Practitioners

Prof. Neil Simon is a neurologist with subspecialty expertise in peripheral nerve and muscle disease, nerve trauma, spinal medicine, clinical neurophysiology, and nerve and muscle imaging.Prof. Simon is widely published with over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and textbook chapters in relevant fields. Prof. Simon regularly speaks at national and international meetings in the fields of neurology and neurophysiology.Prof. Simon is a Consultant Neurologist and Head of Neurology at Northern Beaches Hospital, Sydney, and Managing Director and Principal Neurologist at Northern Beaches Neurology. He is appointed as Clinical Professor at Macquarie University.

Interests and expertise:

• Nerve conduction studies/EMG
• Peripheral neuromuscular disorders
• Injection therapy for movement disorders and migraine including EMG guided Botox injection
• Multiple Sclerosis
• General Neurology (Headache, epilepsy, stroke, movement disorders)

Dr Skulina obtained his medical qualifications with first class Honours from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany in 2002. He trained in Neurology and Neurophysiology at Zurich University Hospital in Switzerland and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney completing his training in Neurology and Neurophysiology in 2008. He has undertaken Stroke and Neurophysiology fellowships at Royal Prince Alfred hospital and worked as a research fellow at The George Institute for Global Health.

Dr Skulina has completed a doctoral thesis in Neuroimmunology at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry investigating the role of lymphocytes in Multiple Sclerosis.

Dr Skulina is a Consultant Neurologist at Macquarie University Hospital and Clinical Lecturer in Neurology at Macquarie University.

Christian works in our Dee Why clinic on Wednesdays.

Dr Alexis Selby is a Neurologist and Neurophysiologist. She has a particular interest in Headache Disorders and Migraine. She also has an interest in Botulinum Toxin Injections, General Neurology, Neuromuscular Disorders, Neuroinflammatory Disorders, Peripheral Nerve Disorders and Epilepsy. She completed her Neurophysiology Fellowship at Westmead Hospital.

She is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the International Headache Society, the Australian and New Zealand Headache Society and the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists. In 2017 she was awarded the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists Jim McLeod award. She is a visiting Neurologist at the Northern Beaches Hospital.

Alexis works in our rooms at Dee Why on Mondays and Tuesdays, and at the Northern Beaches Hospital on Thursdays. She offers Telehealth appointments, including for those patients with Headache Disorders.

Northern Beaches born and bred, Ben (he/him) graduated from Davidson High School in 2001. He then proceeded with studying arts/medicine and completed a PhD at the University of New South Wales. Ben was also awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study biostatistics at the John’s Hopkin Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, USA.

Since completing his tertiary education, Ben has been exposed to a diverse range of pathologies, having worked at Gosford, Wyong, Royal Darwin and Liverpool Hospitals. In 2022, he completed a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology at Liverpool Hospital.

Ben performs nerve conduction studies and EMG. His interests include peripheral nerve pathology, neuromuscular disease (especially motor neurone disease) and functional neurological disorder.

Ben is also a VMO neurologist at Bankstown, Gosford and Wyong Hospitals.

Dr Tejas Patel is a Consultant General Neurologist with an interest in all general neurological presentations.  He has a subspecialty interest and expertise in movement disorders (such as tremor, Parkinson’s disease and dystonia), clinical neurophysiology testing (nerve conduction studies and EMG), stroke, headache, botulinum toxin injection therapy for various neurological conditions and functional neurological disorders.

Dr Patel performs comprehensive neurological assessments and is committed to ensuring optimal care for the patients and their carers.  He has trained and worked at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Gosford District Hospital, Royal North Shore Hospital, Nepean Hospital, Orange Base Hospital, and Concord Repatriation General Hospital.

Besides English, Dr Patel is fluent in Gujarati and Hindi.

Dr Patel works as a Consultant Neurologist at the Northern Beaches Hospital and Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, and periodically visits Orange and Goulburn to provide neurological services to these regional centres.  He is actively engaged in teaching junior medical staff and medical students at these affiliated hospitals.

Tejas works in our Northern Beaches Hospital clinic on Thursdays.

Dr Gerbis is a general neurologist with an interest in all general neurological presentations including headache, stroke, epilepsy and dementia, and sub-specialty interests in neurogenetic and neuroinflammatory disorders.

She received her medical degree from the University of Sydney and completed neurology training at St Vincent’s Private, Royal North Shore and Sydney Adventist hospitals. She has undertaken sub-specialty training in Neurogenetics and Neuromuscular disease, having worked as the Neuromuscular Fellow at Royal North Shore Hospital. She also received sub-specialty training in multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory disorders of the nervous system, when she held the position of Neuroimmunology Fellow at Royal North Shore Hospital.

Dr Gerbis is passionate about clinical research and is currently a PhD candidate with the University of Sydney. She is also involved in medical education, having taught medical students on hospital wards and in clinics. She volunteers as an examiner for the University of Sydney Northern Clinical School, and is an adjunct clinical lecturer at the University of Notre Dame, School of Medicine.

Special Interests:

• Parkinson’s disease and Movement Disorders
• Stroke
• Headache
• Injection therapy for Neurological conditions
• Teleneurology

Dr Jason Gu received his medical degree from the University of New South Wales and undertook neurology training at the Sydney Adventist Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital. He completed his fellowship at Royal North Shore Hospital with specialized training in neurogenetics, neuromuscular disease and neurophysiology.

As well as working for the NBN clinics, Dr Jason Gu is currently a Staff Specialist Neurologist at The Wollongong Hospital where he runs the Movement Disorders and TIA clinic. He has private experience in neurophysiology, botox injection and deep brain stimulation. Dr Jason Gu also provides a busy integrated teleneurology service to the Port Macquarie region.

Interests and Expertise:

• Nerve Conduction Studies/ EMG
• Headache
• General Neurology

Dr Baird-Gunning completed his undergraduate medical training at the University of Glasgow. During this time, he conducted research at the Institute of Neurological Sciences and was subsequently accepted onto the West of Scotland Academic Foundation Programme. He continued his Physician’s Training in North East of Scotland Deanery prior to coming to Australia.

Dr Baird-Gunning is a double accredited Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He completed his General Medicine Training in Canberra and received the Australian National University Dean’s Award for his contribution to Medical Education in 2016. He was awarded the Dr William Coupland Award for Best Physician Trainee in 2018. Dr Baird-Gunning established a translation research collaboration at the John Curtin School of Medicine evaluating biomarkers and potential drug targets for Multiple Sclerosis whilst employed as the ANU Fellow of Medicine in 2018.

In 2019 Dr Baird-Gunning moved to the Royal North Shore Hospital where he completed his formal Neurology Training and continued to undertake subspecialty training in Clinical Neurophysiology.

Dr Baird-Gunning is a Consultant Neurologist at Northern Beaches Hospital.

Emily is a general neurologist and epileptologist with special interests in epilepsy, treating neurological disorders in women and pregnancy, stroke, and headache including botulinum toxin for migraine. She completed neurology training at St Vincent’s Hospital, Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, and Royal North Shore Hospital.

Emily then undertook sub-speciality training in epilepsy and seizure disorders, gaining expertise in EEG interpretation.

She is passionate about teaching and has previously been awarded the UNSW / St Vincent’s registrar tutor of the year, and has held a conjoint lecturer position.

Leon is a neurologist with a subspecialty interest in stroke and vascular neurology. He also has experience in managing a broad range of other general neurological conditions (including epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, headache, and neuropathies).

Leon earned his medical degree from the University of New South Wales, before completing his general physician training in the Illawarra region (Wollongong Hopsital) and subsequent neurology training across Sydney (Campbelltown Hopsital) and the Central Coast (Gosford Hospital). Leon further honed his skills in stroke/ vascular neurology by completing a fellowship year at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney. Leon is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP). He has also completed a Master of Medicine degree at the University of Sydney, to further solidify his knowledge in the field of Internal Medicine and Neurology.

Leon holds a Visiting Medical Officer (VMO) position at Gosford Hospital. Additionally, he has lent his expertise through locuming in various locations across Australia, including Canberra, Cairns, Darwin, Launceston, and Rockingham.

Beyond the clinic, he is involved in the mentoring, education and examination of medical students and trainees in the field. He has held conjoint lecturer positions with the University of New South Wales and University of Newcastle.

Leon has been involved in publishing scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and has presented his work at conferences. Leon is member of several professional organisations (such as the Australia New Zealand Association of Neurologists, American Academy of Neurology, Australasian Stroke Academy and International Movement Disorder Society).

In his free time, Leon keeps active with badminton and soccer, and enjoys traveling to explore new cultures and cuisines.

Leon is multilingual, fluent in English and Malay, with a basic proficiency in Cantonese and Indonesian

Dr Grace Swart is a neurologist with subspecialty expertise in neuromuscular, neuroimmunology, and neurophysiology. She trained at Royal Prince Alfred, St Vincent’s, and Concord Hospitals in NSW. She was awarded a prestigious fellowship at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, United States, where she developed further expertise in peripheral nerve, muscle, nerve pathology, and neurophysiology, and was nominated Assistant Professor in Neurology for her scholarly activity. She has multiple publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has presented her work nationally and internationally in the areas of peripheral neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, nitrous-oxide myeloneuropathy, and HIV dementia. She is currently completing a PhD in inflammatory neuropathy at the University of Sydney. She has been praised by her patients and colleagues as a truly compassionate and caring physician.

Dr Xiran (Simon) He is General Physician and Geriatrician who believes in a holistic and pragmatic approach to patient care. He has experiences in many areas of internal medicine including advanced training in infectious diseases, endocrinology, respiratory medicine, intensive care, perioperative medicine and rehabilitation medicine.

He is able to perform comprehensive geriatric assessment, cognitive and capacity evaluations and perioperative management plans.

Dr He is currently working as a general physician at Northern Beaches Hospital and is a supervisor for Macquarie University Medical Students.

Dr He has a Bachelor of Science, Medicine and Surgery from University of Queensland. He is a Fellow of Royal Australasian College of Physicians since 2020.

Dr He is fluent in Mandarin.

Please visit Dr Allan’s website for more information regarding clinical services and expertise.

To book an appointment with Rodney please email surgery@neurosurgeon.com.au or ring 1300 255 261.

Please visit Dr Laban’s website for more information regarding clinical services and expertise.

To book an appointment with James please email info@drjameslaban.com.au or ring 02 8320 0577.

Dr Jonathan Curtis has been Director of Neurosurgical Services at Northern Beaches Hospital since its inception and has overseen its notable development and expansion of neurosurgical services, now encompassing a full spectrum of spinal, cranial and endovascular services. Dr Curtis graduated from the University of Sydney in 1996 and was awarded his FRACS (Neurosurgery) in 2004. He was then selected for an advanced overseas Fellowship in Seattle, USA, at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute, where he subspecialised in open vascular and endovascular techniques in the management of aneurysms and AVMs, carotid surgery, minimally invasive spine surgery and instrumented spine fusion techniques, as well as complex skull base work for tumours. Returning to Sydney in 2007, Dr Curtis dedicated himself to servicing Sydney, the Central Coast, and the South Coast regions, with hospital appointments at North Shore Private, Royal North Shore and Gosford Private hospitals.

Dr Curtis is passionate about empowering his patients to make well-informed decisions, committed to ensuring their genuine understanding of the complex pathological issues faced through clear communication and a thorough assessment of all potential surgical and non-surgical management options. Dr Curtis’ dual training in both conventional neurosurgery and newer, minimally invasive techniques enables him to consider an expansive spectrum of treatment options for spinal and neurovascular conditions.

His specialty interests include:

• Full spectrum spinal surgery, ranging from minimally invasive decompressions involving a discectomy or laminectomy (for disc prolapse/nerve compression/sciatic pain etc) to single or multi-level instrumented fusion surgery and/or disc replacement surgery (for spine instability/discogenic back or neck pain etc).
• Brain and spine tumour surgery for benign or malignant tumours, including pituitary surgery.
• Diagnostic cerebral angiograms; open microsurgical (“clipping”) or closed endovascular (“coiling”) treatment options for aneurysms and AVMs.
• Treatment of CSF circulation disorders.
• Management of traumatic brain or spinal injury.
• Peripheral nerve surgery/decompressions.

Please visit Dr Curtis’ website for more information regarding clinical services and expertise.

To book an appointment with Dr Curtis, please email info@drcurtis.com.au or phone (02) 9460 9216.

Lyn brings a wealth of knowledge to Northern Beaches Neurology, with over 25 years experience as a neurophysiology technician.

She has worked in major Sydney adult and paediatric hospitals, performing EEG, evoked potentials, nerve conduction studies, vestibular function testing, and intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring.

Catherine is a UK trained Clinical Physiologist. She has been working in the field of Neurophysology for over 25 years. During this time she has gained experience in a broad range of routine and more complex or prolonged investigations. This experience includes EEGs, nerve conduction studies, multimodal evoked potential studies and intra-operative monitoring. She is skilled with adult and paediatric patients.