Alan Thompson

Title(s): Professor

Current Position/Designation: Dean, Faculty of Brain Sciences; Pro Provost (London)

Institutional Affiliation: University College London

Active Email Address: alan.thompson@ucl.ac.uk

Social Media Handle (Any and/or optional): ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences | X: @UCLBrainScience | IG: @UCLBrainSciences

Alan Thompson is the Garfield Weston Professor of Clinical Neurology & Neurorehabilitation and an NIHR Senior Investigator Emeritus. He received his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from Trinity College Dublin and an honorary doctorate from Hasselt University, Belgium.

His main area of expertise is in the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of the progressive forms of multiple sclerosis. He is a recipient of the prestigious Dystel (2017) Sobek (2020) and Charcot (2021) awards for his work in multiple sclerosis.

As Dean of the Faculty of Brain Sciences, he is the university lead for the joint partnership (Oriel) for a new, integrated centre co-locating the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital, and the development of a new state-of-the-art facility to house research into translational neuroscience on 256 Gray’s Inn Road. As Pro Provost for London, he strategically leads, guides, and connects the university’s London-focused engagement through the UCL London Office.

Relevant Professional Skills/Experiences

Research experience includes:

  • He was a member of the expert group defining diagnostic criteria for MS (including MRI) in 2000, 2005 and 2010, and he co-led a new revision, published in Lancet Neurology in 2017. He is the senior author on the 2024 revisions, currently being reviewed by Lancet Neurology.
  • He characterized the MRI findings in primary progressive MS and chairs an international panel updating the clinical course descriptors in MS redefining the course of the disease with international experts in 2013, updated in 2017 and driving towards more biologically based descriptors in 2023.
  • Developed and evaluated scientifically sound outcome measures that incorporate the patient’s perspective (MS Impact Scale, MS Walking Scale) for spasticity, cervical dystonia, ataxia, and pain.
  • Developed protocols used internationally for the use of MRI in assessing the effectiveness of new treatments. New MRI techniques including tractography, provided insights into structural damage in MS, ALS and stroke.
  • Led the first studies of beta-interferon in primary and secondary progressive MS and carried out RCTs of neurological rehabilitation and community-based treatment of relapses in MS, and evaluated the role of cannabinoids in the treatment of spasticity in MS and their role as neuroprotective agents.
  • In neurological disability management, worked on Quality Standards (2005); developed standards of care for MS, incorporated into the NICE guidance for MS and the NSF for Long-Term Neurological Conditions.
  • Led the development of the MS World Atlas (with WHO/MSIF, 2008, 2011) and the Global Economic Study (with MSIF, 2010).
  • Was a member of the WHO International Committee for Diagnostic Criteria, leading on MS, and was a member of the WHO International Advisory Group for the revision of ICD-10/ICD-11, Diseases of the Nervous System, leading the development of a new section for MS.
  • Helped establish the International Progressive MS Alliance, chairing the Scientific Advisory Committee from 2013-2021. Chaired MSIF’s International Medical and Scientific Board until 2015, is a member of the National MS Society (USA)’s Research Programs Advisory Committee, and was a Guarantor of Brain and editor-in-chief of Multiple Sclerosis Journal until 2024.

Relevant Career Highlights

Dean of Faculty of Brain Sciences, UCL

  • Instigated and led strategic initiatives including the UCL Mental Health Strategy; the Dementia Strategy, which fed into the successful award of the UK Dementia Research Institute hub at UCL.
  • Developed partnerships with industry such as a research collaboration with Eisai Co. Ltd, focusing on neurodegenerative disease drug discovery.
  • Currently sponsor for two major estate redevelopments for the Institute of Neurology and UK Dementia Research Institute at Grays Inn Road and Oriel (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology/Moorfield’s Eye Hospital).

 

Awards:

  • Charcot Award, MS International Federation (2021)
  • Sobek Foundation Award, National Research Foundation (Stifterverband), Germany (2020)
  • Lifetime Achievement Award, Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC), USA (2018)
  • John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research, National Multiple Sclerosis Society & American Academy of Neurology (2017)
  • Fundación Esclerosis Múltiple Madrid Prize, Multiple Sclerosis Foundation Madrid (2016)
  • Honorary Lifetime Member of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) (2012)
  • Doctores Honoris Causa—Honorary Doctorate awarded by Hasselt University, Belgium (2008)
  • Pioneer of the Nation (Royal Palace Award) (2003)
  • Visiting Professor, University Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona (2001)
  • Visiting Professor of Neurology, Dipartimento Scinze, Neurologiche Universtia la Sapienza’ di Roma (1995)
  • Wellcome Foundation Prize for clinical research (1990)

 

Named Lectures:

  • Presidential Plenary Lecture, 90th Jubilee Congress of the Polish Neurological Society (Warsaw) (2023)
  • Charcot Lecture, European Charcot Foundation (Baveno) (2022)
  • Ian MacDonald Memorial Award Lecture (Swansea, UK) (2022)
  • Hughlings Jackson Lecture (McGill University, Montreal) (postponed to 2021) (2020)
  • Presidential Lecture, Consortium of MS Centres (Nashville) (2018)
  • Don Paty Memorial Lecture, Consortium of MS Centres (Indianapolis) (2015)
  • ECTRIMS Lecture (2015)
  • Charcot Lecture, European Charcot Foundation (Baveno) (2014)
  • Pringle Lecture, MS Ireland 50th Anniversary (Dublin) (2011)
  • Gowers Memorial Lecture, UCL Institute of Neurology (2009)
  • B.S. Singhal Oration (2007)
  • Richard Cave Memorial Lecture, The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (1999)
  • Keynote address at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Victoria, Australia, Annual Meeting (1997)
  • Inaugural Spiegelberg Lecture for Neuromedical Education for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of GB & NI (1996)