Professor Manju Kurian

Manju Kurian is a Professor of Neurogenetics at UCL-Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and a Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital (London, United Kingdom), leading a tertiary specialist Neurogenetic Movement Disorder service.   After graduating in medicine (University of Cambridge), she trained in Paediatrics before subspecialising in Paediatric Neurology. At the end of her clinical training, she undertook a PhD (University of Birmingham) investigating the molecular genetic basis of childhood neurological disorders (2007-2011).  She is now an academic clinician and principal investigator at the Institute of Child Health.  She has been awarded a Wellcome Intermediate Fellowship (2012-2017), L’Oreal For Women in Science Award (2017), NIHR Professorship (2017-2022), ICNA Jon Stobo Award (2018), The Jules Thorn Award for Biomedical Research (2019-2026) and The Anita Harding Award (2026). Her grant income exceeds £15 million and she has >200 peer reviewed publications including works in Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, Science, Science Translational Medicine  and  Lancet Neurology. Her current research encompasses gene discovery for childhood neurological disorders, with a clear focus on movement disorders, including neurotransmitter disorders. Her lab uses mainly cell models to investigate the underlying pathological basis of disease. She works closely with UCL Gene Therapy groups to develop novel therapeutic strategies for children with pharmacoresistantneurotransmitter and other genetic movement disorders. Her long-term goal is to translate her research for patient benefit, through improved clinical diagnosis and precision medicine approaches.

Genetic movement disorders Paediatric Neurodegeneration NBIA Neurotransmitter disorders