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Dr Jessica Eccles

Dr Jessica Eccles (MB ChB, Dip(French), MA, MSc, FRCPsych, PhD, PGCert HE)

Reader in Brain-Body Medicine
E: J.Eccles@bsms.ac.uk
Location: Trafford Centre for Medical Research, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RR

PA: Rosie Mulgrue
E: R.Mulgrue@bsms.ac.uk

Areas of expertise: Brain-Body Interactions, Joint hypermobility, Liaison Psychiatry, Neurodevelopmental Conditions, Immunopsychiatry

Research areas: Neuroscience, Neurodivergence, Mechanisms of chronic pain and fatigue, Psychiatric and neurodevelopmental features of connective tissue disorders

Other relevant positions: SHCRP Health and Care Research Training Hub Co-Director, BSMS Integrated Academic Training Co-Lead, Chair Royal College of Psychiatrists Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry Special Interest Group, Co-Lead Neurodivergent Brain-Body Clinic, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Other websites: Orcid, Linkedin
Linktree: linktr.ee/bendybrain

Twitter: @bendybrain
Instagram: @drbendybrain

www.researchgate.net/profile/Jessica_Eccles

Dr Eccles is passionate about promoting awareness of these often poorly or underecognised conditions. She is featured conducting a neurodevelopmental assessment in this popular Channel 4 documentary exploring ADHD with Sam Thompson (read more here). She is committed to public engagement and has given talks to circus performers, aerial artists, patient groups, clinicans, researchers and more. Links can be found on her linktree (linktr.ee/bendybrain).

Biography

Dr Jessica Eccles is a leading neurodevelopmental psychiatrist, researcher, and public communicator whose work bridges brain-body medicine and neurodivergence. After completing a BA in the History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge, followed by medical studies at Cambridge and Oxford, she embarked on a clinical academic career at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS). Now Associate Professor (Reader) in Brain-Body Medicine at BSMS, she also holds a consultant psychiatrist post with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Neurodevelopmental Service, where, as a liaison psychiatrist, she co-leads the world’s first Neurodivergent Brain-Body Clinic and helped set up the Immunopsychiatry Research Clinic.

Dr Eccles’s research transforms understanding of links between neurodivergence, hypermobility, and mental and physical health—culminating in prestigious national recognition such as the 2024 Ehlers Danlos Society Research Pioneer Award. Her PhD pioneered work on joint hypermobility, autonomic dysfunction, and psychiatric symptoms, and she has led ground-breaking studies revealing the links between hypermobility, pain, emotion regulation, fatigue and neurodivergence (e.g. ADHD, autism, Tourette syndrome) .Dr Eccles’s research is internationally recognised and is making real impact.

A passionate advocate for hypermobile and neurodivergent people, Dr Eccles chairs the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry Special Interest Group and serves on the Clinical Reference Group for the UK ADHD Taskforce. She is a patron and advisor to multiple charities, including SEDSCONNECTIVE, ADHD Aware UK, the Hypermobility Syndromes Association, and The Sussex ME/CFS Society.

With her team, Dr Eccles has published the first ever brain-imaging studies of hypermobility and pioneered new research clinics at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, published in top academic journals, and received major grants, including from the Medical Research Council, the Academy of Medical Sciences, MQ and Versus Arthritis. She is firmly committed to public engagement, regularly appearing in the media, including the BBC, The Guardian, The New York Times. She has appeared on the highly popular Channel 4 Documentary, ‘Sam Thompson: Is this ADHD?”, featured on Channel 5 News and represented the Royal College of Psychiatrists on BBC Radio Four Today Programme. Through webinars, podcasts, and social media she seeks to improve understanding and policies around hypermobility, neurodivergence and brain-body health. She hopes to encourage curiosity and challenge stereotypes.

For a full list of activities please see her Elements Profile or Online CV (ORCID) (for grants and publications) and her Linktree for webinars and news items.

Research

Dr Eccles and team have published papers recently demonstrating brain-body links between neurodivergence, emotion regulation and proprioception (read more here) and the role of neurodivergence and inflammation on chronic fatigue in adolescents (read more here). Alongside colleagues from Kings College London they published the first study linking hypermobility to Long Covid (read more here). In 2024 Dr Eccles was the winner of the Research Pioneer Award conferred by The Ehlers Danlos Society for her hypermobility research.

Dr Eccles is currently working on an number of grants related to brain-body interactions. These include an Academy of Medical Sciences grant to explore neural connectivity in hypermobility using leading edge Human Connectome Project techniques. Her popluar Academy of Medical Sciences Webcast on exploring the link between joint hypermobility and anxiety is available here >

She was awarded a prestigious MQ Arthritis Research UK Fellows Award to conduct a randomised clinical trial of a new non-drug targeted treatment for anxiety in hypermobility. This study (ADAPT) has now closed for recruitment. A video exploring some of the insights from Dr Eccles' work on hypermobility and anxiety is available here >

Dr Eccles led a study which found that neurodivergent people are more than twice as likely as the general population to have hypermobile joints and are far more likely to experience pain on a regular basis. Read the full article here, watch her latest webinar here and feature on BBC Radio 4 Inside Health (10 mins in) here >

Dr Eccles has been awarded a grant from Dysautonomia International and will be working with Dr Valeria Iodice, Prof Critchley, Prof Cercignani, Dr Nagai, Dr Asllani, Prof Peter Rowe, Prof Murphy and Dr Giovanni to explore multi-modal correlates of ‘brain fog’ in Postural Tachycardia Syndrome. This study has now closed for recruitment. Updates will be available shortly.

Dr Eccles is working with Prof Davies, Prof Harrison, Prof Cercignani, Prof Critchley and Dr Tarzi to explore brain-body interactions in Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS. This involves autonomics, inflammatory and cytokine markers, brain imaging and transcriptomics. Read more about this in The Conversation or watch this video. This study is now closed for recruitment and results are being prepared for further publications. Read some of the initial findings here and conclusions here. A video with some initial findings is available here >

Dr Eccles recently recorded a podcast about the relationship between neurodivergence and hypermobility, please listen here and here >

Dr Eccles contributed to a workshop on Long COVID – please watch here >

And Dr Eccles recorded another on hypermobility, fatigue, anxiety and trauma. Listen here >

Overview of hypermobility: Dr Jessica Eccles in conversation with Dawn Marie Solais. Watch here >

Teaching

Jessica delivers a highly popular SSC entitled ‘Psychiatry and Other Arts’ for Module 202. She has supervised several IRP students and Junior Research Associates and her students regularly win prizes for their work. She lectures and examines on both the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum.

Publications

Csecs, Jenny L L, Dowell, Nicholas G, Savage, Georgia K, Iodice, Valeria, Mathias, Christopher J, Critchley, Hugo D and Eccles, Jessica A (2021) Variant connective tissue (joint hypermobility) and dysautonomia are associated with multimorbidity at the intersection between physical and psychological health. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C: Seminars in Medical Genetics. pp. 1-10. ISSN 1552-4868

Davies, Geoff, Csecs, Jenny L L, Ball, Heather, Dare, Jess, Bremner, Stephen, Hosking, Robin, Critchley, Hugo D, Grey, Nick and Eccles, Jessica A (2021) Altering Dynamics of Autonomic Processing Therapy (ADAPT) trial: a novel, targeted treatment for reducing anxiety in joint hypermobility. Trials, 22 (1). a645 1-10. ISSN 1745-6215

Sharp, Harriet Emma Clare, Critchley, Hugo D and Eccles, Jessica A (2021) Connecting brain and body: transdiagnostic relevance of connective tissue variants to neuropsychiatric symptom expression. World Journal of Psychiatry, 11 (10). pp. 1-15. ISSN 2220-3206

Ahmed J, Eccles J A. Accuracy of depression score: a positive HADS score may only be the tip of the iceberg BMJ 2021; 373 :n1541 doi:10.1136/bmj.n1541

Eccles, Jessica Anne, Ascott, Anna, McGeer, Rona, Hills, Emma, St. Clair Jones, Anja, Page, Lisa A, Smith, Melissa A, Loewenberger, Alana and Gregory, Jemima (2020) Inflammatory bowel disease psychological support pilot reduces inflammatory bowel disease symptoms and improves psychological wellbeing. Frontline Gastroenterology. pp. 1-4. ISSN 2041-4137

Eccles, Jessica, Thompson, Beth, Themelis, Kristy, Amato, Marisa L, Stocks, Robyn, Pound, Amy, Jones, Anna-Marie, Cipinova, Zdenka, Shah-Goodwin, Lorraine, Timeyin, Jean, Thompson, Charlotte R, Batty, Thomas, Harrison, Neil A, Critchley, Hugo D and Davies, Kevin A (2021) Beyond bones: the relevance of variants of connective tissue (hypermobility) to fibromyalgia, ME/CFS and controversies surrounding diagnostic classification: an observational study. Clinical Medicine, 21 (1). pp. 53-58. ISSN 1470-2118

Eccles, Jessica A and Davies, Kevin A (2021) The challenges of chronic pain and fatigue. Clinical Medicine, 21 (1). pp. 19-27. ISSN 1470-2118

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