Laavanya Damodaran has been a Consultant Paediatric Liaison Neuropsychiatrist at Birmingham Children's Hospital, Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust, UK, since 2016. She previously worked at the Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), and St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India, between 2001 and 2005 before moving to the UK.

She specialises in the assessment and management of children and young people with neuropsychiatric conditions, with particular expertise in tic disorders, functional neurological disorders, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disability, and the interface between physical and mental health. She works collaboratively with paediatric subspecialties and multidisciplinary teams and provides specialist neuropsychiatric input to the NHS England Children's Epilepsy Surgery Service and tertiary neurogenetic, neuroinflammatory, neurometabolic, and neuro-oncology services.

Laavanya has a particular clinical and academic interest in tic disorders. She led recruitment at Birmingham Children's Hospital for the NIHR-funded ORBIT-1 trial evaluating an online remote behavioural intervention for children and young people with tic disorders. She is a regular invited regional and national speaker and educator on tic disorders and associated neuropsychiatric conditions.

Since 2026, she has served as Co-Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Paediatric Liaison Network, having previously been Vice-Chair (2022–2026). She is also a Co-opted Executive Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Faculties of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Liaison Psychiatry.