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Sydney North Neurology and Neurophysiology is your comprehensive neurological consultation, neurophysiological and medical botulinum toxin service. We have 9 neurologists, each with varied interests including headache (severe headache and migraine clinic), neuromuscular conditions, movement disorders (eg. Parkinsons disease), epilepsy, multiple sclerosis/neuroimmunology, neurogenetics, hyperhidrosis and general medicine. Many are skilled neurophysiologists in nerve conduction/EMG and/or EEG. Our team includes administrative support staff, a neurophysiology technician, and a trainee neurology registrar/fellow. 

Associate Professor Karl Ng | Specialist neurologist and neurophysiologist, toxin therapy specialist | Sydney

MBBS (Hons 1), FRCP, FRACP, FANZAN, CCT Clinical Neurophysiology (UK), PhD

Conjoint Associate Professor  – Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney

Director  – Sydney North Neurology & Neurophysiology

Consultant Neurologist and Senior Staff Specialist  – Director Neurophysiology, Royal North Shore Hospital, NSLHD

Specialties: Injection therapy for chronic migraine/excessive sweating/movement disorders, nerve conduction/EMG and EEG, peripheral neuromuscular disorders and multiple sclerosis. Director – Headache Clinic, Hyperhidrosis Clinic (SNNN)

Dr Karl Ng is a conjoint associate professor at the Northern Precinct of Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney. He completed his medical degree with first class honours at the University of New South Wales, and attained accreditation in Neurology from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He has undertaken 3 years post-fellowship training in Clinical Neurophysiology at the prestigious National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, University College London culminating in accreditation of a second specialty in the UK in this area. He has completed a doctoral thesis in peripheral axonal excitability in peripheral and central neurological disorders including multiple sclerosis, and has supervised several doctoral students in nerve and muscle excitability. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London) and Royal Australasian College of Physicians, ex-board director of the charitable Brain Foundation, NSW representative of the Australian and New Zealand Headache Society, and member of the International Hyperhidrosis Society. He is active in the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists as ex-councillor and committee member of the Clinical Neurophysiology interest group. Dr Ng is Director of SNNN, Head of the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology at Royal North Shore Hospital, has organised specialty training conferences in neurophysiology for the Australian association, and speaks at international meetings. He has over a hundred publications in high-end international peer reviewed journals, is an invited reviewer for these learned societies, and is Editor-in-Chief of BMJ Neurology Open and Neurology Subeditor of the Internal Medicine Journal.

Associate Professor Kishore Kumar | Specialist neurologist, neurogeneticist | Sydney

MBBS, FRACP, PhD

Conjoint Associate Professor –University of NSW

Consultant Neurologist and Staff Specialist  – Concord Repatriation General Hospital, SLHD

Specialties: General neurology, Parkinson disease, dystonia, neurogenetics and inherited neurological disorders

Dr Kishore Kumar completed his medical degree at the University of Adelaide, and attained accreditation in Neurology from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He undertook a Neuromuscular Fellowship at the Royal North Shore Hospital and was trained in neurogenetics, nerve conduction studies and electromyography. He was awarded the P.K. Thomas Clinical Fellowship to the Royal Free Hospital, London, United Kingdom, by the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists. He has a PhD in neurogenetics with work completed at the Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Sydney University and the University of Lubeck, Germany. He has over a hundred journal publications, and is first author of a book entitled ‘Neurogenetics’ from the ‘What Do I Do Now’ series (Oxford University Press). He has presented at many national and international meetings. He is an invited reviewer for several international journals, and on the editorial board of the journal Movement Disorders. Dr Kumar is continuing his research as a NHMRC Early Career Fellow, conducts research including long read sequencing genetic studies at the Garvan Insitute of Medical Research, and has been appointed a staff specialist at the Concord Repatriation General Hospital.

Dr Robert Boland-Freitas | Specialist and general neurologist, neurophysiologist | Sydney

BSc (Med), MBBS, FRACP, PhD

Consultant Neurologist and Staff Specialist  – Blacktown Hospital, WSLHD

Specialties: General neurology, headache, neuropathy and myopathy, neurophysiology, injection therapy

Dr. Robert Boland-Freitas completed his medical degree at the University of New South Wales, and attained accreditation in Neurology from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He undertook a Neurophysiology Fellowship at the Royal North Shore Hospital, where he trained in nerve conduction studies and electromyography. He has completed PhD studies under the supervision of A/Prof. Ng (University of Sydney) researching muscle diseases using novel neurophysiological methods, with a focus on the myotonic dystrophy. For this work, he was nominated for the Peter Bancroft Prize. Dr. Boland-Freitas has been appointed as a staff specialist Neurologist at Blacktown Hospital.

Dr James Lee | Specialist and general neurologist, neurophysiologist | Sydney

BSc (Med), MBBS (Hons 1), FRACP, PhD

Clinical Senior Lecturer  – Sydney Medical School, the University of Sydney

Consultant Neurologist and Staff Specialist  – Royal North Shore Hospital, NSLHD

Specialties: General neurology, epilepsy, neuropathy and myopathy, neurophysiology, injection therapy

Dr James Lee graduated in medicine with 1st Class Honours. He has trained at the Royal North Shore Hospital in general neurology and neurophysiology. He is a scholar of the University of Sydney and Australian Government Research Training Program, and a Doctor of Philosophy with postgraduate studies on nerve and muscle excitability in myopathic disorders, specifically inclusion body and inflammatory myopathy, with several publications in this area. He also has an interest in epilepsy, holding a specialty clinic in this area both in private and public settings. Dr Lee also received the Peter Bancroft prize. Dr Lee is a Staff Specialist at Royal North Shore Hospital. James is fluent in both Cantonese and Mandarin.

Dr Tania Farrar | Specialist neurologist and epileptologist | Sydney

MBBS, FRACP

Consultant Neurologist and Staff Specialist – Royal North Shore and Westmead Hospitals, NSLHD/WSLHD

Specialties: Epilepsy, seizure disorders and EEG

Dr Tania Farrar is a clinical lecturer for the University of Notre Dame, School of Medicine, Sydney and a tutor in Neurology for the University of Sydney. She completed her medical degree at the University of Notre Dame and attained accreditation in Neurology from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. She undertook an Epilepsy Fellowship at Westmead Hospital and was trained in complex epilepsy assessment and management, surgical epilepsy evaluation as well as cranial and intracranial EEG monitoring. She has presented her research in Australia as well as overseas and has been 1st author on publications including articles on the assessment of patients with seizures. Dr Farrar is undertaking further study and research as a PhD candidate on the role of ketogenic diet therapy in refractory epilepsy.

Dr Ruaridh Cameron Smail | Specialist and general neurologist | Sydney

MA (Oxon), MBBS, MRCP, FRACP, MPhil

Consultant Neurologist and Staff Specialist – Royal North Shore (locum), NSLHD

Specialties: General neurology, headache, stroke, neurophysiology, injection therapy

Dr Ruaridh Cameron Smail is a UK medical graduate. He achieved a first-class honours degree in Neurosciences from Oxford University, before completing his medical degree at University College London and is an associate clinical lecturer with Sydney Medical School. Ruaridh has a Masters of Philosophy from the University of Sydney studying both sporadic and monogenic forms of hemiplegic migraine, as well as the effect of therapies like CGRP antagonists, using novel nerve excitability techniques. He has undertaken fellowships in neurophysiology and stroke, and has locumed as consultant at Royal North Shore Hospital where he was involved in neurophysiology, stroke and neuroimmunology specialty clinics. He is interested in seeing general neurology cases, headache, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis/neuroimmunology and stroke.

Dr Emily Cheung | Specialist and general neurologist, neurophysiologist | Sydney

MB BS, MPhil, FRACP

Consultant Neurologist and Staff Specialist  –

Hornsby Hospital,NSLHD

Specialties: General neurology, neuroimmunology/MS, neurophysiology

Dr Emily Cheung was a neurophysiology fellow training at Royal North Shore Hospital, obtaining skills in nerve conduction studies and electromyography. She has completed a Masters of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, studying nerve excitability in multiple sclerosis, exploring questions posed by A/Prof Ng’s original thesis work in the peripheral nerves of patients with MS. Emily is a native speaker of Cantonese.

Dr Shuo (Sunny) Xi | Specialist and general neurologist, neurophysiologist | Sydney

MBBS, BSc (Bio), FRACP

Consultant neurologist  – Royal North Shore Hospital, NSLHD

Specialties: General neurology, movement disorders/Parkinsons diesase, MS, neurophysiology

Dr Sunny Xi is a neurologist in movement disorders. She obtained her medical degree at the University of Sydney before completed her neurology training at Westmead and Royal North Shore Hospital. Subsequently, she undertook the John Morris Movement Disorder Fellowship at Westmead Hospital and is currently pursuing a second Fellowship in Neurophysiology at Royal North Shore Hospital. Dr. Xi has a keen interest in the management of Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders including dystonia. Sunny is a native speaker of Mandarin.

Dr Tal Koren | Specialist and general neurologist | Sydney

MD, BSc, FRACP

Consultant Neurologist; and Honorary Neurophysiology Fellow  – Royal North Shore Hospital, NSLHD

Specialties: General neurology, neuroimmunology / MS

Dr Tal Koren is a neurologist specialising in neuroimmunology and multiple sclerosis. He obtained his medical degree at the University of Melbourne before completing his neurology training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital. Subsequently, he undertook a neuroimmunology fellowship at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Brain and Mind Institute and is currently pursuing a second fellowship in neurophysiology at Royal North Shore Hospital. Dr. Koren has a keen interest in the management of multiple sclerosis and other central and peripheral neuroimmunology conditions including myasthenia gravis and CIDP. He is currently completing his Master of Philosophy with the University of Sydney focusing on radiological biomarkers of disease progression in multiple sclerosis.

Dr Fangzhi (Frank) Jia | Neurology and neurophysiology fellow | Sydney

BSc (Adv) (Hon), MD, MMed (Int Med)

Neurophysiology/Neuroimmunology Fellow  – Royal North Shore Hospital, NSLHD

Dr Fangzhi (Frank) Jia is a fellow at Royal North Shore Hospital specialising in neurophysiology and neuroimmunology/MS. He completed neurology training at St Vincent’s Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital, and is an Associate Lecturer at the University of Sydney and University of NSW; he is actively involved in teaching and examination of junior doctors and medical students and has been recognised for excellence in medical education. Dr Jia also maintains an active academic and research profile with peer-reviewed publications spanning several subspecialties. He is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese.

Past joint SNNN/RNSH neurophysiology fellows :

Mid 2007 to mid 2008   Susanne Winter

2009   Kishore Kumar, PhD (USyd)

2010   Christina Liang, PhD (USyd)

2011   Karen Sank

2012   Roula Ghaoui, PhD (USyd)

2013   Jessica Hafner

2014   Jessica Hafner – discontinued Mar 2014

2015   Robert Boland-Freitas, PhD (Peter Bancroft prize, USyd)

2016   James Lee, PhD (Peter Bancroft prize, USyd)

2019   Ruaridh Cameron Smail, MPhil (USyd)

2021   Jordan Weastell

2022   (no trainee)

2023   Mitchell Lycett, MPhil (USyd)

2024   Emily Cheung, MPhil (USyd), and Mitchell Lycett, MPhil (USyd)

2025   Shuo (Sunny) Xi

2026   Fangzhi (Frank) Jia / Tal Koren

Associate staff

• Ms Gosia Kern, Practice Manager and Secretary
• Ms Amelia Hook, Receptionist and Secretary
• Ms Mackenzie Beegling, Receptionist and Secretary
• Ms Amy Waters Bachelor of Medical Sciences (Clin Neurophys), EEG Scientist
• Ms Jess McGinty Bachelor of Medical Sciences (Clin Neurophys), Bachelor Psychology, EEG Scientist

Research and training

See here for more information

Associations:

University of Sydney | The Royal Australasian College of Physicians | Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists | Royal College of Physicians | Australian and New Zealand Headache Society | International Hyperhidrosis Society | The Brain Foundation | NSW Government Health

Contact our practice for help here: 02 8287 1900