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Dr. Hugh Kearney
Clinical Senior Lecturer, Clinical Medicine

Biography

Dr Kearney completed a PhD in University College London investigating the use of spinal cord MRI in MS and its association with disability. He completed his clinical training in neurology in Ireland, including a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in genomics with FutureNeuro. He currently works as a consultant neurologist in St James's Hospital, and is leading the newly established MS unit. He is also part of the Academic Unit of Neurology in Trinity College Dublin, and is developing a research group focused on translational research in multiple sclerosis, including the development of diagnostic biomarkers.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Siew Mei Yap and Laura Davenport and Clodagh Cogley and Fiona Craddock and Alex Kennedy and Maria Gaughan and Hugh Kearney and Niall Tubridy and Cé, Word finding, prosody and social cognition in multiple sclerosis, Journal of Neuropsychology, 2022 Journal Article, 2022 DOI

Valsasina P, Gobbi C, Zecca C, Rovira A, Sastre-Garriga J, Kearney H, Yiannakas M, Matthews L, Palace J, Gallo A, Bisecco A, Gass A, Eisele P, Filippi M, Rocca MA, MAGNIMS Study Group;., Characterizing 1-year development of cervical cord atrophy across different MS phenotypes: A voxel-wise, multicentre analysis., Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 28, (6), 2022, p885-899 Journal Article, 2022 DOI

Schwarz, N., Seiffert, S., Pendziwiat, M., Rademacher, A., Brünger, T., Hedrich, U.B.S., Augustijn, P.B., Baier, H., Bayat, A., Bisulli, F., Buono, R.J., Bruria, B.Z., Doyle, M.G., Guerrini, R., Heimer, G., Iacomino, M., Kearney, H., Klein, K.M., Kousiappa, I., Kunz, W.S., Lerche, H., Licchetta, L., Lohmann, E., Minardi, R., McDonald, M., Montgomery, S., Mulahasanovic, L., Oegema, R., Ortal, B., Papacostas, S.S., Ragona, F., Granata, T., Reif, P.S., Rosenow, F., Rothschild, A., Scudieri, P., Striano, P., Tinuper, P., Tanteles, G.A., Vetro, A., Zahnert, F., Zara, F., Lal, D., May, P., Muhle, H., Helbig, I., Weber, Y., Heterozygous variants in KCNC2 cause a broad spectrum of epilepsy phenotypes associated with characteristic functional alterations, medRxiv, 2021 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

, Vaccine hesitancy among people with multiple sclerosis., Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, 2021 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

, The Human Phenotype Ontology in 2021., Nucleic acids research, 2021 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

David Lewis"Smith, Peter D. Galer, Ganna Balagura, Hugh Kearney, Shiva Ganesan, Mahgenn Cosico, Margaret O'Brien, Priya Vaidiswaran, Roland Krause, Colin A. Ellis, Rhys H. Thomas, Peter N. Robinson, Ingo Helbig, Modeling seizures in the Human Phenotype Ontology according to contemporary ILAE concepts makes big phenotypic data tractable, Epilepsia, 62, (6), 2021, p1293--1305 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

Rocca MA, Valsasina P, Meani A, Gobbi C, Zecca C, Rovira A, Sastre-Garriga J, Kearney H, Ciccarelli O, Matthews L, Palace J, Gallo A, Bisecco A, Lukas C, Bellenberg B, Barkhof F, Vrenken H, Preziosa P, Filippi M, MAGNIMS Study Group., Association of Gray Matter Atrophy Patterns With Clinical Phenotype and Progression in Multiple Sclerosis., Neurology, 96, (11), 2021, pe1561-e1573 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

Siew Mei Yap, Mark S. Etzelmueller, Clodagh O'Keeffe, Maria Gaughan, Hugh Kearney, Niall Tubridy, Richard B. Reilly, Christopher McGuigan, Postural stability is a valid and meaningful disability metric in progressive MS with potential for use in neuroprotective therapy trials, Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, 52, 2021, p102946 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

Togher Z, Fullam S, Callanan I, Kearney H, Tubridy N., An evaluation of optimal tutorial methodologies for neurology teaching at undergraduate level : Optimal tutorial methods for neurology., Ir J Med Sci, 190, (3), 2021, p965-969 Journal Article, 2021 DOI

, Location-specific reflex epilepsy: a novel reflex epilepsy phenotype., Epilepsy & behavior reports, 2020 Journal Article, 2020 DOI

Benson KA, White M, Allen NM, Byrne S, Carton R, Comerford E, Costello D, Doherty C, Dunleavey B, El-Naggar H, Gangadharan N, Heavin S, Kearney H, Cavalleri GL, A comparison of genomic diagnostics in adults and children with epilepsy and comorbid intellectual disability., European journal of human genetics : EJHG, 2020 Journal Article, 2020

McCrea Z, Power K, Kiersey R, White M, Breen A, Murphy S, Healy L, Kearney H, Dunleavy B, O'Donoghue S, Lambert V, Delanty N, Doherty C, Fitzsimons M, Coproducing health and well-being in partnership with patients, families, and healthcare providers: A qualitative study exploring the role of an epilepsy patient portal., Epilepsy & behavior : E&B, 2020 Journal Article, 2020

Al Hussona M, Kearney H, Fisher A, Lynch J, Looby S, Delanty N., New onset seizures as a sole clinical presentation of multiple sclerosis., Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 25, (2), 2019, p295-299 Journal Article, 2019 DOI

, Spatial distribution of multiple sclerosis lesions in the cervical spinal cord., Brain : a journal of neurology, 2019 Journal Article, 2019 DOI

Hugh Kearney, Tucker Price, Jane Cryan, Alan Beausang, Seamus Looby, Francesca M. Brett, Michael Farrell, Acute multiple sclerosis lesion pathology does not predict subsequent clinical course"a biopsy study, Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -), 188, (4), 2019, p1427--1434 Journal Article, 2019 DOI

Elseed M, Baheerathan A, Kearney H, Abkur T., Reversible splenial lesion syndrome., British journal of hospital medicine (London, England : 2005), 80, (12), 2019, p734-735 Journal Article, 2019 DOI

Kearney H, Byrne S, Cavalleri GL, Delanty N., Tackling Epilepsy With High-definition Precision Medicine: A Review., JAMA neurology, 76, (9), 2019, p1109-1116 Journal Article, 2019 DOI

Kearney H., Reader response: Subcutaneous ofatumumab in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: The MIRROR study., Neurology, 92, (11), 2019, p542-543 Journal Article, 2019 DOI

Rocca MA, Valsasina P, Meani A, Gobbi C, Zecca C, Rovira À, Montalban X, Kearney H, Ciccarelli O, Matthews L, Palace J, Gallo A, Bisecco A, Gass A, Eisele P, Lukas C, Bellenberg B, Barkhof F, Vrenken H, Preziosa P, Comi G, Filippi M, MAGNIMS Study Group., Clinically relevant cranio-caudal patterns of cervical cord atrophy evolution in MS., Neurology, 93, (20), 2019, pe1852-e1866 Journal Article, 2019 DOI

Lorigan J, Kearney H, Grimes B, Heffernan J, Beausang A, Cryan J, Farrell MA, Brett FM., Evaluation of the specificity of the central diagnostic criterion for chronic traumatic encephalopathy., Ir J Med Sci, 188, (3), 2019, p993-998 Journal Article, 2019 DOI

Cahalane AM, Kearney H, Purcell YM, McGuigan C, Killeen RP., MRI and multiple sclerosis--the evolving role of MRI in the diagnosis and management of MS: the radiologist's perspective., Ir J Med Sci, 187, (3), 2018, p781-787 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Kearney H, Beausang A., A 3-year old female with an atypical pineal tumor., Clinical neuropathology, 37, (3), 2018, p156-158 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Gros, C., de Leener, B., Badji, A., Maranzano, J., Eden, D., Dupont, S.M., Talbott, J., Zhuoquiong, R., Liu, Y., Granberg, T., Ouellette, R., Tachibana, Y., Hori, M., Kamiya, K., Chougar, L., Stawiarz, L., Hillert, J., Bannier, E., Kerbrat, A., Edan, G., Labauge, P., Callot, V., Pelletier, J., Audoin, B., Rasoanandrianina, H., Brisset, J.-C., Valsasina, P., Rocca, M.A., Filippi, M., Bakshi, R., Tauhid, S., Prados, F., Yiannakas, M., Kearney, H., Ciccarelli, O., Smith, S., Treaba, C.A., Mainero, C., Lefeuvre, J., Reich, D.S., Nair, G., Auclair, V., McLaren, D.G., Martin, A.R., Fehlings, M.G., Vahdat, S., Khatibi, A., Doyon, J., Shepherd, T., Charlson, E., Narayanan, S., Cohen-Adad, J., Automatic segmentation of the spinal cord and intramedullary multiple sclerosis lesions with convolutional neural networks, arXiv, 2018 Journal Article, 2018

Kearney H, Cryan JB, Looby S, Brett FM, Farrell MA, Buckley PG., The DNA copy number landscape of a collision tumor., Clinical neuropathology, 37, (2), 2018, p68-73 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Abkur TM, Kearney H, Hennessy MJ., Refractory epilepsy following natalizumab associated PML., Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, 20, 2018, p1-2 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Cawley N, Tur C, Prados F, Plantone D, Kearney H, Abdel-Aziz K, Ourselin S, Wheeler-Kingshott CAG, Miller DH, Thompson AJ, Ciccarelli O., Spinal cord atrophy as a primary outcome measure in phase II trials of progressive multiple sclerosis., Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 24, (7), 2018, p932-941 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

O'Regan CJ, Kearney H, Beausang A, Farrell MA, Brett FM, Cryan JB, Loftus TE, Buckley PG., Temporal stability of MGMT promoter methylation in glioblastoma patients undergoing STUPP protocol., Journal of neuro-oncology, 137, (2), 2018, p233-240 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

de Looze, C. and Beausang, A. and Cryan, J. and Loftus, T. and Buckley, P.G. and Farrell, M. and Looby, S. and Reilly, R. and Brett, F. and Kearney, H., Machine learning: a useful radiological adjunct in determination of a newly diagnosed glioma†s grade and IDH status, Journal of Neuro-Oncology, 2018, p491-499 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Kearney H., Clinical monitoring of multiple sclerosis should routinely include spinal cord imaging - No., Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 24, (12), 2018, p1537-1539 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Kearney H, Cahalane AM, Killeen RP, McGuigan C., MRI and multiple sclerosis-the evolving role of MRI in the diagnosis and management of MS: a clinician's perspective., Ir J Med Sci, 187, (2), 2018, p493-498 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Hugh Kearney, Jane Cryan, Alan Beausung, Seamus Looby, Francesca M. Brett, Reactive gliosis mimicking tumor recurrence " a case series documenting MRI abnormalities and neuropathological correlates, Clinical Neuropathology, 37, (05), 2018, p97--104 Journal Article, 2018

Kearney, H., Cahalane, A.M., Killeen, R.P., McGuigan, C., Correction to: MRI and multiple sclerosis"the evolving role of MRI in the diagnosis and management of MS: a clinician"s perspective (Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971), (2018), 187, 2, (493-498), 10.1007/s11845-017-1691-z), Irish Journal of Medical Science, 187, (2), 2018, p499 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Brett FM, Looby S, Chalissery A, Chen D, Heaney C, Heffernan J, Cunningham F, Howley R, Loftus T, Kearney H, Farrell MA., Brain biopsies requiring Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease precautions in the Republic of Ireland 2005-2016., Ir J Med Sci, 187, (2), 2018, p515-520 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Francesca M. Brett, Hugh Kearney, Neuropathology correlates of cognitive assessments, Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -), 187, (3), 2018, p835--844 Journal Article, 2018

Frazer B, Kearney H, Cryan J, Beausang A, Brett F, Farrell MA, Buckley PG., Absence of 1p/19q codeletion in oligodendroglioma-like areas of pilocytic astrocytomas., Clinical neuropathology, 37, (4), 2018, p182-185 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

, Automatic segmentation of the spinal cord and intramedullary multiple sclerosis lesions with convolutional neural networks., NeuroImage, 2018 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Kearney H, Cahalane AM, Killeen RP, McGuigan C., Correction to: MRI and multiple sclerosis-the evolving role of MRI in the diagnosis and management of MS: a clinician's perspective., Ir J Med Sci, 187, (2), 2018, p499 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Abkur TM, Kearney H, Hennessy MJ., CLIPPERS and the need for long-term immunosuppression., Scottish medical journal, 62, (1), 2017, p28-33 Journal Article, 2017 DOI

Kearney H, Krakar A, Drazyk A, Maloney E, Callinan I, Tubridy N., An Audit of the Effectiveness of Large Group Neurology Tutorials for Irish Undergraduate Medical Students., Irish medical journal, 109, (7), 2016, p438 Journal Article, 2016 DOI

Kearney, H., Krakar, A., Drazyk, A., Maloney, E., Callanan, I., Tubridy, N., An audit of the effectiveness of large group neurology tutorials for irish undergraduate medical students, Irish Medical Journal, 109, (7), 2016, p438 Journal Article, 2016

Kearney H, Miszkiel KA, Yiannakas MC, Altmann DR, Ciccarelli O, Miller DH., Grey matter involvement by focal cervical spinal cord lesions is associated with progressive multiple sclerosis., Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 22, (7), 2016, p910-920 Journal Article, 2016 DOI

, Fully automated grey and white matter spinal cord segmentation., Scientific reports, 2016 Journal Article, 2016 DOI

Abkur TM, Foran E, Kearney H, Harkin G, Byrnes V, Lynch J., Neuromyelitis optica presenting as intractable vomiting and hyperCKaemia., Journal of neurology, 263, (1), 2016, p171-173 Journal Article, 2016 DOI

, Fully automated segmentation of the cervical cord from T1-weighted MRI using PropSeg: Application to multiple sclerosis., NeuroImage. Clinical, 2015 Journal Article, 2015 DOI

Kearney H, Miller DH, Ciccarelli O., Spinal cord MRI in multiple sclerosis--diagnostic, prognostic and clinical value., Nature reviews. Neurology, 11, (6), 2015, p327-338 Journal Article, 2015 DOI

, Getting a handle on complicated migraine., BMJ case reports, 2015 Journal Article, 2015 DOI

Yiannakas MC, Kearney H, Samson RS, Chard DT, Ciccarelli O, Miller DH, Wheeler-Kingshott CA., Feasibility of grey matter and white matter segmentation of the upper cervical cord in vivo: a pilot study with application to magnetisation transfer measurements., NeuroImage, 63, (3), 2012, p1054-1059 Journal Article, 2012 DOI

Kearney H, O'Dowd S, Murray B, Kavanagh E, O'Connell M, Lynch T., Re-emergence of artistic traits in a patient with frontotemporal dementia., Clinical neurology and neurosurgery, 114, (4), 2012, p417-420 Journal Article, 2012 DOI

Kearney H, Murray B, Kavanagh E, O'Rourke K, Kelly P, Lynch T., Autoimmune encephalopathy presenting as a 'posterior circulation stroke'., Journal of neurology, 258, (2), 2011, p330-332 Journal Article, 2011 DOI

Kearney H, Mallon P, Kavanagh E, Lawler L, Kelly P, O'Rourke K., Amnestic syndrome due to meningovascular neurosyphilis., Journal of neurology, 257, (4), 2010, p669-671 Journal Article, 2010 DOI

Kearney, H., Delanty, N., Felbamate in an adult population with severe refractory epilepsy, Irish Medical Journal, 102, (10), 2009 Journal Article, 2009

, The patient knows best: significant change in the physical component of the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29 physical)., Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, 2007 Journal Article, 2007 DOI

Research Expertise

Description

I am a neurologist working in St James's Hospital and run the multiple sclerosis (MS) service. Arising from my clinical work my research interests are based in MS and link to clinical observations. There are two research priorities that my work focuses on: delay to diagnosis and misdiagnosis. To address these problems I am developing new diagnostic biomarkers through clinically based research.

Keywords

Diagnostic biomarker; MRI; Multiple Sclerosis

Recognition

Awards and Honours

Harold Miller Prize at INA 2015

Harold Miller Prize at INA 2018

Neuropathology fellowship award 2018

Memberships

Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience

American Academy of Neurology

European Academy of Neurology