Research Interests

Epilepsy/Stroke/Multiple Sclerosis/Movement disorders/Headache disorders

Selected Publications:

1. J Shepherd, GJ Blauw, MB Murphy, SM Cobbe, E Bollen, IM Buckley, I Ford, JW Jukema, M Hyland, A Gaw, A Lagaay, IJ Perry, PW Macfarlane, AE Meinders, BJ Sweeney, CJ Packard, RGJ Westendorp, C Twomey, DJ Stott. The design of a prospective study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER). PROSPER Study Group. PROspective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk. American Journal of Cardiology 1999;15;84(10):1192-7
2. A Tyagi, BJ Sweeney, S Connolly. Motor Neurone Disease in Pregnancy.Neurology India 2001;49:413-414
3. MO McCarron, A Tyagi, RS Thomas, BJ Sweeney, I Bone. Non-convulsive Status Epilepticus of Frontal Origin following Surgery for Craniopharyngioma. European Journal of Neurology 2002;9:178-179.
4. S Timmons, BJ Sweeney, M Hyland, C Twomey, D O’Mahony. Seizures in the Elderly: Aetiology and Prognosis. Irish Medical Journal 2002;95:47-49
5. I Ford, GJ Blauw, M Murphy, J Shepherd, S Cobbe, E Bollen, B Buckley, J Jukema, M Hyland, A Gaw, A Lagaay, I Perry, P McFarlane, J Norrie, A Meinders, B Sweeney, C Packard, R Westendrop, C Twomey, D Stott. A Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER): Screening Experience and Baseline Characteristics. Current Controlled Trials in Cardiovascular Medicine 2002;3:8
6. PJ Houx, J Shepherd, GJ Blauw, MB Murphy, I Ford, EL Bollen, B Buckley, DJ Stott, JW Jukema, M Hyland, A Gaw, J Norrie, AM Kamper, I Perry,P MacFarlane,A Meinders, BJ. Sweeney, CJ Packard,C Twomey, SM Cobbe, RG Westendorp. Testing cognitive function in elderly populations: The PROSPER study. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 2002;73:385-389
7. J Shepherd, GJ Blauw, MB Murphy, SM Cobbe, E Bollen, IM Buckley, I Ford, JW Jukema, M Hyland, A Gaw, A Lagaay, IJ Perry, PW Macfarlane, AE Meinders, DJ Stott, BJ Sweeney, CJ Packard, RGJ Westendorp, C Twomey,   L Browne, BJ Sweeney, M Farrell.Late Onset Pigmentary Leukoencephalopathy with Spheroids. European Neurology 2003;50:85-90
8. M Hutchinson, R Galvin, B Sweeney,  T Lynch, R Murphy, J Redmond. Effect of a multidisciplinary clinic on survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (letter) Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 2004;75:1208-9
9.  A McKeon, B McNamara, B Sweeney Hashimoto’s encephalopathy presenting with psychosis and generalized absence status.Journal of Neurology 2004;251:1025-1027
10. K O’Rourke, B McNamara, BJ Sweeney.Video-EEG telemetry: a 4 year clinical audit. Irish Medical Journal 2004;97:309
11. R Rengathan, S O’Brien, B Sweeney, RJ Galvin, B McNamara. Clinical Neurophysiology Referrals to a Tertiary Hospital – A Prospective Audit. Irish Journal of Medical Science 2004;173;211-214
12. P Widdess-Walsh, B Sweeney, R Galvin, B McNamara.Utilisation and Yield of Electroencephalography in the Elderly Population. Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology 2005;24:253-255
13. CJ Packard, J Shepherd, GJ Blauw, MB Murphy, SM Cobbe, E Bollen, IM Buckley, I Ford, JW Jukema, M Hyland, A Gaw, A Lagaay, IJ Perry, PW Macfarlane, AE Meinders, DJ Stott, BJ Sweeney, RGJ Westendorp, C Twomey. Plasma lipoproteins and apolipoproteins as predictors of cardiovascular risk and treatment benefit in the Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk (PROSPER). Circulation 2005;112;3058-365
14. A Neligan, R Renganathan, BJ Sweeney. Management of Epilepsy in the Community. Irish Medical Journal 2006:99;52-54
15. S O’Sullivan,  BJ Sweeney, B McNamara. The opinion of the General Practioner toward clinical management of patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizure. Epilepsy and Behaviour 2006:8;256-260
16. Gordon MC, Dinnett EM, Ronald ES, Gaw A, Cobbe SM, Macfarlane PQ, Meinders AE, Stott DJ, Sweeney BJ, Twomey C, Jukema JW, Mungall, MMB, on behalf of the PROSPER Study Group A Means to an Endpoint.  Good Clinical Practice Journal 2006;13(10):25-29
17. SS O’Sullivan, ,EM Cronin, BJ Sweeney, J Bourke, J Fitzgibbon. Panniculitis and lipoatrophy after subcutaneous injection of interferon beta in a patient with multiple sclerosis. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 2006;77:1382-1383.
18. SS O’Sullivan, A Mc Carthy, GM Mullins, B McNamara, BJ Sweeney. ALS in a patient with hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsy. Neurology 2006;67:2260
19. AM Ryan, J Ryan, M Wan-Ahmed, O Hardiman, M Farrell, B McNamara, BJ Sweeney.  Vacuolar leukoencephalopathy and “pulvinar sign” in association with coeliac disease. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 2007;78:98-99
20. S Spino, JR Murrell, H Yoshida, B Ghetti, N Bermingham, B Sweeney, SR Dlouhty, RA Crowther, M Goedert, C Keohane, The novel Tau mutation G335S: clinical, neuropathological and molecular characterization. Acta Neuropathologica. e-pub December 2006
21. GM Mullins, SS O’Sullivan, A Neligan, A McCarthy, B McNamara, RJ Galvin, BJ Sweeney. A study of idiopathic generalised epilepsy in an Irish population. Seizure epub Jan 11 2007.
22. N Sattar, HM Murray, GJ Blauw, ELEM Bollen, BM Buckley,  SM Cobbe,  I Ford,  A Gaw, M Hyland, JW Jukema, AM. Kamper, PW. Macfarlane, MB. Murphy, CJ. Packard, IJ. Perry, DJ. Stott,; BJ. Sweeney, C Twomey, Rudi G.J. Westendorp, J Shepherd, for the PROSPER Study Group CRP and prediction of vascular events in PROSPER. Circulation epub February 2007.
23. DM Fernandez, CK Hand, BJ Sweeney, NA Parfrey. A novel ATP1A2 gene mutation in an Irish Familial Hemiplegic Migraine kindred. Headache (in press).
24. SS O’Sullivan, A Neligan , GM Mullins,B  McNamara, RJ Galvin, BJ Sweeney. Aetiology and prognosis of encephalopathic patterns on electroencephalogram in a general hospital. Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology (in press)
25. Chris J Packard, Rudi GJ Westendorp, David J Stott, Muriel J Caslake, Heather M Murray, James Shepherd, Gerard J Blauw, Michael B Murphy, Edward LEM Bollen, Brendan M Buckley Stuart M Cobbe, Ian Ford, Allan Gaw, Michael Hyland, J. Wouter Jukema, Adriaan M Kamper,  Peter W Macfarlane,  Jellemer Jolles, Ivan J Perry, Brian J. Sweeney, Cillian Twomey, for the PROSPER Study Group  Impact of apolipoprotein E4 and lipoproteins on cognitive impairment in the elderly. Journal of the American Geriatric Society (in press).

Brian Sweeney

UCD Graduate 1986, post-graduate training in Dublin/Cork prior to moving to London where he trained at the Middlesex Hospital, St Mary’s Hospital and was registrar and senior registrar at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square. Returned to Ireland as a consultant neurologist to CUH in 1996.