Motor Neurone Disease Register, working alongside the MND nurse consultant for Scotland, and co-supervising a clinical research fellow and research nurse, in assessment of patients with motor neurone disease across Scotland to: 1) Ascertain the incidence/prevalence of MND in Scotland, 2) Audit Care Standards, 3) Investigate genotype/phenotype correlations, 4) Establish a clinical trials platform for MND in Scotland. The CARE-MND platform supports patient participatory research in MND across Scotland and provided the necessary infrastructure for clinical trial delivery.
Research summary
Neurodegenerative diseases causing dementia are progressive, untreatable and usually fatal disorders which represent a major public health threat. Dementia has been identified by the United Kingdom government as a national clinical and research priority.
We have established the Edinburgh Cognitive Diagnosis Audit Research and Treatment (ECOG DART) register to deliver a mutliprofessional approach to longitudinal investigation of diagnosis, assessment, investigation and progression in patients with cognitive symptoms.
The research register prospectively records accurate clinical and novel data sets necessary to enable translational research in the context of a longitudinal clinical cohort study including, deep clinical phenotyping, computerised cognitive testing, evaluation of novel diagnostic clinical neuropsychological tests, diagnostic neurodegenerative gene set analysis, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and investigation of novel diagnostic structural (MRI) and functional (SPECT/PET) neuroimaging studies.
The register also maintains a database of people who have consented to their details being held for inclusion in collaborative research studies (including clinical trials). Affiliated tissue banks archiving DNA, CSF and skin fibroblast samples further support collaborative research.
Collaborators
- Professor Mary Porteous, Director South East Scotland Genetics Service, The Centre for Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh
- Dr Jenny Barnett, Director of Science & Innovation, Cambridge Cognition
- Dr Zubair Khan, Department of Nuclear Medicine & Radiology, NHS Lothian
Sources of funding
- NHS Research Scotland
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Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in the young (50 and below): 10-year review of United Kingdom surveillance
In:
Journal of Neurology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-022-11467-3
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Prion disease: clinical pathway development for the terminally ill
In:
BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2022-003877
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Letter (Accepted/In press) -
A systematic review of digital technology to evaluate motor function and disease progression in motor neuron disease
In:
Journal of Neurology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-022-11312-7
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Motor Neuron Disease Systematic Multi-Arm Adaptive Randomised Trial (MND-SMART): a multi-arm, multi-stage, adaptive, platform, phase III randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of repurposed drugs in motor neuron disease
In:
BMJ Open, vol. 12, pp. e064173
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064173
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Smarter adaptive platform clinical trials in neurology: a showcase for UK innovation
In:
Brain
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac169
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Letter (Published) -
Concordance of cerebrospinal fluid real‐time quaking‐induced conversion across the European Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease Surveillance Network
In:
European Journal of Neurology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ene.15387
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Allocentric visuomotor processing is particularly sensitive to cognitive decline: evidence from the iReach iPad app in prodromal and clinical Alzheimer’s disease
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster (Unpublished) -
Motor Neuron Disease is not clustered or associated with socioeconomic deprivation in Scotland
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.27.22271535
Research output: › Other contribution (Published)