Lena Palaniyappan is an academic clinical fellow at the Division of Psychiatry, Newcastle University. He is a gold medallist in undergraduate Psychiatry. He was awarded the coveted Laughlin Prize for outstanding performance in MRCPsych (Autumn 2007). He has been closely involved with the MRCPsych exams and has co-authored a book for the old format exam in 2004. He has contributed to various revision courses and online courses for the MRCPsych exam practice. He has conducted regular workshops for candidates taking MRCPsych exam at various places including Nottingham, Derby and Newcastle. He is a co-organiser of the reputed SPMM revision course for MRCPsych.
His main academic interest is in exploring the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders using neuroimaging techniques. He is involved in a research programme at the Division of Psychiatry at Newcastle University.