Interim Head of the Department of Brain Sciences

Professor Marina Botto FMedSci has accepted an appointment as Interim Head of the Department of Brain Sciences with effect from 8 April 2024 for a period of six months, in the first instance. This is to succeed the current Head of the Department, Professor Paul Matthews, who is taking up the post of Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, in Cambridge.

Professor Botto is currently Head of the Department of Immunology and Inflammation and will continue in this capacity alongside her interim role in Brain Sciences. She holds a Chair in Rheumatology in the Department and also serves as Director of Bioservices at Imperial. Professor Botto’s clinical work is based at Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

Professor Botto’s research focuses on how complement deficiency contributes to the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Professor Botto was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2009.