Professional background

Professor Maria Thom has been based in the department of neuropathology at the National Hospital as an honorary consultant since 1996. In addition to general diagnostic neuropathology and coronial post-mortem work, her main diagnostic and research interests are in the field of epilepsy neuropathology. This includes the neurobiology of hippocampal sclerosis, cortical malformations, low-grade tumours and neurodegeneration in epilepsy.

Since 2013 she has also run the epilepsy society brain and tissue bank which includes a large series of postmortem brains samples in addition to surgical samples from patients with epilepsy. More recently her team has been  researching into the pathomechanisms of sudden death in epilepsy (SUDEP). brain and neuropathological changes in SUDEP. She receives and examines referral brains from external centres in epilepsy and related conditions for both diagnosis and research.

Research interests

Focal epilepsy neuropathology, sudden death in epilepsy, degenerative mechanisms in epilepsy

Publications

Recent publications (reviews and original papers):
 
MRI and pathology correlations in the medulla in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP): a postmortem study.
Patodia S, Tachrount M, Somani A, Scheffer I, Yousry T, Golay X, Sisodiya SM, Thom M.Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 2020 Jun 19. doi: 10.1111/nan.12638. Online ahead of print.PMID: 32559314

Granule Cell Dispersion in Human Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Proteomics Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Migratory Pathways.
Liu JYW, Dzurova N, Al-Kaaby B, Mills K, Sisodiya SM, Thom M.Front Cell Neurosci. 2020 Mar 17;14:53. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2020.00053. eCollection 2020.PMID: 32256318

Hippocampal morphometry in sudden and unexpected death in epilepsy.
Somani A, Zborovschi AB, Liu Y, Patodia S, Michalak Z, Sisodiya SM, Thom M.Neurology. 2019 Aug 20;93(8):e804-e814. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000007969. Epub 2019 Jul 25.PMID: 31345959

Review: Challenges in the histopathological classification of ganglioglioma and DNT: microscopic agreement studies and a preliminary genotype-phenotype analysis.
Blümcke I, Coras R, Wefers AK, Capper D, Aronica E, Becker A, Honavar M, Stone TJ, Jacques TS, Miyata H, Mühlebner A, Pimentel J, Söylemezo?lu F, Thom M.Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 2019 Feb;45(2):95-107. doi: 10.1111/nan.12522. Epub 2018 Dec 9.PMID: 30326153

The ventrolateral medulla and medullary raphe in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.
Patodia S, Somani A, O'Hare M, Venkateswaran R, Liu J, Michalak Z, Ellis M, Scheffer IE, Diehl B, Sisodiya SM, Thom M.
Brain. 2018 Jun 1;141(6):1719-1733. doi: 10.1093/brain/awy078.
PMID: 29608654