Speaker profiles

Dr Shoba Ahi

Deputy Director, Drug Control Centre, King’s Forensics, Department of Analytical, Environmental and Forensic Sciences, King’s College London

Shobha is Deputy Director at the Drug Control Centre at  King's College London. She holds a PhD in Biochemistry and her thesis was based on novel detection methods for anti-doping purposes. She has over 16 years of experience as an anti-doping scientist working in a WADA accredited laboratory. She had been the Adjunct Faculty for post graduate students of toxicology, forensic science, instrumentation and drug metabolism in various Universities.

Shobha is author of over 35 scientific publications, and conference proceedings in the field of analytical toxicology, drugs of abuse testing, analytical chemistry, sports medicine and has been serving as an editorial board member and reviewer analytical and bio-analytical journals of repute. Her current research interest is in dried blood sample testing and in-vitro metabolites characterization for anti-doping purposes.

Dr Daniel Ahmed

Clinical Partner, Foundations, Middlesbrough

No bio provided

Sue Alexander MSc MSc MBA CSci FIBMS CBiol FRSB MIHM MCQI CQP

Chief Examiner Leadership & Management, IBMS

Sue is the Head of Core Pathology at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. She is a microbiologist by training and her first management post was in microbiology at Great Ormond Children’s Hospital. Sue has long had an interest in continuing personal and professional development and in encouraging others to study.

Sue  become involved in educational and teaching activities over the last few years working with different universities and also developing courses herself She is the Chief Examiner in Leadership & Management for IBMS. Sue is also a technical assessor in Microbiology for ISO 15189:2012 and a member of the UKAS TAC. Her personal interests include adventure travel, skiing, sci-fi / fantasy and cats.

Melanie Amphlett

Head of Operations, Diagnostic Accelerator, UK Health Security Agency

Stuart Angell

Interim Regulatory Affairs Programme Manager, British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA)

As the Regulatory Affairs Programme Manager for the British In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) Association, and Chair of the BIVDA Regulatory Affairs Working Party, Stuart brings over 20 years’ experience within the IVD industry. Stuart is an experienced and respected regulatory affairs professional working throughout the IVD industry in his current roles at BIVDA and as co-founder and Managing Director of IVDeology Ltd, helping to understand and navigate the IVD regulations in the UK, EU and rest of the world.

Dr Stephanie Ascough

Research Associate, Imperial College London

No bio provided

Dr Gulum Bahadur

Consultant Clinical Andrologist, Reproductive Medicine Unit, North Middlesex University Hospital

Gulam Bahadur is a past member of the HFEA with a wide interest. His main involvement is in andrology with special emphasis on diagnostic analyses, male cancer patients, counselling, and sperm freezing and recovery rates. Recent major publication provides a unique understanding of IVF and IUI https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/10/3/e034566.full.pdf. Oocyte retrieval practices in the UK is also focussed upon https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/1/e064711. Gulam was a major contributor the field of immunology and virology Cell .1986 Mar 28;44(6):959-68, and published  the first case of human ovarian tissue cryopreservation; Hum Reprod . 1996 Oct;11(10):2215-6. The work published in Cell 1986 remains robust and has contributed to modern day Covid vaccines.

Gulam promotes less invasive and safer intrauterine insemination (IUI) practices as an equally effective low cost, low risk first line treatment option before embarking on  complex IVF procedures fraught with ethical issues such as  frozen excess embryos and risky multiple births. Gulam has engaged with NICE to allow for policy changes to enable evidence-based medicine to be applied in a commercially driven fertility treatment industry.

Dr Daniel Bailey

Scientific Leader – Diagnostics, UK Health Security Agency

Professor Barbara Bain

Professor of Diagnostic Haematology, St Mary's Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Professor Barbara Bain started her career in haematology, in Australia, more than 50 years ago. She now works in diagnostic haematology only but was previously involved also in clinical haematology. She has worked at: Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane; Hammersmith Hospital London; and St Mary's Hospital, London. She is the author or co-author of books on blood cell morphology, bone marrow pathology, haemoglobinopathy diagnosis and leukaemia diagnosis.

Dr Richard Barton

Clinical Scientist, The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Richard is a principal clinical scientist working in microbiology at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, and his main focus is on the diagnosis and management of fungal disease. He has particular interests in dermatophyte infection, antifungal resistance in Candida vaginitis and aspergillosis in cystic fibrosis. He also has an interest in Clinical Scientist training and is clinical audit lead for Microbiology.

Dr Jürgen Becker

Scientific and Technical Support Project Manager , QuidelOrtho

Jurgen has been scientific marketing manager at QuidelOrtho, a manufacturer of diagnostics for the central laboratory and for point-of-care testing, for 5 years. Before that, he worked for various pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies (Cepheid, Riemser, Fresenius Kabi) in clinical research, development and quality of medical devices, drugs and in Vitro diagnostics for 18 years.

His areas of focus include infectious diseases and near-patient testing, on which he regularly conducts and publishes clinical studies. His most famous publication is a feasibility study on molecular MRSA screening in nursing homes (Becker & Diel; J Occup Med Toxicol 2017 Feb 3;12:3).

Matthew Bend

Blood Stocks Management Scheme Manager , Blood Stocks Management Scheme, NHS Blood and Transplant

Matthew joined NHSBT in 2019, following 20 years as a Biomedical Scientist working in Haematology and Transfusion Laboratories around the UK, most recently as Transfusion Laboratory Manager. For the last 4 years he has been Bloodstocks Management Scheme (BSMS) Manager; heading a small team of dedicated scientists and analysts collecting, analysing and reporting component use and wastage within the blood service and wider NHS. Our goal remains to optimise the use of donated components within the blood supply chain and support hospitals with objective data presentation to facilitate informed change.

Alison Benson

Assessment Manager, United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)

Manpreet Bhogal

Manpreet is registered as a Biomedical Scientist with over 15 years experience of working within Microbiology, with specialist knowledge in Training and Health & Safety. Manpreet is recognised for her a passion and enthusiasm for training, teaching and development within Pathology. She is currently employed as a Pathology Practice Educator Fellow for the Kent and Medway Pathology Network, where she is able to drive projects and initiatives to facilitate workforce development. She is also an active member of the SE Regional and National network of workforce and practice educator leads, where she has lead the expansion of the successful IBMS Specialist Portfolio Training project.

Dr Charlotte Bigland

Lead Consultant in Health Protection, UK Health Security Agency

No bio provided

Sam Blacknell

HMDN Manager , Nottingham University Hospital Trust

Sam is currently working as the HMDN manager in the Cellular Pathology department at City hosptial, Nottingham. This laboratory perfoms investigations on a variety of sample types to aid with the diagnosis of Haematalogical malignancies. He has previously spent a number of years working in Immunology as a Biomedical Scientist at both Nottingham and Leicester. He recently completed his Higher Specialist Diploma in Clinical Immunology and is presenting his case study at congress.

Dr Andrew Blann

Chair, IBMS Specialist Advisory Panel for Molecular Pathology

Andrew's career has rolled forwards between immunology (FIBMS) and haematology (FRCPath), and now embraces molecular pathology. He chairs the IBMS Advisory Panel on Molecular Pathology, which is developing the Specialist Diploma on this discipline. His academic appointment is Visiting Reader in Biomedical Science at Huddersfield University, and he is Deputy Chief Editor of the British Journal of Biomedical Science. 

Satinder Boparai

General Manager for Support Services, Frimley Health Foundation Trust, Berkshire & Surrey Pathology Services

Satinder is the General Manager for Support Services in Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services (BSPS), leading multiple divisions providing all pre-analytical services.

Satinder is an accomplished, diligent and versatile leader with a broad range of leadership skills and experience. She continually demonstrates robust planning, communication and presentation skills and her exceptional collaborative leadership style and approach ensures collaboration between colleagues across numerous services with subsequent project delivery success and high productivity. Satinder is a natural team builder able to motivate and inspire a cross-functional team and serve as an approachable escalation point and trouble-shooter demonstrating compassionate leadership throughout.

Satinder’s career includes extensive clinical trials and drug development, comprehensive knowledge of good clinical practice (GCP) and is Lean Six Sigma trained. She has fully utilised her ability to transfer her skills into her senior leadership and executive roles.

Professor Andy Borman

Deputy Director, UKHSA, Mycology Reference Laboratory

No bio provided

Nathan Bourne

Pathology Governance & Quality Manager, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust

Nathan currently works for University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust as the Pathology Governance and Quality Manager since  2018. Previous to this role he was a Biomedical Scientist working in a Microbiology Laboratory. Nathan has been a HCPC registered Biomedical Scientist and Member/ Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences since 2009. Before his time as a BMS he worked at the University of Sheffield researching Alzheimer’s Disease.

Recently his interests have been on merging Quality Management Systems while maintaining accreditation

Dr Annette Bowyer

Scientific Lead for Haemophilia Assays, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust

Annette is the Scientific Lead for Haemophilia Assays in the Department of Coagulation at Sheffield Haemophilia and Thrombosis Centre, Sheffield, UK, which has been designated an International Haemophilia Training Centre by the World Federation of Haemophilia.

Annette was awarded her PhD in Cardiovascular Science from the University of Sheffield, UK, with a thesis focussing on the laboratory diagnosis of mild haemophilia A and has more than 20 years’ experience in the diagnosis and monitoring of bleeding disorders. Her current interest is on laboratory issues surrounding treatment products for haemophilia and von Willebrand disease. She is the co-chair of  the UK Haemophilia Centre Doctors’ Organisation (UKHCDO) Laboratory Working Party and a member of World Federation of Haemophilia laboratory working party, a fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science, and members of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis and the European Association for Haemophilia and Allied Disorders.

Jonathan Boxshall

Pathology Quality Manager, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

No bio provided

Dr Michelle Brereton

Chief Biomedical Scientist, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Michelle is Chief Biomedical Scientist at the Haematological Cancer Diagnostic Service at Manchester Foundation Trust, working alongside clinical and laboratory based colleagues to provide morphology reporting of blood and bone marrows.

Michelle also works with UK NEQASH to deliver the Digital Morphology  Scheme for CPD and completed her Doctorate thesis based on the common types of error that occur when examining blood films. With 24 publications in peer reviewed journals Michelle remains passionate about the role Biomedical Scientists play in delivering a quality service to patients.

Professor David Brettle

Trust Chief Scientific Officer, National Pathology Imaging Cooperative

David is the Chief Scientific Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and has an honorary chair in healthcare science from the University of Salford.

Prior to becoming the Trust CSO he was the Head of Medical Physics and Engineering at Leeds for 11 years and prior to that worked at the Christie hospital.  Whilst Head of Medical Physics at Leeds he completed a term  as President of the institute of Physics in Engineering and Medicine. 

His current role has many elements including professional lead for the 1230 Healthcare Scientists in Leeds, research into the impact of image quality in digital pathology at the National Pathology Imaging Co-operative and  leading on innovation and technology for the two new hospitals being built in Leeds.  In this last role he set up the ‘award winning’ Innovation Pop-up at Leeds which aims to stimulate the culture of innovation in the hospital and allow new technologies to be developed and evaluated through partnership and collaboration with academic partners and industry.

Stephanie Brooks

Senior Biomedical Andrologist & Quality Manager, The Hewitt Fertility Centre, Liverpool Women’s Hospital

Senior Biomedical Andrologist & Quality Manager, Stephanie Brooks has worked at the Hewitt Fertility Centre at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital since 1998. By 2008 the Andrology services had grown to a size where they needed to introduce a supervisory role, a role which Stephanie has performed for the last 10 years. The Quality management role has developed with the implementation of UKAS in their diagnostic service which then infiltrates through the HFEA licenced centre. As a founder member of the ABA and inaugural member of ARCS, Stephanie’s involvement with professional bodies has been long term.

‘I always wanted to be a scientist but didn’t want to just look down a microscope. My job gives me the opportunity to work both in the lab and directly with patients which is the part of my job which gives me most satisfaction. My work involves providing a credible diagnostic service for our users and service for our Oncology patients, which is hugely important as we provide storage of gametes to this vulnerable group in order to preserve their future fertility.’

She has overseen the implementation of UKAS at her place of work which include 4 satellite centres. The maintenance of accreditation had been achieved for the past 6 years. Working with the ethos of Quality management also encompasses the quality of the service, staff and patient satisfaction and improving the working environment.

Lindsey Brown

Lead Patient, MAHSE (Manchester Academy for Healthcare Scientist Education)

Lindsey is Lead Lay Representative for MAHSE’s STP Blood Science Pathway, and the University of Manchester’s MSc Immunology & Biochemistry courses.

Her work around language has included developing a programme to help students develop the skills to communicate their work to the public, leading on the Daily Definition Challenge; a project exploring the public’s understanding of words used by healthcare scientists, and delivering lay language sessions to students, researchers and NHS scientists.

She is also a public contributor in health research, and has assisted with research into patients' experiences, needs and expectations regarding online access to their primary care record, and is currently a PPI co-applicant on research investigating the challenges faced by patients from underserved populations in understanding their primary care consultation notes and exploring solutions.

Angela Brown

Consultant Biomedical Scientist, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

Angela trained in Birmingham and has practised as a Consultant Biomedical Scientist since 2006. She has over 30 years’ experience working in the discipline of Cytology and has a particular interest in cervical glandular abnormalities.

Angela has served on many regional and national cytology committees, including the IBMS Cytopathology Advisory Panel and has held an honorary contract with Screening Quality Assurance Services as a Professional Clinical Advisor since 2011.

Dr Nigel Brown FIBMS, FRCPath, MRSC

Consultant Clinical Biochemist, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Nigel Brown started work as a Junior B MLSO in 1982, after obtaining his special examination in 1986 moved into research culminating in a PhD. He moved back into the NHS in 1999 as a clinical scientist to measure immunosuppressant drugs at Kings College Hospital before moving back to NE England to lead the toxicology service at Wansbeck Hospital. He obtained his FRCPath in Analytical toxicology in 2014. He is a member of the IBMS Clinical Chemistry SAP and past chair of the RCPath Toxicology SAP.

David Bruce

Head Of Laboratory Red Cell Immunohaematology, Newcastle NHS Blood & Transplant

David began his career as a Biomedical Scientist in 1992 working within hospital-based haematology / transfusion laboratories. In 1999 David obtained an MSc in Biomedical Science specialising in Transfusion Science and since 2002 has been employed by NHSBT working within the Red Cell Immunohematology laboratory. David’s focus is the quantification of maternal anti-D and anti-c using a continuous flow analyser.

In 2009, David became scheme director and coordinator for an international Antibody Quantification Quality Assessment Scheme. With a keen interest in the titration of other maternal antibodies associated with Haemolytic Disease of the Foetus and Newborn, David is an active SAG member for the UKAS Titration Steering Committee.

Alyson Bryant

Healthcare Accreditation Specialist, UKAS

Alyson spent 15 years in NHS cellular pathology laboratories prior to moving to UKAS 7 years ago. She started at UKAS as an assessment manager for ISO 15189:2012 laboratories, during the CPA transition project.

Throughout 2020 and 2021, Alyson was heavily involved in UKAS's response to the Covid pandemic, with particular focus on the private providers of Covid-19 testing since December 2020. She is now working as the Healthcare Accreditation Specialist, providing technical oversight for the whole Healthcare section of UKAS, to ensure they remain up-to-date and responsive to their customer's needs.

Professor Jens Bukh

University of Copenhagen

Prof. Jens Bukh, M.D., is a Professor of Virology and Deputy Head at Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, and a Chief Research Physician at Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre. He is the Director of Copenhagen Hepatitis C Program (CO-HEP), which engages about 50 investigators. His research focus is positive-strand RNA viruses, with special emphasis on hepatitis C virus (HCV) and related viruses, as well as SARS-CoV-2, and covers basic and translational studies of genetic heterogeneity, pathogenesis, antivirals, and vaccine development. 

Prof. Jens Bukh has published more than 250 research articles and is the recipient of the 2015 Novo Nordisk Prize and the 2022 Hagedorn Prize.

Dr Tom Bullock DClinSci FRCPath FIBMS

Interim Chief Scientific Officer, NHS Blood and Transplant, NHS Blood and Transplant

Dr. Tom Bullock is the Interim Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), a position he has held since late 2023. He is the professional lead for the organization’s scientific workforce, who help to ensure the safety and efficacy of blood and organ donations for medical treatments. His role involves guiding research, shaping scientific policies, and driving innovation.

Dr. Bullock maintains his role as a Consultant Clinical Scientist specializing in Red Cell Immunohaematology. His expertise has significantly contributed to NHSBT’s understanding and management of blood disorders, particularly Sickle Cell Disorder (SCD). He has delivered presentations on the discovery of novel blood group systems,  the challenges of investigating samples from patients with SCD the subsequent management of SCD patients, emphasizing the importance of accurate diagnostics and improved laboratory practices.

Dr. Bullock is also actively involved in scientific and clinical education within NHSBT and the wider NHS as part of work to implement recommendations from the Infected Blood Inquiry (IBI). He co-leads initiatives aimed at identifying knowledge gaps among Biomedical Scientists, working to enhance training programs and improve transfusion laboratory safety. His efforts ensure that laboratory professionals receive the necessary skills and knowledge to maintain high standards of patient care.

Beyond his leadership, subject matter expert and educational roles, Dr. Bullock engages with the wider medical community through conferences and webinars. He has highlighted NHSBT’s role in supporting SCD patients, advocating for enhanced collaboration to improve treatment and patient outcomes.

Through his leadership, research contributions, and commitment to education, Dr. Bullock plays a vital role in NHSBT’s mission to provide a safe and reliable supply of blood, organs, and associated services, ultimately improving patient care and advancing transfusion medicine.

Phillipa Burns MSc, FIBMS, CSci, FRCPath

Consultant Clinical Scientist, York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Phillipa is a dual registered scientist, in medical microbiology. She is passionate about the development and education of Biomedical Scientists, including the pathways to clinical roles. She started her public health training in Cardiff in 2002, moving to Manchester to work for the HPA/PHE (now UKHSA) in 2007. In September 2018 she stepped back from laboratory management to undertake the HSST programme, moving across the Pennines to Hull.

She completed FRCPath in 2022, and began working as a Consultant in August 2023. Her clinical and research interests are varied, focusing at the moment on the clinical utility of next generation sequencing and NGS integration into diagnostic services. Her DClinSci focuses on SABSI in people who inject drugs, with a determination to translate the research into improved quality of life outcomes for vulnerable and marginalised groups.

Dr John Burthem

Consultant Haematologist, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

John is Consultant Haematologist and Clinical Senior Lecturer and lead for the Haematological Cancer Diagnositics Partnership based at Manchester Hospitals. With a particular Interest in morphology he Chairs the Scientific Advisory Group for Morphology at UK NEQAS(H).

Together with Michelle Brereton, John provide images, annotations and feedback for the UK NEQAS(H) Digital Morphology Scheme and is the main author of haematologyetc.co.uk - a wiki help for morphology and other aspects of haematology diagnosis.

Dr Owen Cain

Consultant Histopathologist, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Owen is a Consultant Histopathologist working at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. He interest in electron microscopy is based on his diagnostic work in renal pathology, both native and transplant. He also has interests in liver and skin pathology.     

Dr Fiona Carragher FRCPath

Executive Director of Research and Influencing, Alzheimer’s Society

Fiona Carragher joined Alzheimer’s Society as Executive Director of Research and Influencing in January 2019. She plays a pivotal role at the Society as we aim to be a leading force for change and improve the lives of people affected by dementia now and in the future.

Fiona is a Clinical Biochemist by background and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. Driving evidence-based policy making and connecting science and research into practise has underpinned her career. Before joining Alzheimer’ Society Fiona was the Deputy Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England providing leadership for the 50,000 healthcare science professionals in the NHS and expert advice to the health system on science, innovation, and diagnostics. She led a broad portfolio of policy responsibilities including establishing the UK Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostics programme, the system wide Action Plan on Hearing Loss and the CSO Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme. She is a passionate advocate for women in health and led the establishment of the first Women in Science and Engineering fellowship programme in the NHS.

In recent years Fiona has broadened her Board level experience as a Trustee of the world-leading UK Dementia Research Institute and Non-Executive Director as Kent and Medway Health and Social Care Partnership NHS Trust. She is a Member of the National Physical Laboratory Science and Technology Advisory Council and Chair of the Government Chemical and Biological Metrology Programme Expert Group.

Rachel Carter

Director of Patient Safety, Patient Safety Specialist , Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Rachel qualified as a Chartered Physiotherapist in 2004. She went onto work clinically at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals (NuTH) and specialised in Burns, Plastic Surgery and Hand Therapy for 6 years. Whilst she loved her clinical work, there was a lack of opportunity for progression in a clinical role, so she decided to look at opportunities outside of Physiotherapy. In 2011 she moved into a new role of Falls Prevention Coordinator, again at NUTH, it was in this role that she became passionate about improving patient safety. Whilst in this role she studied multiple courses in Quality Improvement, became a Q Fellow and gained a PG Cert in Professional Education. Rachel then went on to expand her role and became the Clinical Improvement Lead for Falls and Pressure Ulcers.

In 2019 Rachel moved into the Head of Quality Assurance role working in NuTH’s Clinical Governance Department. This was a role she enjoyed but she recognised that Patient Safety and Improvement were her true passions and so moved organisation and role in 2021 to become the Director of Patient Safety at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

In her current role, Rachel is responsible for the operational and strategic implementation of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF). She is a Patient Safety Specialist (PSS) and leads 4 other PSS’s at Northumbria. Rachel sees a real opportunity to change the way we respond to patient safety incidents with the implementation of PSIRF, however understands the anxieties that come with such a huge change in process and culture.

Robert Cast

Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow

No bio provided

Jill Caulfield

Lead Scientist, Blood Stocks Management Scheme, NHSBT

After starting her career as an MLA in 1995 in Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Jill qualified as a Biomedical Scientist in 2000. Later, she became a Blood Transfusion senior, then Technical Manager to three sites in the North East of England.

Although Jill found this both challenging and rewarding, she really wanted to make a difference nationally. She was fortunate enough to secure a position as Lead Specialist within the Blood stocks management scheme team in April 2021, where she now provides a service to over 300 hospitals in the UK. The scheme runs alongside NHSBT and together they help to monitor and preserve their precious blood stocks.

Professor Peter Chiodini

Scheme Organiser for Parasitology , University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

No bio provided

Professor Pratima Chowdary

Consultant Haematologist, Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust

No bio provided

Dr Fiona Clark

Consultant Haematologist, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

No bio provided

Nigel Coles

Treasurer, IBMS

Nigel is a Fellow of the IBMS and a Chartered Scientist. Since retiring in July 2022 he has been employed part-time at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust as the Quality Manager and Clinical Governance lead for Central & South Genomics Laboratory Hub. Previous to his retirement he was the Quality Manager for West Midlands Regional Genetics laboratory for 14 years.

Nigel has been a member of the IBMS since 1983. From 2013 to 2021 he was Chair of the IBMS Birmingham Branch organising committee. From 2008 to 2013 he also chaired the IBMS West Midlands Regional Committee and IBMS West Midlands Clinical Laboratory Quality Managers Association. For the last 8 years he has been the West Midlands Council member of the IBMS.

Nine years ago, Nigel became a tutor on the IBMS Certificate of Expert Practice in Quality course, an e-learning course run by Ulster University.

His main area of interest is looking to evaluate the value of pathology services to clinical services and ultimately, the patient experience, so commissioners fully understand the value of the service and not just the cost. Nigel is also involved in two groups; one which is looking to implement quality management systems across the NHS and a second group looking at Philosophy and Ethics of Quality Improvement programs.

Professor Peter Collins

Consultant Haematologist, School of Medicine, Cardiff University

Peter is professor in haematology at the School of Medicine, Cardiff University and consultant at the Cardiff Haemophilia Centre.

He co-leads a research programme investigating the management of haemostatic impairment during postpartum haemorrhage. The work has recently been awarded NIHR funding to investigate the effect of the OBS Cymru care bundle on clinical and psychological outcomes of postpartum haemorrhage.

His other clinical research interests include acquired haemophilia, prophylactic treatment of haemophilia, factor VIII inhibitors and pharmacokinetics of factor VIII and IX.

Basic science interests are the role of phospholipids in controlling coagulation and interactions between coagulation and complement.

Gary Collins

Quality Manager, University Hospital Crosshouse, NHS Ayrshire & Arran

No bio provided

Lisa Connelly

Technical Manager , Scottish Microbiology Reference Laboratories

After graduating from Strathclyde University almost 18 years ago Lisa has worked within the Scottish Parasitology Reference Laboratory, Glasgow as a molecular research scientist on various Cryptosporidium projects before embarking on a trainee Biomedical Scientist position within Microbiology. During this time, she developed an enthusiasm for Parasitology and spent over ten years gaining expertise within this speciality, including undertaking a IBMS Diploma of Higher Specialist Practice.

Lisa has been working for the past year as a Technical Manager within the Scottish Microbiology Reference Laboratories where she provides expert technical advice to healthcare professionals throughout Scotland on molecular, serology and parasite testing. She is also keen to learn other aspects of Microbiology including antimicrobial resistance testing and serogrouping.

When Lisa is not working, her other passions include long walks with her three dogs and taking care of her nieces.

Denise Cook MSc, CSci, FIBMS,

Head of Quality, Governance, Learning and Development, Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services

Denise is Executive Lead for Governance, Quality, Leadership & Development for Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services (BSPS).

A member of the Kings Fund Alumni having completed the Top Manager Programme in 2022, she is recognized for her transformative work in senior leadership and system development. She has a keen interest in professional values, behavioural styles and emotional agility within the workplace and develops teams, individuals and systems particularly in challenging times. She is a trained professional coach and mentor working with individuals and teams across sectors.

Denise served as Deputy Managing Director, Executive Lead for Governance and Quality for BSPS; General Manager for Infection and Immunity Science for BSPS and Lead Biomedical Scientist at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Denise began her career in microbiology from trainee to specialist, senior and Lead Biomedical Scientist, working in District General, larger teaching hospitals before moving into senior leadership and executive roles. She is a Board Trustee for Wishing Well Music for Health Charity, working with hospitals across Sussex turning clinical places into cultural space to support patients in all hospital settings, bringing live music to the heart of healthcare.

Cassandra Cooklynn

Dissection Practitioner , Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Cassandra has worked in a histology department for several years with over 6 years as a Dissection Practitioner. She completed an Applied Biomedical Sciences course at John Moores University and began working at St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as a Biomedical Scientist. She completed the STP qualification in 2017 followed by the IBMS Diploma of Expert Practice and Advanced Specialist Diploma in Breast Pathology. She has done supplementary courses in teaching and training which has been useful in training fellow Biomedical Scientists in dissection practice. She is also currently enjoying being on the Cellular Pathology Advisory Panel for the IBMS.

Hannah Cox

Pathology Programme Manager, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Hannah has worked within the NHS IT sector for over ten years and during this time has led a number of significant strategic digitisation projects across a wide variety of specialties.  After working alongside Pathology colleagues on a number of different key projects, Hannah joined the Pathology team formally in late 2020 in order to lead the procurement and implementation of the trusts ambitious multi year strategic digital transformation programme. 

The programme encompasses the introduction of a new LIMS solution and end to end changes to pathways and workflows.  Hannah holds an honours degree in Leadership and Management, a postgraduate certificate in Leadership and change and is a certified PRINCE2 Practitioner and a member of the Chartered Management Institute (MCMI).    

Dr Bernie Croal

President-Elect, Royal College of Pathology

Bernie is an NHS Chemical Pathologist from Aberdeen specialising in intravenous nutritional support. He is a science and medicine graduate, and trained in general medicine, chemical pathology and Health Services/Public Health Research. He has spent a long career in various leadership roles within NHS Scotland including clinical director and regional lead for pathology, NHS Scotland demand optimisation lead and chair of the Scottish Clinical Biochemistry Network (SCBN). He is also the current Past President of the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB-UK).

He is a fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and the Institute of Biomedical Science. Within RCPath he has chaired many committees, been Scotland Regional Council Chair for 9 years and a Trustee for 13 years. He served as Vice-President from 2011-14, and is now President Elect, commencing as RCPath President in November 2023.

Dr Nick Crombie

Consultant Trauma Anaesthetist , University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Nick has been a Consultant in Trauma Anaesthesia at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham for 15 years and has spent 12 years working as a HEMS doctor with Midlands Air Ambulance including 7 as Clinical Lead. Nick was the Chief Investigator of the RePHILL trial which set out to determine whether there was any benefit of providing pre-hospital blood products when compared to standard crystalloid treatment. Nick lives with his family on a small farm with 4 horses, 3 dogs and an unknown number of free ranging chickens.

Morgan Cutlan

Point of Care Testing Practitioner, Wales Specialist Virology Centre, Public Health Wales

Morgan started her career in Microbiology in the summer of 2019 whilst finishing off her Chemistry BSc. She begun working in Public Health Wales, Mycology on an honorary contract before obtaining an Associate Practitioner role in the Wales Specialist Virology Centre; just as the COVID-19 pandemic reached the UK. As the demands of the pandemic reduced, she was rotated onto the Dried Blood Spot bench where she discovered her interest in Blood Borne Viruses, especially Hepatitis C. She then successfully applied for the Point of Care Testing practitioner role in June 2022 where she has since been testing for Blood Borne Viruses in community; prisons, homeless shelters and substance misuse centres.

Professor Sally Cutler

Professor in Medical Microbiology, University of East London

Having previously worked in hospital diagnostic laboratories both as a biomedical scientist and researcher, veterinary laboratories, Sally now holds an academic Professorship in Medical Microbiology within the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience at the University of East London where she has been based since 2007.

Her research interests started with spirochaetes with the opportunity to study Lyme borreliosis for a PhD at Charing Cross Hospital (now Imperial College, London). This was the start of her fascination with spirochaetes and zoonoses. Following her PhD, Sally's interests expanded to the relapsing fever spirochaetes where she was able to cultivate Borrelia recurrentis and Borrelia duttonii for the first time, which had been considered non-cultivable. She was awarded the Society for Applied Microbiology W. H. Pierce prize in recognition of this work.

Sally then worked on bacterial zoonoses, building a research interest in Brucella, Leptospira, Rickettsia and Coxiella. From here I moved to the University of East London. In this setting, she has been able to enthuse their biomedical science students about microbiology, hopefully drawing them into the fascinating world of microbiology. She teaches students at all academic levels and several post-graduate research students, giving her further opportunity to guide and mentor early career researchers. She has more than 125 peer-reviewed publications, seven book chapters and serve as an associate editor for Clinical Microbiology & Infection and Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases. Sally serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for more than 30 journals and grant reviewer for various UK-based and international organisations. She is a member of various microbiological societies and currently serves as an executive committee member for Applied Microbiology International and as Chair for the European Study Group for Veterinary Microbiology under the auspices of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. She furthermore serves as Chair for the IBMS virology specialist advisory panel.

Anwen Davies

Patient Blood Management Practitioner , NHS Blood and Transplant

Anwen is a HCPC registered Biomedical Scientist and has worked in the NHS for 26 years, specialising in Haematology and Transfusion. After 14 years in the laboratory, she became a Transfusion Practitioner at a large Health Board, before becoming a Better Blood Transfusion Practitioner at the Welsh Blood Service, working on National transfusion projects.  

Anwen joined NHS Blood and Transplant as a Patient Blood Management Practitioner in 2016, working closely with Hospital Transfusion Teams to support safe and effective transfusion practice and promote alternatives where applicable to optimise patient care. Anwen enjoys audit and led the development of the QS138 Quality Insights hospital audit tool.

Jenny Davies

UK Transfusion Laboratory Collaborative

No bio provided

Louise Davies

Louise Davies Senior Biomedical Scientist, National Infectious Disease POCT Lead, Wales Specialist Virology Centre Cardiff , Public Health Wales

Louise is a senior Biomedical Scientist at Wales Specialist Virology Centre. She is also the National Point Care Testing Lead for Wales.

Louise is responsible for implementing and managing infectious disease Point of Care testing services across Wales. She is particularly focused on eradicating Hepatitis C from some of Wales’ hardest to reach communities. She works in homeless shelters, probations centres, substance misuse services and also in several prison estates in Wales. The implementation of an innovative, two tired POCT pathway meant that HMP, Swansea was able to declare micro-elimination of Hepatitis C. This was a tremendous achievement and is a first for a remand prison in the UK. 

Ian Davies

Staffordshire University

No bio provided

Gareth Davies

Deputy Director, Principal Biochemist, R and D Manager , WEQAS

Gareth Davies is the Deputy Director, Principal Biochemist and Research and Development Manager at Weqas with over 15 years’ experience in Laboratory Medicine. Gareth is responsible for R&D and new programme development, and provides EQA interpretation, support and troubleshooting. He is a current member of the National Clinical Biochemistry Audit Group (NCBAG), the All Wales Clinical Biochemistry Audit Group (AWCBAG), and the ACB Pre-Analytical Phase Special Interest Group (ACB PA SIG).

Will Davies

Scheme Co-ordinator, UK NEQAS Cellular Pathology Technique

Will has practiced as a Biomedical Scientist for over 20 years in teaching hospital and district general hospital departments. Over the years he has developed a broad knowledge of quality improvement tools and now formally teaches these to staff from acute, health and care and commissioning backgrounds.

Will is currently project managing the implementation of a regional digital pathology system for a number of Acute Trusts in the West Midlands and is supporting UKNEQAS CPT in their development of a Digital pathology EQA scheme.

Dr Barbara De la Selle PhD, CSci, FIBMS

President, UK NEQAS

Barbara is a clinical scientist with more than 50 experience in healthcare, firstly in diagnostic laboratory medicine, with a particular interest in the laboratory diagnosis of inherited red cell disorders, followed by more than two decades in haematology quality assessment.  Although she retired from the position of Director of UK NEQAS Haematology, she continues to do development work for the Scheme and is the current President of the UK NEQAS Consortium.

Professor Sandi Deans

Director, GenQA, National Laboratory & Scientific Lead, Genomic Implementation Unit NHS England and Professor of Clinical Genomics, Institute of Genetic and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh

Professor Sandi Deans is the Scientific and Laboratory Deputy Director of the Genomics Unit, NHS England embedding the National Genomic Medicine Service for rare disease and cancer including whole genome sequencing within the NHS. She was Scientific Advisor and directly involved in the delivery of the 100,000 Genomes Project.

She is a Consultant Clinical Scientist and the Director of Genomics Quality Assessment (GenQA) part of the UK National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS). The EQA Scheme delivers assessment of the standard of the full clinical genomics testing pathway through 120 different schemes. This includes clinical genetics, molecular genetics, molecular pathology, cytogenomic testing, newborn screening, prenatal diagnosis, preimplantation genetic testing and variant interpretation.

Sandi also holds a chair as Professor of Clinical Genomics at the University of Edinburgh.

Rachael Denham

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

No bio provided

Helen Dent

Chief Operating Officer, British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA)

Helen joined BIVDA, the national association for In Vitro Diagnostics providers in June 2020,having previously worked at Abbott diagnostics, leading the managed service contracts group in the UK and in Germany as Contracts and Pricing manager.

Prior to Abbott, Helen was a procurement manager at NHS Blood and Transplant, Surrey and Sussex NHS procurement confederation and NHS PASA. Helen's expertise is sustainable procurement and procurement law and policy, which enables her to provide BIVDA's members with expert support and guidance for IVD regulation, sustainability, social value, tender and contract law.

Andrew Dodson MPhil, FIBMS, CSci

Scheme Director, UK NEQAS Immunocytochemistry & In-Situ Hybridisation (ICC & ISH)

Andrew’s background and training are in cellular pathology, starting as a trainee biomedical scientist at St. Georges’ Hospital in 1981.  He moved to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital in 1990 Liverpool where he ran the diagnostic IHC and then the advanced testing laboratories. He returned to London in 2014 to a Research Clinical Scientist role at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Andrew became Scheme Director of UK NEQAS for Immunocytochemistry and In-Situ Hybridisation in 2019.

His main research interest is in the role of IHC in the diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer, particularly ER-positive disease.

Louise Dolan

Deputy Laboratory Manager, Digital Pathology Lead, Northern Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Trust

Louise has worked in Cellular Pathology for over 30 years, and having developed a broad range of technical experience currently holds the position Deputy Laboratory Manager for Cellular Pathology within Path Links. Louise has lead the deployment of Digital pathology throughout the network since 2016.

Having been a peer assessor for the scheme for over seven years Louise is currently supporting the Whole Slide Imaging Pilot Scheme.

Dr Ellie Dow

Consultant in Biochemical Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, NHS Tayside

Ellie is Consultant in Biochemical Medicine for NHS Tayside at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School in Dundee. She has a longstanding interest in laboratory IT and the clinical user interface, and is the laboratory lead and co-inventor of the multi-award winning Intelligent Liver Programme (iLFT, intelligent liver function testing).

As lead for IT she is currently leading the implementation of a new LIMS system for NHS Tayside, as well as leading the clinical laboratory implementation of the University of Dundee-led iDiabetes precision medicine programme.

Dr Daniel du Plessis

Consultant Neuropathologist, Northern Care Alliance (Salford Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust)

Daniel is a consultant neuropathologist based at Salford Royal Hospital with honorary appointments at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and the Department of Forensic Pathology , Royal Liverpool University Hospital.  He holds postgraduate qualifications in molecular biology, anatomical pathology (general) and neuropathology.  He acts as an expert witness in Crown, Family and Appeal Court proceedings in the UK and abroad. 

He is co-editor and author of the 2nd edition of Whitwell’s ‘Forensic Neuropathology’ published in 2021 and is contributing to the next edition of Keeling’s ‘Paediatric Forensic Medicine and Pathology’.  He was an invited participant at the Closed Experts Meeting on the Pathology of Traumatic Head Injury in Children held under the chairmanship of the President of the Royal College of Pathologists (2009) and was instructed by HM Special Coroner for the Hillsborough Disaster (2014-16) to act as inquest neuropathology expert.

Professor Lucy Easthope

Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath

Professor Lucy Easthope is the country’s leading authority on recovering from disaster and the Sunday Times Best Selling author of ‘When The Dust Settles’.

For over two decades she has challenged others to think differently about what comes next, after tragic events. She is a passionate and thought-provoking voice in an area that few know about: emergency planning. However in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, her work became decidedly more mainstream.

She is known globally for her work and holds research positions in the UK and New Zealand. She is a Professor in Practice of Risk and Hazard at the University of Durham and Professor in Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath.

Chris Elliott

Assistant Director Pathology: Business Development and Transformation , NHS Blood & Transplant

After 38 years of working in NHS hospital pathology Chris has recently moved to NHSBT. Most of his time was spent in hospital transfusion departments moving through a succession of posts across the capital and then country before ending up at Middlesbrough. In recent years he has been responsible not only for the transfusion service provision but also for Haematology and then finally as Blood Sciences Services Manager for Biochemistry and Immunology as well. During this time he also served in numerous professional capacities and on local, regional and national committees, often as an IBMS representative.

Chris's current role takes all of his experience, knowledge and understanding and returns him to his first love of transfusion while seeking to drive the NHSBT strategy of developing a more integrated relationship with hospitals rather than the historically transactional relationship. He is also working to develop wider commercial relationships that will benefit NHSBT and patients as a whole.

Paola Espin

Higher Specialist Biomedical Scientist, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Paola is a Higher Specialist Biomedical Scientist in Microbiology at Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham. Having worked there since 2016 she completed her Specialist and Higher Specialist portfolio in Medical Microbiology and now is a senior member of the team. Before which, Paola worked in Boston, Lincolnshire and gained her registration status from a placement at Wythenshawe Hospital whilst studying at Manchester Metropolitan University. As part of her current senior role her responsibilities lie within Training, Development and Rostering of the 24/7 department. She is a lead for the Apprenticeship & Placement Student programme, working closely with Nottingham Trent University. Other interests lie within service development, Microbiology stewardship & outreach.

Dr Una Fairbrother

Deputy Dean for Students/Head of Researcher Development, London Metropolitan University

Dr Una Fairbrother is a senior academic leader, engaged in lecturing and research, investigating complex genetic conditions such as diabetes/obesity and how telomere length can be utilised as a biomarker for stress and a predictor for age related disease, and embedding my research into the curriculum. Their leadership roles have allowed them to use their creativity and experience to promote and ensure research lead education for students and training for research staff.

Deputy Dean for students 2022- present, Head of Researcher Development 2019- present Interim Head of Graduate School 2022, Clinical Lead for COVID 2020-2022, Interim Head of School (SHSC) 2018-2019, Academic Leader Applied Biological Science, 2013-2016; Principal Lecturer, 2009-2013; Senior Lecturer, 2006-2009, Postdoctoral Research Associate: Imperial College: 1999-2006; ICH UCL: 1995-1997; UCL 1993-1995 PhD: UCL (1989-1993); BSc (Hons) Kings College, University of London (1984-1987).

• Fairbrother UL (2023) Meet the New Editor-in Chief  Current Genetic Medicine Reports 10(4):1-2 DOI:10.1007/s40142-023-00206-3
• Kidd, E., Meimaridou, E., Walley, A.J. and Fairbrother, UL. (2023) Adapted qPCR Methodology to Detect Oxidative Damage Associated with Induction of Telomere Attrition (TA) in Murine Tissue ISHG presentation 22^nd Sept
• Bhakta D., Shoulders K., Ellison G., Aghili A., McLaren S., McLean G., Fairbrother U. (2023) A health promotion survey conducted in a university setting during the COVID-19 pandemic to increase awareness for Vitamin D supplementation. Brit Nut Soc p. 280623
• Kidd, E., Meimaridou, E.Walley, A.J. and Fairbrother, UL. Telomere Oxidation Status (TOS) is Correlated With Relative Telomere Length (RTL) Across Different Mouse Tissues But Not With Nicotinamide Nucleotide Transhydrogenase (Nnt)  2023 ESHG presentation P140.25.A
• N. Khanyile, S.W. McLaren and U.L Fairbrother Predictors of early initiation of breastfeeding and duration of breastfeeding among South African women Proceedings of the Nutrition Society: Summer Conference 2023

Dr Jennie Fairely

Deputy Director GenQA (Mol Path), GenQA

Jenni is one of the Deputy Directors of GenQA (Genomics Quality Assessment) where she has been responsible for delivering EQA for molecular pathology of solid tumours for nearly 10 years. GenQA is part of the UK National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS) and delivers assessment of the full clinical genomics testing pathway through more than a hundred different EQAs.

Jenni is a registered clinical scientist in molecular pathology and was a postdoctoral researcher working in the cancer field before taking up her training in the NHS.

Professor Dean Fennell

Professor & Consultant in Thoracic Medicine , University Hospitals of Leicester

No bio provided

Dr Paul Ferguson

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

No bio provided

Graham Fews

Principal Genetic Scientist, West Midlands Regional Genetics Laboratory

No bio provided

Professor Mark Fielder

Professor of Medical Microbiology, Kingston University

As a professor of Medical Microbiology, Mark's career has allowed him to undertake work in a range of areas pertaining to infection. Within this sphere of study an increasingly important area of interest has been how we interact with other organisms and the environment - or more importantly how aspects of our microbiomes interact. This is the basis of "one Health" microbiology.

This has lead him to look at human-animal-environment interactions in terms of antibiotic resistance but also in how new diseases might emerge and spread. This aspect, certainly in the last few years, has been of great interest in terms of how out interactions might effect and affect the diseases we may come across and that might change our perspectives.

Jonny Flanagan

Improvement Manager Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne And Wear,

Jonny has 21 years experience in transformation and service improvement, specialising in lean methodologies and QI toolkits. Joining the NHS in 2005 he has worked nationwide with many providers across both acute and mental health trusts, most recently with Trust Innovation Group in CNTW, joining in 2018.  Jonny also acts as guest lecturer at 4 universities covering topics such as QI and project management.

Jill Fozzard

Clinical Nurse Specialist, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Jill is a Nurse Colposcopist based in the Women's Health Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Along with her colleagues, Sister Jilly Goodfellow and Consultant Dr Michelle Russell, they run the colposcopy service.

Jill has been a nurse with over 20 years experience in women’s health and also facilitates a course  for nurses new to cervical sample taking. Jill is passionate about enabling and supporting women to  make informed choices and also volunteers for the national Jo's Cervical Cancer charity on their medical panel. Jill contributes to the development of national training guidelines and has been involved in developing resources to support cervical sample takers in primary and secondary care.

Dr Jane Freeman

Associate Professor in Clinical Microbiology and Clinical Scientist, University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Jane is an Associate Professor in Clinical Microbiology and the University of Leeds,  Clinical Scientist in microbiology at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust and National Clinical Lead for AMR Diagnostics at NHS England. She is a founding member of the successful multi-organisation Healthcare Associated Infections Research group, headed by Prof Mark Wilcox. She has a career-long interest in Clostridioides difficile infection, developing the human gut model of CDI and leading pan-European projects. She is particularly interested in antimicrobial resistance in C. difficile and gut dysbiosis; and involving patients in research and clinical service design. She is also interested in infection diagnostics and broadening opportunities for healthcare scientists in research.

Dr Liz Furrie

Consultant Clinical Scientist, NHS Tayside, Dundee

No bio provided

Jeyrroy Gabriel

Senior Biomedical Scientist, Synnovis Analytics

No bio provided

Emily Gallimore

Specialist Biomedical Scientist , Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Emily is a Specialist Biomedical Scientist, based at the Greater Manchester Immunology Service. The lab covers allergy, autoimmunity, immunodeficiency and heamatological malignancy. She completed "top-up" modules and her registration portfolio at NHSBT, then worked in Biochemistry, before moving to Immunology, where she has worked since 2018. She completed the IBMS Specialist Portfolio in Immunology in 2021, followed by the IBMS Higher Specialist Diploma in 2022.

Lisa Garrison

Senior Clinical Scientist, Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services

Lisa studied for 4 years at the University of Bath, where she gained an M:Biochem in Biochemistry. She then went on to study a postgraduate Master’s degree in Clinical Biochemistry with Molecular Biology at the University of Surrey, whilst training to be a Clinical Scientist at St George’s hospital, London. She has since worked at South West London Pathology (SWLP) for over 20 years. As a trainee she was involved in an audit of the xanthochromia service at Frimley Park hospital, and, from there, continued to develop her knowledge in this area. During her time at SWLP she developed software to aid interpretation of the CSF bilirubin scans, and helped educate her peers and medical colleagues in xanthochromia interpretation.

Currently, she works as a senior clinical scientist and is the clinical I.T lead at Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services (BSPS) and is based at the Royal Surrey County hospital.

Dr Johnathan Garvey

Specialist Doctor in community Geriatrics and Frailty, East Kent Frailty team and Home Treatment Service

Dr Jonathan McGarvey is a Specialist doctor in community Geriatric medicine for the Kent community health foundation trust. He is joint Specialty lead for the Frailty virtual ward, overseeing a diverse team of healthcare professionals providing hospital level care at home, to patients living with Frailty.

Building on experience gained during hospital based geriatric medicine, Dr McGarvey has worked in the community for the last 3 years promoting patient involvement in the decisions around their treatment and care.

As Speciality lead for the Frailty virtual ward his goal is to develop and promote a safe and effective alternative to hospital admission for patients living with Frailty; to promote ageing well, and preserve the quality of life that is increasingly valuable as we grow older. 

Danny Gaskin

Patient Blood Management Practitioner , NHS Blood and Transplant

Danny is a registered Biomedical Scientist and Patient Blood Management Practitioner at NHS Blood and Transplant. His professional interests revolve around hospital transfusion, patient blood management, and education. He is a Fellow of the British Blood Transfusion Society, and actively contributes to various national working groups, as well as regional and hospital transfusion committees.

In recognition of his contributions to transfusion education, Danny was honoured with the 2022 Academy for Healthcare Science Award for Inspiring the Healthcare Science Workforce of the Future and the 2022 Bill Chaffe Unsung Hero Award at the British Blood Transfusion Society Annual Conference.

Professor Cedric Ghevaert

Professor in Transfusion Medicine and Consultant Haematologist , University of Cambridge and NHS Blood and Transplant

Cedric is a Professor in Transfusion Medicine at the University of Cambridge and Consultant Haematologist for the NHS Blood and Transplant. He obtained his MD in 1998 from the University Libre de Bruxelles. After qualifying as a Consultant Haematologist, he did his PhD in Cambridge to develop recombinant antibodies for the treatment of fetomaternal alloimmune thrombocytopenia which culminated in a first-in-man study.

Upon obtaining his PhD, Dr Ghevaert obtained a personal fellowship from the British Heart Foundation to work on megakaryopoiesis in the context of myeloproliferative diseases at the university of Birmingham. He was appointed as a Principal Investigator at the University of Cambridge in 2010. His current group focuses its work on the production of blood cells from pluripotent stem cells with the declared aim to produce novel cellular therapies for transfusion to patients. His approach combines the manipulation of key transcriptional regulators to efficiently forward programme stem cells into mature blood cells and 3D bioengineered scaffolds to recreate the bone marrow niche and increase the production efficiency and purity of the manufactured blood cells.

He still has a keen interest in inherited platelet disorders (such as Thrombocytopenia with Absent Radii) using the pluripotent stem cell technology for disease modelling. His expertise lies at the hinge of basic bench-based science and translational studies and as such is supervising a clinical trial of in vitro-produced red cells in human volunteers at present.

Janet Gilbertson

Principal Scientist, National Amyloidosis Centre, Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust

Janet has worked in Cellular Pathology for over 40 years, specialising in diagnostic immunohistochemistry at its onset, as well as research in to cancer diagnosis.

For the last 25 years Janet has worked as a Principal Scientist at the National Amyloidosis Centre, leading the clinical diagnostic service for histology, immunohistochemistry and proteomic analysis. She performs specialised research for the diagnosis of amyloidosis and subtyping of amyloid, which has led to over 150 publications as well as chapters in leading histopathology books.

Each year she reports on over 2000 cases, and has probably seen the most amyloid and Congo red stained slides worldwide.

Ashley Gilchrist

Lead Advanced Practitioner in Histological Dissection, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

No bio provided

Tamsin Glenwright

Biomedical Scientist/Molecular Biology Technical Sales Specialist , VH BIO Ltd

Tamsin started her early career as a Biomedical Scientist in Blood Sciences. After working in several NHS trusts within Clinical Biochemistry and haematology, she took on a new challenge of learning the ways of Molecular Pathology in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Tamsin challenged herself to further her learning and during lockdown undertook an online Masters course with Nottingham Trent University, whilst continuing to cover her role within the testing lab. With a new found love for Molecular and Genetic technologies, Tamsin moved her attention to industry and started a Technical role at VH Bio Ltd.

Dr Ian Godber

Consultant Clinical Scientist, QEUH, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde

Ian trained in Clinical Biochemistry in Dundee and Nottingham, then moved to NHS Lanarkshire initially as a Principal Biochemist, and was later appointed to a post as Consultant Clinical Scientist and Clinical Lead, where he developed an interest in laboratory processes and IT. He was the Clinical Lead for the Scottish Clinical Biochemistry Managed Diagnostic Network from 2016-2020 and has also sat on committees of ACB and the ACS. He moved into his current role as Lead Clinician in Biochemistry at the QEUH in Glasgow in 2020, and when not working can usually be found on his bike participating in endurance mountain biking events.

Dr Tony Goldstone

Clinical Reader in PsychoNeuroEndocrinology and Consultant Endocrinologist , Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Tony is a Clinical Reader in PsychoNeuroEndocrinology at the Division of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, and Consultant Endocrinologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He attended medical school at Cambridge and Oxford Universities, and obtained a PhD from Imperial College London.

His experimental medicine research uses multi-modal phenotyping, including neuroimaging, to examine pituitary dysfunction after traumatic brain injury, and gut-hormone-brain interactions in regulation of eating/addictive behaviours. He leads the endocrinology multi-disciplinary specialist clinic at St. Mary’s Hospital for patients following traumatic brain injury together with neurologists, psychologists and psychiatrists.

: www.imperial.ac.uk/people/tony.goldstone
: @@TonyGoldstone

Jilly Goodfellow

Clinical Nurse Specialist , Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Jilly is a Nurse Colposcopist and Senior Sister in Gynaecology based in the Women's Health Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Along with her colleagues, Sister Jilly Goodfellow and Gynaecology Consultant Dr Michelle Russell, they run the colposcopy service.

Jilly has worked in gynaecology for 34 years and been a nurse colposcopist for 20 years.

She has presented her work both nationally and internationally in relation to supporting women who have learning disabilities who attend for cervical samples and colposcopy examination.

Jilly is passionate about enabling and supporting women to make informed choices and also volunteers for the national Jo's Cervical Cancer charity on their medical panel.

She is a member of the UK and Ireland Colposcopy Nurses Committee. In her spare time she is Church Warden / Authorised Lay Minister with the Church of England.

Dr Matt Griffiths

Principal Lecturer in Cellular Pathology, Nottingham Trent University

No bio provided

Shane Grimsley

Consultant Clinical Scientist Trainee , NHS Blood and Transplant, Filton Centre

Shane Grimsley, DipRCPath; holds a diploma in Pathology from the Royal College of Pathologists, UK and has been working at the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory, NHSBT in the UK since 2009, as laboratory manager from 2015 and Senior Clinical Scientist since 2020. 

Richard Haggas

Scientific Director, UK NEQAS Blood Transfusion Laboratory Practice

Richard is currently the Scientific Director of UK NEQAS Blood Transfusion Laboratory Practice and has been working in the field of blood transfusion for over 35 years, initially in the Blood Service in the UK and then in a hospital laboratory environment. He was the Chief Biomedical Scientist and Quality Manager in Blood Transfusion at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for over 15 years.

Richard is a member of the Transfusion Task Force of the British Society for Haematology (BSH) and has been on the writing groups for a number of BSH guidelines, and is currently involved in the redrafting of the Pre-transfusion compatibility guidelines in the UK.  He is currently on the organising committee for the BGS Transfusion conferences and a Trustee of the BGS Transfusion charity.

Richard is currently Honorary Treasurer of the British Blood Transfusion Society and a member BBTS Abstract Reviewing Committee. He is chair of the Immunohaematology working group for European Quality Assurance in Laboratory Medicine (EQALM)

Tia Hamilton

Medical Student, University of Plymouth Peninsula Medical School

Tia Hamilton is a final year medical student studying at the University of Plymouth. She is currently doing her elective attachment with Mr Michael Jones, consultant gynaecologist, at Darent Valley Hospital in Kent. During this attachment she has become interested in the colposcopic management of women with low grade cytological abnormalities, particularly those with chronic HPV infection. Tia is considering a career in gynaecology and has already completed a project on accessing sexual health in a general practise setting.  

Elizabeth Handley

Biomedical Scientist and Trainee Clinical Scientist , Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Elizabeth has worked for 10 years at Nottingham University Hospitals. She has progressed from trainee Biomedical Scientist to Senior Biomedical Scientist, and is currently working through the IBMS Clinical Scientist Certificate Of Attainment Experiential Route.

She has extensive experience as a Biomedical Scientist in haematology and blood transfusion department in the busiest major trauma centre in the country, and is currently working in the Haematological Malignancy Diagnostics Nottingham team.

Professor Tomáš Hanke

Principal Investigator, University of Oxford

Tomáš is a Professor of Vaccine Immunology at the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford. He has devoted his entire professional career to the development of an HIV-1 vaccine. His interests are in understanding protective killer T-cell responses against virus infections. His basic research has been complemented by vaccine design and construction, testing novel vaccine strategies in pre-clinical models while focusing on a safe but rapid translation of the most promising concepts to experimental medicine trials.

He oversees a comprehensive clinical programme developing a candidate T-cell vaccine used alone and together with other cutting-edge tools for controlling HIV in the UK, Europe, the US and Africa, where his partners and he enhance research capacity and infrastructure.

Paul Hawkins

Specialist Biomedical Scientist, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

No bio provided

Kath Hayden

President, Association for Clinical Biochemistry & Laboratory Medicine

Kath, President of the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB), is a Consultant Clinical Biochemist at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester.

Following training in South Manchester, Kath has held posts in hospitals in Manchester and Liverpool over a 35 year period, overseeing significant advances in analytical technologies, point of care testing (POCT) and harmonisation of laboratories. With specialist interests in endocrinology, POCT, leadership and service improvement, her latest roles have been as Clinical Head of Division for Laboratory Medicine at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Trust Lead Healthcare Scientist, Clinical Director for Laboratory Medicine and Head of Service for Clinical Biochemistry at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

Dr Matthew Hazell

Consultant Clinical Scientist, NHS Blood and Transplant

Matt gained his PhD through the development of immunoassays for the detection of adipokines and their use to investigate obesity related disorders.

Shortly after graduation, he gained employment with NHS Blood and Transplant, where he has enjoyed a range of roles over the past 14 years. First, he worked as a member of the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory in the Protein Development and Production Unit. This role saw him produce reagents that are used as therapeutic, diagnostic, CE marked and research grade products in clinical and research practice.

Later, Matt became a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist in the Antigen Engineering Team. This saw him undertake genetic manipulation of mammalian cell lines and purification of red blood cell membrane proteins for the development of diagnostic assays to be used in antibody identification.

Matt made the leap from research to clinical and is currently, after completing the Higher Specialist Scientific Training programme, he is currently a Consultant Clinical Scientist for NHS Blood and Transplant in the Red Cell Immunohaematology Department.

Dr Brendan Healy

Consultant in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases , Public Health Wales

Brendan is a Consultant in Microbiology and Infectious Disease. He is Clinical, IP&C and antimicrobial stewardship lead for the Swansea infection service. He has a special interest in Hepatitis C (Wales Viral Hepatitis Action Plan Lead), orthopaedic infection, C diff, Q fever and research (Swansea Principal Investigator RECOVERY & MEDICAGO).  He trained at the University of Liverpool in 1998 (honours degree and intercalated degree in Physiology).

He was the Young Investigator Prize Winner at the Federation of Infection Societies conference in 2003. He also has an interest in working overseas and has worked in Lesotho (2009) and in Sierra Leone (2015, with Kings College).

Dr Adrian Heaps

Immunology – Head of Service, North Bristol NHS Trust

Adrian is a consultant clinical scientist and head of immunology in North Bristol NHS Trust. He trained in London and then Cardiff before taking various consultant posts in the North of England. He has recently relocated to his spiritual home in Bristol. 

Adrian has a keen interest in clinical investigation of the complement system, having previously worked in the specialist complement testing services in Cardiff and Newcastle.

Dr Brian Herron

Consultant Neuropathologist , Belfast Health & Social Care Trust

Designated Individual HTA

Past President Irish Neurological Association 2017-2018

Previously Clinical Director Belfast Trust

Consultant Forensic Neuropathologist, Department of Justice Northern Ireland

Previously Examiner  Royal College of Pathologists

Professor Roger Hewson

Head of WHO Collaborating Centre and Professor of Virology , UK Health Security Agency and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Roger is Professor in Molecular Virology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Faculty Infectious & Tropical Diseases. He is involved in teaching programmes in Molecular Virology, Medical Microbiology and Emerging Virus research. He is the Scientific a Leader for Viral Haemorrhagic fevers & Arboviruses at UKHSA Porton Down and head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Virus Research & Reference.

His research is focused on public health aspects of virology, pathogenesis and new and emerging disease. It supports basic and translational research, high containment virology, capacity building and education programmes in New and Emerging / Zoonotic Infections.

Dr Lizzie Hill

Departmental Lecturer in Sleep Medicine, Sir Jules Thorn Sleep & Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford

Dr Lizzie is a Clinical Physiologist with over 20 years’ experience in Sleep Medicine. She gained her PhD by Research at The University of Edinburgh in 2016, examining prevalence and treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea in adults with Down syndrome.

Lizzie is currently a Departmental Lecturer in Sleep Medicine on the Oxford Online Programme In Sleep Medicine, University of Oxford, Past President of the European Society of Sleep Technologists & was previously the Education Lead for the British Sleep Society. Prior to her career in Sleep, she briefly held posts as a lab technician in microbiology and serology labs.

Rebecca Hills

NHS Blood and Transplant, Filton Centre

Rebecca joined the Red Cell Immunohaematology (RCI) department at NHSBT Filton in 2018. She started her career in RCI as a Biomedical Laboratory Assistant, where she began the registration portfolio. She later successfully achieved a post in the department as a Trainee Biomedical Scientist. After completing the BBTS Specialist Certificate in Transfusion Science Practice, Rebecca progressed to her current role as a Specialist Biomedical Scientist.

Chantell Hodgson

Scheme Manager , LabXCell CEO and UK NEQAS Cellular Pathology Technique (CPT) Scheme Director UK NEQAS for CPT

For the past 10 years Chantell has been the Scheme Manager for UK NEQAS CPT, leading a “not for profit” organisation which provides a comprehensive range of EQA and proficiency testing programmes for all aspects of tissue diagnostics. She has almost 30 years’ experience in cellular pathology and immunocytochemistry, both in a research and diagnostic setting Lead for UK NEQAS CPT educational provision to support in house training and development of Biomedical Scientists and supporting staff. 

Chantell is also the UK NEQAS Vice-President for Communications, Deputy Chair of the IBMS Cellular Pathology Advisory Committee, Guest Lecturer at a number of Universities for Biomedical Science Speaker at international meetings and conferences, as well as IBMS Registration and Specialist Portfolio Assessor Contributor to the Oxford University Press (OUP) Histopathology textbook series.

Dr Simon Hoggart

Partner Journal Development Manager, Frontiers Media Limited

Simon is the Partner Journal Development Manager for the British Journal of Biomedical Science based at the publisher's Frontiers. In collaboration with the IBMS and the Editor-in-Chief Simon has responsibility for the BJBS ensuring its continued success. Simon has worked in society publishing for a number of years managing both open access and subscription titles.  Before moving into the publishing industry Simon completed a PhD at King's College London.     

Dr Maya Holding

Senior Scientist, UK Health Security Agency

No bio provided

Rachael Hope

Drug Strategy Coordinator , Public Health, Newcastle-Upon- Tyne City Council

No bio provided

Dr Katie Hopkins

Lead Clinical Scientist, Antimicrobial Resistance & Mechanisms Service , UK Health Security Agency

Katie Hopkins, Ph.D. is the Lead Clinical Scientist for UKHSA’s Antimicrobial Resistance & Mechanisms Service (ARMS) and is based in Colindale, London UK. ARMS provides phenotypic- and molecular-based reference microbiology services for investigation of unusual antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in healthcare-associated pathogens. Katie completed her doctoral studies in molecular microbiology at The University of Birmingham, UK. 

Since joining the Public Health Laboratory Service (now UKHSA) in 2000 she has developed research interests in the antibiotic resistance and molecular epidemiology of Gram-negatives (particularly enteric and healthcare-associated pathogens) and in application of novel geno- and phenotypic methods for the rapid detection of antimicrobial resistance.

Dr Helen Howlett

Senior Commissioner for Children, Young People and Maternity, North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board

Helen is a registered nurse and midwife with a passion for research. Her specialist interest is preventing the harms of alcohol in pregnancy which includes Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). As a founding member of the UK FASD Research Collaboration, Helen works with other leading experts in the field to provide a coordinated national research strategy.

Helen's PhD ‘Building a case for a standardised antenatal alcohol screening programme in the UK’ included an evaluation of blood biomarkers in detecting alcohol in pregnant women, thus demonstrating the relevance of clinical chemistry in health care practice and innovation of services

Pamela Hughes

Advanced Biomedical Scientist, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

No bio provided

Dr Aarnoud Huissoon

Consultant Immunologist, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Huissoon led the Immunology and Allergy service at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital from 2001 to 2022. Before that he undertook his PhD at the University of Birmingham and specialist Immunology training at Nottingham. He has practiced and published widely in the field of immunodeficiency, and contributed to the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology's guideline on the use of vaccination in primary immunodeficiency.

Dr Matthew Humphries

Research Operations Manager at the National Pathology Imaging Cooperative (NPIC), Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Matt is the Research Operations Manager at the National Pathology Imaging Cooperative (NPIC), at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Matt is an accomplished digital pathology scientist and subject matter expert in molecular pathology, immunohistochemistry, and digital image analysis. He has over a decade of experience in senior leadership roles within the pathology domain. Prior to NPIC, he was the Scientific Lead for Tissue Hybridisation & Digital Pathology at the Precision Medicine Centre of Excellence, Queen’s University Belfast.

His currently directs the NPIC AI FORGE and Biomarker sections of NPIC at St James University Hospital, Leeds. His team lead on the utilisation of digital pathology solutions, high throughput digital slide scanners, and automated staining platforms. Dr Humphries is PI and Co-I of multimillion pound research programmes, funded by the likes of NIHR, MRC, and CRUK. As Study Director, he had led projects and collaborations with large internationally recognised pharma-organisations for example; Leica, Roche, and Philips.

Tahmina Hussain MSc CSci FIBMS

IBMS Council Member and Lecturer in Biomedical Science, Programme Lead for Biomedical Science Degree Apprenticeship, University of Salford

No bio provided

: @TahminaHussain8

Glenn Hussey

Dean of Education for the Faculty of Natural Sciences , Keele University

Glenn began life as a HCPC-registrant working in Medical Immunology. He moved to Keele University as a Lecturer in Biomedical Science 12 years ago where his main aim was to significantly improve the more practitioner-focused elements of the programme, oversee clinical placement provision and work with local University and Hospital Trusts to ensure graduates are fit to practice.

Today, Glenn is the Programme Director for Biomedical Science and Dean of Education for the Faculty of Natural Sciences. He has a particular interest in improving the overall student experience through innovative curriculum design, inclusive mode of delivery and authentic assessment strategy.

Sandie Iles

Advanced Specialist Biomedical Scientist, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Sandie is an Advanced Specialist BMS in Gynaecology for North West London Pathology. She has over 18 years of experience within Cellular Pathology working in both the private and NHS setting and over 12 years within dissection. Sandie is in stage D of training having achieved the ASD in Histology reporting for gynae pathology in November 2023.

Sandie is a member of the gynaecology sub-speciality team responsible for the dissection training, and forming part of the consultant rota to cover MDT’s, both colposcopy and oncology, and reporting.  I am also a mentor to BMS’s completing ASD, DEP and HSD diplomas.

Sandie is a fellow of the IBMS and Chartered Scientist.

Imran Jabbar

Blood Sciences Manager, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Imran is an experienced Biomedical Scientist currently working as the Blood Sciences Manager at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. With over a decade of experience in Clinical Chemistry, Imran has dedicated over seven years to leading the Sheffield Laboratory Oncology service helping to screen, diagnose, treat, and monitor disease.

Imran is renowned as both a national and international speaker, sharing valuable insights on both Oncology and Endocrinology. Additionally, Imran has authored multiple articles contributing to the scientific community.

Karin Jackson BEng (Hons) MSc MBA LLM CEng MIMechE

Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service, Programme Director, HSC Pathology Blueprint Programme

Karin has been Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service since 2016.

Following an engineering career with Ford Motor Company, Karin joined the health service in 2002 undertaking a number of operational roles at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

She is Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for the CoreLIMS project replacing five independent LIMS with a single regional system as well as a separate digital project that will track blood from donors to recipients. She is also Director of the Northern Ireland Pathology Blueprint Programme.

Professor Bharat Jasani

Emeritus Professor of Cancer Pathology, University of Cardiff

No bio provided

Louise Jefferies

SW Regional Pathology Workforce Lead , NHS England, South West

Louise started her career in biomedical science, 31 years ago in haematology and blood transfusion as a placement student. She has been passionate about training and education in pathology for many years and spent 8 years as a transfusion practitioner training nursing, medical and pathology staff.  After a brief spell as a pathology service manager and some time out of the NHS teaching apprentices within pathology,  she joined the Southwest Diagnostic Team in NHS England as a pathology practice educator where she has been able to continue her passion for all areas of workforce development.

Dr Ian Jennings

UK NEQAS - Blood Coagulation

No bio provided

Dr Nick Johnson

Head of Vector-Borne Diseases , Animal and Plant Health Agency

Nick is the head of the Vector-Borne Diseases workgroup at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) with responsibility for the National Reference Laboratory for Arboviral Diseases and research on mosquito- and tick-borne viruses.

Since completing a PhD at the University of Southampton, Nick completed a number of research fellowships on infectious diseases within the university sector. He joined APHA (formerly the Veterinary Laboratories Agency) in 2000 to investigate infection models of rabies and related lyssaviruses. From 2007, he began developing research and molecular testing for vector-borne diseases and has a particular interest in the transmission of zoonotic viruses by arthropod vectors.

Katie Jones

Clinical Scientist, Cancer Genomics, Synnovis, Guy's Hospital

After completing the Scientist Training Programme in Cancer Genomics in the South West Genomics Laboratory Hub, Katie joined the Solid Tumours service at Guy's Hospital within the South East Genomics Laboratory Hub. In this role, she acts as deputy service lead and training coordinator. The solid tumour service utilises Next Generation Sequencing and Whole Genome Sequencing to provide information that can assist in diagnostic, prognostic and treatment decisions for patients within the geography.

Samatha Jones

Samantha is a Senior Biomedical Scientist in Haematology based at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. Samantha is the coagulation lead for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and has an extensive background in blood transfusion. After graduating with a first-class honours degree in applied biomedical science from Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2013, Samantha’s career as a HCPC registered Biomedical Scientist has primarily been based in South Wales whilst also spending a year working in London at the specialist cancer centre, The Royal Marsden Hospital.

Samantha’s passion for transfusion led her to complete an MSc. in immuno-haematology, in addition to the BBTS Specialist Certificate in Transfusion Science Practice. She is currently undertaking a postgraduate diploma in Haemostasis and Thrombosis with Greenwich University.

Samantha has professional interests in both transfusion science and coagulation and her current role largely involves training and development of laboratory staff. Samantha is currently on maternity leave after welcoming her second child in March 2023 but is due to return to her role in the new year.

Dr Sue Jones PFHEA, FIBMS, MRSB

Executive Head of Education, IBMS

Dr Sue Jones joined the IBMS in June 2022 following 20 years in higher education where she developed and led several IBMS Accredited BSc Biomedical Science programmes. Sue has extensive experience of effectively supporting students in their studies, when undertaking placements and commencing their careers following graduation.

Sue has won several prestigious awards for her innovative, inclusive and successful pedagogical approaches that have achieved exceptional student outcomes. These include the RSB HE-Bioscience Teacher of the Year (2020), Principal Fellowship of Advance-HE (PFHEA, 2021), Advance-HE CATE award (2022) and National Teaching Fellowship (2023).

Sue has brought her extensive experience and expertise in education to the role at the IBMS where she leads all aspects of pre-registration education and training for students, trainees and apprentices. Sue’s areas of responsibility include the Certificate of Achievement (for support workers); Certificate of Competence (IBMS degree accreditation events (BSc, MSc and Level 6 degree apprenticeships) plus the IBMS Registration Training Portfolio); non-accredited degree assessment; IBMS Laboratory Training Approval; the Specialist Diploma.

Sue’s current priority projects are focussed on updating, streamlining and digitising the education and training offers of the Institute. She continues to facilitate interactions and communities of practice by mentoring others and developing pedagogical approaches in higher education through her continued joint leadership of the national Biosciences Educators’ Network.

: @sjones120

Michael Jones

Consultant Gynaecologist, St George's Hospital, University of London and Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford and Gravesend NHS Trust

Michael Jones is a consultant gynaecologist with a specialist interest in colposcopy and vulval disease. He has been studying the problems associated with managing low grade smear abnormalities in the cervical screening programme for over 30 years. He has published articles and given presentations at the BSCCP on a variety of topics such as the optimum management of low grade smear abnormalities, the cost effectiveness of colposcopy vs cytological surveillance and patient anxiety after abnormal smear results. His recent presentation at the BSCCP Debate about patients trapped in the Triage Pathway is the basis of his presentation at this meeting. 

Janki Kavi

Training and Development Manager , North West London Pathology

Janki was previously a Pathology Practice Educator covering two large networks and is now Training and Development manager at North West London Pathology. 

Janki has a strong interest in developing people and will be discussing the work done with colleagues across the UK to support specialist training in Immunology.

Professor Jonathan Kay

Nuffield Division of Clinical Laboratory Sciences

Jonathan spent most of his career as a chemical pathologist in Oxford. He has also been Clinical Informatics Director at NHS England, Professor of Health Informatics at University College London and City University London, and Chair of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics.

His research interests include the process of clinical investigation, medical knowledge management, and everyday technology at the point of care. With Ian Smith he developed the point of care testing implementations across the Oxford hospitals and the Oxfordshire Emergency Multidisciplinary Assessment Units. He has been a board member of Lab Tests Online UK since its creation.

He spends as much time as possible acting, walking and cycling.

Mehwish Khalid

Pathology Practice Educator, North West London Pathology

With a diverse portfolio spanning over 12 years within NHS Pathology, Mehwish has been a fervent Biomedical Scientist, recognised for her dynamic leadership and proficiency in laboratory management. During her tenure, she has been an ardent proponent for comprehensive training and career development for the Pathology workforce.

In pursuit of her vision to facilitate broader impact, Mehwish embraced the innovative role of Pathology Practice Educator, a position introduced by NHS England to address workforce challenges intensified by the burgeoning demand on Pathology services amidst the pandemic.

Collaborating with an expansive national network of Practice Educators, Mehwish's mission focuses on highlighting the significance of Pathology and its associated workforce concerns at both regional and national forums. Her enthusiasm for pioneering novel strategies in workforce training and development culminated in her spearheading a successful IBMS Specialist Portfolio training project in London, an initiative that was subsequently implemented across the nation due to its impressive outcomes.

Mehwish's dedication to nurturing the future workforce is tangible in her engagement with public outreach activities, her support for public engagement, and her contribution as a lecturer at London South Bank University.

Gavin Knight

No bio provided

Patrick Kumar

Consultant Healthcare Scientist, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust

Patrick is a Consultant Healthcare Scientist with extensive experience in histological specimen dissection. He obtained the Diploma of Expert Practice in Histological Dissection in 2007 and was the first Biomedical Scientist in the UK to obtain the Advanced Specialist Diploma in Breast Specimen Dissection in 2011.

Professor Mike Laffan

Professor in Department of Haematology, Imperial College London

Michael is a visiting Professor of Haemostasis and Thrombosis   at the Imperial College London. He was previously  Consultant Haematologist at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Director of the Hammersmith Hospital Haemophilia Centre. Professor Laffan chaired the British Society for Haematology Task Force on Haemostasis and Thrombosis for six years and the United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Doctors' Organisation (UKHCDO) von Willebrand disease working party until 2020.  He is currently chair of the BSH Guidelines Executive.  

He gained in medical degree from the University of Oxford and later trained in Haematology at the Hammersmith and Royal Free Hospitals in London before joining the Royal Postgraduate Medical School as Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant.

His research interests are on the structure-function relationship of von Willebrand factor, with a focus on the role of glycosylation, and the mechanisms and regulation of thrombin generation.  He was also a lead investigator on the BRIDGE study of genetics in bleeding disorders and on gene therapy trials for haemophilia.

Zanell Lategan

Pathology Quality Manager, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

Zanell works in Quality and Compliance within the NHS, where she plays a key role in supporting staff to meet essential quality and regulatory standards. She understands first-hand the pressures healthcare professionals face — from managing patient care to analysing results and completing quality checks — and how compliance tasks can sometimes feel like an added burden.

With a strong belief that relationships are central to sustainable quality, she focuses on building trust, motivating colleagues, and creating space for open conversations. Her approach is rooted in compassion and realism, recognising that retention and resilience in the NHS depend heavily on supporting the wellbeing of its workforce.

A passionate advocate for the NHS, she believes that looking after our teams — and ourselves — is not just beneficial, but essential for the future of healthcare.

Nicki Lawrence

Principal Biomedical Scientist, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

Nicki started out as a lab assistant in Blood Transfusion 31 years ago and has since worked as a multidisciplinary Biomedical Scientist in Haematology and Biochemistry, before becoming a Senior BMS in Morphology at her current Trust. She has a background in Health and Safety and has also worked as a Training Officer for over a decade.

Nicki became a Principal Biomedical Scientist Advanced Practitioner in Morphology in 2018. Her main interest is in haematological malignancy. She is a member of a number of expert panels including the International Federation of Biomedical Laboratory Science Haematology Advisory Group. Her current role ties together Clinical and Laboratory Haematology and she is also the autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant programme quality manager for her Trust.

Dr Alexander Lawson

Consultant Clinical Scientist (Biochemistry and Toxicology), Heartlands Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Lawson is a consultant clinical biochemist and toxicologist working in Birmingham UK. He graduated from the University of Birmingham with a BSc in Biochemistry and PhD in hormonal metabolism. He has worked at University Hospitals Birmingham since 2010. His special interests include the use of mass spectrometry for the measurement of drugs and hormones in biological fluids, clinical/post mortem toxicology and lab based assessment of medication adherence.

Stephen Lee

Director, Diagnostics and Digital Regulation, Association of British HealthTech Industries

Steve joined ABHI as Director of Diagnostics Regulation in 2020.

After completing his degree in Biochemistry and Biology at Aston University, Steve trained as a Biomedical Scientist, working in hospital microbiology before moving to industry to work as company microbiologist. Steve joined MHRA in 1996 when it was still the Medical Devices Agency and when the IVD Directive had yet to be implemented.

While at MHRA, Steve worked with manufacturers, Notified Bodies, other Competent Authorities, Trade Associations, standards bodies and government departments. Steve was Chair of the European Commission’s IVD working group when the IVD regulations where being developed.

In 2019, Steve was presented with the TOPRA award for regulatory excellence

Jemma Lenton

Northeast and Yorkshire Apprenticeship Project Lead, Health Education England

Jemma is the Northeast and Yorkshire Apprenticeship project lead. She has supported apprentices in Healthcare Science since the initial trailblazers, and helped to establish, grow and support an apprenticeship programme across Laboratory Medicine at Sheffield Teaching hospitals where she still works today. Her experience has been translated across all healthcare science and into the regional role she currently has, where she encourages and explores with employers how apprenticeships can address workforce issues.

Dr Kris Hoi Ki Leung

Consultant Pathologist, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Kris is a final year histopathology registrar specialising in head & neck, endocrine and haematopathology, with a special interest in cytopathology. She is actively involved in medical education and has given a number of presentations to a wide range of audience including junior doctors, medical students and biomedical scientists.

Wendy Leversuch

Head of Learning & Development, Health Services Laboratories LLP

Wendy is a Biomedical Scientist, initially specialising in Haematology & Blood Transfusion before moving into the field of education and training.

Wendy has worked as a training officer in the laboratory, as the Deputy Head of Education at the IBMS before moving to Sonic Healthcare UK which provides pathology services across 20 sites to both the NHS and private sector as the Head of Learning and Development.

Wendy’s current area of interest is in how the use of e-learning can be used to support laboratory training. A recent example was the successful use of instructional videos as part of a training program for staff recruited to work in the new Covid-19 surge lab.

: @leversuch

Dr David Litt

Principal Clinical Scientist, Respiratory and Vaccine Preventable Bacteria Reference Unit, UK Health Security Agency

David is Head of the Vaccine Preventable Bacteria Section with the UKHSA's Respiratory and Vaccine Preventable Bacteria Reference Unit in Colindale, London. This includes the national reference laboratories for diphtheria, pertussis, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. He started his career as a postdoctoral bacteriologist in academic research, but joined the Health Protection Agency in 2003 and has remained a public health microbiologist ever since.

Dr Alex Liversidge

Senior Lecturer , Leeds Beckett University

Alex is a senior lecturer in Biomedical Sciences (School of Health) at Leeds Beckett University teaching Blood Sciences. She worked in the National Health Service for 20 years as a Biomedical Scientist, specialising in Blood Transfusion. 

Alex is researching the binary nature of national guidelines used to inform practice within healthcare and how transgender and non-binary patients should be accommodated.

Annette Lloyd

Principal Clinical Embryologist and Scheme Organiser (UK NEQAS), Dept. of Reproductive Medicine Old St. Mary's Hospital and UK National External Quality Assessment Service for Reproductive Science (NEQAS)

Annette started her reproductive science training by completing the MMedSSci in Assisted Reproduction from Nottingham University before taking up a position as an Andrologist/Embryologist at Oxford Fertility Unit. She moved to St Mary’s Manchester in 2003 and recently became the UK NEQAS Reproductive Science scheme organiser and Principal embryologist.

Over the years Annette has been involved in training of new Embryologists through the ACE certificate and now lectures and supports the Healthcare Science STP programme.

She has previously served on the ACE executive and Fertility programme committees. Outside of work she can often be found watching cricket in the sun.

Catherine Lorenzen

Chief Biomedical Scientist Blood Transfusion, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Catherine has worked as a Biomedical Scientist for almost 40 years and is currently employed by East Kent Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as a Chief Biomedical Scientist in Blood Transfusion and has a recent secondment as Pathology Network Education & Training Co Ordinator for South East 8 network. In the Trust she is responsible for ensuring that there is a multi-disciplinary team of BMSs on her sites who are able to cover out-of-hours in the laboratories as lone-workers. She is on the Steering Committee for BTLP NEQAS and also on the IBMS SAP for Blood Transfusion as well as being an honorary lecturer at Kent University on the BSc course in Biomedical Science.

Dr Stephen MacDonald

Principal Clinical Scientist , Specialist Haemostasis Laboratory, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Stephen is a Principal Clinical Scientist in the field of Specialist Haemostasis working at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He has worked there for nearly 22 years, having started in 2001 as a trainee clinical scientist. HIs interests are in diagnosis of thrombotic and bleeding disorders, anticoagulation and in particular assays of ADAMTS13 for the diagnosis of Thrombotic Thrombocytopaenic Purpura.

Stephen also has a real passion for statistical assessment of laboratory assay performance. He is especially interested in the application of measurement uncertainty, quality control, performance specifications and standardisation in clinical laboratories.

Tony MacDonald

IT Technical Architect, North West London Pathology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Tony is an experienced healthcare professional with 35+ years NHS experience. He has a Master's Degree (MSc) in Immunology for Disease Control from the University of Surrey and was previously an IBMS Fellow and Associate Member of The British Computer Society.

Tony has undertaken various management courses and has qualifications including the Imperial College Business School mini MBA Programme, PRINCE2 Project Management, ITIL Service Management and several Microsoft- certified technology platform courses.

His early career was spent as a Biomedical Scientist working in various areas within Diagnostic Haematology and Blood Transfusion laboratories. Previously Principal Biomedical Scientist in Diagnostic Haematology at Hammersmith Hospital. Ten years as Pathology IT Operations Manager for Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust managing five major systems, and numerous smaller systems, across four hospital sites.

Currently, Tony works as a Technical Architect / IT Transformation Lead, North West London Pathology - the role includes project management, financial and general management, systems management and development.

Dr Mairiead MacLennan

MLabconsulting

Dr Mairiead is a multidisciplinary Biomedical Scientist qualifying originally in histopathology and cytology now specialising in Microbiology. She has over 40 years’ experience in laboratory medicine, with 23 years of that spent working in veterinary medicine. Her specialisms are education/training and quality management.

Mairiead is Chair of the IBMS Scotland Training Forum and also Vice Chair of the IBMS Scottish Quality Management Discussion Group. She is also a Technical Assessor for UKAS. Her passion is people development and has incorporated resilience training as part of her departmental approach to people management.

In her first role in veterinary medicine she was one of a team of 8 staff manning the veterinary laboratory in what is described on Highland Vet on the TV as the far northern outpost town of Thurso. Truly a department with a limited scope.

Dr Anthony Maddox

Consultant Cellular Pathologist, Lead for diagnostic cytopathology and respiratory pathology, West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Anthony is a consultant cellular pathologist at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust with particular responsibility for the respiratory pathology service, including EBUS. He is currently Chair of the British Association for Cytopathology (BAC), while also being a member of the joint RCPath/IBMS conjoint board administering BMS cytopathology reporting exams.

He is interested in diagnostic cytopathology as part of an overall cellular pathology service and its application both to definitive diagnosis and initial assessment in clinic (Rapid Onsite Evaluation – ROSE).

Martin Maley

Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences, University of Sunderland

Martin is senior lecturer in biomedical science in the Bioscience team at University of Sunderland, specialising in Haematology and Transfusion. He has previously worked for NHSBT, and NBS before it, for over 30 years, the last 25 of which was spent in the Red Cell Immunohaematology Laboratory.

Martin has a keen interest in mentoring, and overseeing placement students and of course lecturing and teaching the newer / younger potential biomedical scientists of the future.

Robert Maloney

Acting Senior BMS and Training Officer , SHYPS Pathology Network, Hull

Robert is the Training Officer and currently Acting Senior Biomedical Scientist in the Microbiology Department based at Hull Royal Infirmary. During his 15 year career he has worked in both Microbiology and Virology, developing a wide variety of skills and knowledge. He has a keen interest in improving the quality of patient care and has been part of multiple quality improvement projects; especially in relation to diagnosis of joint infection. During his MSc. project Robert also had the opportunity to participate in a multi-national research group evaluating the utility of a multiplex PCR panel for rapid detection of septic arthritis.

Dr Aruna Manivasagam

Gynaecologist - Fertility Specialist , Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

No bio provided

Bethany Martin

PhD Student, UKHSA Porton, University of Southampton

Bethany is a PhD Student with UK Health Security Agency and the University of Southampton. She is utilising the novel impedance based fast antimicrobial susceptibility test or iFAST as a part of her PhD. The iFAST is being developed in collaboration with the engineering department at the University of Southampton. She previously worked as a microbiologist in the technology development group at UK health security agency testing novel antimicrobial compounds. She gained a first class Biology degree from the University of Portsmouth and a first class masters degree from the University of Portsmouth in Medical Biotechnology. 

Professor Joanne Martin

CBE, NHS National Specialty Advisor for Pathology, Professor of Pathology & Deputy Vice Principal Health, Queen Mary University London

No bio provided

Sarah Martyn

Head and Neck Consultant Sonographer , Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

Sarah is a Consultant Ultrasonographer who has worked at Royal Cornwall Hospital since 2015. She qualified from Bristol in 2003 and worked at Bristol Royal Infirmary and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital prior to relocating to Cornwall.

Her specialist interest is head and neck ultrasound where she works closely with the Rapid On-Site Evaluation (ROSE) service alongside her biomedical scientist colleagues. This service helps rapid diagnosis in head/neck and lung cancers by ensuring the samples taken are adequate at time of biopsy.

Other advanced practice includes performing and reporting sialograms, participation in the lung and head/neck multi-disciplinary team meetings and teaching fellow ultrasonographers and registrars.

Dr Sukhjinder Marwah

Senior Biomedical Scientist in Haemoglobinopathy, Black Country Pathology Services

Dr Sukhjinder Singh Marwah, Haemoglobinopathy lead, has worked in the haematology department at SWBH Trust since 1988 and currently works for Black Country Pathology Service (BCPS). He has participated in a range of service improvement initiatives and in addition, is an Honorary Lecturer in Haemoglobinopathy at the University of Coventry and Wolverhampton.

Recently, a research study, led by Sandwell Senior Biomedical Scientist Dr Sukhjinder Marwah to identify a new prognostic biomarker(Lactate Dehydrogenase/Albumin To-Urea Ratio: A Novel Prognostic Maker for Fatal Clinical Complications in Patients with COVID-19 Infection) in COVID-19 patients, has been published in a Journal of Clinical Medicine.

Sarah May

Deputy Chief Executive, Institute of Biomedical Science

Richard McFarlane

Technical Manager - Policy and Implementation, UKAS

Richard has been involved with quality management for over twenty-five years with as background that covers many chemistry disciplines from nuclear to environmental. the last 15 years have been with UKAS in a variety of roles from assessment to his current position as technical manager (policy and implementation) where management of overall technical rigour of UKAS processes is a high priority.

He is an active member of  European and international committees involved the development / revision and implementation of European and international standards.

Dr Michael McKenna

Clinical Director Blueprint Programme & Consultant Pathologist, Southern Health & Social Care Trust

No bio provided

Gordon McNair

Treasurer, Institute of Biomedical Science

Gordon has been the IBMS Treasurer since 2019 and an IBMS Council member from 2007. With 45 years in Health Service, he has worked in pathology laboratories since 2018 developing dissection teams.

Prior to this Gordon was Pathology General Manager 2012 to 2018 and Cellular Pathology Manager from 2002 to 2012.

Dr John Mee

Clinical Scientist/Laboratory Manager, Synnovis Analytics, London

John is the manager of the Immunodermatology Laboratory at Synnovis Analytics, based in St John’s Institute of Dermatology at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.  He spent 18 years in academic reesearch, studying the immunology of inflammatory skin diseases at Sheffield University, UCL, Imperial College and King’s College London, prior to training as a Clinical Scientist at St Thomas', where he has worked for the past 14 years. 

John is also national coordinator for UK NEQAS CPT’s direct immunofluorescence scheme.

Freeda Millet

Senior Biomedical Scientist- POCT , The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

Freeda is a Senior Biomedical Scientist specialising in Point of Care Testing at The Royal Marsden. A 12-year career spanning the Northwest of England and London gives her an extensive knowledge of Biochemistry/ POCT. As a type 1 diabetic her first-hand experiences both as a patient and professionally give her a unique perspective. Freeda is dedicated to providing exceptional safety and quality alongside a first-class patient experience.

Jane Mills

NHS England & Improvement

No bio provided

Dr Eleanor Minshall

Consultant In Paediatric Allergy, Sheffield’s Children NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Eleanor Minshall is a GRID trained paediatric allergist currently working at Sheffield Children's Hospital where she is lead for the Allergy service. Eleanor has previously undertaken a PhD and post-doctoral fellowship at the Meakins-Christie Institute in Montreal examining the role of cytokines and chemokines in a variety of atopic diseases. In addition to her current clinical practice, she is currently undertaking research in oral and epicutaeous peanut desensitisation.

Dr Catherine Moore

University Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff

No bio provided

Trefor Morris

Public Health Wales

Trefor qualified as a biomedical scientist and trained at the clinical microbiology laboratory in UHW, Cardiff, before joining the UK Anaerobe Reference Unit in 2003. As UKARU Lead Scientist he has overseen the evolution of the reference service to provide WGS for C. difficile and gold standard AST by agar dilution. He is chair elect of the Society for Anaerobic Microbiology (SAM) and Chair of the European Sub Group for Anaerobic Infections (ESGAI) and has published numerous papers and contributed to the works of CLSI and CMPH. He is currently working alongside EUCAST to further develop AST methods for anaerobic bacteria

Victoria Moyse

Training & Organisational Development Manager , HCA Healthcare

Vikki is currently Training and Organisational Development Manager for HCA Healthcare UK Laboratories.

She has experience of managing laboratories and laboratory training in a variety of service settings, ISO 15189 compliance with regard to training and competence, and successfully implementing programs to support professional qualifications for laboratory staff.

Vikki is involved in delivering university-led training courses on how to successfully complete and support IBMS portfolios, and training for laboratory training officers.

She is passionate about laboratory management and training in biomedical science, and has recently undertaken a research project looking at post-registration training for biomedical scientists across the UK.

Colin Mudd

East Midlands Council Member, IBMS

No bio provided

Meerani Munasinghe

Advanced Biomedical Scientist, East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust

Meerani is an Advanced Biomedical Scientist in Colchester Hospital. She has been working at Colchester since graduating for 15 years. She completed her Higher Specialist Diploma in 2021 and was awarded the Company Members Prize for achieving the highest marks in Medical Microbiology. This presentation is on a case study that was submitted as part of the portfolio for the Higher Specialist Diploma.

David Muskett

No bio provided

Dr Chloe Myers

Consultant Clinical Scientist, Virology, UK Health Security Agency

No bio provided

Dr Martin Myers MBE

Consultant Biochemist , Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Martin Myers is a Consultant Healthcare Scientist in Clinical Biochemistry at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Laboratory Director for Clinical Biochemistry. Dr Myers is also the Lead Scientist for the Trust and Chairs the Trust Point of Care Committee. Whilst at Preston Dr Myers has undertaken a continuous program of pathology redesign, improving the clinical and operational effectiveness and productivity of pathology. During this time he was the Associate Divisional Medical Director of Pathology for 4 years and Clinical Director of Pathology for 14 years.

Dr Myers is currently the Senior Clinical Advisor for the NHS Pathology Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme, which has undertaken a 3 year evidenced-based review of Pathology services in England in order to improve quality and reduce unwarranted variation. The National report was launched in 2022 and the GIRFT Clinical Team is now working on implementing the recommendations. Dr Myers is also the RCPath Representative on the MHRA Device Expert Advisory Committee (DEAC) and Chair of the MHRA IVD Expert Advisory Group.

His interests include the use of automation, point of care testing and informatics in improving the quality of the diagnostic process, and redesigning a pathology delivery that is patient-focussed. He introduced the “Laboratory Anywhere” concept to ensure that diagnostics are delivered in a variety of locations both inside and outside the hospital ensuring that diagnostics are embedded in the patient pathway, rather than remote from the patient.

As part of the COVID-19 response, Dr Myers sat on several regional and national groups for SARS-CoV-2 testing and advised NHS Supplies on gas analyser placement in the Acute and Nightingale sectors. He introduced many laboratory based tests to improve diagnostic support for patients with COVID-19 as well as 24/7 Rapid SARS-CoV-2 testing for patient being admitted and, as part of the recovery pathway, for different patient pathways such as Endoscopy, Day of Surgery etc. This model has now been expanded for Rapid multiplex GI and respiratory pathogens. He is currently working on rapid Lab in a Bag diagnostics as part of the mobile SDEC service.

Using the Laboratory Anywhere concept and the use of Lab in a Box Diagnostics, Dr Myers has taken diagnostics directly to the BAME communities and vulnerable groups in the community. He is a Trustee of the National Forum for Health and Wellbeing charity where his “Blood Drop” team of Healthcare Scientists set up pop-up diagnostic clinics in the community as part of a “Health Mela”.

Robert Navesey

Head of Marketing, BD (Becton Dickinson)

No bio provided

Helen Naylor

Technical Specialist and Biomedical Scientist , UK NEQAS for Cellular Pathology Technique (CPT)

Helen Naylor is a qualified biomedical scientist with over 30 years of experience in both Diagnostic Cytopathology and Histopathology. She is employed part-time by UK NEQAS CPT as a Technical Specialist and also assesses in both the Diagnostic Cytopathology and Cell block EQA schemes. She was part of the team involved in setting up and implementing the cell block pilot.

The remainder of her working week is spent in the Cytology lab at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, where she works in Cervical Screening.

Eva Nkansah CSci FIBMS

Lead Biomedical Scientist, The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

Eva is an experienced Lead BMS and has been working in Haematology and Blood Transfusion for the last twenty years.  She holds a masters in Haematology & Blood transfusion. In 2021, Eva successfully passed the IBMS HSD in Haematology. She is a chartered scientist (CSci) as well as a fellow of the IBMS (FIBMS).

Eva has completed several service improvement projects including this presentation. She introduced blood culture pack for her trust in 2018 as part of her leadership and management programme. Eva was the overall learner of the year in her trust in 2019 and won the chairman’s award for her blood culture pack project.

Brendan O'Sullivan

Operations Manager in Molecular Pathology , University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

No bio provided

Dr Guy Orchard

Consultant Biomedical Scientist, Synnovis Analytics, London

Guy is responsible for providing and developing the dermatopathology, Mohs’ micrographic surgery and trichogram diagnostic services for the Unit. Guy is actively involved in teaching and training both within the Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Trust framework but also as an external lecturer at several Universities throughout the country for students studying  for MSc’s  in biomedical science.

Guy completed his Fellowship to the IBMS in Cellular Pathology in 1990 having gained the highest pass in the UK across all disciplines and being awarded the RJ Lavington Prize. Guy completed his Master’s in immunology at Surrey University gaining a distinction in 1995 and achieved he’s PhD in 2010. He has worked at St. John’s for nearly his entire working career, which now spans over 35 years service.

Guy received chartered scientist recognition in 2005. He has won two international awards from the National Society of Histotechnologists (NSH), the first in 2015 The Leica Leadership Award for Teaching and Education and another in 2019 The Leica Leadership Award in Management and Training. In addition, Guy is the Advancing Health Care awards winner of the IBMS sponsored Biomedical Scientist of the Year 2020.

Guy has been responsible for expanding and developing the dermatopathology and Mohs’ laboratory services. The Mohs services within St. John’s, is now the largest within the UK and Guy has a keen interest in the development of Mohs techniques not only within St. John’s but also throughout the UK.  He has been involved in research and development activities for the department in several areas of pathology involving immunocytochemistry techniques. 

Guy has recently been involved in expanding and fully automating the immunocytochemistry service and has encompassed double-labelling and in-situ procedures for the department as new protocols. He has an active interest in lymphoma and melanoma research and participates in assisting researchers or publishing his own contributions in the field.

Guy is professionally active and is the deputy editor of The British Journal of Biomedical Sciences and sits on four other editorial boards as well as peer reviewing for several other journals. He is an immunocytochemistry UK National external quality assurance (UKNEQAS) assessor, lecturer and short course coordinator.  He is also a UKNEQAS Cellular Pathology Technique (CPT) lead assessor for Mohs. He has previously held a council position for the IBMS and is now the IBMS Chief Examiner for the cellular pathology specialist panel. Guy sits on the advanced Specialist examination con-joint boards for the IBMS and Royal College of Pathologists for histodissection, immunocytochemistry and Biomedical Scientists reporting.

Guy is the appointed Lead for the British Society of Mohs Histologists and chairman for the newly formed advanced specialist examination board for the IBMS in Mohs. Guy has also been a Director for the American Society of Mohs Histotechnologists (ASMH). He regularly teaches on the MSc dermatology course for King’s Medical School London and Westminster University. Guy has edited and contributed to Oxford University Press (OUP) ‘Histopathology’ text book for  the Fundamentals in Biomedical Science series and has just completed  a second book ‘ Cellular Structure and Function’  and is now working on a third book in the same series for OUP entitled Cellular Pathology. He has also contributed a chapter on ‘Pigments’ to Survana and Layton’s ‘Bancrofts Theory and Practice of Histological Techniques’ seventh and eighth editions.

Professor Mike Osborn

President, Royal College of Pathologists

Mike studied medicine at Guys & St Thomas Hospitals, London qualifying in 1995. He became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 2000 and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in 2004. Currently he works as a consultant histopathologist for North West London Pathology at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London where he is clinical lead. His working time is divided between post mortems, diagnostic gastrointestinal histopathology, bowel cancer screening and teaching. He runs an intercalated BSc “Humanities, Philosophy & Law” at Imperial College, London. During the COVID-19 pandemic he and colleagues at Imperial College published work relating to findings in fatal COVID-19 infection.

Mike was elected President of the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) in November 2020 having previously been on the RCPath Council and having had a variety of college roles including chair of their Cellular Pathology Speciality Advisory Committee and Death Investigation Committee. He became a Professor of Practice at Imperial College in 2021.

Debra Padgett FIBMS CSci

NENC Pathology Operational Lead, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Debra is passionate about promoting and recognising excellence in all IBMS members. In her eight years as an IBMS Council member, she has advocated, listened, represented and addressed the issues that are most important to our membership at national, regional and local levels.

Debra started her career as a Medical Laboratory Assistant in Microbiology and has successfully worked her way through the career grades to her current role as Clinical Pathology Lead at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. This means that she understands the many routes to achieve a senior management position within our profession, and how management decisions affect every member of the laboratory.

Her post encompasses provision of leadership and management with accountability for the delivery of cost effective, high quality, safe and sustainable services across the Northumbria health economy. These responsibilities give her a strategic insight to deliver operational priorities both for her own Trust and those of National programmes.
 

Suzanne Parry

Scheme Manager , UK NEQAS ICC & ISH

Suzanne is the Scheme Manager for the UK NEQAS Immunocytochemistry and In Situ Hybridisation Scheme. Her principal role is to oversee all operational aspects of the large international organisation, monitoring quality within the setting of clinical healthcare services. She started her career as a Biomedical Scientist in Cellular Pathology after graduating with a Biomedical Sciences degree. Suzanne went on to complete her professional training in histology and cellular pathology, and successfully obtained state registration to join the HCPC, her MSc in Biomedical Sciences, and Fellow membership within the IBMS.

Suzanne’s previous work appointments have primarily been within the field of cellular pathology, in both the clinical diagnostic and research fields, with an interest in breast pathology and research. And over the years she has contributed to and co-authored a number of papers in peer-reviewed journals. Suzanne has a keen interest in education and is a module tutor on the MSc Biomed Online Course at the University of Greenwich. She also sits on the Institute of Biomedical Science Cellular Pathology Advisory Panel.

Dina Patel

Scientific Director, UK NEUK NEQAS Immunology, Sheffield

Currently Dina holds the position of Scientific Director of the UK NEQAS Immunology centre which involves the strategic development of EQA schemes and the provision of educational experiences for participants within the UK and globally. Prior to working in UK NEQAS, she has worked in NHS laboratories both in London and Sheffield as well as the MHRA.

Dina has dedicated her career to UK NEQAS and celebrates her 25th anniversary with the organisation this year.

Anna Patterson

UKNEQAS CPT Diagnostic Cytology Scheme Coordinator , UK NEQAS for Cellular Pathology Technique (CPT)

Prior to retirement, Anna worked in Cytopathology for 40 years concentrating on Diagnostic Cytopathology. She has been involved in developing and improving preparation methods for cytology samples and training of staff in these techniques. Anna developed the cytology immunocytochemistry service and set up the Biomedical Scientist ROSE service in association with the radiology team for assessment of adequacy for Fine Needle Aspiration samples from Head and Neck, lung, liver, pancreas and EBUS.

Anna has been involved with UKNEQAS CPT from the pilots of the Diagnostic Cytopathology scheme, she is currently the scheme coordinator and has been involved in setting up the new Cytopathology Cell Block scheme.

Michelle Payne

Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Science and Strategic Pathology Workforce and Education Lead, University of Sunderland and North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System

Michelle started her Biomedical Scientist career in the NHS, moving to Academia, during which time she was presented a national award for Collaborative Academic Teaching Excellence. She now works with regional and national stakeholders to support the pathology workforce in capacity, sustainability and development. She is chair of England’s National Pathology Network Workforce and Education Collaboration, a group formed from the NHSE Pathology Practice Educator network. In her own Integrated Care System she established and works to deliver the NENC Pathology Workforce Strategy, embodying the recommendations of the Pathology Recovery and Renewal Report in the context of regional needs.

Dr Brendan Payne

Consultant Virologist And ID Physician, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust

Brendan Payne is a consultant with dual accreditation in clinical Infectious Diseases and Medical Virology. His particular interests include High-Consequence Infectious Diseases (lead for the Newcastle HCID Centre) and HIV. He is an investigator on a number of current clinical trials for viral diseases. He is also an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle University where he is Senior Tutor for medical students intercalating into the Masters of Research (MRes) programme.

Dr Michael Perry

Deputy Lead Scientist, UK Anaerobe Reference Unit, Public Health Wales

Michael is a registered Clinical Scientist and Higher Specialist Scientist Trainee in microbiology as well as the deputy lead scientist for the UK Anaerobe Reference Unit, based at Public Health Wales in Cardiff. He has led on the service development and implementation of many nucleic acid amplification methods for screening, primary detection and confirmation of infectious disease.

One of his main areas of research and development is the use of molecular methods and whole genome sequencing (WGS) for anaerobic bacteria to improve diagnostic speed and accuracy and to allow for effective patient management, outbreak investigation and prevention and control of infection. He was instrumental in the successful introduction of Clostridioides difficile WGS for routine typing for patients with C. difficile infection (CDI) in Wales.

Michael is the chair of the Wales C. difficile Infection Focus Forum, which he established in 2021 in response to increasing rates of CDI within Wales, and across the UK. The forum is multidisciplinary in nature and has links with colleagues across the UK and Ireland. As part of the forum, and in his role within Public Health Wales Microbiology, Michael liaises with clinical teams and microbiology colleagues to give advice in relation to CDI treatment options, including faecal microbiota transplant (FMT).

Lee Peters MSc CSci FIBMS

Blood Science Service Manager, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Lee has been a Biomedical scientist since 2004, working in both Biochemistry and POCT. His current role is the service manager in blood sciences in Hywel Dda University Health Board, managing the chemistry, haematology/BT and POCT service.

Lee is a chartered scientist and fellow of the IBMS. He is part of both the Clinical chemistry and POCT IBMS advisory panels and has been a portfolio verifier since 2010. His research focuses on Biomedical scientist education and POCT training and education.

Laurie Philipson

Head of Clinical Development , Essex and Herts Air Ambulance

Laurie is an Advanced Paramedic in Critical Care and Head of Clinical Development for Essex and Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT). He has been a Flight Paramedic for over 20 years and undertaken over 1700 flying missions. As the lead for Blood on Board, he helped introduce the carriage of pRBCs to EHAAT's response cars and helicopters in March 2019.

The service now carries FFP and pRBCs or Whole Blood as part of the SWiFT trial and has transfused 300 prehospital patients following serious traumatic injury. Laurie is an ardent contributer to EHAAT's Centre for Excellence and in the early stages of study for his PhD.    

Dr Rhydian Phillips

NHS England Director of Diagnostics & System Improvement, NHS England

After qualifying from the University of Wales College of Medicine, Rhydian spent five years working as a clinician in hospitals in Cardiff, Carmarthen, Bath and Bristol, gaining experience in a wide range of specialties including general and acute medicine.

He joined the diplomatic service via the Civil Service fast stream in 2000 and served for eleven years in a variety of postings. Then he spent six years as a senior civil servant, firstly at the Department of Energy & Climate Change and then at the Department for Transport delivering several significant national transformation programmes.  

Rhydian returned to the NHS in 2017 to join NHS Improvement as the Director of Policy & Implementation and Deputy SRO for Getting It Right First Time, helping to build that programme into a highly impactful clinical improvement offer for the NHS.  

In 2019 he became the NHS England and Improvement Director of Diagnostics & System Improvement, heading a group delivering several Long-Term Plan commitment transformation programmes that play a leading role in supporting elective recovery including in outpatients transformation, diagnostics transformation, pathway improvement, workforce optimisation, ambulance productivity and net zero travel and transport.

The national diagnostics recovery and transformation programme is delivering a significant capital transformation programme linked to the Prof. Sir Mike Richards 2020 review of diagnostic services, It is delivering, among other things, digitally enabled pathology and imaging networks and over 170 Community Diagnostic Centres, as well as supporting ICBs and trusts to reduce diagnostic waiting lists.

Gareth Pierce-Wilding

Lead Biomedical Scientist, University Hospitals of North Midlands (North Midlands and Cheshire Pathology Service)

Dr Rekha Pillai

Consultant in Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine , Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Rekha is a Consultant in Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine in the Newcastle Fertility Centre and The Newcastle Upon Hospitals NHS Trust. She has a PhD in prediction of miscarriage using biochemical and ultrasound markers from University of Leicester.

She has extensively published in the field of early pregnancy complications and infertility and has been an invited speaker to several national and international conferences.

Her special interests include management of infertility, Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome, infertility associated with endocrine conditions, PCOS and recurrent miscarriage.

Natasha Pisarski

Return to Practice National Programme Manager, Health Education England

Natasha is a HCPC registered Physiotherapist, with 19 years health care experience. She graduated from Birmingham University in 2004 with BSc Physiotherapy, completed her MSc in Health Sciences at Keele University in 2012 and shortly after this an independent prescribing qualification. Natasha has had a varied NHS career to date with her latest clinical role being as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Clinical Team Leader for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust.

In 2019, Natasha started an AHP workforce transformation secondment with Health Education England Midlands and East of England regions. In 2020, she was appointed to her current role as NHS England’s National Return to Practice Programme Manager. Natasha is proud to work for the NHS and passionate about supporting others to return.

Sean Platton

Barts Health NHS Trust

No bio provided

Gary Player

IBMS Cytopathology Specialist Advisor, Gateshead Health

No bio provided

Nicola Polley

Senior Clinical Specialist, Transfusion Management - EMEA, Haemonetics Ltd

Having worked as a Senior Biomedical Scientist, then as Transfusion Service Manager at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health board for 15 years, Nicola transitioned from the NHS into a commercial role with the electronic blood management company Haemonetics, where she has worked for the past 3 years as a Clinical Specialist.

Nicola's role with Haemonetics involves helping customers across the UK and Europe make the most of their electronic blood management systems by sharing knowledge and best practice. 

Dr Aránzazu Portillo

Head of Special Pathogens Laboratory , San Pedro University Hospital-Centre for Biomedical Research of La Rioja Logroño

Aránzazu Portillo is in charge of the Special Pathogens Laboratory-Centre of Rickettsioses and Arthropod-Borne Diseases, attached to the Infectious Diseases Department from San Pedro University Hospital-Centre for Biomedical Research of La Rioja, and located in Logroño (Spain).

She is focused on zoonoses research under a 'One Health' prism; specifically, on emerging pathogens and diseases transmitted by arthropods, such as rickettsiosis, Lyme borreliosis, bartonella infections, anaplasmosis or Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), among others.

She leads the development of molecular, serologic, culture or metataxonomic methods to support the diagnosis of these infections within a multidisciplinary workgroup, and currently is the principal investigator of a multicentric national project to assess the risk of suffering tick-borne diseases in urban areas.

Mark Prescott

Assessment Manager, United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)

Mark has been with UKAS for over 10 years working as an Assessment Manager and Technical Assessor for Microbiology / Virology, also being the Technical Focus Person for these disciplines in the Medical Laboratories Section. He has significant experience of working in both NHS and private laboratory services before this.

Mark predominantly assesses against ISO 15189:2012 although also having training in assessment against standards for Point of Care testing (ISO 22870, now withdrawn), Proficiency Testing (ISO 17043) and Testing & Calibration Laboratories (ISO 17025).

Dr Matthew Pugh

Clinical Fellow & Consultant Pathologist , University of Birmingham

No bio provided

Al-Amara Rafique

Technical Expert, UK NEQAS Cellular Pathology Technique

With over 12 years’ experience working in Diagnostic Cellular Pathology laboratories, including working as a Senior Biomedical Scientist in routine histology and dissection - Al-Amara has always had a special interest in demonstration and staining techniques and has utilised her vast knowledge, educational experience and expertise in troubleshooting specialist demonstration techniques.

Currently working at UK NEQAS CPT as Technical Expert, she is sharing her expertise and knowledge and assisting participants with technical queries and troubleshooting, for continuous quality improvement . As well as being the UK NEQAS CPT Technical Expert, she is also a UK NEQAS CPT assessor for the Renal, BMT and General Schemes.

Dr Ashleigh Rainey

Clinical Scientist, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Ashleigh completed a PhD in Rheumatoid Arthritis Research at the University of Glasgow.  Since then she has training as a Clinical Scientist in Immunology at Newcastle upon Tyne Foundation trust and is currently on the HSST programme.

Amy Read

Trainee Consultant Clinical Scientist , Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Amy is a Trainee Consultant Clinical Scientist working in Gloucestershire. She started the Higher Specialist Scientific Training (HSST) programme in 2021 after almost 20 years as a Biomedical Scientist.

Amy aspires to strengthen the link between the laboratories and the clinical teams and promote a bench to bedside approach within infection science. Areas of interest include antimicrobial stewardship, diagnostic stewardship and education. 

Gavin Regan FIBMS

Trainee Consultant Biomedical Scientist, University Hospital of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust

Gavin Regan is a trainee Consultant Biomedical Scientist at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton. He joined the NHS in 2008 and has worked in histopathology for 13 years as a Biomedical Scientist, with over 9 years as a dissection practitioner. He completed the IBMS DEP and ASD in histological dissection, specialising in urological and gynaecological pathology, and is currently undergoing the Advanced Specialist Diploma in Gynaecological Histological Reporting.

Gavin is a current member of the conjoint IBMS and RCPath Dissection Examination Board, as well as secretary for the IBMS Derby and Nottingham Branch.

Rebecca Renouf

Trainee Consultant Clinical Scientist , Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

No bio provided

Professor Anthony Rhodes

Editor-in-Chief, The British Journal of Biomedical Science

No bio provided

Dr Riina Richardson

Honorary Consultant Mycologist and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Infectious Diseases and Medical Education and Clinical Head of Service , NHS Mycology Reference Centre Manchester, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Riina is the Clinical Head of Service for the NHS Mycology Reference Centre at the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, and a Senior Lecturer in Infectious Diseases and Medical Education at the University of Manchester.

She is a Medical Mycologist with expertise in oral microbiology, medical microbiology, medical mycology, infectious diseases, infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, mucosal immunology as well as oral and vaginal health and disease. She also has a special interest in medical education. To date, Dr Riina has published a total of over 170 peer-reviewed articles and books or book chapters.

Gareth Richardson

Greater Manchester Pathology Network Workforce Development Lead, Training Officer for the Division of Laboratory Medicine, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Dr David Ricketts DBMS CSci FIBMS

Head of Laboratory Process Improvement, Health Services Laboratories LLP

David currently works as head of process improvement for Health Service Laboratories in central London, which is part of the wider Sonic Healthcare group.

David chairs the TC212 mirror committee and is head of delegation for the UK on the international TC212 committee. David has experience in writing standards and was the project lead on ISO22870, on the drafting team of the new ISO15189 as well as being involved in many other standards including ISO22367. He has written many expert commentaries for British Standards.

John Ringrow

Senior Assessment Manager Healthcare , UKAS

After gaining a degree in Biochemistry and Microbiology from Leeds University, John’s first post was as a company microbiologist in a small scientific consultancy specialising in foods, waters, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and sterile manufacture processes. His main interests however were in medical microbiology so he joined Poole PHLS and hospital microbiology laboratories, where he completed the then IBMS Special exam.

John then moved to County Durham, developed an interest in management and quality, gained qualifications in such and held senior, management then quality management posts until the end of 2005.

John joined CPA (UK) Ltd as a full time Regional Assessor in January 2006. CPA is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and since June 2013 he was an Assessment Manager (AM) with UKAS and from November 2014, promoted to Senior Assessment Manager.  John manages other AMs and is active in various projects, including training in ISO 15189, POCT, transition projects,  and developing training for new AMs. 

During John’s professional career and in his many outside interests and activities, John has always developed his interest in teaching, training and biomedical science promotion and career development and been active in education and development of scientific and support staff. He has actively promoted pathology to a wider audience within the NHS and has been involved in both medical and nursing staff education.

John has been involved in and tutored on courses for the IBMS, been a training/portfolio assessor for the CPSM and then IBMS, panel member for the HCPC and been a lay board member for the Northern Deanery involved with post graduate medical education. John has presented at numerous local and national meetings on both scientific and management themes, and now presents regularly on quality and accreditation themes.

When not working, John has a passion for all things “planes, automobiles, motorcycles and trains”.  He has a private pilot’s licence, although spiralling costs and time constraints have curtailed that pursuit for the time being. He is also planning to restore an MGF car.

Professor Delia Ripley

Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser for Health , Welsh Government

Professor Dee Ripley is the Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser for Health (DCSA-H) in Welsh Government and is the deputy professional lead for healthcare science in NHS Wales. As a policymaker and scientific adviser, Dee sets the forward direction for healthcare science and advises Ministers on specialist technical, professional, and scientific matters relating to health. Most recently, Dee led the development of the National Diagnostics Recovery and Transformation strategy for NHS Wales which seeks to catch up the unmet demand for diagnostics, enable earlier detection of disease, and improve patient health outcomes.

Chris Robbie

Haemovigilance Team Leader , Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

Chris has worked for MHRA since the implementation of the BSQR in 2005.  Involved in the design and development of the SABRE reporting system (Serious adverse blood reactions and events), he manages the database and assesses all the reports of events and reactions submitted. 

Chris is a member of the SHOT (Serious Hazard of Transfusion) Working Expert and Steering groups, UKTLC, the National Blood Transfusion Committee Lab Managers group and formerly, the EU Commission Haemovigilance Working Expert Group.  Prior to working for MHRA, he spent 10 years working for the National Blood Service in Tooting. 

Ellen Roberts

Immunology Training Lead and Laboratory Manager, North Bristol NHS Trust & Kanki Kavi, North West London Pathology

Ellen Roberts is currently Lead Healthcare Scientist in Immunology at North Bristol NHS Trust. Prior to this Ellen has worked in Immunology for 21 years as a Senior BMS in Immunochemistry and Immunology as well as being the Pathology Sciences training lead. This combined role included training candidates   for the IBMS Immunology Specialist Portfolio and coordinating relevant CPD sessions. Ellen is an IBMS verifier for the Certificate of Competence and Specialist Portfolio and has an excellent understanding of the difficulties in delivering knowledge and training for portfolios in a busy laboratory.     

Dr James Robinson

Head of Bioinformatics , The Anthony Nolan Trust, The Royal Free Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Dr James Robinson is a bioinformatics scientist with over 20 years of experience in developing bioinformatics solutions within the transplant field. He leads a Bioinformatics team who provide bioinformatics development and support for key projects within the Anthony Nolan. These include the continued development and maintenance of the IMGT/HLA and IPD Databases, in collaboration with EMBL-EBI.  Other projects include population genetics studies of large datasets of HLA data and implementing cloud-based solutions to enable sequencing of HLA genes using PacBio Technology.

He is a member of the WHO HLA Nomenclature Committee,  EFI and WMDA committees and section editor for the HLA journal.

Dr Jesus Rodriguez-Manzano

Associate Professor, Imperial College, London

No bio provided

Professor Catherine Ross

Chief Scientific Officer , Chief Nursing Officers Directorate, Scottish Government

Catherine is the Chief Scientific Officer at Scottish Government, Scottish Government’s most senior clinical advisor for Healthcare Science professional issues, and head of profession for Healthcare Scientists in Scotland. She provides expert professional advice to Scottish Ministers and Policy Officials and leadership for all aspects of policy which impact on the scientific workforce including education, research and clinical practice. She is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction for all of the scientific services in Scotland, and leads on international health issues from a scientific professions perspective.

Catherine is a Clinical Scientist and has worked in the NHS for over 25 years having spent most of her clinical career specialising in non-invasive cardiac imaging and is a Chartered Scientist, Chartered Biologist and holds a number of Fellowships including Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

She has previously held the post of Scientific Lead at NHS England, and prior to that led the Clinical Leadership Portfolio for Healthcare Scientists at the Office of the Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England.

Catherine holds a number of senior leadership positions Nationally and Internationally and has served as the President of the Professional Body for Cardiac Scientists. She is the current Vice-Chair of the Science Council, the international awarding body of Chartership in Science, as well as a member of the Science Council Board of Trustees and Chair of the Policy Advisory Committee. She is currently a Board member of the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions within the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and is the current Secretary/Treasurer of the Board and Member of the European Society of Cardiology Taskforce on Allied Professionals. She represents Scotland on the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) Board and is a member of the International (IFMBE) scientific programme committee. In recognition of her work supporting women leaders has been an invited delegate for the UK UN Women delegation on the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Catherine’s professional interests include Workforce, Professional Identity and Research and is an Editorial Board member of the British Journal of Cardiology and peer reviewer for a number of international scientific journals. She has led and been involved in a number of STEM initiatives aimed at inspiring children and in particular girls, to pursue a career in science.

Dr Andrew Rutter

Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager, QuidelOrtho

Andrew re-joined Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (now QuidelOrtho) in December 2022, in the role of Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager, based in their UK Operations facility in Pencoed, South Wales. Prior to this, from June 2019, Andrew served as the Global Head of Quality Assurance & Regulatory Affairs in at EKF Diagnostics. 

Previously, Andrew worked for Gen-Probe UK, transitioning from R&D, through Product Development, into Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs.  He has a BSc (Hons) and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Cardiff University. Currently, Andrew serves as the Chair of the Technical Forum at MedTech Europe, as the Vice-Chair (IVD) for the UDI Working Group, and since June 2022 as a Vice-Chair for the BIVDA Regulatory Affairs Working Party.

Laura Ryall

Regional Head of Operations, PHE East of England , UK Health Security Agency

No bio provided

Dr Ross Sadler

Consultant Scientist, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Ross works at Laboratory Immunology, at Oxford and has been a Consultant Scientist there for the last 5 years.

Dr Kordo Saeed

Consultant Microbiologist and Associate Professor, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Kordo is currently working a consultant clinical microbiologist at University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust & an honorary associate professor at the University of Southampton School of medicine.

Kordo is the chair of the Rapid Diagnostics and Biomarker Working group of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC) the secretary for the Bone and Joint infection working group. He has published on Infection Control, Antibiotic Stewardship, Bone and Joint infections & Sepsis .He is keen on novel diagnostics that improve patient outcome, bed flow and antimicrobial use.

Stefan Schraag

Director of Medical Affairs, BD (Becton Dickinson)

No bio provided

Chris Scott

Scientific and Operational Lead Biomedical Scientist for Immunology, Barts Health NHS Trust (ESEL Partnership)

Chris Scott is the Scientific and Operational Lead Biomedical Scientist for Immunology at East and South East London Pathology Partnership which covers seven main hospital sites. The service is ever-developing. In the past five years Pathology at Barts has undergone a Trust Merger, entered into a managed service contract with a primary provider, implemented a single LIMS, and became ISO accredited with a single quality management system over seven sites and 15 different disciplines.

Chris is the Chief Examiner for Immunology at the Institute of Biomedical Science, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel. He co-edited “Clinical Immunology”, which is part of the Fundamentals of Biomedical Science book series. He has over 30 years’ experience of running an ever-changing diagnostic laboratory service.

Sheri Scott CSci FIBMS SFHEA

Principal Lecturer in Biomedical Science and IBMS Council Member, Nottingham Trent University

Sheri is a Principal Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Nottingham Trent University.

After a career covering 22 years working in Clinical Biochemistry in NHS laboratories, Sheri joined Nottingham Trent University in 2018, where she is a Principal Lecturer in Biomedical Science.

Sheri was the IBMS HSD Chief Examiner 2020-2024 for the Clinical Chemistry discipline and she continues to support clinical laboratory training through her IBMS Clinical Chemistry Specialist advisory panel and Council roles. Sheri is an active fellow and council member of the Institute of Biomedical Science.

Dr Owen Seddon

Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology, Public Health Wales

Owen completed his undergraduate medical training in Cardiff and underwent postgraduate training in Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology in Wales. He runs the OPAT (outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy) service for Cardiff and the Vale and contributes to a busy clinical infection service covering the region

Dr Behdad Shambayati

Berkshire & Surrey Pathology Services

No bio provided

Mohammad Shams

Senior Biomedical Scientist, Synnovis Analytics, London

Mohammed (Behzad) is Senior Biomedical scientist providing services for the dermatopathology laboratory, Such as: Mohs’ micrographic surgery, Immunohistochemistry, Paraffin processing. Behzad has a long-term experience on Mohs micrographic surgery in most of the Mohs centre across the England. He provides several training course and lecturing for Mohs surgery across the world as well as lecturing at the American Mohs Society of Histology (ASMH) conference.

Behzad completed his Master’s in biomedical science at London University of Surrey. He is working at St Thomas’s Hospital, St. John’s Institute of Dermatology, which is one of the busiest and largest Mohs centre in the United Kingdom. During his career at Oxford University Hospital he develops and setup the new technique for Mohs micrographic procedure.

Behzad is a member & lecturer of: American Mohs Society (ASMH), National Society for Histology ( NSH) ,  Institute of Biomedical science (IBMS)  

Dr Mahtab Sharifi

Consultant Chemical Pathologies, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Mahtab is a Consultant Metabolic Physician and Chemical Pathologist. She is the clinical lead for lipid services and Biochemistry Department at St George’s hospital. She did her training at Royal Free, Bart’s, UCLH and Guy’s hospital. Her main research interest is in Familial Hypercholesterolaemia and she has worked at the BHF Cardiovascular Genetic Research lab at UCL where she had several publications. She is an honorary senior lecturer at St George’s University of London and an honorary lecturer at UCL for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Dr Manisha Sharma

Consultant Chemical Pathologist, Barts Health NHS Trust

Dr Manisha Sharma is a consultant chemical pathologist, Bariatric & Lipid specialist , working at Homerton University Hospital and East and South East London Pathology partnership with Bart's Health and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trusts.

Manisha is a key member of Bariatric surgery multidisciplinary team, providing chemical pathology diagnostic and clinical service for preoperative optimization and post operative management of bariatric surgery patients.

Dr Hayley Sharrod-Cole

Consultant Clinical Scientist , Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

Hayley is a Consultant Clinical Scientist based at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton. 

Her current research interests are in health and health care inequalities, appropriate utilisation of laboratory tests and the role of the laboratory in developing more efficient and cost-effective care pathways. She is currently working on various research projects including the role of plasma NGAL in the diagnosis of AKI in specific populations, the diagnostic utility of biomarkers of mild traumatic brain injury and the impact of COVID-19 on equitable access to health care services.

Dr Ben Sholademi

Senior Clinical Scientist, Sheffield’s Children NHS Foundation Trust

Ben has over 15 years of experience in Clinical Biochemistry working as a Biomedical Scientist in the National Health Service. He subsequently trained to become a Clinical Scientist after his doctoral studies. His current role as a Clinical Scientist involves interpreting complex results of a range of newborn screening, acute and metabolic testing in clinical biochemistry and making judgements on the implications for management and further testing of patients.

Ben is an Associate Lecturer in Biomedical Science at the University of Derby.

Dr Rob Shorten

Consultant Clinical Scientist, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Rob is a Consultant Clinical Scientist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. He has broad experience in clinical microbiology and is the departmental lead for research, and the pathology lead for clinical audit. He is an honorary research associate at University College London, and his research interests have included tuberculosis, including completing a PhD in the field of molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as well as other papers in the areas of laboratory diagnostics, and viral haemorrhagic fevers.

His current interests include diagnostic stewardship and environmental sustainability. He is also the current Chair of the Microbiology Professional Committee of the ACB.

Jaya Shrivastava

UK NEQAS Parasitology Scheme Manager, UK Health Security Agency

Jaya did her graduate and post-graduate degrees in Microbiology from India. She followed it with D.Phil at University of Oxford, UK, on Molecular Epidemiology of Schistosoma japonicum. She then did a post-doc at Cancer Research UK on identifying novel cell cycle regulators.

She is an experienced Clinical Scientist (Microbiology) combining strengths in clinical diagnostics and life science research in Parasitology. She also has advanced expertise in proficiency testing, quality management, technology assessment, operational delivery and strategic decision making. Her knowledge base spans academic, clinical and public health sectors.

Jaya currently manages ten global UK National External Quality Assessment Schemes (UK NEQAS) for Parasitology. The schemes are targeted towards blood and faecal parasites and assess microscopy, serology as well as molecular diagnostic techniques.

Kate Sibson

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

No bio provided

Jon Sims

EQA Scientist - Morphology , UK NEQAS Haematology, West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Jon started at UK NEQAS Haematology in July 2015 as lead scientist for the morphology EQA surveys. Responsibilities included coordinating the Blood Film Morphology, Parasitology (inc. RDT for Malaria) and Cytochemistry schemes, as well as managing the online Digital Morphology EQATE system. Worked as laboratory scientist in the NHS for over 45 years, now semi-retired.

Prior to working for UK NEQAS Jon was laboratory manager for Haematology and Blood Transfusion at the Northwick Park and Central Middlesex Hospitals in north-west London, for just over 12 years

Rev Dr Gordon Sinclair

Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science , London Metropolitan University

Rev Dr Gordon Sinclair is a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Science at London Metropolitan University, Chair of the Haematology National Quality Assurance Advisory Panel, Interim Chair of the Quality Assurance in Pathology, Vice-Chair of the Institute of Biomedical Science, Haematology, Scientific Advisory Panel, and Pastor of Kingdom Community Church, Redhill. He lectures in ethics, statistics, haematology and blood transfusion science, mainly at the postgraduate level. His research interests include the moon’s age and developing a cheap alternative to standard cell counting for developing nations.

Chris Sleight

Chief Officer, Greater Manchester Diagnostic Network

Chris has over 30 years’ experience in the NHS, starting his career in Pathology in 1988. Chris is proud to have been a Fellow of the IBMS for all of his NHS career.

Chris is renowned for progressing from a basic grade Biomedical Scientist, through the roles of Senior BMS, Chief BMS, Head BMS to a Directorate Manager within 5 years (along the M62 corridor from Hull to Harrogate to York, with a brief detour to Sherwood Forest NHS Foundation Trust)

Chris’s final clinical role was Clinical Director in Pathology in the East Midlands before moving to the North West in 2008 to what he describes as the “dark side” of general management.

Since 2008 Chris has had several senior management roles both in Operations and Strategy, but has never been too far away from Pathology.

He is currently Chief Officer of the GM Imaging and Pathology Networks, is senior responsible officer for the GM Community Diagnostics Centre Programme, Digital Diagnostics, and GM Pharmacy transformation programmes.

Ian Smith

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Ian was previously based at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, managing laboratory services across antenatal and new-born screening; mass spectrometry, and Point of Care Testing (POCT).

For over 10 years Ian led on POCT for the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and worked with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust to develop community POCT services.

Oxford’s POCT team has evaluated and introduced a variety of POCT applications across hospital and community settings, and now supports a service that incorporates over five hundred connected devices.

Since December Ian has been working with Veritie Group, a new company, developing POCT applications using Raman spectroscopy.

Karen Stalbow

Head of Diagnostics Policy, NHS England

No bio provided

Carol Stanley

Operations Manager, UK NEQAS Immunology, Sheffield

No bio provided

Professor Simon Stanworth

Professor of Transfusion Medicine, Consultant Haematologist, NHS Blood and Transplant

One key question in trauma resuscitation is whether fibrinogen treatment should be given empirically and in high dose.

The findings of the CRYOSTAT-2 trial will be presented, in which 1604 participants were randomised.

This trial was designed and powered by the results of a pilot randomised controlled trial (CRYOSTAT-1), which found early transfusion of cryoprecipitate within a MHP was feasible and restored fibrinogen levels.

The trial primary hypothesis was that early, empiric and high-dose cryoprecipitate, in addition to the standard massive haemorrhage protocol, would improve survival in the first 28 days after hospital admission following injury.

Madeleine Stephens

Consultant Healthcare Scientist, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Madeleine qualified as a Biomedical Scientist in 2009 and was accepted to study towards the Advanced Specialist Diploma in Dermatopathology in 2017. She is the first Biomedical Scientist in the UK to be appointed as a Consultant Healthcare Scientist in Dermatopathology Reporting.

Tracey Stevenson CSci FIBMS

Consultant Biomedical Scientist in Cytology, Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust

Tracey has now been an employee of the NHS as a Cytologist for the last 35 years and she remains passionate about the subject. She is originally from Lanarkshire in Scotland but began her cytology career in London. Tracey currently works in the Cytology department at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital in Devon.

Tracey is a consultant biomedical scientist and laboratory manager. She is also the training co-ordinator for Cellular Pathology and a Quality manager. Since the transfer of the cervical cytology service to Bristol she no longer reports these cases; however she continues to report diagnostic cytology and attend ENT, thyroid, EUS Pancreas and EBUS clinics as part of our ROSE setup.

Tracey is a member of the IBMS Cytopathology Advisory Panel and was involved in the work to create the new diagnostic cytology specialist portfolio.

Zoe Stone

Specialist Biomedical Scientist, NHS Blood and Transplant, Filton Centre

Rakhee Surti

Point of Care Project Manager, Milton Keynes University Hospital

Rakhee is a Specialist Biomedical Scientist with over 20 years of experience both in medical laboratory science and commercial diagnostics combined. She has extensive knowledge within the field of Biochemistry and more recently focused in POCT. She is currently working as a project manager leading discovery for POCT diagnostics within primary care, in partnership with Milton Keynes University Hospital and local ICB.

With a number of years spent in the field of laboratory science, she thrives for excellence, and also raises awareness of Biomedical Scientists and their pivotal role within the NHS, and wider community, with a strong focus on patient care at the heart of everything she works towards.    

Dr David Sutton

Consultant Haematologist, University Hospitals of the North Midlands NHS Trust

No bio provided

Kirsty Swallow

Principal Clinical Scientist, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Kirsty Swallow has worked in the Immunology and Protein Reference Unit in Sheffield since leaving University in 2003.

Kirsty started as a trainee Biomedical Scientist and has progressed to her current role as Principal Clinical Scientist. Kirsty’s specialist areas include flow cytometry and allergy. One of the most interesting parts of her job is working on new assays and introducing them to the departmental test repertoire.

Nicola Swarbrick

Laboratory Incident Specialist, Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT)

Nikki has been a Biomedical Scientist since 2000, and during her career has worked in both district general hospitals and large teaching hospitals. She was a Transfusion Laboratory Manager before starting as a Laboratory Incident Specialist with the UK's haemovigilance scheme, Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT) in 2021.

Claire Swift

Research Scientist, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

No bio provided

Dr Phillipe Taniere

Clinical Service Lead for Molecular Pathology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Philippe Taniere, MD, PhD

Philippe Taniere graduated in Histopathology (MD) from the University of Lyon, France, in 1995. He obtained a PhD at the Unit of Molecular Carcinogenesis at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon in 2002.

Since October 2002, is a Consultant in Histopathology at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) with an interest in Gastrointestinal tract Pathology, Lung tumours and Soft Tissue Sarcomas.

He is the Clinical Service Lead for Molecular Pathology at University Hospitals Birmingham. The Molecular Pathology Diagnostic Service (MPDS) comprises of 45 Scientists and Technicians and perform over 35 000 tests each year. The service offers a wide range of analyses including DNA sequencing in solid tumours and plasma (RT PCR, Pyrosequencing, Sanger Sequencing, DNA/RNA based NGS targeted panels, as well as Microscopy based technologies (Immunohistochemistry and FISH). 

Recent publications

Landscape of cancer biomarker testing in England following genomic services reconfiguration: insights from a nationwide pathologist survey.

Taniere P, Nicholson AG, Gosney JR, Montero Fernandez MA, Bury D, Moore DA, Verghese E, Soomro I, Joseph L, Bhatt N, Viola P, Bains R, Lanctot AG, Ryan J.

J Clin Pathol. 2023 May 31:jcp-2023-208890. doi: 10.1136/jcp-2023-208890.

Management of small (T1-T2) anal margin squamous cell carcinoma: clinical outcomes following local excision alone.

Roji AM, Namiq KF, Radley S, Ismail T, Hejmadi R, Taniere P, Geh JI.Colorectal Dis. 2023 Apr 8. doi: 10.1111/codi.16562.

Re: Inadequacy of PCR genotyping in advanced non-small cell lung cancer: EGFR L747_A755delinsSS Exon 19 deletion is not detected by the real-time PCR IdyllaTM EGFR mutation test but is detected by ctDNA NGS and responds to osimertinib.

Bennett P, Finall A, Medeiros F, Gerrard G, Taniere P.Eur J Cancer. 2022 Oct;174:315-317. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2022.06.039. Epub 2022 Aug 4.

PD-L1 Testing in Urothelial Carcinoma: Analysis of a Series of 1401 Cases Using Both the 22C3 and SP142 Assays.

Evans H, O'Sullivan B, Hughes F, Charles K, Robertson L, Taniere P, Diaz-Cano S.

Pathol Oncol Res. 2022 28:1610260.

Predictive markers for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy in non-small cell lung cancer-where are we?

Evans M, O'Sullivan B, Smith M, Taniere P.

Transl Lung Cancer Res. 2018 Dec;7(6):682-690. doi: 10.21037/tlcr.2018.06.09. Review.

The Clinicopathological and Molecular Associations of PD-L1 Expression in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: Analysis of a Series of 10,005 Cases Tested with the 22C3 Assay.

Evans M, O'Sullivan B, Hughes F, Mullis T, Smith M, Trim N, Taniere P.

Pathol Oncol Res. 2018 Sep 17.

Large-Scale EGFR Mutation Testing in Clinical Practice: Analysis of a Series of 18,920 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cases.

Evans M, O'Sullivan B, Smith M, Hughes F, Mullis T, Trim N, Taniere P.

Pathol Oncol Res. 2018 Aug 9.

Detection of EGFR Variants in Plasma: A Multilaboratory Comparison of the cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2 in Europe.

Keppens C, Palma JF, Das PM, Scudder S, Wen W, Normanno N, Van Krieken JH, Sacco A, Fenizia F, de Castro DG, Hönigschnabl S, Kern I, Lopez-Rios F, Lozano MD, Marchetti A, Halfon P, Schuuring E, Setinek U, Sorensen B, Taniere P, Tiemann M, Vosmikova H, Dequeker EMC.

J Mol Diagn. 2018 Apr 25. pii: S1525-1578

HER2 testing of gastro-oesophageal adenocarcinoma: a commentary and guidance document from the Association of Clinical Pathologists Molecular Pathology and Diagnostics Committee.

Wong NACS, Amary F, Butler R, Byers R, Gonzalez D, Haynes HR, Ilyas M, Salto-Tellez M, Taniere P. J Clin Pathol. 2018 Feb 8.

Molecular Testing of Gastrointestinal Tumours

Matthew Evans, Matthew Smith, Brendan O'Sullivan, Philippe Taniere

Diagnostic Histopathology, 2017

Book chapters

Molecular Diagnostics: techniques and applications

Brendan O’Sullivan and P Taniere

Histopathology Ed. Orchard, Nation; OUP, Chapter 11p318-344

Oxford University Press, 2018

Molecular Diagnostics in action

P Taniere

Histopathology Ed. Orchard, Nation; OUP, Chapter 12 p345-364

Oxford University Press, 2018

Molecular Pathology

Philippe Taniere, Brendan O’Sullivan, Matthew Evans, Frances Hughes

Theory and Practice of Histological Techniques Chapter 20 p395.433

Ed. Bancroft et al; Elsevier, 2018.

Dr Sarah Tansley

Consultant Rheumatologist and Senior Clinical Lecturer, Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases and University of Bath

No bio provided

Dr Jim Taylor SFHEA, FIBMS, MRSB CSciTeach

Head of Digital Education, IBMS

Jim joined the IBMS in January 2023 after a successful 20-year career in further and higher education. He has taught on a range of bioscience qualifications from GCSE to Masters level, and most recently led an IBMS Accredited BSc Biomedical Science programme.

Jim has extensive experience of digital education and digital pedagogy, working across the professional life science sector developing and delivering digital learning solutions for students in practice, and for pre-registration professionals seeking state registration. In his current role, Jim will lead all aspects of digital education for the IBMS.

Andrew Teggert

Consultant Clinical Biochemist, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Andrew began his career in biochemistry as a Trainee Biomedical Scientist at Middlesbrough General Hospital in 2001.  After moving to the James Cook University Hospital and obtaining his state registration in 2002 he was made a Senior Biomedical Scientist in 2003.  In this role he became very interested in the clinical aspects of laboratory medicine, in addition to developing the technical aspects of the service such as involvement with POCT, near patient testing clinics and clinical liaison, particularly with regards to R&D and service developments.  He obtained STP equivalence in 2016 and completed HSST, obtaining his FRCPath in clinical Biochemistry as part of this in 2022.  He is currently a Consultant Clinical Scientist at South Tees Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Helen Thom

RCI Development Lead, NHS Blood and Transplant

No bio provided

Maggie Throup MP

Member of Parliament for Erewash,

Maggie was born in Shipley, West Yorkshire and gained a scholarship to Bradford Girls’ Grammar School, before going on to read Biology at the University of Manchester.

Maggie began her career at Calderdale Health Authority as a medical laboratory scientific officer, spending seven years in the role and gaining professional qualifications (Fellowship of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences, now IBMS) in Haematology.

Remaining in the health sector, Maggie moved into medical diagnostics sales and marketing with a pharmaceutical company, gaining a Diploma in Marketing, before establishing her own marketing business in 1996.

Maggie first entered politics through her involvement with a community campaign to save an area of green belt from development and has since gone on to lead successful issue-based campaigns, including the funding of a new train station in her constituency of Erewash.

On becoming an MP in 2015, Maggie was elected to serve on the House of Commons Health Select Committee and re-elected onto the Committee after the 2017 General Election.

In Government, Maggie has served as:

1) Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State at The Department for Health and Social Care (January 2018 – September 2019)

2) Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) (September 2019 – September 2021)

3) Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Vaccines & Public Health, (September 2021 – September 2022) leading on the following policy areas:

• COVID-19 vaccines
• health improvement
• levelling up
• prevention
• immunisation and screening
• UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA):
• Test and Trace
• emergency preparedness
• infectious diseases
• environmental health
• abortion
• global health security
• lead minister for crisis response
•  sponsorship of FSA

Also in Parliament, Maggie has become a passionate advocate for the wider use of diagnostic testing in order to reduce the amount of antibiotics that are wrongly prescribed, as well as establishing and chairing the All Party Parliamentary Group on Diagnostics.

In her limited spare time, Maggie is often found outdoors pursuing her interests of gardening and hill walking.

Donna Torrance

Head of Learning and Development, IBMS

No bio provided

Victoria Tuckley

Laboratory Incident Specialist, Serious Hazards Of Transfusion (SHOT)

Victoria is a laboratory incidents specialist for the UK haemovigilance scheme, Serious Hazards of Transfusion and has a been in post for 4 years. Having completed the Scientist Training Programme in 2016, she is a registered Clinical Scientist and Biomedical Scientist. Victoria has previously worked within red cell immunohematology and stem cell immunotherapy laboratories, and expanded her motivation for improving the patient experience whilst working as a transfusion practitioner.

Andrew Turner

Managing Director, GP Liaison Services Limited, UK

Andrew is the founder of GP Liaison Services, he has over 25 years experience supporting the NHS and Healthcare organisations improve systems workflows.  

Tracking NHS patient samples is often tricky - with disparate datasets and legacy routing tools.

Andrew has developed bespoke real-time routing solutions that integrate seamlessly into new and existing NHS dashboards to make insights into cost and turnaround times simple.

The solution has a track record of delivering net cost reductions and improved patient outcomes and has been deployed in several NHS Trusts.

His wider consulting services support NHS teams across a range of problems: from strategic options assessments to building best-in-class data intelligence practices.

Jonathan Turner MBE

Head of Scientific and Technical Service, UK Health Security Agency

Jonathan is UKHSA Head of Scientific and Technical Services with nationwide responsibility across the Regional Public Health Laboratory Network. He sits on the SMI Steering Committee and IBMS Medical Microbiology Advisory Panel.

Having forged his early career as a Multidisciplinary BMS in the British Army, he has since established himself  as a successful, innovative and pragmatic biomedical scientist in the NHS and UKHSA. Recently recognised for his services to Public Health during Covid 19, he has a good insight to the challenges facing pathology as we meet the numerous threats from infectious disease.

Emma Victory

Team Leader, UKHSA Malaria Reference Laboratory, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Emma is the Team Lead for the UKHSA Malaria Reference Lab and LSHTM Diagnostic Parasitology Lab. She is a Biomedical Scientist and educator with over 20 years of experience in teaching and parasitology.

Lisa Vipond

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

No bio provided

Tasmiya Wahed

Pre-Reg Clinical Scientist, Laboratory for Molecular Haemato-Oncology (LMH), Synnovis LLP

Tasmiya  is currently a Pre-reg Clinical Scientist at the Laboratory for Molecular Haemato-Oncology (LMH) which is part of the South East Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service. With extensive molecular biology experience, she is part of the team delivering sensitive chimerism assays using STR analysis and variant detection using the Illumina NGS platform as well as molecular karyotyping using high density SNP arrays.

Tasmiya is part of the explorative team tasked with the development and assessment of Bionano Optical Genome Mapping technology to provide an all-in-one molecular cytogenomic solution and will present the utility of this technology within a clinical diagnostic service.

Jackie Wales

Head of Clinical Laboratories, Golden Jubilee National Hospital

Jackie joined the profession in 1986, traiing on the south coast of England in Eastbourne. She undertook her first senior post in 2003 which included Training Manager responsibilities for the Haematology/Blood Transfusion department within Yorkhill Children’s Hospital.

Jackie is heavily involved through membership of the training forum in the implementation of the integrated degree in Scotland and still delivering train the trainer and students pre placement sessions in the West of Scotland. She teaches on the Quality and Laboratory module of the GCU MSc. It is her non- substantive role as HCS Lead for NHS Golden Jubilee that has led to her involvement with Academy and subsequent proposal for the Accelerated Training for Biomedical Science Graduates.

Trudy Walker

Scarborough, Hull, York Pathology Service - SHYPS

Trudy has worked for 20 years in the immunology department at the Hull laboratory. Her career has progressed from trainee Biomedical Scientist to Senior Biomedical Scientist. During her career she has completed an MSc in Pathological Sciences and the IBMS Higher Specialist diploma in immunology. She is a fellow of the IBMS and a registered chartered scientist. In 2021 she became the training manager for SHYPS.

She has extensive experience as a Biomedical Scientist in immunology, a passionate training manager and more recently turned her focus to workforce development.

Chris Ward

Head of Examinations, Institute of Biomedical Science

Chris is the Head of Examinations at the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) which he joined in January 2014. At the IBMS he has responsibility for the Certificate of Expert (CEP) distance learning qualifications, and all the DEP, ASD and HSD qualifications that the Institute offers including those in Dissection, Reporting and Cytology. He co-ordinates the work of eight specialist advisory panels, three RCPath/IBMS Conjoint Boards and the UKTLC and is also involved in the (re)accreditation of IBMS accredited BSc and MSc degree programmes.

Before working at the IBMS he had spent four and half years at another professional body and eight and half years at the qualifications regulator for England called at the time the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA).