Speakers

Professor Russell Foster

Foster is the Head of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, founder and Director of the Sleep and Circadian Research Institute and a Fellow of Brasenose College. His research addresses how circadian rhythms and sleep are generated and regulated and what happens when these systems fail as a result of societal pressures, ageing and disease. A key finding was the discovery of a novel light-detecting system within the eye that regulates circadian rhythms and, most recently, the translation of these findings to the clinic. Foster was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (2008); the Royal Society of Biology (2011); and the Academy of Medical Sciences (2013). He was appointed as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2015 for services to Science. Foster established and led for six years the Royal Society Public Engagement Committee and is a Trustee of the Science Museum. Foster has published over 290 scientific papers and received multiple national and international awards.

Clare Barton

Clare is currently responsible for leading the programme to bring Physician Associates and Anaesthesia Associates into the regulation of the General Medical Council. Clare has a background in education and regulation having worked at the University of Paisley and the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants. She joined the GMC in 2006 as Head of Applications, overseeing the teams that deal with applications from doctors all over the world to join the Register. She then became Assistant Director Revalidation, Licensing and Specialist Applications. She was responsible for the process required for those doctors seeking to gain entry to the specialist and GP registers. She oversaw the revalidation team which receives recommendations from Responsible Officers and makes the revalidation decisions for all doctors registered with a licence to practise. She also had responsibility for the team that dealt with applications to leave and restore to the register and to give up a licence.

Dr William van't Hoff

Dr William van’t Hoff is the Chief Executive Officer at the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) Coordinating Centre. He took up this position in March 2020. In his role, he provides leadership to the Clinical Research Network across England. Working in partnership, the Network delivers thousands of research studies with approximately 1 million participants each year, in the NHS as well as in social care settings throughout the country. His previous post was as a Consultant Paediatric Nephrologist and Director of the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. William has worked in NIHR since 2006, holding a number of positions. He is committed to patient involvement, inclusion and delivering the best research to maximise patient benefit. As NIHR CRN Clinical Director for NHS Engagement, he led an innovative partnership, including the R&D community and patients, to integrate clinical research into the CQC’s assessments of hospitals.

Professor Francesco Rubino

Professor Francesco Rubino is Chair of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at King's College London and Honorary Consultant at King's College Hospital in London UK. He received his MD in general surgery at the Catholic University / Policlinico Gemelli in Rome and he completed fellowships at the European Institute of Telesurgery in Strasbourg; MountSinai Medical Centre in New York and the Cleveland Clinic. He previously served as Chief of Gastrointestinal Metabolic Surgery and Director, Diabetes Surgery Center at Weill Cornell Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York, NY.

Silothabo Dliso

Physician associate (PA), Silothabo Dliso qualified from the University of Liverpool in 2020. He is the UK's first PA to work in paediatric clinical research, and is based at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. He is also the chair of the RCP Research Committee. Here, Silothabo shares with us his experience of working as a PA in research.

Dr Phillipa Guppy

Philippa is a palliative care registrar currently working in London.  She is also a senior lecturer at St. George’s University, London, where she has been involved in PA and medical education since 2016 and her current role is chief OSCE examiner for the Master in Physician Associate Studies programme.  She has a specialist interest in palliative care in low- and middle-income countries and she is a trustee of Hospice Africa UK. Philippa.guppy1@nhs.net

Jovy Giles

Jovy graduated Physician Associate Studies at University of Liverpool in 2018, and has been working at St Raphael's since 2020 as the first Physician Associate in hospice care in the UK. She has shared her experiences of PAs and palliative medicine at Hospice UK 2021, Palliative Care Congress 2022, and most recently in the FPA Spotlight Series October 2022. Jovy.giles@nhs.net

Chandran Louis

Chandran graduated from St George's University of London (SGUL) in 2014. Previously he worked in NHS management. Since qualifying, he has worked clinically in urology at St George's University Hospital. In 2017, Chandran joined St George's University of London physician associate (PA) faculty as a senior lecturer. Chandran also sits on the question writing board for the physician associate national exam (PANE). Chandran completed his RCP leadership accreditation in 2021 and has previously held roles for Health Education England as a PA ambassador.

Beck Hickman, PA-C/R

Beck Hickman is an American-trained physician associate who has worked in primary care for over 10 years. They are also a lecturer at St George's, University of London. While in the United States, Beck worked in a large community-based health centre which focused on the care of the LGBTQ+ population. Beck gained experience prescribing and monitoring gender-affirming hormone therapy for transgender and gender non-conforming patients while at this clinic. Beck is passionate about broadening the knowledge of medical practitioners to include the unique health considerations faced by LGTQ+ people.

Dr Ellen Fallows

Dr Fallows is a GP with experience in treatment and reversal of long-term conditions. She has a post-graduate diploma in obesity and weight management, is board certified in Lifestyle Medicine and has a certificate in human nutrition. She works with the NHS Low Calorie Diet Programme for Type-2 Diabetes Remission and consults with patients in group clinics to support lifestyle changes. As Vice-President of The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine she has helped set-up their Learning Academy; writing “Lifestyle Medicine: A Foundation Course” and helped produce the UKs first Microbiome course for clinicians. Championing healthcare policy that supports people to live healthy lives, she has worked with NHS England, the RCGP and Department of Health and Social Care on issues around person-centered care and weight management. She teaches Lifestyle Medicine at Oxford University.

Natasha Warner

My name is Natasha Warner, I have been a PA for 12 years now. I was the first RCP FPA PA of the year in 2016. I studied Bsc biomedical science at UCL in 2005 and then did the Masters PA course at the University of Birmingham in 2010. I have a worked in a variety of settings, both NHS and private, working across primary and secondary care, in both fixed and locum positions and I have taught on the Brunel PA course. I am currently working as a PA in primary care in Camden, London. In addition to my clinical role, I also work as Outreach coordinator for an organisation called Yourstance. YourStance, an organisation led by medical professionals runs a preventative educational project which empowers young people at risk from serious youth violence by teaching them lifesaving skills such as basic life support, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and haemorrhage control that enable them to make informed decisions when faced with an emergency.

Dr Alex Maxwell

Alex is a GP first and foremost and loves the relationships one can build with the individuals and community one serves. Through the last decade he has sought out a portfolio career and now enjoys a variety of roles: He is the President of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine and is passionate about developing this important specialty. Another role he enjoys is being the School Doctor for Harrow School - an incredible institution with a rich history and inspiring colleagues. He also enjoys being a Sports Medic and loves physical activity both personally and supporting others to participate and enjoy. A particular passion of his within Sports Medicine is concussion management. Lastly, and most relevantly to this talk, he is Clinical Director of 'Croydon SocialP', the social prescribing endeavour in Croydon, and is involved at a local, regional and national level with social prescribing. Alex is delighted to be talking about social prescribing, it's benefits, challenges and future.

Dr Ammara Hughes

I qualified in 1996 from Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London, and pursued a career in womens' health before qualifying as a GP in 2003. I have maintained my special interest in womens' health, for primary care. I am a clinical director of a primary care network covering 90 000 patients, and have been in senior leadership roles in the NHS for the last fifteen years .I am also a GP trainer, and regularly teach and supervise junior doctors, nurses, physician associates and pharmacists.

Alicia Cowan

Physician Associate working in emergency medicine at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh, NHS Lothian. I am also the Educational lead for Physician Associates in the East Region of Scotland and I am currently undertaking a 6 month secondment with EMERGE (The Emergency Medicine Research Group Edinburgh) to work as assistant trail management for the DAShED research project

Joshua Jones

"Not all who wander are lost" - J R R Tolkien Josh is a Physician Associate working in Arwystli Medical Practice a GP surgery in Powys Wales. He has been working in this rural practice for 4.5 years since qualifying in 2018. Josh originally qualified in 2010 from the University of Birmingham with a BSc in Biological Sciences (Animal Biology) and worked as a zookeeper at West Midlands Safari Park caring for Carnivores and African hoofstock. He later went into the NHS as a Technical Support Scientist before joining the PA course at the University of Birmingham. Since qualifying he has graduated from the UCLAN with a MSc in Rural Medicine (2022). He finally combined his love of medicine and his love of zoology when he started pursuing Wilderness Medicine. He has attended conferences for World Extreme Medicine since 2019, Wilderness First Aid in Brecon 2021 and Jungle Survival medicine in Malaysia September 2022. Josh is passionate about zoology, hiking, travel and extreme medicine.

Manraj Phull

Alexander Bennett

Alex is a PA currently working in Trauma & Orthopaedics at Gloucester Royal Hospital, with previous experience in primary care after graduating from University of Worcester PA program in 2019. He is currently Lead PA for GHNFT and works at UWE as an Associate Lecturer and is a member of the FPA Education committee.

Dr Peter Green

GP in North Kent for over 30 years as well as various roles in medical education, medical audit, clinical commissioning.

Ruby Wax

Mathilde Richou

Physician associate (PA) Mathilde Richou, qualified from St George’s University of London in 2018. Immediately after qualifying, Mathilde began working in the emergency department at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where she is now the department’s Lead PA. Mathilde has had a special interest in global health for the past 13 years and has worked on a variety of health projects which include both humanitarian and developmental aid projects. Today she uses her skills developed in the field of emergency medicine to work on health projects abroad as well as promote PAs being in leadership roles within global health.

Dr Marti Malaj

Anaesthetic and intensive care registrar in South Yorkshire with a passion for extreme physiology Space geek; diving enthusiast Worked as visiting scientist in European Astronaut Centre

Ross Raymond-Jones

Miss Georgia Bickerton

After graduating with an undergraduate degree in Genetics from Liverpool University in 2014, Georgia Bickerton went on to study Physician Associate studies at St George’s University. She graduated the Masters programme in 2018 and has been working at St Georges Hospital as a Physician Associate in Oncology since. She has experience in treating a wide range of tumour types including lung, gastrointestinal, urological, breast and gynaelogical cancers. She also works regularly with patients under palliative care, and has gained an award for “Excellence in End of Life Care” in 2021. She has recently completed a qualification in clinical leadership.

Professor Andrew Horne

Andrew is Professor of Gynaecology and founder/co-director of the EXPPECT Centre for Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis at the University of Edinburgh. He is a leading researcher in women’s health problems, with a focus on endometriosis and pelvic pain, and has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers. He is Trustee to Endometriosis UK and has co-authored a book on endometriosis for patients called “The Experts’ Guide to Treat, Manage and Live Well with Your Symptoms”. He is Specialty Advisor to Scotland's Chief Medical Officer for Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Lara Menon

Lara is an internationally trained doctor with experiences in Anaesthesia and Critical Care (Pre and Hospital-based), who currently works as an Emergency Medicine Specialty Doctor, alongside her other roles as a Medical Examiner for the South West – Bristol, and as Programme Lead for the MSc Physician Associate Programme at the University of the West of England.

Dr GB Ajayi

Silothabo Dliso

Physician associate (PA), Silothabo Dliso qualified from the University of Liverpool in 2020. He is the UK's first PA to work in paediatric clinical research, and is based at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. He is also the chair of the RCP Research Committee. Here, Silothabo shares with us his experience of working as a PA in research.