Will Brown
NIHR Advanced Fellow and Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge; visiting research fellow at Clinical Outcomes Research Group, University of Melbourne; and Consultant Neurologist, specialising in multiple sclerosis and other neuroimmunological conditions.
Will leads the Cambridge Big Data in Multiple Sclerosis group, and has experience in MRI and phase II/III clinical trials.
Under the supervision of Declan Chard (Queen Square, London), he used MRI to demonstrate a periventricular MTR gradient in all types of MS [Brown et al Brain. 2017; Brown et al Mult Scler. 2020] which is strongly associated with clinical outcomes and can be modified by peripheral immunotherapy [Brown et al Mult Scler. 2019]. This likely reflects a new treatment target, meningeal inflammation [Pardini, Brown et al Brain 2021].
Under Alasdair’s supervision, he ran the CCMR-One remyelination trial [Brown, Cunniffe et al Lancet Neurology. 2021] and identified new MRI outcome measures for future remyelination trials [Brown et al Ann Clin Trans Neurol, 2022].
His primary focus is now using Big Data to reduce disability in multiple sclerosis (see Big Data in MS page for current work). Under the supervision of Tomas Kalincik he has been extensively involved in proving the long-term benefits of high-efficacy therapy [Kalincik, Brown et al Lancet Neurology 2017], especially when used early [Brown et al JAMA 2019; He, Merkel, Brown et al Lancet Neurology 2021].
Debbie Morrall
Debbie was the first clinical research assistant in the Brown Group, and has extensive experience in real-world multiple sclerosis clinical data. Before this, she led the MRI admin team at Cambridge University Hospitals for more than a decade and latterly worked in imaging pathway tracking.
Jacky Porter
Jacky is clinical research manager for the Brown group. She oversees multiple projects across 12 trusts seeking to improve the collection and clinical use of data in for more than 20,000 people with multiple sclerosis. She is also overseeing contact with each person to ensure they have the opportunity for participation in research.
Jacky was previously employed as a practice manager in General Practice for many years, including work in research. More recently, she has worked in secondary care across multiple departments including the Overseas patients office and as Directorate Support Manager in Imaging.
Cyrus Daruwalla
Neurology Academic Clinical Fellow and Specialist Registrar
Cyrus joined the Brown group as an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in 2022. Under the supervision of Will Brown, Alasdair Coles and Tomas Kalincik, he used data from the MSBase international registry to demonstrate that even non-disabling relapses are associated with an increased risk of future disability accumulation in MS (Daruwalla et al. Mult Scler. 2023), calling into question European guidelines which restrict the use of certain treatments to only those with disabling relapses. His next projects will build on this by analysing large clinical and MRI datasets to help optimise and individualise treatment strategies to reduce disability accumulation in MS.
Magda Dandu
Magda is a clinical research assistant in the Brown Group. “I am enthusiastic about collecting relevant and accurate clinical data for people affected by multiple sclerosis because I believe it is the foundation for research and development of more efficient therapies for them.”
Magda is a qualified bookkeeper with administrative experience, and also has experience in community pharmacy (as a dispenser) and in the clinical trials pharmacy team at Cambridge University Hospitals.
