Basic Science Studies
Sampling of Lateral Ventricle (SOLVe)
I have been granted ethical approval to take intraoperative samples from the wall of the lateral ventricle in children undergoing surgery for the treatment of intractable epilepsy. This disconnection surgery, when clinically indicated, necessitates cutting through the wall of the lateral ventricle. As such, rather than discarding this tissue I have been granted ethical approval to ask parents if they would consider gifting a sample for research. This research study does not influence clinical decision making, the extension in surgical time is negligible and there is no perceived increase in surgical risk.
Paediatric CSF Collection and Analysis (PeCCaN)
Technical advances in the sensitivity of biomarker analysis, coupled with increasing expertise and decreasing costs has made biomarker analysis from the CSF an exciting frontier in understanding how the CSF contributes to brain homeostasis. In collaboration with the University of Oxford and the Liverpool Biobank at the Walton, I am building a research program to take CSF samples from all children undergoing surgery to the ventricular system.