Dr. Kurkar is a distinguished Consultant Psychiatrist working across both the NHS and private sectors. He leads the Pennine Care TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) Service, which he established as the first NHS TMS service in the Northwest of England.
With extensive leadership experience in the NHS, Dr. Kurkar has served as Clinical Director for Mental Health Services in Oldham, Clinical Lead for the Strategic Clinical Network for Perinatal Psychiatry in Greater Manchester, and Lead for the Community Mental Health Transformation Programme at Pennine Care.
He specialises in Adult Psychiatry, offering expertise in a wide range of mental health conditions, including depression, treatment-resistant depression, bipolar affective disorder, ADHD, anxiety, and psychosis. Additionally, his substantial experience in Perinatal Psychiatry allows him to support women during pregnancy, the postnatal period, and through preconception planning.
Dr. Kurkar is actively involved in clinical research, particularly in affective disorders and treatment-resistant depression. He served as the Principal Investigator for the BRIGhTMIND study in Oldham—a landmark trial published in Nature Medicine —as well as the PAX-D study.
Beyond his psychiatric expertise, Dr. Kurkar has a special interest in Liaison Psychiatry and Pain Medicine, working with patients whose mental health conditions are intertwined with chronic and severe physical health issues.