Professor David Wilkinson

Follow the links below for recent media coverage of Professor Wilkinson’s research:

• Parkinson’s disease
• https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/news/new-device-improves-parkinsons-symptoms
• BBC Radio Kent interview
• Migraine headache- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4846878/Heating-one-ear-cooling-prevent-migraines.html
• Mild traumatic brain injury in military veterans - https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dizziness-linked-to-depression-cqrvnfj8v

For information on how to support Professor Wilkinson’s research please click here: https://giving.kent.ac.uk/discovery/neurostimulation

David's main research seeks to understand how the human vestibular system shapes cognition and mental well-being.  His group is particularly interested in developing and trialling non-invasive methods of vestibular stimulation to help overcome neuro-disability associated with brain injury and neuro-degeneration. 

Most of this research is conducted with the close support of clinical and commercial collaborators. In allied work, David's group seeks to understand more about how vestibular injury and disease compromises cognitive and emotional function. In all cases, the work is motivated by the fundamental aim of translating theoretical knowledge of vestibular cognition into clinically-relevant applications. 

Current PhD students

• Saghi Arabi: The contribution of the vestibular system to temporal attention 
• Mayur Bodani: Neuro-stimulation in fatigue/sleep disorder
• Annita Gkioka: Vestibular stimulation in visual spatial memory
• Kamlya Marques: Vestibular stimulation in Parkinson’s disease 
  

Past research students

• Dr Emma Denby: Neuropsychological outcomes in military veterans with traumatic brain injury (KentHealth studentship)
• Dr Laura Smith: Vestibular contributions to human memory
• Dr Serena Vanzan: The effects of vestibular stimulation on awareness
• Dr Olga Zubko: Sources of individual variability in face recognition
• Dr Rachael Morris: The effect of Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation on attention

Honorary positions

• Expert Peer Reviewer, Parkinson’s UK College of Experts
• Member of the Research Design Service South East External Advisory Board’    
• Academic Research Fellow, East Kent Hospitals Trust, UK.
• Investigator, Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System & Harvard Medical School, Boston, U.S.A. (http://www.heartbrain.com)

Professional membership

• Experimental Psychology Society
• Faculty member, American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine

Grants and Awards

Can be disclosed on request.