Gavin Giovannoni was appointed to the Chair of Neurology, Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London and the Department of Neurology, Barts and The London NHS Trust in November 2006. In September 2008 he took over as the Neuroscience and Trauma Centre Lead in the Blizard Institute. Gavin did his undergraduate medical training at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, where he graduated cum laude in 1987. He moved to the Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, London in 1993 after completing his specialist training in neurology in South Africa. After three years as a clinical research fellow, under Professor Ed Thompson, and then two years as the Scarfe Lecturer, working for Professor W. Ian McDonald, he was awarded a PhD in immunology from the University of London in 1998. He was appointed as a Clinical Senior Lecturer, Royal Free and University College Medical School, in 1998 and moved back to Institute of Neurology, Queen Square in 1999. He was promoted to Reader in Neuroimmunology in 2004. His clinical interests are multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system. He is particularly interested in clinical issues related to optimising MS disease modifying therapies. His current research is focused on Epstein Barr virus as a possible cause of multiple sclerosis, defining the “multiple sclerosis endophenotype”, multiple sclerosis related neurodegeneration, multiple sclerosis biomarker discovery, multiple sclerosis clinical outcomes and immune tolerance strategies. His team focus on translational research and therefore have an active clinical trial programme.
