Benedict Michael

Professor Benedict D Michael is a distinguished academic neurologist at the University of Liverpool, where he directs the Brain Infection & Inflammation Group. He holds an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship and serves as an Honorary Consultant Neurologist at The Walton Centre NHS Trust. His career spans postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he pioneered intravital microscopy models of viral encephalitis.

• Neurological infections
• Neuroimmunology
• Neurovirology

His research focuses on neuroinflammatory responses to infections, particularly examining cytokine dynamics and blood-brain barrier permeability in encephalitis. He leads the £2.3m UKRI-funded COVID-Clinical Neuroscience Study (COVID-CNS) and has secured over £4.4m as PI across grants. His work extends to developing ClickClinica©, a disease surveillance app, and improving neurological access in sub-Saharan Africa through NeuroACCESS.

Scientific accolades include the Royal College of Physicians Linacre Lecture Award (2022) and the British Medical Association Vera Down Award (2016). He chairs Encephalitis International’s Scientific Advisory Panel and contributes to WHO neurological guidelines. His educational initiatives NeuroPACES and NeuroID support clinical neurology training globally.