Personal Statement
Dr Greta K Wood is a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow in Infectious Diseases at the University of Liverpool, working to understand how infections impact the brain, with the goal of protecting the brain during infection and inflammation. Working with the University of Cape Town, she is leading the Sepsis Clinical Neuroscience Study (Sepsis-CNS), to develop strategies for the early recognition of sepsis and of associated clinical and neurological deterioration, to understand the mechanisms driving this deterioration, and to characterize long-term sequelae.

In the UK national COVID-19 Clinical Neuroscience Study she demonstrated persistent brain injury in COVID-19, associated with cognitive deficits equivalent to 20 years’ brain ageing and reduced grey matter volume on neuroimaging (Wood et al, Nature Med, 2024). To address this, she is now developing of a point-of-care device and skin sensor to monitor infection and brain injury biomarkers in real time. She is a member of the Encephalitis International Scientific Advisory Panel and conceptualised the international FLAMES campaign for early recognition of encephalitis which reached millions worldwide online and was displayed on 884 billboards including Piccadilly (London), Times Square (New York) and the Doha Tower (Qatar).

She is a member of the World Health Organisation Neurology and Public Health Global Forum and led the WHO/UoL/MRF-funded Global Brain Health Clinical Exchange. In 2019, she was based in the Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust, Blantyre, Malawi, as part of the NIHR Global Health Research Group on Improving the Management of Acute Brain Infection.

In 2020, she completed a PGCert Tropical Medicine and International Health in the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium. In 2018, funded by a competitive Barbour Scholarship, she completed an MRes Global Health in Newcastle University for which she was awarded the Prize for the highest mark in written examinations of over 200 candidates. Prior to this, she worked clinically and academically in Nicaragua and the Czech Republic, funded by the Wellcome Trust/ Academy of Medical Sciences. She was awarded the Sir John Walton Salver Prize for her quality improvement work.

Clinically, she works in Infectious Diseases and General Internal Medicine in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

POLICY
WHO Brain Health Unit: WHO Neurology and COVID-19: Scientific Brief, 20 August 2024 (Contributing author)/WHO Neurology and COVID-19: Scientific Brief, 29 September 2021 (Contributing author)

PPIE
Member of Encephalitis International Scientific Advisory Panel
Conceptualised international FLAMES campaign

IMPACT; KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE
Lead Global Brain Health Clinical Exchange
Co-Lead international COVID-Neuro Clinical Exchange on behalf of the WHO Neurology & COVID-19 Global Forum.

TEACHING
University of Liverpool, School of Medicine: Member of Faculty of Academic and Clinical Educators. Supervisor and teacher Research & Scholarship Modules.

MEDIA
FLAMES Campaign: BBC News: Drive to boost brain inflammation signs awareness
FLAMES Campaign reach: Encephalitis International News
COVID-CNS: Trial Site News: COVID-19 and psychosis
SEIZURE Score: The Encephalitis Podcast
Biosensor Patch: NIHR News/University of Liverpool News