Professor Markus Reuber

I am a clinical academic based in Sheffield in the United Kingdom. My clinical work has focussed on the treatment of patients with complex seizure disorders. I have also helped to establish the Sheffield Neuropsychotherapy service. In my research, I have been particularly interested in the phenomenology and treatment of epileptic and functional / dissociative seizure disorders. I am also interested in communication between doctors and patients – including in how subjective experiences turn into medical disorders. In my research I have pioneered the use of sociolinguistic methodologies to address medical questions. I received the ILAE Ambassador for Epilepsy Award in 2021. I am Editor-in-Chief of Seizure and a member of the ILAE Functional / Dissociative Seizures and Epidemiology of Neuropsychiatric Aspects of Epilepsy Task Forces.

Professor Jon Stone

Professor Jon Stone is Professor of Neurology at the University of Edinburgh.

Since 1999 Jon, along with his colleague Alan Carson, has promoted a new transparent, pragmatic and multidisciplinary approach to FND which had been a neglected and stigmatised problem.

In 2009 he made the first website (and now app), the Neurosymptoms FND guide, for people with FND at www.neurosymptoms.org which is now widely used across the world. He has published over 400 articles in the area including large cohort, mechanism and treatment studies. and led on new international diagnostic criteria for FND. 

He is currently President-Elect of the international FND society (www.fndsociety.org). He has received a number of awards, including the President's Medal from the Royal College of Psychiatry, the John Walton Award from the Association of British Neurologists and the Ted Burns Humanism in Neurology Award from the American Brain Foundation.

Dr. Chris Kenedi

Christopher A. Kenedi, MD, MPH, FRACP, FACP, is an internal medicine physician and neuropsychiatrist with interests in complex multi-system disorders, functional disorders, risk assessment, and human performance in safety-sensitive professions. He trained at Duke University Medical Center in the combined Internal Medicine and Psychiatry programme and later served as Chief Resident. He remains academically affiliated with Duke University in both Medicine and Psychiatry. 

In New Zealand, he is vocationally registered in General Medicine and Psychiatry and is a Fellow of both the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the American College of Physicians. He is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Internal Medicine, and has completed advanced training in HIV medicine. Chris worked for more than 11 years as a full-time clinician in General Medicine and Liaison Psychiatry at Auckland District Health Board and has also worked in private practice. 

His private and medico-legal work has included doctors, pilots, air traffic controllers, military and command officers, maritime personnel, law-enforcement officers, judges, lawyers, engineers, diplomatic officials, teachers, and clinicians working in safety-sensitive or regulated roles. He has advised the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, Accident Compensation Corporation, Medical Council of New Zealand, New Zealand Police, the Coroners Court, and the United Nations/International Civil Aviation Organization Mental Health Working Group. His peer-reviewed publications cover undersea and hyperbaric medicine, aerospace medicine, neuropsychiatry, psychopharmacology, infectious disease, and functional disorders. During a sabbatical in the United States, Chris completed training in hostage and crisis negotiation with the FBI.

Dr. Gina O'Grady

Dr. Gina O'Grady is a Paediatric Neurologist at Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland, with a clinical and research focus on paediatric neuromuscular and neurogenetic disorders. She completed a PhD investigating the integration of next-generation sequencing into the diagnosis and investigation of paediatric neuromuscular disease. Gina leads the Paediatric Neuromuscular service at Starship and has played a key role in the introduction of disease-modifying therapies for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) into clinical practice in New Zealand, as well as the establishment of SMA newborn screening. She is a Principal Investigator for a number of clinical trials investigating novel therapies for paediatric neuromuscular disorders and is actively involved in research and clinical initiatives aimed at improving outcomes for children with neuromuscular disease.