Mr Kristian Aquilina

I am a consultant paediatric neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, UK. I am currently neurosurgical lead for neuro-oncology and specialty lead for the service. I graduated from the University of Malta in 1995 and completed my neurosurgical training in the UK. I was appointed consultant adult and paediatric neurosurgeon at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, in 2010, and subsequently at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2012. During my training I completed a one-year clinical fellowship in paediatric neurosurgery, and particularly in paediatric neuro-oncology, at St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in the United States. I also spent time at the Center for Cerebral Palsy in St Louis, Missouri, where I learnt the single-level selective dorsal rhizotomy procedure. I was subsequently the first neurosurgeon to undertake this procedure in the UK. I also completed a two-year period of original research in neuroprotection of the newborn brain and the management of neonatal intraventricular haemorrhage and hydrocephalus, leading to an MD degree from the University of Bristol. My current research interests relate to neonatal hydrocephalus, complications of surgery for brain tumours in children, and drug delivery to the brain, including gene therapy and therapy for brain tumours. I am chief investigator for the DOLPHIN-UK study, a national multi-centre NIHR-funded trial that will attempt to identify the benefit of endoscopic washout in premature babies with post-haemorrhagic hydrocephalus. 

Paediatric neurosurgery Hydrocephalus Brain tumours in children Selective dorsal rhizotomy and spasticity Drug delivery to the brain.