Events

Dr Sudipta Sen is the Clinical Lead for Richmond Community Paediatric Medical Services and Lead for under 5 years assessment of childhood autism in Richmond. With 28 years of experience as a paediatrician, specialising in paediatric neurodevelopment, in addition to her role as the Named Doctor for Safeguarding Children in Richmond, Dr Sen has a deep insight into the challenging behaviour and safeguarding issues faced by neurodiverse paediatric population and the impact on education and family life. She completed her DCH and MRCPCH in 2000 and has been elected as Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health since 2018. She is a mentor, trainer and assessor for Paediatricians aspiring to become consultants in the UK and works jointly with the GMC and RCPCH as a Member of the CESR Sub-committee. With a special interest in ADHD occurring with learning disabilities in children, Dr Sen regularly lectures in ADHD workshops and webinars for doctors, parents and the voluntary sector. She is a trained Sleep Practitioner from Sleep charity and has been supporting sleep in children and young persons in Richmond with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. She works part-time privately for assessment and management of ADHD, autism and sleep in 18 years and under, and manages a case load of complex presentations, especially in the adolescent age group. She is a passionate advocate for nurturing neurodiversity and early assessment of diverse development as the key to providing growing children with the best outcomes for their future.

Dr Indrani Banerjee works as a Community Paediatric Consultant in Harrow Community Paediatric Services employed by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.

She graduated from Calcutta Medical College, India. She completed her training in paediatrics in the UK specialising in Neurodevelopmental Paediatrics and developed a special interest in neurodisability. She completed her MD from University College London in “Outcome studies of effects of interventions in early life”. She is currently completing a Master’s degree in Medical Ethics and Law at Keele University.

Working in a large multidisciplinary team, her areas of interest are paediatric neurodisability
particularly cerebral palsy, epilepsy, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder and learning disability and
transition services for children and young people with disability into adult life.

She is the North London Area Officer for Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. She lives with her family in St Albans and enjoys spending time travelling, reading, watching movies and walking the family dog.

Professor Paul Gringras specialises in the fields of Paediatric Neurodisability and Paediatric Sleep Medicine. Sleep problems are very common in children and young people with Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and many other neurodevelopmental disorders. Improving the sleep, learning, behaviour and quality of life for these children and their families is strong focus of Professor Gringras’ work.

Professor Gringras lectures and runs workshops at national and international conferences. He has written over 70 peer reviewed papers, as well as book and book chapters. He holds research grants in the fields of Neurodisability and Sleep medicine. He lectures internationally and is President elect for the International Paediatric Sleep Association.

His studies include epidemiological work tracking sleep patterns in large numbers of UK children, then studying how sleep differs in those diagnosed with Autism and ADHD. He has conducted two of the world’s largest and longest trials of melatonin to improve sleep in children with Autism.

Dr Paras Sharma has been the Consultant Paediatrician Lead for Autism, ADHD and Neurodevelopment at Epsom Hospital for eight years and been the Lead Paediatric Consultant for Mental Health for the last three years. With more than 25 years of experience as a paediatrician, he sees all children and young persons under 18 years for general paediatric and adolescent cases and has special expertise in headaches, autism, ADHD and neurodevelopment.

Dr Cornelius Ani (MBBS, MSc, DCH, MRCP, MD, FRCPsych, FHEA, PGC Medical Law) is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Division of Psychiatry, Imperial College London. He is a member of the Board of the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH) and the Deputy Editor in Chief for Child and Adolescent Mental Health – a clinically oriented journal published by ACAMH.

Dr Ani is also a member of the Executive Committee of the African Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (AACAMH) where he leads on educational affairs. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Surveillance System (CAPSS). Dr Ani was an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists for 6 years where he held the medicolegal remit.

Through this role, he worked on the Review of the Mental Health Act, and on the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) (which will replace DOLS and apply to 16-17 year olds). He was the Named Doctor for Child Safeguarding for Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for 6 years.