Needhamlab
Needham Lab Research Updates
At the Needham Research Group, we study how the immune system responds to injury and disease within the brain and nervous system. A major focus of our work is the immunology of traumatic brain injury (TBI)
Research Insights
The Immunology of TBI
Projects
The TITAN-TBI clinical trial (Targeted Interleukin-6 Therapy Against Neuroinflammation in Traumatic Brain Injury) investigates whether modulating the immune response after TBI can reduce secondary brain injury. The study focuses on interleukin-6 (IL-6), a key inflammatory mediator that rises rapidly following brain injury and is associated with poorer neurological outcomes.
Using tocilizumab, an IL-6 receptor antagonist, TITAN-TBI investigates how targeting systemic inflammation affects neuroinflammation and patient outcomes.
Group Members
Ed Needham
Group Lead
Dr Edward Needham is the group lead and Consultant Neurologist at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and leads the neuroimmunology and myasthenia gravis service at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. His clinical and research interests focus on neuroimmunology, neurocritical care, and traumatic brain injury.
He undertook a PhD in neuroimmunology at the University of Cambridge and now leads a translational research group investigating how immune responses influence neurological disease and recovery following severe brain injury. His work combines clinical neurology, biomarker discovery, neuroinflammation research, and early-phase clinical trials.
Dr Needham has published widely on neuroinflammation, brain injury, COVID-19 neurology, and neuroimmune disease, and collaborates across neurology, intensive care, immunology, and translational neuroscience.Contact : [email protected]
Hiba Malik
Clinical Research Fellow & PhD Student
Dr Hiba Malik is a Neurology Specialist Registrar and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge. She is leading the delivery of the TITAN-TBI trial, an early-phase clinical trial investigating targeted immunomodulation following traumatic brain injury.
Alongside this, she is undertaking a PhD exploring how inflammation contributes to long-term neuropsychiatric outcomes after brain injury. Her research focuses on sickness behaviour, investigating whether symptoms such as fatigue, low mood, reduced motivation, and cognitive difficulties are driven by persistent immune activation and neuroinflammation.
Her broader interests include neuroimmunology, traumatic brain injury, neuropsychiatry, and translational clinical trials.
Contact : [email protected]