Malcolm Macleod

Macleod spent his early years in Achiltibuie and Inverness. He attended the Leachkin Primary School, Jedburgh Grammar School and Loretto School, Musselburgh, before studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh. As an undergraduate he graduated with a first class honours degree in pharmacology and was President of Edinburgh University Students' Association. After graduation, he held a number of junior medical posts in Edinburgh. He was Rector of the University of Edinburgh from 1994 to 1997, Secretary of the Labour Campaign for a Scottish Parliament, and a member of the National Executive of the Scotland FORward campaign, the cross party group which campaigned for a YES-YES vote in the 1997 devolution referendum.

From 1995 to 1998 he studied for a PhD at the University of Edinburgh, followed by 2 years in a post-doctoral position at the Seckl lab, before embarking on training in neurology. In 2003 he was Visiting Fellow at the National Stroke Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia.

His research interests are diverse and include the development of effective treatments for acute ischaemic stroke; the optimal use of animal models of disease; the neurobiology of the mineralocorticoid receptor; and impact of social deprivation on the incidence and management of neurological diseases. Pdfs of recent publications are available,[1][2] and with Suvankar Pal and Marion Simpson he has recently written a Neurology Textbook for medical undergraduates

He is currently Professor of Neurology and Translational Neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh; Head of Neurology at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Honorary Principal Research Fellow, Florey Neurosciences Unit , Melbourne, Australia; and co-ordinator of the Collaborative Approach to Meta-Analysis and Review of Animal Data in Experimental Studies (CAMARADES).[3]

CAMARADES is currently leading the way in advancing education about systematic reviews in animal research. Macleod is on the Methodology Advisory Board of the charity SABRE Research UK which raises awareness of the need for systematic reviews of existing animal studies.