Professor Antonio Belli MD, FRCS, FRCS (SN)

Professor Tony Belli

Department of Inflammation and Ageing
Professor of Trauma Neurosurgery

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0) 121 414 4497
Telephone (2)
PA - Nadene Bryan 0121 414 3713
Fax
+44 (0) 121 414 8867
Email
a.belli@bham.ac.uk
Secondary Email
n.m.bryan@bham.ac.uk
Address
Department of Inflammation and Ageing
College of Medicine and Health
IBR West Building
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Professor Belli graduated from Tor Vergata University in Rome with a degree in Medicine and Surgery. He completed a doctoral degree (MD) on neurobiochemistry of brain ischaemia and reperfusion at Tor Vergata University and then moved to the UK in 1994.

He trained as a neurosurgeon at King’s College Hospital, Atkinson Morley’s Hospital, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Royal Free Hospital and Charing Cross Hospital. Between 2001 and 2003 he carried out a research fellowship in neuromonitoring at the Institute of Neurology in London.

He is on the editorial board of several neurology journals and is an advisor to NICE and the Care Quality Commission.

Antonio Belli is Director of the NIHR SRMRC. Find out more about the work of the research centre on the .

Qualifications

  • Fellowship in Surgical Neurology (FRCS SN), 2004
  • Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow (FRCS), 1997
  • MD (Reactive Oxygen Species damage in brain ischaemia and reperfusion) – Department of Neurosciences, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 1992
  • Degree of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery (summa cum laude) – University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, 1990

Biography

Professor Belli is a Professor of Trauma Neurosurgery and Director of the S based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. The SRMRC is a leading centre for trauma research and was founded in 2011 with £20M grant from NIHR, MoD, the University 麻豆精选 and University Hospitals Birmingham. He heads the neurotrauma research theme, which carries out translational research on traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury. He is also a practising neurosurgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he leads the Neurotrauma service comprised of a formidable team of doctors, nurses and therapists.

Teaching

  • Tony has set up and leads the new MSc course in Trauma Sciences at the University 麻豆精选. This is the first on-site MSc course in trauma in the UK and one of just a handful available in this field worldwide. In this programme he also leads the Neurotrauma module.
  • Tony also continues to be involved in the regular teaching of medical, BMedSc and Sports and Excercise Science students. He has contributed to teaching at other institutions by invitation; for example, the Nursing Degree at City University, the Neurotrauma Course at Royal College of Surgeons (where I am a regular faculty member) and MSc courses at Queen Mary University London.

Postgraduate supervision

If you are interesting in studying any of these subject areas please contact Tony Belli directly, or for any general doctoral research enquiries, please email mds-gradschool@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

For a full list of available Doctoral Research opportunities, please visit our Doctoral Research programme listings.

Research

Professor Belli’s research interest is in neurobiochemistry and neuromonitoring of acute brain injury. A particular focus is brain metabolism following mild and severe traumatic brain injury and how this relates to the long-term outcome and the risk of early neurogenerative conditions. Many of his current studies involve cross-disciplinary collaborations with engineering, chemistry, computing science and IT.

Working with cerebral microdialysis, another area of interest is early markers of tissue damage for the prevention of secondary injury after trauma and subarachnoid haemorrhage, patient stratification and drug discovery.

He is the principal or chief investigator of several acute brain injury studies, including international multicentre trials.

Other activities

  • Director of NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre (Trauma Research)
  • Theme Lead of the NIHR Healthcare Technology Cooperative on Trauma Management
  • Module Editor for Neurosurgery for eLearning for Health Care (Royal College of Surgeons of England and Department of Health)
  • Member of the Leadership Committee for Trauma and Critical Care of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies
  • Independent Member of the Expert Panel on Concussion and Head Injury of the Football Association and Rugby Football Union
  • Advisor on concussion to the England Cricket Board, British Basketball and GB Rowing
  • Trustee of Headway (Brain Injury charity) and of the Midlands Neuroscience Training and Research Fund
  • Member of the Trauma Group of the British Society of Neurological Surgeons
  • External Reviewer for the French National Research Agency
  • Ad hoc reviewer for the EPSRC, MRC, NIHR and Wellcome Trust

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Stevens, AR, Hadis, M, Alldrit, H, Milward, MR, Di Pietro, V, Gendoo, DMA, Belli, A, Palin, W, Davies, DJ & Ahmed, Z 2025, '', Scientific Reports, vol. 15, no. 1, 3193.

McMullan, C, Turner, G, Retzer, A, Belli, T, Davies, EH, Nice, L, Flavell, J, Flavell, L & Calvert, M 2025, '', JMIR Formative Research, vol. 9, e58128.

Stevens, AR, Yakoub, KM, Davies, DJ, Belli, A & O鈥橦alloran, PJ 2024, '', Sports Medicine - Open, vol. 10, 93.

Kennedy, C, Ignatowicz, A, Odland, ML, Abdul-Latif, A-M, Belli, A, Howard, A, Whitaker, J, Chu, KM, Ferreira, K, Owolabi, EO, Nyamathe, S, Tabiri, S, Ofori, B, Pognaa Kunfah, SM, Yakubu, M, Bekele, A, Alyande, B, Nzasabimana, P, Byiringiro, J-C & Davies, J 2024, '', BMJ open, vol. 14, no. 7, e082098.

NIHR Global Research Health Unit on Global Surgery and GlobalSurg Collaborative 2024, '', British Journal of Surgery, vol. 111, no. 6, znae129.

Equi-Injury Group 2024, '', BMC Health Services Research, vol. 24, 429.

Stevens, AR, Hadis, M, Phillips, A, Thareja, A, Milward, M, Belli, A, Palin, W, Davies, DJ & Ahmed, Z 2024, '', Bioengineering & Translational Medicine.

Birmingham Traumatic Venous Sinus Thrombosis Consortium** 2024, '', Neurotrauma Reports, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 540-551.

Rwanda912 RIGHT Group 2024, '', BMJ open, vol. 14, e085064.

Stevens, A, Hadis, M, Thareja, A, Anderson, FG, Milward, M, Di Pietro, V, Belli, T, Palin, W, Davies, D & Ahmed, Z 2024, '', Bioengineering & Translational Medicine.

Tullie, S, Nicholson, T, Bishop, J, McGee, K, Asiri, A, Sullivan, J, Chen, Y-Y, Veiga Sardeli, A, Belli, T, Harrison, P, Moiemen, N, Lord, J & Hazeldine, J 2024, '', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 15, 1416820.

Nicholson, T, Belli, T, Lord, J & Hazeldine, J 2024, '', Frontiers in immunology, vol. 15, 1401185.

Glendon, K, Pain, M, Belli, A & Blenkinsop, G 2024, '', European Journal of Sport Science.

Review article

Rees, JLC, Saunders, R, Krynicki, C, Belli, T, Ahmed, Z, Di Pietro, V & Stevens, A 2025, '', Frontiers in neurology, vol. 16, 1546080.

Stevens, AR, Belli, A & Ahmed, Z 2024, '', Biomedicines, vol. 12, no. 3, 643.

Expertise

Concussion, acute brain injury, diagnostics, biomarkers

Expertise

Concussion, acute brain injury, diagnostics, biomarkers