Erlick Pereira

Erlick Pereira is a Reader in Neurosurgery at City St George's, University of London, where he serves as Director of Functional Neurosurgery and heads the Neuromodulation Group within the Neuroscience & Cell Biology Research Institute and Molecular & Clinical Sciences Research Institute. Dr. Pereira founded the functional neurosurgery service at St George's in 2016 and oversees both undergraduate and postgraduate neurosurgery teaching and training programs.

His research program focuses on neuromodulation techniques including deep brain stimulation (DBS) and radiofrequency lesioning for movement disorders and chronic pain, as well as spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for chronic pain management. His work combines invasive therapeutic tools with non-invasive physiological techniques, psychological methods, and advanced imaging to understand how the brain and spine integrate sensation with movement, cognition, and emotion. Specific conditions studied include Parkinson's disease, dystonia, tremor, cervical myelopathy, spinal cord injury, and various forms of chronic pain including cancer pain.

Dr. Pereira's research has attracted significant funding from major organizations including the Medical Research Council (MRC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Life After Paralysis, and industry partners such as Abbott, Boston Scientific, and Nevro. His work has particular emphasis on discovering biomarkers for adaptive (smart, closed-loop) DBS and SCS, developing novel electroceuticals and brain-computer interfaces, and evaluating wearable technology for objective disorder assessment.

• Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons of England
• Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy
• Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of Surgeons
• Baber Scholar, Somerville College, University of Oxford
• Senior Scholar, Trinity College, University of Cambridge
• Affiliated Professor, University of Porto

As an educator, Dr. Pereira served as Lead for postgraduate neurosurgery teaching from 2017-2021 and continues to lead undergraduate neurosurgery teaching. He lectures on the BSc biomedical sciences neurosciences module and supervises students pursuing Medicine SSC, MSc/MRes, MD(Res), and PhD degrees. His research team comprises clinical research fellows, honorary research fellows, and doctoral students including Mr. Alex Alamri and Mr. Abteen Mostofi.

Dr. Pereira maintains extensive collaborations with researchers at St George's, University of Oxford, Imperial College London, University of Cambridge, Charite Hospital in Berlin, and University College San Francisco, working with prominent neurologists and neurosurgeons across these institutions.