Profile
Professor Ruth Dobson is Centre Lead for the Centre of Preventive Neurology at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health, QMUL. Her research has a focus on the roles of ethnicity, deprivation, gender and wider social determinants of health in MS, and she is particularly interested in ensuring that all people with MS are represented in research. She led the publication of UK guidelines on pregnancy in MS, and leads the UK MS pregnancy register.
She is Chair of the ABN Advisory Group for MS and neuroinflammation, is a member of the NHS England Neurology clinical reference group, and the UK representative on ECTRIMS Council. She is currently Strategic Lead for Dementia at UCL Partners, chairs the MS Trust Advisory group and is chair of the Cure Parkinson’s Trust Research Committee. She additionally chairs the Research, Culture and Environment committee for the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
She was identified by the Royal College of Physicians as an Emerging Women Leader in 2020. In 2023 she was awarded the individual MS Brain Health award for her work in pregnancy and MS. Her research has been supported by the NMSS, MS Society, Horne Family Foundation, Barts Charity, BMA Foundation, MRC and NIHR. She has over 140 peer reviewed publications.
Research
Research Interests:
Multiple sclerosis
Gender
Pregnancy
Gender-specific healthcare
Ethnicity
Deprivation
Social Determinants of health
Epidemiology
Equity
Risk-benefit analysis
Publications
Key Publications
COVID-19 Vaccine Response in People with Multiple Sclerosis
Gene-Environment Interactions in Multiple Sclerosis: A UK Biobank Study
Demyelinating Events Following Initiation of Anti-TNFα Therapy in the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Registry in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Summary-data-based Mendelian randomization prioritizes potential druggable targets for multiple sclerosis
Ethnic and Socioeconomic Associations with Multiple Sclerosis Risk
UK consensus on pregnancy in multiple sclerosis: 'Association of British Neurologists' guidelines
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Watson N, Moullaali T, Casado A et al. (2025). Headache and progressive visual loss..
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Bove R, Oreja-Guevara C, Vukusic S et al. (2025). Placental and Breastmilk Transfer of Ocrelizumab from Women with Multiple Sclerosis to Infants and the Potential Impact on B-Cell Levels: Primary Analysis of the Prospective, Multicenter, Open-label, Phase IV Studies MINORE and SOPRANINO (PL4.004).
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Vukusic S, Bove RM, Hellwig K et al. (2025). Impact sur la grossesse et le nouveau-né de l’utilisation d’ocrelizumab (OCR) chez les femmes atteintes de sclérose en plaques (SEP) : analyse d’environ 3000 grossesses.
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Vukusic S, Hellwig K, Bove RM et al. (2025). Lymphocytes B (LB) chez le nourrisson, transfert placentaire et réponses humorales maternelles pendant la grossesse sous ocrelizumab (OCR) : analyse de l’étude de phase IV, en ouvert, multicentrique, prospective MINORE.
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Vukusic S, Hellwig K, Bove RM et al. (2025). Lymphocytes B (LB) chez les nourrissons de femmes allaitantes atteintes de sclérose en plaques (SEP) recevant Ocrelizumab (OCR) : résultats de l’étude SOPRANINO.
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Mah H, Thomson A, Dobson R (2025). The Importance of Lived Experience: A Scoping Review on the Value of Patient and Public Involvement in Health Research.
QMRO:
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Zabihi S, Bestwick JP, Jitlal M et al. (2025). Early presentations of dementia in a diverse population.
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Platt IS, Joseph A, Tsirka V et al. (2025). Multiple autoimmunity: neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome.
QMRO:
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Dobson R, Kenten C, Brown J et al. (2025). Moving towards meaningful patient and public engagement.
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Brownlee WJ, Dobson R (2025). Navigating pregnancy in women with NMOSD in the monoclonal antibody era.
View Profile Publication Page Supervision
The relationship between infections and MS (NIHR funded; Emily Tregaskis-Daniels, primary supervisor)
Pathways to MS diagnosis (ESRC/LISS-DTP funded; Hiba Adan, primary supervisor)
Using simulated large-scale datasets to enable research (Caroline Morton, secondary supervisor)
EBV in ECVs in MS (Francesca Rios, primary supervisor)
Menopause and MS (Imogen Collier, primary supervisor)
Social capital in multiple sclerosis (Heather Mah, secondary supervisor)