Professor Mike Barnes
1 Course • 4 StudentsBiography
Professor Mike Barnes is a Consultant Neurologist with deep expertise in neurorehabilitation and medical cannabis. He is founder and Chair of the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society (MCCS).
He holds an Honorary Professorship in Neurological Rehabilitation at the University of Newcastle. He has over 30 years of experience in neurorehabilitation. Prof Barnes trained under Lord Walton of Detchant and became the UK’s first Chair in Neurological Rehabilitation in 1994. He established the Regional Neurological Rehabilitation Centre at Hunters Moor Hospital in Newcastle and was Clinical Director for 18 years. He has also held NHS leadership roles including Medical Director and Chief Executive of rehabilitation services, founded NRC Medical Experts and contributed extensive medico‑legal reports.
Prof Barnes has over two decades of engagement with medical cannabis. He helped bring Sativex to market, authored the influential 2016 All‑Party Parliamentary Group report "Cannabis – The Evidence for Medical Use", and in 2018 issued the UK’s first NHS prescription for medical cannabis (for Alfie Dingley), shortly before cannabis was rescheduled for specialist prescribing.
