Professor Richard Hughes MD FRCP FMedSci

Professor Hughes is Emeritus Professor of Neurology at King’s College London, and Visiting Professor of Neurology at University College London.

Richard Hughes studied medicine at Cambridge University and then at Guy’s Hospital Medical School. He was appointed Consultant Neurologist at Guy’s Hospital in 1975 and Professor of Neurology at what is now King’s College London in 1987. He was awarded Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2000 and the Medal of the Association of British Neurologists in 2006. He retired from his NHS consultancies in 2007 but maintains his research interests in the pathogenesis and treatment of GBS, CIDP and especially systematic reviews of treatment for neuromuscular disease.

In 1998, Professor Hughes founded the Cochrane Neuromuscular Review Group. He was the sole Co-ordinating Editor until April 2009 when he shared the position with Dr Michael Lunn and will step down in April 2010. He has led international trials of intravenous immunoglobulin and immunosuppressive drugs in GBS and CIDP. His publications include 12 books (including a landmark textbook on GBS), 47 book chapters, more than 190 original journal articles and more than 120 editorials, reviews and other journal articles.

Professor Hughes is the founding Chair of the Inflammatory Neuropathy Consortium, a special interest group of international Peripheral Nerve Society, which aims to facilitate research into the cause and treatment of inflammatory neuropathies. He was formerly Vice-President and Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Federation of Neurological Societies and became its President in September 2009.

Richard Hughes helped organised the GBS Support Group’s first conference at Guy’s Hospital in 1985 and was either Vice-chairman or Secretary of the Medical Advisory Board until 2009. He was made an Honorary Member of the Charity in 2004.