I am a consultant neurosurgeon and lead for Oxford’s skull base surgery service. I completed my doctoral research at Harvard Medical School and surgical training at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol. I have been a consultant at Oxford since 2014. I am the director of the Oxford Skull Base Surgery Fellowship.

I have national and international appointments including as a member of the British Skull Base Society Council and the Society of British Neurosurgeons (SBNS) Council. I am the SBNS representative to the European and World Societies of Neurosurgery. I was formerly a member of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies prestigious Neuroanatomy Committee and am currently the director at large for skull base surgery, of the International Academy of Neurosurgical Anatomy.

I am a core member of the British Irish Meningioma Society and regularly advocate for improved care for meningioma patients in the UK. I am also the deputy lead for clinical teaching of neurology and neurosurgery for Oxford University medical students.

• Member of the Neurosurgery National Speciality Advisory Committee
• Elected Representative of the Society of British Neurosurgeons to the European and World Societies of Neurosurgery
• Ex Officio Council Member of the Society of British Neurosurgeons 
• Elected Council Member of the British Skull Base Surgery Society

Professor Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Radcliffe Department of Medicine

Professor Aiden Doherty, Medical Sciences Division

A/Professor Chrystalina Antoniades, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences

My focus is on using research to tackle the real-world problems my patients with skull base tumours face.

A large part of my clinical practice involves the treatment of meningiomas. These are typically benign brain tumours, but these tumours have profound effects on my patients. At Oxford we treat many challenging cases including malignant and metastatic meningiomas. We published our work in this complex patient group. Unfortunately, outcomes remain poor for these patients and this led us to study the fundamental biology of meningiomas and their genetic mutations. We aim to eventually trial novel drug therapies for complex cases.

To this end, we have been building one of the largest UK datasets on meningioma genetics. Through our international collaborations, we have published on potential novel pathway targets in meningiomas, linked radiological and clinical features to specific genetic mutations and explored the genetic drivers for meningioma invasiveness during surgical resections.

Our inter-departmental CRUK funded DPhil student has tracked the embryological origins of meningiomas combining our whole genome sequencing and methylome analysis of surgical tissue, with single cell RNA sequencing, single cell multiome and spatial transcriptomics. We are currently studying potential novel mechanisms for the formation of skull base meningiomas.

Vestibular schwannomas are the second most common benign brain tumours after meningiomas. Constant dizziness in this patient group is relatively uncommon but when present, results in the greatest reduction in quality of life. Management and decision making is notoriously challenging for this patient group. The growth rate in these tumours is unpredictable and moreover size is not necessarily a predictor. For example, larger tumours can present with little disability while smaller tumours can leave patients with significant impairment. At present there is no facility for monitoring these patients in their homes. We are working on looking to provide real time monitoring of this patient group over the long term.

We are leveraging the availability of national biobank data on patients with vestibular schwannomas and this initial study will be expanded using normal volunteers prior to engaging patients within our service.

Our initial aim is to test the feasibility of wearable sensors using inertial measurement units as tools for measuring gait and balance instability. This will be compared to the ground truth of gait lab analysis and clinical / physiotherapy assessments. We hope this work will allow us to identify at risk patients early and make real change to their quality of life.