Dr Catherine Pennington 

Catherine Margaret Pennington
BSc, MBChB, MD, MRCP, CCT Neurology

I am a Consultant Neurologist with NHS Forth Valley and NHS Lothian, an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, and an NHS Research Scotland Fellow. My work centres on brain health, novel treatments for dementia, and improving clinical diagnosis and care for people with cognitive disorders.

I studied medicine and neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh, where I also completed my MD, before undertaking specialty training in neurology in Glasgow and Bristol. During my time in Bristol I held an NIHR-funded Clinical Lecturer post in Neurology and subsequently worked as a Consultant Neurologist with a sub-specialty interest in cognitive disorders. I returned to Edinburgh in 2017 as a Senior Clinical Research Fellow with the University of Edinburgh and was awarded an NRS Fellowship in 2021.

My research focuses on clinical trials of novel agents for the prevention and treatment of cognitive disorders, alongside a strong interest in brain health through close collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Scotland Brain Health Scotland initiative. I also have a particular interest in insight and symptom awareness in cognitive disorders.

Clinically, I work in the Memory Assessment and Treatment Service in NHS Lothian, seeing older adults with cognitive disorders, and provide general neurology clinics in NHS Forth Valley, where I also run a specialist dystonia service.