Introducing

Dr Will Brown

Hello, I’m Will, a Neurologist and Research Fellow in the Clinical Outcomes Research (CORe) Unit, based at the University of Cambridge in England.

Dr Will Brown

Neurologist and Research Fellow

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a little bit about me

I use observational data to explore the optimal treatment of multiple sclerosis, presently focussing on disease-modifying therapies.

I am also interested in improving data breadth and depth in registries through automating data extraction from electronic healthcare records; using non-conventional MRI to examine differential tissue vulnerability in multiple sclerosis; and help run phase II remyelination trials in the United Kingdom.

Publications

Exploratory analysis of biological age measures in a remyelination clinical trial
Christopher E McMurran, Ermelinda de Meo, Nick G Cunniffe, J William L Brown, Ferran Prados, Baris Kanber, James H Cole, Alasdair J Coles, Sara Hägg, Declan T Chard
Brain Commun. 2025 Jan 29;7(1):fcaf032. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaf032. eCollection 2025.

An MRI assessment of mechanisms underlying lesion growth and shrinkage in multiple sclerosis
Ermelinda De Meo, Ferran Prados Carrasco, J William L Brown, Alasdair J Coles, Nick G Cunniffe, Amy E Jolly, Baris Kanber, Rebecca Samson, Frederik Barkhof, Declan Chard
Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2025 Jan 27. doi: 10.1002/acn3.52308. Online ahead of print.

Bexarotene leads to durable improvements in visual evoked potential latency: A follow-up study of the Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair One trial
Christopher E McMurran, Trisha Mukherjee, J William L Brown, Alasdair J Coles, Nick G Cunniffe
Mult Scler. 2024 Jul;30(8):1066-1071. doi: 10.1177/13524585241233177. Epub 2024 Mar 1.

Visual outcome measures in clinical trials of remyelinating drugs
Gioia Riboni-Verri, Benson S Chen, Christopher E McMurran, Gregory J Halliwell, J William L Brown, Alasdair J Coles, Nick G Cunniffe
BMJ Neurol Open. 2024 Feb 19;6(1):e000560. doi: 10.1136/bmjno-2023-000560. eCollection 2024.

A real-world clinical validation for AI-based MRI monitoring in multiple sclerosis
Michael Barnett, Dongang Wang, Heidi Beadnall, Antje Bischof, David Brunacci, Helmut Butzkueven, J William L Brown, Mariano Cabezas, Tilak Das, Tej Dugal, Daniel Guilfoyle, Alexander Klistorner, Stephen Krieger, Kain Kyle, Linda Ly, Lynette Masters, Andy Shieh, Zihao Tang, Anneke van der Walt, Kayla Ward, Heinz Wiendl, Geng Zhan, Robert Zivadinov, Yael Barnett, Chenyu Wang
NPJ Digit Med. 2023 Oct 19;6(1):196. doi: 10.1038/s41746-023-00940-6.

Robust real-world evidence: optimising disease-modifying treatments for multiple sclerosis
C McArthur, C Daruwalla, M Jayeskara, J W L Brown
J Neurol. 2023 Oct;270(10):5127-5129. doi: 10.1007/s00415-023-11984-9. Epub 2023 Sep 12.

Early depressive symptoms and disability accrual in Multiple Sclerosis: a UK MS Register study
Benjamin M Jacobs, Cyrus Daruwalla, Mollie O McKeon, Raghda Al-Najjar, Andrea Simcock-Davies, Katherine Tuite-Dalton, J William L Brown, Ruth Dobson, Jeff Rodgers, Rod Middleton
Sci Rep. 2023 May 24;13(1):8227. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-34545-6.

Clinician and patient experience of neurology telephone consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic
Tagore Nakornchai, Elena Conci, Anke Hensiek, J William L Brown
Postgrad Med J. 2022 Jul 1;98(1161):533-538. doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2021-141234.

Early non-disabling relapses are important predictors of disability accumulation in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
Cyrus Daruwalla, Vahid Shaygannejad, Serkan Ozakbas, Eva Kubala Havrdova, Dana Horakova, Raed Alroughani, Cavit Boz, Francesco Patti, Marco Onofrj, Alessandra Lugaresi, Sara Eichau, Marc Girard, Alexandre Prat, Pierre Duquette, Bassem Yamout, Samia J Khoury, Seyed Aidin Sajedi, Recai Turkoglu, Ayse Altintas, Olga Skibina, Katherine Buzzard, Pierre Grammond, Rana Karabudak, Anneke van der Walt, Helmut Butzkueven, Davide Maimone, Jeannette Lechner-Scott, Aysun Soysal, Nevin John, Julie Prevost, Daniele Spitaleri, Cristina Ramo-Tello, Oliver Gerlach, Gerardo Iuliano, Matteo Foschi, Radek Ampapa, Vincent van Pesch, Michael Barnett, Nevin Shalaby, Marie D'hooghe, Jens Kuhle, Maria Jose Sa, Marzena Fabis-Pedrini, Allan Kermode, Saloua Mrabet, Riadh Gouider, Suzanne Hodgkinson, Guy Laureys, Liesbeth Van Hijfte, Richard Macdonell, Celia Oreja-Guevara, Edgardo Cristiano, Pamela McCombe, Jose Luis Sanchez-Menoyo, Bhim Singhal, Yolanda Blanco, Stella Hughes, Justin Garber, Claudio Solaro, Chris McGuigan, Bruce Taylor, Koen de Gans, Mario Habek, Abdullah Al-Asmi, Simu Mihaela, Tamara Castillo Triviño, Talal Al-Harbi, Juan Ignacio Rojas, Orla Gray, Dheeraj Khurana, Bart Van Wijmeersch, Nikolaos Grigoriadis, Jihad Inshasi, Jiwon Oh, Eduardo Aguera-Morales, Yara Fragoso, Fraser Moore, Cameron Shaw, Seyed Mohammad Baghbanian, Neil Shuey, Barbara Willekens, Todd A Hardy, Danny Decoo, Angel Perez Sempere, Deborah Field, Ray Wynford-Thomas, Nick G Cunniffe, Izanne Roos, Charles B Malpas, Alasdair J Coles, Tomas Kalincik, J William L Brown
Mult Scler. 2023 Jun;29(7):875-883. doi: 10.1177/13524585231151951. Epub 2023 Feb 27.

Remyelination varies between and within lesions in multiple sclerosis following bexarotene
J William L Brown, Ferran Prados, Daniel R Altmann, Baris Kanber, Jonathan Stutters, Nick G Cunniffe, Joanne L Jones, Zoya G Georgieva, Edward J Needham, Cyrus Daruwalla, Claudia Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott, Peter Connick, Siddharthan Chandran, Robin Franklin, David MacManus, Rebecca Samson, Alasdair Coles, Declan Chard
Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2022 Oct;9(10):1626-1642. doi: 10.1002/acn3.51662. Epub 2022 Sep 17.

Remyelination in humans due to a retinoid-X receptor agonist is age-dependent
Christopher E McMurran, Trisha Mukherjee, J William L Brown, Andrew W Michell, Declan T Chard, Robin J M Franklin, Alasdair J Coles, Nick G Cunniffe
Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2022 Jul;9(7):1090-1094. doi: 10.1002/acn3.51595. Epub 2022 May 19.

Safety and efficacy of bexarotene in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (CCMR One): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, phase 2a study
J William L Brown, Nick G Cunniffe, Ferran Prados, Baris Kanber, Joanne L Jones, Edward Needham, Zoya Georgieva, David Rog, Owen R Pearson, James Overell, David MacManus, Rebecca S Samson, Jonathan Stutters, Charles Ffrench-Constant, Claudia A M Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott, Carla Moran, Paul D Flynn, Andrew W Michell, Robin J M Franklin, Siddharthan Chandran, Daniel R Altmann, Declan T Chard, Peter Connick, Alasdair J Coles
Lancet Neurol. 2021 Sep;20(9):709-720. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(21)00179-4.

Surface-in pathology in multiple sclerosis: a new view on pathogenesis?
Matteo Pardini, J William L Brown, Roberta Magliozzi, Richard Reynolds, Declan T Chard
Brain. 2021 Jul 28;144(6):1646-1654. doi: 10.1093/brain/awab025.

Determinants of therapeutic lag in multiple sclerosis
Izanne Roos, Emmanuelle Leray, Federico Frascoli, Romain Casey, J William L Brown, Dana Horakova, Eva Kubala Havrdova, Marc Debouverie, Maria Trojano, Francesco Patti, Guillermo Izquierdo, Sara Eichau, Gilles Edan, Alexandre Prat, Marc Girard, Pierre Duquette, Marco Onofrj, Alessandra Lugaresi, Pierre Grammond, Jonathan Ciron, Aurélie Ruet, Serkan Ozakbas, Jérôme De Seze, Céline Louapre, Hélène Zephir, Maria José Sá, Patrizia Sola, Diana Ferraro, Pierre Labauge, Gilles Defer, Roberto Bergamaschi, Christine Lebrun-Frenay, Cavit Boz, Elisabetta Cartechini, Thibault Moreau, David Laplaud, Jeannette Lechner-Scott, Francois Grand'Maison, Oliver Gerlach, Murat Terzi, Franco Granella, Raed Alroughani, Gerardo Iuliano, Vincent Van Pesch, Bart Van Wijmeersch, Daniele LA Spitaleri, Aysun Soysal, Eric Berger, Julie Prevost, Eduardo Aguera-Morales, Pamela McCombe, Tamara Castillo Triviño, Pierre Clavelou, Jean Pelletier, Recai Turkoglu, Bruno Stankoff, Olivier Gout, Eric Thouvenot, Olivier Heinzlef, Youssef Sidhom, Riadh Gouider, Tunde Csepany, Bertrand Bourre, Abdullatif Al Khedr, Olivier Casez, Philippe Cabre, Alexis Montcuquet, Abir Wahab, Jean-Philippe Camdessanche, Aude Maurousset, Ivania Patry, Karolina Hankiewicz, Corinne Pottier, Nicolas Maubeuge, Céline Labeyrie, Chantal Nifle, Alasdair Coles, Charles B Malpas, Sandra Vukusic, Helmut Butzkueven, Tomas Kalincik
Mult Scler. 2021 Oct;27(12):1838-1851. doi: 10.1177/1352458520981300. Epub 2021 Jan 11.

Delay from treatment start to full effect of immunotherapies for multiple sclerosis
Izanne Roos, Emmanuelle Leray, Federico Frascoli, Romain Casey, J William L Brown, Dana Horakova, Eva K Havrdova, Maria Trojano, Francesco Patti, Guillermo Izquierdo, Sara Eichau, Marco Onofrj, Alessandra Lugaresi, Alexandre Prat, Marc Girard, Pierre Grammond, Patrizia Sola, Diana Ferraro, Serkan Ozakbas, Roberto Bergamaschi, Maria José Sá, Elisabetta Cartechini, Cavit Boz, Franco Granella, Raymond Hupperts, Murat Terzi, Jeannette Lechner-Scott, Daniele Spitaleri, Vincent Van Pesch, Aysun Soysal, Javier Olascoaga, Julie Prevost, Eduardo Aguera-Morales, Mark Slee, Tunde Csepany, Recai Turkoglu, Youssef Sidhom, Riadh Gouider, Bart Van Wijmeersch, Pamela McCombe, Richard Macdonell, Alasdair Coles, Charles B Malpas, Helmut Butzkueven, Sandra Vukusic, Tomas Kalincik, MSBase, OFSEP investigators
Brain. 2020 Sep 1;143(9):2742-2756. doi: 10.1093/brain/awaa231.

Timing of high-efficacy therapy for multiple sclerosis: a retrospective observational cohort study
Anna He, Bernd Merkel, James William L Brown, Lana Zhovits Ryerson, Ilya Kister, Charles B Malpas, Sifat Sharmin, Dana Horakova, Eva Kubala Havrdova, Tim Spelman, Guillermo Izquierdo, Sara Eichau, Maria Trojano, Alessandra Lugaresi, Raymond Hupperts, Patrizia Sola, Diana Ferraro, Jan Lycke, Francois Grand'Maison, Alexandre Prat, Marc Girard, Pierre Duquette, Catherine Larochelle, Anders Svenningsson, Thor Petersen, Pierre Grammond, Franco Granella, Vincent Van Pesch, Roberto Bergamaschi, Christopher McGuigan, Alasdair Coles, Jan Hillert, Fredrik Piehl, Helmut Butzkueven, Tomas Kalincik, MSBase study group
Lancet Neurol. 2020 Apr;19(4):307-316. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(20)30067-3. Epub 2020 Mar 18.

Periventricular magnetisation transfer ratio abnormalities in multiple sclerosis improve after alemtuzumab
J William L Brown, Ferran Prados Carrasco, Arman Eshaghi, Carole H Sudre, Tom Button, Matteo Pardini, Rebecca S Samson, Sebastien Ourselin, Claudia Am Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott, Joanne L Jones, Alasdair J Coles, Declan T Chard
Mult Scler. 2020 Aug;26(9):1093-1101. doi: 10.1177/1352458519852093. Epub 2019 Jun 6.

Keratinocyte growth factor impairs human thymic recovery from lymphopenia
Alasdair J Coles, Laura Azzopardi, Onajite Kousin-Ezewu, Harpreet Kaur Mullay, Sara Aj Thompson, Lorna Jarvis, Jessica Davies, Sarah Howlett, Daniel Rainbow, Judith Babar, Timothy J Sadler, J William L Brown, Edward Needham, Karen May, Zoya G Georgieva, Adam E Handel, Stefano Maio, Mary Deadman, Ioanna Rota, Georg Holländer, Sarah Dawson, David Jayne, Ruth Seggewiss-Bernhardt, Daniel C Douek, John D Isaacs, Joanne L Jones
JCI Insight. 2019 May 7;5(12):e125377. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.125377.

Magnetisation transfer ratio abnormalities in primary and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis
James William L Brown, Azmain Chowdhury, Baris Kanber, Ferran Prados Carrasco, Arman Eshaghi, Carole H Sudre, Matteo Pardini, Rebecca S Samson, Steven Hp van de Pavert, Claudia Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott, Declan T Chard
Mult Scler. 2020 May;26(6):679-687. doi: 10.1177/1352458519841810. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

Association of Initial Disease-Modifying Therapy With Later Conversion to Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
J William L Brown, Alasdair Coles, Dana Horakova, Eva Havrdova, Guillermo Izquierdo, Alexandre Prat, Marc Girard, Pierre Duquette, Maria Trojano, Alessandra Lugaresi, Roberto Bergamaschi, Pierre Grammond, Raed Alroughani, Raymond Hupperts, Pamela McCombe, Vincent Van Pesch, Patrizia Sola, Diana Ferraro, Francois Grand'Maison, Murat Terzi, Jeannette Lechner-Scott, Schlomo Flechter, Mark Slee, Vahid Shaygannejad, Eugenio Pucci, Franco Granella, Vilija Jokubaitis, Mark Willis, Claire Rice, Neil Scolding, Alastair Wilkins, Owen R Pearson, Tjalf Ziemssen, Michael Hutchinson, Katharine Harding, Joanne Jones, Christopher McGuigan, Helmut Butzkueven, Tomas Kalincik, Neil Robertson, MSBase Study Group
JAMA. 2019 Jan 15;321(2):175-187. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.20588.

Treatment effectiveness of alemtuzumab compared with natalizumab, fingolimod, and interferon beta in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a cohort study
Tomas Kalincik, J William L Brown, Neil Robertson, Mark Willis, Neil Scolding, Claire M Rice, Alastair Wilkins, Owen Pearson, Tjalf Ziemssen, Michael Hutchinson, Christopher McGuigan, Vilija Jokubaitis, Tim Spelman, Dana Horakova, Eva Havrdova, Maria Trojano, Guillermo Izquierdo, Alessandra Lugaresi, Alexandre Prat, Marc Girard, Pierre Duquette, Pierre Grammond, Raed Alroughani, Eugenio Pucci, Patrizia Sola, Raymond Hupperts, Jeannette Lechner-Scott, Murat Terzi, Vincent Van Pesch, Csilla Rozsa, François Grand'Maison, Cavit Boz, Franco Granella, Mark Slee, Daniele Spitaleri, Javier Olascoaga, Roberto Bergamaschi, Freek Verheul, Steve Vucic, Pamela McCombe, Suzanne Hodgkinson, Jose Luis Sanchez-Menoyo, Radek Ampapa, Magdolna Simo, Tunde Csepany, Cristina Ramo, Edgardo Cristiano, Michael Barnett, Helmut Butzkueven, Alasdair Coles, MSBase Study Group
Lancet Neurol. 2017 Apr;16(4):271-281. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30007-8. Epub 2017 Feb 11.

An abnormal periventricular magnetization transfer ratio gradient occurs early in multiple sclerosis
J William L Brown, Matteo Pardini, Wallace J Brownlee, Kryshani Fernando, Rebecca S Samson, Ferran Prados Carrasco, Sebastien Ourselin, Claudia A M Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott, David H Miller, Declan T Chard
Brain. 2017 Feb;140(2):387-398. doi: 10.1093/brain/aww296. Epub 2017 Jan 2.

The role of MRI in the evaluation of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis
J William L Brown, Declan T Chard
Expert Rev Neurother. 2016;16(2):157-71. doi: 10.1586/14737175.2016.1134323. Epub 2016 Jan 22.

When is it safe to return to driving following first-ever seizure?
J W L Brown, N D Lawn, J Lee, J W Dunne
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2015 Jan;86(1):60-4. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2013-307529. Epub 2014 Apr 25.

Long-term remission with rituximab in refractory leucine-rich glioma inactivated 1 antibody encephalitis
J William L Brown, Peter J Martin, John W Thorpe, Andrew W Michell, Alasdair J Coles, Amanda L Cox, Angela Vincent, Michael S Zandi
J Neuroimmunol. 2014 Jun 15;271(1-2):66-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2014.03.012. Epub 2014 Mar 21.

First use of alemtuzumab in Balo's concentric sclerosis: a case report
J W L Brown, A J Coles, J L Jones
Mult Scler. 2013 Oct;19(12):1673-5. doi: 10.1177/1352458513498129. Epub 2013 Jul 25.

Alemtuzumab: evidence for its potential in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
J William L Brown, Alasdair J Coles
Drug Des Devel Ther. 2013;7:131-8. doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S32687. Epub 2013 Mar 6.

Association of obstructive sleep apnea with risk of serious cardiovascular events: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Yoon K Loke, J William L Brown, Chun Shing Kwok, Alagaratnam Niruban, Phyo K Myint
Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2012 Sep 1;5(5):720-8. doi: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.111.964783. Epub 2012 Jul 24.

Amphetamine-associated seizures: clinical features and prognosis
J William L Brown, John W Dunne, Daniel M Fatovich, Judy Lee, Nicholas D Lawn
Epilepsia. 2011 Feb;52(2):401-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2010.02924.x. Epub 2011 Jan 4.