Meet our team

Stephen Jackson has been conducting research into Tourette Syndrome for over a decade, and has extensive experience using multimodal brain imaging and brain stimulation techniques to understand human sensorimotor function. He is a professor of cognitive neuroscience within the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham and a Founder and Director of Neurotherapeutics Ltd.

Georgina Jackson has been conducting research into Tourette Syndrome for over a decade and has extensive experience using a range of different methods to understand development, learning and cognitive control. She is a professor of cognitive neuroscience within the Institute of Mental health at the University of Nottingham. Professor Georgina Jackson is also a Founder and Director of Neurotherapeutics Ltd.

Barbara Morera started her PhD in 2016, where she worked on the development of a safe, non-invasive treatment for Tourette syndrome, involving median nerve stimulation (MNS). In 2019, she continued her work as a Research Fellow. She now works for the spin-out company from the University of Nottingham called Neurotherapeutics Ltd, founded after her PhD work; and she also conducted the clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of home use MNS as a treatment for tics and the urge-to-tic. To follow the progress of Neurotherapeutics on this project, please Sign up for updates at www.neupulse.co.uk.

Cyril Atkinson-Clement is a cognitive psychologist and he obtained his PhD in 2017. His research is mostly related to movement disorders (primarily Tourette Syndrome and Parkinson’s disease), non-invasive neuromodulation (Transcranial magnetic and ultrasound stimulation) and neuroimaging (MRI, PET). He is currently involved in projects aiming to decrease tics expression by applying ultrasound stimulation on specific brain parts and timings.

Katerina Gialopsou submitted her PhD in 2021, in which she focused on bio-magnetic imaging using highly sensitive quantum magnetometers, known as optically pumped magnetometers (OPM). Her current projects involve using a variety of neuroimaging methods and non invasive brain stimulation techniques to better understand the neurophysiological basis of tics and urge-to-tic in TS.

Mairi Houlgreave has a background in neuroscience and has recently graduated with a PhD with the Beacon in Precision Imaging at the University of Nottingham. Her project involved combining a variety of neuroimaging techniques to investigate the brain activity associated with tics and the urge-to-tic. She also investigated how median nerve stimulation may be therapeutically useful in significantly reducing tics

Caitlin Smith completed her PhD with the Jackson Lab and Beacon in Precision Imaging at the University of Nottingham in 2024. Her project aimed to investigate physiological inhibition, sensorimotor mapping and sensory experiences in Tourette syndrome using multimodal brain imaging and stimulation techniques. Caitlin's current postdoctoral role aims to investigate combined repetitive stimulation and transcranial alternating current stimulation on cortical excitability.

Isabel has a MSci qualification in Natural sciences specialising in Neuroscience. She joined the Jackson lab in April 2022 and is currently working towards a PhD with the School of Psychology. Her research projects utilise a range of techniques to investigate function and dysfunction in the sensory/motor cortex. She hopes improve understanding of non-invasive techniques such as median nerve stimulation to guide optimisation of therapeutic interventions.

Aneta has bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, as well as a master’s degree in Cognitive Sciences with a specialisation in Neuropsychology and Clinical Neurosciences. In her PhD, she is using a range of neuromodulating techniques (TMS, tACS, MNS) to explore the mechanisms underlying neural entrainment.

James has an academic background in psychology and cognitive neuroscience with specific interests in neurodevelopmental disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders. James previously studied exposure therapy as a treatment for anxiety disorders. This study specifically used Virtual Reality as a method of delivering exposure therapy and Electroencephalography (EEG) to record participants neural responses.

James is currently using neuroimaging and non-invasive brain stimulation methods to assess the role that excess sensorimotor neural activity plays in people with Tourette’s syndrome’s tics, information processing and responses to stimuli.