Professor Ruth Dobson

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

• Vukusic S, Bove R, Dobson R et al. (2025). Pregnancy and Infant Outcomes in Women With Multiple Sclerosis Treated With Ocrelizumab. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1212/nxi.0000000000200349

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/102907
• Chen B, Francis A, Cooper SA et al. (2025). Quantitative Contribution of Clinical Attacks to Residual Disability in Patients With AQP4-Antibody Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000210137

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/102906
• Hellwig K, Oreja-Guevara C, Dobson R et al. (2024). 175. B-cell Levels in Infants of Lactating Women with Multiple Sclerosis Receiving Ocrelizumab: SOPRANINO Primary Results. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2024.106136

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/103239
• Dobson R, Vukusic S, Bove R et al. (2024). 176. Pregnancy and Infant Outcomes in Women with Multiple Sclerosis Receiving Ocrelizumab: Analysis of Approximately 4,000 Pregnancies To Date. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2024.106137

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/103237
• Hellwig K, Bove R, Oreja-Guevara C et al. (2024). 178. B-cell Levels and Placental Transfer in Infants Potentially Exposed to Ocrelizumab During Pregnancy: Primary Analysis of the Prospective Multicentre, Open-label Phase IV MINORE study. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2024.106139

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/103236
• Pace S, Messina S, Chen B et al. (2025). Cerebral cortical encephalitis in adults with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody‐associated disease: A national case series. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1111/ene.16550

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/101867
• Rashid W, Ciccarelli O, Leary SM et al. (2024). Using disease-modifying treatments in multiple sclerosis: Association of British Neurologists (ABN) 2024 guidance.. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1136/pn-2024-004228

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/101598
• Arun T, Petheram K, Tallantyre E et al. (2024). Assessing the landscape and charting paths: UK neurology trainees’ opinions on neuroinflammation subspecialty. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2024.106144

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/101703
• Jacobs BM, Stow D, Hodgson S et al. (publicationYear). Genetic architecture of routinely acquired blood tests in a British South Asian cohort. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53091-x

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/100687
• Amezcua L, Rotstein D, Shirani A et al. (2024). Differential diagnosis of suspected multiple sclerosis: considerations in people from minority ethnic and racial backgrounds in North America, northern Europe, and Australasia. nameOfConference

  
  

  DOI: 10.1016/s1474-4422(24)00288-6

  
  

  QMRO: https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/99895

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)