Prof Guy Leschziner, Clinician

Prof Guy Leschziner: key facts

Kind of voice: Clinician
Role: Professor of Neurology and Sleep Medicine; Consultant Neurologist
Organisation: Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust / King's College London
Organisation based in: Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Quoted on: Hospital discharge / bed-blocking, Dementia
Tracked press citations: 2
Most recently quoted: 27 Aug 2026

Who Prof Guy Leschziner is

Prof Guy Leschziner is a Consultant Neurologist at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, where he works within the Department of Neurology and the Sleep Disorders Centre, and holds the position of Professor of Neurology and Sleep Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London. He was Clinical Lead for the Sleep Disorders Centre at Guy's Hospital — one of Europe's largest sleep units — for over a decade, and has developed it into the UK's largest dedicated multidisciplinary sleep service. He completed his medical training at Magdalen College, Oxford and Imperial College London, and undertook a PhD in the genetics of epilepsy and drug management at Imperial College London and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge. He joined Guy's and St Thomas' as a consultant in 2010 following a fellowship in epilepsy and sleep medicine, and has ongoing research interests in narcolepsy, sleepwalking, Kleine-Levin syndrome, restless legs syndrome and epilepsy. He is the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Sleep Medicine (OUP, 2022) and author of two books for a general audience — The Nocturnal Brain and The Man Who Tasted Words — and is a regular presenter on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service on neuroscience topics.

“Unlike traditional sleeping pills, this drug carries a low risk of dependency and does not cause rebound insomnia when stopped. Concerns have been raised about older sleeping tablets and long-term cognitive decline, but at present we don't see that risk with daridorexant.”
on Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Read the article ↗

References for this biography

1.About — Prof Guy Leschziner PhD FRCP (personal website) — Current clinical roles, NHS base, academic appointment at KCL, training history, research interests, books authored
2.Guy Leschziner | Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust — Confirms NHS consultant appointment at GSTT and clinical scope (sleep disorders, epilepsy, general neurology)
3.Oxford Handbook of Sleep Medicine – Oxford University Press — Confirms editorship of the Oxford Handbook of Sleep Medicine and role as Professor of Neurology and Sleep Medicine at GSTT/KCL
4.Professor Guy Leschziner: Neurologist | One Welbeck — Confirms development of UK's largest dedicated sleep service at Guy's Hospital, private practice at One Welbeck, editorial work
5.Guy Leschziner | ResearchGate profile — Confirms affiliation with GSTT Centre for Adult Sleep Disorders, consultant role from August 2010, and prior clinical lead role for over a decade
6.Guy Leschziner (@guy_lesch) on X — Identifies @guy_lesch as Prof Guy Leschziner, Prof of Neurology and Sleep Medicine

Notable achievements

Editor of the Oxford Handbook of Sleep Medicine (Oxford University Press, 2022), a comprehensive clinical guide to sleep disorders across specialties. Source ↗
Developed the multidisciplinary Sleep Disorders Centre at Guy's Hospital into the UK's largest dedicated sleep service over more than a decade as Clinical Lead. Source ↗
Presenter of the 'Mysteries of Sleep', 'The Senses', and 'Phantoms in the Brain' series on BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service. Source ↗
Author of The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience and the Secret World of Sleep and The Man Who Tasted Words, published for a general audience. Source ↗

What Prof Guy Leschziner has said

“There's increasing evidence surrounding a lack of sleep's association with cognitive decline later in life. But it's also associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. We also know that it impacts a range of other physiological processes, like your immune system, your respiratory system and so on.”
consultant neurologist who specialises in sleep disorders · Dementia · 27 Aug 2026 · Do we really need eight hours sleep a night – and what happens if we don’t get it? ↗

Recent social activity

Tomorrow night at 8pm - come join me at the National Museum for Scotland. Should be a fascinating and dark discussion of the biology and nature of human sin #edscifest https://t.co/uQRg0ifElu
x.com ↗
Great chatting to you @Doctor_V . A fun and thought-provoking conversation. @StMartinsPress
x.com ↗

Where Prof Guy Leschziner has been quoted

NHS access to promising sleeping pill daridorexant is patchy, say doctorstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
Do we really need eight hours sleep a night – and what happens if we don’t get it?theguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

Contact & links

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.

Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and other registered clinicians quoted in a clinical capacity. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. This profile was last updated on 5 Oct 2026. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.