Summary
Dr Gregory Scott is a post-CCT IPPRF Research Fellow and Neurologist at Imperial College London (Department of Brain Sciences and UK DRI Care Research & Technology).
Greg is unique as an academic neurologist in having a highly computational background: before medicine, he studied computer science, and his research interests are at the intersection of engineering, artificial intelligence, information theory and clinical neuroscience.
Greg aims to be a leading clinician scientist and expert in abnormal states of consciousness, conducting innovative research that addresses clinically important questions about how conscious states can be measured and manipulated. He is particularly interested in ‘transdiagnostic’ approaches that can lead to general-purpose measurement devices.
Students and prospective students
Dr Scott supervises PhD and Masters (MSc, MRes) students and is always keen to hear from potential students. If you are interested in a project, have an idea, or wanted to discuss options, please get in touch (gregory.scott99@imperial.ac.uk).
Projects recently completed or in the pipeline include:
- Machine learning of EEG in patients with impaired consciousness
- Age prediction from EEG
- Novel measures of complexity applied to resting fMRI data
- Understanding mechanisms of delirium in hospitalised patients
- Automated brain image analysis and prediction of cognitive impairment
- Computational modelling of whole-brain dynamics in patients with white matter lesions
Dr Scott is open to applications from prospective summer students.
Previous research
During his time as a Wellcome/GlaxoSmithKline Translational Medicine Training Fellow and as a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Lecturer, Greg applied theoretical principles from statistical physics to optogenetic brain imaging data in order to characterise fundamental properties of brain dynamics and conscious states. Using voltage imaging data in mice (here) he demonstrated how signatures of criticality - a special dynamical regime on the border between order and disorder - emerge in the cortex of mice recovering from anaesthesia. Later, he showed that critical cortical dynamics are associated with optimisation of information processing capabilities like information capacity and sharing (here).
With Prof Robin Carhart-Harris, Greg has more proposed the use of psychedelics as a possible treatment for patients with the most profound impairments of consciousness (here), based on contemporary theories of consciousness linking information theory to states of consciousness.
Dr Scott has also designed and conducted a complex experimental medicine study in traumatic brain injury patients, that combined clinical, cognitive, imaging and blood data to test a novel therapeutic strategy, studying the action of the antibiotic minocycline on chronic microglial activation (here). This provided unexpected, important evidence for the actions of this drug.
Dr Scott is also interested in the operation of the NHS and the nature of medical practice. He has published data-driven research on the problems with language and documentation in clinical medicine (here, here). More recently, he has used machine learning and natural language processing to critique the unfettered expansion of ‘organisational values’ across the health service (here).
Media and public engagement
Greg’s research in brain injury featured widely in the printed press, including the Times (here) and Daily Mail (here). His proposal to treat patients with impaired consciousness using psychedelics also received widespread attention (here).
Greg’s expertise meant he could provide a valuable neuroscientific perspective in the Channel 5 documentary “The Boy With No Brain”. He has also engaged the public in his research at the British Neuroscience Association’s Festival of Neuroscience and the Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition.
Collaborations
Dr Scott is always keen to hear from interested researchers and possible collaborators, please get in touch by email.
Please note that Dr Scott cannot give specific clinical advice via this route.
Teaching
- MRI biomarkers of traumatic brain injury (TBI), MSc Translational Neuroscience, 2020-current
- Traumatic brain injury: spectrum of impairment with focus on disorders of consciousness (DoC), MSc Translational Neuroscience, 2019-current
- Neuroimaging of neuroinflammation, MSc Translational Neuroscience, Imperial College London, 2017-current
- Sleep and Consciousness, MBBS, Imperial College London, 2017-2019
- Traumatic Brain Injury, 6th Year MBBS, Imperial College London, 2014-2017
Funding
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lectureship
- Imperial College London EPSRC Neurotechnology CDT PhD Studentship
- EPSRC Capital Award Emphasising Support for Early Career Researchers
- Imperial Confidence in Concept (funded by funded by MRC Confidence in Concept, Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund, NIHR Imperial BRC, EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust)
- Academy of Medical Sciences, Starter Grant for Clinical Lecturers
- Wellcome Trust-GSK Translational Medicine Training (TMT) Fellowship
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Neurology Academic Clinical Fellowship
Prizes
- Winner, Grant Writing Workshop, Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London
- Winner, Faculty of Medicine Student Innovation Awards
- Winner, Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation Medical Apps Competition
- Winner, Oxford Deanery Web Video Competition
- Winner, Trainee Innovation in Education Awards, London Deanery Simulation and Technology enhanced Learning Initiative (STeLI)
- Stevenson Prize, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London
- Henry Johnstone Memorial Prize, Department of Computing, Imperial College London
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Waheed A, Presswood E, Scott G, 2022, Organisational values of National Health Service trusts in England: semantic analysis and relation to performance indicators, Bmj Leader, Vol:6, Pages:192-198
Mallas E-J, De Simoni S, Scott G, et al., 2021, Abnormal dorsal attention network activation in memory impairment after traumatic brain injury, Brain, Vol:144, ISSN:0006-8950, Pages:114-127
Graham NSN, Jolly A, Zimmerman K, et al., 2020, Diffuse axonal injury predicts neurodegeneration after moderate-severe traumatic brain injury, Brain, Vol:143, ISSN:0006-8950, Pages:3685-3698
Jolly A, Scott G, Sharp D, et al., 2020, Distinct patterns of structural damage underlie working memory and reasoning deficits after traumatic brain injury, Brain, Vol:143, ISSN:0006-8950, Pages:1158-1176
Jolly AE, Raymont V, Cole JH, et al., 2019, Dopamine D2/D3 receptor abnormalities after traumatic brain injury and their relationship to post-traumatic depression, Neuroimage: Clinical, Vol:24, ISSN:2213-1582
Jenkins PO, De Simoni S, Bourke N, et al., 2018, Dopaminergic abnormalities following traumatic brain injury, Brain, Vol:141, ISSN:1460-2156, Pages:797-810
Datta G, Colasanti A, Kalk N, et al., 2017, [(11)C]PBR28 or [(18)F]PBR111 detect white matter inflammatory heterogeneity in multiple sclerosis, Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Vol:58, ISSN:1535-5667, Pages:1477-1482
Feeney C, Sharp DJ, Hellyer PJ, et al., 2017, Serum IGF-I levels are associated with improved white matter recovery after TBI., Annals of Neurology, Vol:82, ISSN:0364-5134, Pages:30-43
Donat CK, Scott G, Gentleman S, et al., 2017, Microglial activation in traumatic brain injury, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, Vol:9, ISSN:1663-4365
Datta G, Violante IR, Scott G, et al., 2016, Translocator positron-emission tomography and magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging of brain glial cell activation in multiple sclerosis., Multiple Sclerosis Journal, Vol:23, ISSN:1352-4585, Pages:1469-1478
De Simoni S, Grover PJ, Jenkins PO, et al., 2016, Disconnection between the default mode network and medial temporal lobes in post-traumatic amnesia, Brain, Vol:139, ISSN:0006-8950, Pages:3137-3150
Feeney C, Scott G, Raffel J, et al., 2016, Kinetic analysis of the translocator protein positron emission tomography ligand [18F]GE-180 in the human brain, European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Vol:43, ISSN:1619-7089, Pages:2201-2210
Jamall O, Feeney C, Zaw-Linn J, et al., 2016, Prevalence and correlates of vitamin D deficiency in adults after traumatic brain injury, Clinical Endocrinology, Vol:85, ISSN:1365-2265, Pages:636-644
Li LM, Leech R, Scott GT, et al., 2015, The effect of oppositional parietal transcranial direct current stimulation on lateralized brain functions, European Journal of Neuroscience, Vol:42, ISSN:1460-9568, Pages:2904-2914
Fagerholm ED, Hellyer PJ, Scott G, et al., 2015, Disconnection of network hubs and cognitive impairment after traumatic brain injury., Brain, Vol:138, ISSN:0006-8950, Pages:1696-1709
Vijayan R, Scott G, Ahmed F, 2015, What is it about the number of stitches?, British Medical Journal, Vol:350, ISSN:0959-8146
Tillmann T, Gibson AR, Scott G, et al., 2015, Systems Medicine 2.0: Potential Benefits of Combining Electronic Health Care Records With Systems Science Models, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol:17, ISSN:1438-8871
Vijayan R, Scott G, Brownlie W, et al., 2015, How Sharp is a "Sharp Scratch"? A Mixed Methods Study of Verbal Warnings Issued Before Venipuncture, Pain Practice, Vol:15, ISSN:1530-7085, Pages:132-139
MacFarlane JW, Payton OD, Keatley AC, et al., 2014, Lightweight aerial vehicles for monitoring, assessment and mapping of radiation anomalies, Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Vol:136, ISSN:0265-931X, Pages:127-130
Scott G, Sharp DJ, Ramlackhansingh A, et al., 2014, NEUROINFLAMMATION AND AMYLOID PATHOLOGY AFTER TBI, Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, Vol:85, ISSN:0022-3050
Jilka SR, Scott G, Ham T, et al., 2014, Damage to the Salience Network and Interactions with the Default Mode Network, Journal of Neuroscience, Vol:34, ISSN:0270-6474, Pages:10798-10807
Leech R, Scott G, Carhart-Harris R, et al., 2014, Spatial Dependencies between Large-Scale Brain Networks, Plos One, Vol:9
Vijayan R, Scott G, Brownlie W, 2014, Out of sight, but not out of mind? Greater reported pain in patients who spontaneously look away during venepuncture, European Journal of Pain, ISSN:1532-2149, Pages:n/a-n/a
Hellyer PJ, Shanahan MP, Scott G, et al., 2014, The control of global brain dynamics: opposing actions of frontoparietal control and default mode networks on attention, Journal of Neuroscience, Vol:34, ISSN:1529-2401, Pages:451-461
Cramer H, Vijayan R, Scott G, et al., 2014, Out of sight, but not out of mind? Greater reported pain in patients who spontaneously look away during venepuncture, Deutsche Zeitschrift Fur Akupunktur, Vol:57, ISSN:0415-6412, Pages:32-33
Scott G, Presswood EJ, Makubate B, et al., 2013, Lung sounds: how doctors draw crackles and wheeze, Postgraduate Medical Journal, Vol:89, ISSN:0032-5473, Pages:693-697
Vijayan R, Scott G, 2013, Doctor, interrupted, British Medical Journal, Vol:346, ISSN:0007-1447
Vijayan R, Scott G, 2013, An approach to the obstructive colleague, British Medical Journal, Vol:347, ISSN:0007-1447
Scott G, Presswood E, 2012, Case report of E.T.--the extra-terrestrial., Bmj, Vol:345
Scott G, Presswood E, 2012, CHRISTMAS 2012: TOMORROW'S WORLD Case report of E.T.-The Extra-Terrestrial, British Medical Journal, Vol:345, ISSN:1756-1833
Scott G, Vijayan R, Male P, 2011, CHRISTMAS 2011: PROFESSIONAL MATTERS Relevance of the expression "obs stable" in nursing observations: retrospective study, British Medical Journal, Vol:343, ISSN:0959-535X
Scott GPT, Shah P, Wyatt JC, et al., 2011, Making electronic prescribing alerts more effective: scenario-based experimental study in junior doctors, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Vol:18, ISSN:1067-5027, Pages:789-798
Scott G, Cross F, 2010, Reducing insulin errors Try electronic prescribing, British Medical Journal, Vol:341, ISSN:1756-1833
Scott G, Cross F, 2010, Reducing insulin errors. Try electronic prescribing., Bmj, Vol:341
Kavagiou Z, Bello F, Scott G, et al., 2005, Facial plastic surgery planning using a 3D surface deformation tool, Stud Health Technol Inform, Vol:111, ISSN:0926-9630, Pages:247-250
Kavagiou Z, Bello F, Scott G, et al., 2005, Facial Plastic Surgery Planning Using a 3D Surface Deformation Tool, Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 13: the Magical Next Becomes the Medical Now, Vol:111, ISSN:0926-9630, Pages:247-250
Conference
Hellyer PJ, Shanahan MP, Scott G, et al., 2012, Global network dynamics during task based activity in the brain., Organisation for Human Brain Mapping
Hellyer PJ, Shanahan MP, Scott G, et al., 2012, Global network dynamics during task based activity in the brain., British Association of Cognitive Neuroscience
Scott G, Hellyer PJ, Shanahan M, et al., 2011, From structural networks to functional networks via coupled oscillators, Neuroscience 2011