Mary Robertson

Mary May Robertson
Born	7 June 1948 Johannesburg, South Africa
Known for	Tourette syndrome
Scientific career
Fields	Psychiatry

Mary May Robertson (born 7 June 1948) is a South African neuropsychiatrist, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychiatry at University College London.

Education

Born and raised in Johannesburg, Robertston graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1971 with a MBChB. In 1978 she moved to London, where she obtained her psychiatric qualification in 1979 and pursued doctoral research on the relationship between depression and epilepsy at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. In 2006 she was awarded a DSc in Neuropsychiatry ('What makes us Tic?') by her alma mater, the University of Cape Town.

Career

A senior lecturer in neuropsychiatry at UCL since 1987, she was promoted to professor in 1998; previously she had become a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1991.

She established herself as a leading expert on Tourette syndrome; she authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles and four books. In 2000 she co-founded in Denmark with Anne Korsgaad the European Society for the Study of Tourette syndrome (ESSTS), of which she was appointed Honorary President for Life in 2008. She retired early in 2002 due to poor health and was appointed Emeritus Professor of UCL.

Selected publications

• Robertson MM, Eapen V (October 2014). "Tourette's: syndrome, disorder or spectrum? Classificatory challenges and an appraisal of the DSM criteria". Asian Journal of Psychiatry .
• Robertson MM (November 2008). "The prevalence and epidemiology of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Part 1: the epidemiological and prevalence studies". J Psychosom Res. 65 (5): 461–472.
• Robertson MM (February 2011). "Gilles de la Tourette syndrome: the complexities of phenotype and treatment". Br J Hosp Med (Lond). 72 (2): 100–107
• Robertson MM, Eapen V, Singer HS, et al. (February 2017). "Gilles de la Tourette syndrome" (PDF). Nat Rev Dis Primers. 3 (1): 16097
• Stern JS, Burza S, Robertson MM (January 2005). "Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome and its impact in the UK". Postgrad Med J. 81 (951): 12–19
• Robertson MM (March 2000). "Tourette syndrome, associated conditions and the complexities of treatment". Brain. 123
• Eapen V, Robertson MM (2015). "Are there distinct subtypes in Tourette syndrome? Pure-Tourette syndrome versus Tourette syndrome-plus, and simple versus complex tics". Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 11: 1431–6
• Freeman RD, Fast DK, Burd L, Kerbeshian J, Robertson MM, Sandor P (July 2000). "An international perspective on Tourette syndrome: selected findings from 3,500 individuals in 22 countries". Dev Med Child Neurol. 42 (7): 436–47