Professor Patricia Limousin

Professor Patricia Limousin is an internationally recognised neurologist specialising in the treatment of movement disorders, with particular expertise in deep brain stimulation (DBS) and MR Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS)

Originally trained in France, she received her medical degree from the University of Grenoble and later completed a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Lyon I, where her research focused on DBS of the subthalamic nucleus as a therapy for Parkinson’s disease.

During her early career, Professor Limousin was a key member of the ground-breaking DBS team in Grenoble, working alongside Professors Alim-Louis Benabid and Pierre Pollak. She played a pivotal role in the first use of bilateral stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in patients with Parkinson’s disease—an approach that went on to transform care for hundreds of thousands of patients around the world.

In 1997, she joined the UCL Institute of Neurology and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, London. Her research continues to explore the mechanisms and therapeutic impact of DBS in Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, and tremor, with a particular interest in its effects on speech and cognition. She is also involved in clinical trials investigating novel neurosurgical techniques and next-generation therapies such as gene and cell-based treatments.

Professor Limousin is a member of the Clinical Advisory and Governance Group for the Queen Square Imaging Centre's MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound service.