Professor Antonio Belli
Professor of Trauma Neurosurgery
Professor Belli, a trauma neurosurgeon at Birmingham, studies biomarkers after acute brain injury, from TBI work to current GHoSt research.
GHoSt Research Team
Meet the research team behind the GHoSt study.
Principal Investigator
Our Research Team
Current team members
Current team members
Hazel Smith
Study Manager
Hazel has been a qualified Paramedic for 23 years and has worked in clinical research since 2017. She is study manager for GHoSt and enjoys acting as liaison between the pre-hospital teams and the hospital research delivery team that she currently manages. Hazel would love to see the results of this and future studies result in the ability to diagnose stroke at first contact with the patient, thereby allowing treatment to be administered more quickly and lives to be improved or even saved.
Professor Zubair Ahmed
Study Co-Investigator
Professor Ahmed is a Professor of Neuroscience and Theme Lead for Neuroscience and Ophthalmology in the Department of Inflammation and Ageing. His research focus is on identifying the immune/inflammatory, metabolic and repair systems that determine the outcome of neurotrauma and related disorders. He has a particular interest in developing fluid-based biomarkers and therapies to restore lost function after neurotrauma or nervous system disorder.
Professor Ahmed's Staff Profile
Sheikh Momin
Study Co-Investigator
Sheikh is an academic neurosurgery resident doctor, currently completing a PhD at the University of Oxford. He was previously an Academic Clinical Fellow at the University of Birmingham under the supervision of Professor Belli. His PhD work, on biomarkers in sports concussion, aligns closely to the aims of the GHoSt study, and he looks forward to the synergies generated from these projects, and is keen to contribute to improving our understanding of the different types of stroke and the earlier diagnosis of stroke.
Andy Rosser
Study Co-Investigator
Mark Willmot
Study Co-Investigator
Dr Willmot graduated in 1996 at the University of Birmingham (MBChB) and then worked as a clinical research fellow in Stroke Medicine, graduating with a Doctor of Medicine (DM) at Nottingham University in 2007. He was appointed Consultant Neurologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS trust in 2008. Dr Willmot runs clinics for general Neurology patients at Walsall Manor Hospital and has clinics for patients with vascular diseases of the nervous system at the QE. He has a particular interest in the management of hyperacute stroke, PFO, CADASIL, nitric oxide and the management of high blood pressure in acute stroke.
E-mail: mark.willmot@nhs.net
Owen Stanley
Study Co-Investigator
Owen Stanley is a research paramedic and principal investigator at West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust (WMAS). He has worked at WMAS for 13 years, qualifying as a paramedic with a BSc in 2016, and he continues to attend emergency calls on a regular basis. Since joining the research team in 2020, he has contributed to more than 10 studies, ranging from projects using routine data to prolific interventional studies. He was awarded an MSc in Data Science for Health and Social Care in 2024 from the University of Edinburgh, during which he conducted original research examining the impact of local temperature on 999 resource use.
Dr Jonathan Bishop
Study Statistician
Jon Bishop is a senior medical statistician at the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit (BCTU) and the NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre (SRMRC) and is supporting with statistical analysis for the GHoSt study.
Dr Jon Hazeldine
Study Co-Investigator
Dr Jon Hazeldine is a laboratory-based researcher who has a long-standing interest in how stressful events such as major traumatic and burn injury impact upon the human immune system. Specifically, his work investigates how changes in the immune system are linked to the clinical outcomes of patients and attempts to identify the mechanisms that underlie these changes, with the ultimate goal being to potentially uncover new avenues of therapeutic treatment for improving patient health.
As a member of the GHoSt research team, Dr Hazeldine is examining whether differences exist in how the immune system behaves following a stroke or “stroke mimic”, and whether studying the immune response can help distinguish between these two patient groups. If so, then new markers for identifying stroke patients could be identified.
Dr Laura Nice
Patient and Public Involvement Manager
Laura leads the patient and public involvement (PPI) activities of GHoSt.
Jenny Needham
Patient and Public Involvement Officer
Jenny supports the patient and public activities of GHoSt.
Dr Kurdow Nader
Study Co-Investigator
Dr Nader is a Consultant Diagnostic Neuroradiologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust. He assists with the radiological (brain imaging) classifications of patients in the study.
Previous team members
Previous team members
Joshua Miller
Lead Research Paramedic, West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust