Meet the Speakers - ASM 2023
We have great pleasure in introducing our speakers for the Annual Scientific Meeting for 2023. Please find out about them below.
Professor Cyprian Mendonca
Cyprian Mendonca is a consultant anaesthetist at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust and an Honorary Professor at the University of Warwick. He is the current President of the Society for Education in Anaesthesia (SEA UK).
His special interests include head & neck anaesthesia, airway management, neuro anaesthesia, human factors and medical education. He is an academic lead for core clinical education at Warwick Medical School. He is the course director for human factors and airway training courses at Coventry. He has organised and successfully delivered several national educational events including advanced airway management and human factors and patient safety courses.
He has co-authored six books in anaesthesia and written chapters in anaestheisa textbooks. He has published a series of peer reviewed papers in advanced airway management and education.
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He was awarded President’s commendation certificate from Royal College of Anaesthetists in 2016 and 2021, Featherstone Professor from Association of Anaesthetists (2016-18), and DAS Professor of Annaesthesia and Airway management in 2022 for his sustained contribution to education, airway management and research in Anaesthesia.
Dr Vishal Patil (Organiser)
Vishal Patil is a Consultant Anaesthesiologist at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
He trained in India and following completion of post-graduate training in anaesthesiology (MD) came to the UK in 1995.
He was appointed as a Consultant in Cambridge in 2004.
His clinical interests are transplant anaesthesia, and anaesthesia for HPB and urological onco-surgery.
He has a long-standing interest in patient safety and quality.
He is an author of the Royal College of Anaesthetists Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthetic Services for Perioperative Care of Elective and Urgent Care Patients, and an Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA) Reviewer for the Royal College of Anaesthetists.
He is the Regional Lead for the Safe Anaesthesia Liaison Group, a collaborative project between the Association of Anaesthetists, Royal College of Anaesthetists and NHS England/ NHS Improvement patient safety team.
He is the Regional Co-lead for the Royal College of Anaesthetists Quality Improvement Network.
In his free time, he enjoys theatre, travelling, and contemporary art.
Dr Kiran Salaunkey (organiser)
I am a trained and certified anaesthetist, practicing the sub- specialty of cardiac anaesthesia and intensive care. I am fully certified in trans-esophageal echocardiography. I presently work in Papworth Hospital which is UK’s largest cardiothoracic centre where apart from routine cardiac surgery, I anaesthetise for pulmonary thrombo-endarterectomies, heart and lung transplants, implantation of mechanical cardiovascular support devices and manage the intensive care unit including respiratory ECMO (Extra corporeal membrane oxygenation) patients and patients needing mechanical cardiovascular support.
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During my training in Anaesthesia, I spent a year doing research in cognitive function in the post operative period, cardiac output monitoring devices as the anaesthetic research fellow at King’s College Hospital, London. My current research interest includes continuous in line blood glucose monitoring.
I have a keen interest in education and have set up the introductory transesophageal course at King’s college hospital, which has completed 4 successful editions. I have also helped set up the inaugural simulation course for intensive care trainees in East Anglia, am a faculty member of the ECMO and ECHO courses in Papworth hospital.
Dr Mark Slack
MA (Cantab) MBBCh MMed (UCT) FCOG(SA) FRCOG
Mark qualified as a doctor at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He then completed his postgraduate training at the University of Cape Town. He graduated as a specialist Obstetrician & Gynaecologist from the College of Medicine of South Africa winning the Daubenton Gold Medal for the most distinguished candidate in the exams in the country.
He was previously head of Gynaecology and Urogynaecology at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, University of Cambridge Teaching Hospitals Trust, Cambridge. He is an associate Professor at the University of Cambridge.
Mr Slack has run an active research unit in Cambridge. The unit was involved in a number of research initiatives. He developed and introduced the Sacrospinous Fixation to the UK which is now the most performed procedure for the management of uterovaginal prolapse in the UK. In addition, he has invented several procedures which were adopted and taken to global launch by international Medical Device companies. Two by Johnson & Johnson. He has published over 100 peer reviewed papers, more than 25 book chapters and numerous national guidelines. He is a regular contributor on a number of National Radio and Television programs including “case notes, “Women’s Hour”, The Victoria Derbyshire show and regional and National news programs. He was one of the keynote speakers at the 2020 “WIRED” symposium, alongside the inventors of the COVID vaccine and the winner of the 2020 Nobel prize for medicine.
He was appointed the Ethicon travelling Professor in 2004 as well as the Sims Black Professorship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists for 2005/6. Between 2006 and today he was awarded travelling Professorships to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (2006 and 2019), the South African Medical college 2017, the University of Cape Town 2009, the University of British Columbia, Canada 2018 and the University of Pretoria 2018. He was recognised by the NIHR in 2015 with an award as one of the leading researchers in the UK for clinical research. In 2018, under his leadership the Urogynaecology unit in Cambridge achieved the highest accreditation score ever awarded by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recognizing it as one of the leading units in the country.
He is a Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of CMR Surgical, a start-up company in Cambridge which has developed a novel surgical robot (Versius). This is a next generation surgical robotic system designed to increase the use of minimally invasive (keyhole) surgery. This is now one of the largest Med Tech Start-Up companies in Europe and has recently had the highest private MedTech funding round in the world with a $660 million raise. The company currently employs more than 800 people in more than 7 geographies and has a valuation of $3.5 Billion. Mark is keen to stress the ethical manner that the company has brought the product to market alongside a range of other innovations including virtual reality training. He is also really proud of the digital innovations introduced by the company including a novel registry system to guarantee surgical safety.
In 2022 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in recognition for his work in Medicine.
www.markslackgynaecologist.org.uk
Dr Andrew Klein
Dr Andrew Klein is a Cardiothoracic Anaesthetist at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Anaesthesia, which has an Impact Factor of 13 and is the number one journal in the world for anaesthesia, peri-operative medicine and pain.
Andrew is on the Board and Council of the Association of Anaesthetists, the membership organisation for > 11,000 anaesthetists in Great Britain and Ireland. He sits on the Board and Council of the National Institute of Academic Anaesthesia (NIAA), which manages research grant funding in the UK.
Andrew’s main research areas are high-flow nasal oxygen to improve recovery after major surgery and pre-operative anaemia and the effects of iron replacement therapy. Andrew was the Royal College Macintosh Professor in 2020 and was a College examiner for eight years. Andrew is a keen cricket supporter and member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord’s in London, and a lifelong and long-suffering West Ham United season ticket holder.
Dr Nicola Jones
Dr Nicola Jones is a consultant in Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Medicine at Royal Papworth Hospital. She studied Medicine at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford and undertook post-graduate training in London. She is co-editor of the second edition of Core Topics in Cardiothoracic Critical Care.
Nicola has a strong interest in Medical Education and has recently been appointed as the Director of Medical Education at Royal Papworth Hospital. She is the Year 4 Co-ordinator and Lead Examiner for a component of the Final MB exams, at the School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge. Nicola is an Affiliated Associate Professor at the University and is currently undertaking a Doctorate at the Facility of Education.
Professor
Partha Kar
Professor Partha Kar is National Specialty Advisor, Diabetes; co-lead of the Getting it Right First Time (Diabetes) and Lead for the Medical Workforce Race Equality Standards with NHS England
He is an International Medical Graduate (India) who works as a Consultant in Diabetes & Endocrinology at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, UK since 2008- and won multiple awards at the BMJ, HSJ awards- apart from being recognised by the Kings Fund and NHS England for pioneering of the Super Six Diabetes Model which is recognised as one of the good examples of integrated care.
He has helped to expand use of technology in Type 1 Diabetes- namely use of Flash Glucose/CGM and implementation of use of CGM in T1D pregnancy along with use of online digital self-management platforms- while recently leading on real world data collection on Closed Loops for subsequent NICE review. He has worked subsequently with NICE on updating relevant guidelines in non-invasive glucose monitoring access in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes He has also led on championing Language Matters in Diabetes care
His other work has involved introduction of frailty into Quality Of Framework (QoF) treatment targets, Diabulimia pilot projects in the NHS; championing “Language Matters” and helping to create an overview of Diabetes care in Primary Care Networks. Recent work has focussed on transitional care models- as well as tackling inequalities in technology access based on deprivation & ethnicity
He is one of the leading users of social media in diabetes care- and writes a monthly blog for the British Medical Journal.
He has also been:
*Co-creator of TAD (Talking About Diabetes) – TED talks from those with T1Diabetes
*Co- creator of Type 1 Diabetes comic (Volume 1 to 4)
*Co-creator of DEVICES (Virtual Reality educational modules in diabetes)
Beyond diabetes, he also recently taken a role in tackling issues of racial disparity in the medical workforce as the Medical Workforce Race Equality Standard lead for NHS England.
Professor Kar has also been recognised as one of the most influential figures from the ethnic minority population across healthcare by the Healthcare Service Journal in 2020,2021 & 2022
Dr Simon Lambden
Dr Simon Lambden: Simon began his training in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine in the South East London, followed by a NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship in North Central London and Imperial schools of anaesthesia. He undertook fellowships in medical education in 2009 and in 2015 completed a PhD in vascular immunology at Imperial College, London.
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He undertook his postdoctoral work as a NIHR clinical lecturer at Cambridge University whilst completing his clinical training in the East of England. In parallel he spun out his first biotechnology company, Critical Pressure Ltd, in 2016 to develop new therapies for diseases mediated by endothelial dysfunction.
Following CCT in 2019, Simon worked as a consultant in intensive care medicine at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS foundation trust.
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Simon is currently the Chief Medical Office at Inotrem SA, a Paris based biotech that is focussed on developing novel therapies targeting the TREM-1 pathway, an important regulator of the innate and endothelial immune response in acute and chronic inflammatory disease. He has recently completed two large multinational phase 2b trials in septic shock and severe COVID-19.
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As a founder, leader and executive in a number of biotechnology companies, he has been part of teams that have secured more than €150million in funding to develop new treatments for diseases with large unmet clinical need and few existing treatment options. His particular focus is on developing precision medicine strategies to combat the heterogeneity that has limited the number of new treatments to reach patients with acute inflammatory disease in the last two decades.
Dr Jennifer Taylor
Dr Jennifer Taylor: "Jen Taylor has finally finished anaesthetic training after a long, and sometimes very difficult, journey through Yorkshire and the East Midlands. As many of you will relate to, she spent many years “funding her own wing” at the RCoA. She has recently been appointed to the post of Locum Consultant Anaesthetist at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, and is working out her new life in the North West with her partner.
Her interests lie in education, simulation, and the shared decision making so important in perioperative medicine.
Out of work, she spends her time walking, caving, climbing, and baking gluten free cakes."
Dr Catherine Bennett
Catherine Bennett is Academic Lead for Faculty Development for the medical course (MBChB) at Warwick Medical School, the largest graduate-entry course in the UK. She leads the development of strategy for teacher development, including for clinical teachers in partner NHS trusts and primary care. Catherine is also Course Director for the School’s Masters in Medical Education programme. She is currently Chair of the Educator Development Committee of the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME).
Professor Bryn
Baxendale
Bryn is a Consultant Anaesthetist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH). His clinical work is primarily covering emergency, major trauma and vascular surgical services. He helped design the Trent Simulation & Clinical Skills Centre at NUH and has been Director of this regional facility since it opened in 2004. In 2009 he was appointed as an Honorary Professor of Clinical Simulation at the School of Psychology, University of Nottingham. He became the inaugural President of the Association of Simulated Practice in Healthcare (www.aspih.org.uk) from 2009-14, which is now the leading UK organisation addressing the use of simulation to enhance professional training and patient safety in healthcare. He currently co-chairs the ASPiH Special Interest Group (SIG) in Human Factors & Ergonomics and is the clinical lead for the MSc in Quality and Patient Safety Improvement at the University of Nottingham.
In July 2019 he was elected onto the Board of the Global Network for Simulation in Healthcare (www.gnsh.org) which is a collaborative organisation bringing together international healthcare and patient safety organisations, national simulation societies, and industry leaders seeking to design and apply simulation-based interventions to address major global healthcare issues. He has current national roles with Health Education England and the Royal College of Anaesthetists related to the strategic implementation, quality assurance and evaluation of simulation-based and immersive learning technologies within healthcare.
He has advisory roles on patient safety and Human factors with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians Joint Advisory Group on Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. He is interested particularly in the development of individual, team-based and organisational resilience and exploring how systems design (Human Factors) can influence staff performance and well-being at a local and system-wide level.
Dr Steven Bishop
Steven is Director of Clinical and Artificial Intelligence at Flok Health in Cambridge. He graduated with first class honours in Computer Science and then a distinction in Medicine from the University of Cambridge before carving a career path combining his passion for medicine and technology. Steven undertook specialty training in Cambridge as an Academic Clinical Fellow in Anaesthesia under the supervision of Professor David Menon and Dr Ari Ercole in the Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, dual training in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine. He published predominantly in the field of computational critical care physiology, applying methods such as fractal mathematics to physiological signals.
During the previous junior doctors’ unrest with the UK government in 2015, he formed and led a data science team that consulted heavily for the British Medical Association providing advanced modelling capabilities and real-time decision support during pay negotiations. Subsequently, he co-founded Medics Academy, a medical education technology company, before joining CMR Surgical, a surgical robotics company in Cambridge, in 2018.
At CMR, Steven worked across clinical and medical affairs, regulatory submissions, and digital projects, before founding and growing the company’s data science and artificial intelligence team. He has contributed to multiple expert panels as a recognised leader in digital health and artificial intelligence, including the Department of Health’s Artificial Intelligence Code of Conduct. In 2020, he was promoted to CMR’s senior leadership team as Head of Research and Strategy managing multiple product research teams across machine vision, novel robotic technologies, instrument design, surgical energy, digital product strategy and machine learning whilst overseeing a data analytics service and CMR’s intellectual property portfolio. During his tenure, CMR grew to over 850 employees globally, raised an impressive $660 million in private MedTech funding - the largest in the world ever (that’s if you discount Theranos whose founder Elizabeth Holmes was convicted recently for fraud after its downfall) and had a market valuation in excess of $3.5 billion.
In 2022, Steven joined the management team at a new Cambridge start-up, Flok Health, becoming Flok’s first employee. Flok a healthcare provider and medical device manufacturer are developing a hyper-individualised, habit forming, data-driven and intrinsically scalable solution to common musculoskeletal conditions. In typical start-up fashion, Steven (currently) wears many different hats including clinical, quality, regulatory, software, artificial intelligence, compliance, and strategy. Expect some exciting updates soon!
Dr Tim Baker
Dr Tim Baker is a consultant in Anaesthesia at Cambridge University Hospitals. His special clinical interests include anaesthesia for Liver and Multi-visceral transplantation and critical care transfer medicine. He has expertise in quality improvement enhancing patient experience and the creation/use of medical data systems.
A scholarship to Christ’s Hospital in West Sussex, funded by the Society of Apothecaries, ensured his childhood dream of becoming a doctor became a reality. Tim now sits on the Court (Board) of this organisation. As a trustee of the charity that supported him, he can provide the same benefits to medical students from under privileged or minority backgrounds in financial hardship at every medical school in England, so they are able to complete their training and qualify as doctors
He is passionate about providing and ensuring the highest standards of care to his patients. In 2018 he co-founded SympTech Ltd, developing technology and data systems to improve the symptom management of patients receiving medical care with a focus on collating and analysing a symptom-based datasets. Tim’s myICUvoice application has been described as “Outstanding”. The Care Quality Commission review of Cambridge University Hospital listed the project as one of the 10 ‘Outstanding’ areas of clinical work back in 2015. This project has since been designed, created, implemented, reviewed and iterated over the subsequent years – and the extensive work has set the foundations for generating a technical system designed for intuitive clinical implementation extending across multiple ICUs and into other areas of clinical medicine.
Out of the hospital, Tim is keen to maintain his fitness; apart from his pre-work gym routine, he runs regularly and is currently aiming at ultra-marathon distances. His greatest skill is booking last-minute holidays that involve near disasters that feed his ability to entertain over dinner.
​Dr Brigit McWade (she/her)
​Dr Brigit McWade is a Lecturer in Medical Sociology at Lancaster Medical School, whose research and teaching expertise is in social and health inequalities. Her role includes responsibility for widening participation and EDI. She is an elected member of the MSC EDI Alliance board and co-authored their national guidance for embedding EDI in medical education: Active Inclusion: challenging exclusions in medical education (2021). She is also a co-author of the GLADD UK Medical Schools Charter on So-Called LGBTQ+ ‘Conversion Therapy’. At Lancaster, she led initiatives to identify and address students’ experiences of racism during their degree, including establishing an Equity and Justice Committee. She is currently researching the impact of financial disadvantage on medical students’ success, retention and progression.