BSLM 2024 Speaker Lineup

In a long and successful professional life Sir Al has gained a wealth of experience, which he’s channelled into improving the lives of children and young people

He trained as a children’s physician and clinical scientist, and was the first Director of Clinical Research and Development at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. He then went on to more firsts – the first National Clinical Director for Children in government and the first Children’s Commissioner for England. He has also held the position of President of the British Medical Association.

Among other things he is now Visiting Professor of Advocacy for Children and Childhood at Nottingham Trent University, UK, and Professor Emeritus of Child Health, University College London.

Kamran Abbasi is a doctor, journalist, editor and broadcaster.

Following five years in hospital medicine, working in various medical specialties such as psychiatry and cardiology, he moved into senior editorial roles at the British Medical Journal from 1997 to 2005. He returned to The BMJ in his role as executive editor for content, leading the journal’s strategic growth internationally, digitally, and in print. Kamran was made Editor in chief, The BMJ in December 2021.

Dame Jane is a recognised leader in medicine. She is Emeritus Professor of Medical Education, the former Director of UCL Medical School and honorary consultant physician and rheumatologist, at Whittington Health in London. She is the President of the Medical Protection Society and a specialist advisor to parliament on the Health and Social Care Committee, chairing their Expert Panel which evaluates Government pledges. She is past president of the Royal College of Physicians and was also vice chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, medical director of MRCPUK examination, academic vice president of the RCP and a GMC council member. Her research is in medical education focussing on assessment and equality, especially in relation to women.

She was the lead for the Department of Health and Social Care review of the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine, with Professor Carol Woodhams from Surrey University Business School. This review ‘Mend the Gap: The Independent Review into Gender Pay Gaps in Medicine in England’ was published in December 2020. She now chairs the gender pay gap implementation advisory group. Recently, she has been Co-Chair of the Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership, and chaired a review of the Prescribing Safety Assessment for the Medical Schools Council and the British Pharmacological Association.

Dr Alex Maxwell is the President of the BSLM. He is a GP by trade with particular interests in Child and Adolescent health, School Medicine, Education, Social Prescribing, and Sports and Exercise Medicine.

Dr Jo Watkins is a portfolio GP and business coach as well as being an adventure loving mum of 4 and co-founder of an organisation called The HOW People. They have delivered courses on self esteem, confidence and social media into primary schools for Year 6 and are now partnering with The Princes’s Trust to deliver into secondary schools.

Jo has been described as a ‘human catalyst’ who also gives other healthcare professionals the confidence to start, build and scale their own business or develop a personal brand alongside their medical career with 1:1 coaching, mentoring and her signature ‘Digital Doctor Startup’ programme.

After a 15-year career as a BBC presenter, Nicki went on to hold various senior leadership roles – including Chief Communications Officer at education charity Achievement for All. She leads all Bite Back’s external relationships. “Supermarkets have always been a battleground where consumers are manipulated – and in the worst instances, deliberately exploited – by clever, enticing and colourful packaging and promotions. How different would it be if healthy options were the stars of the supermarket shelves?”

Having qualified in Medicine in 1975, Rob gained extensive experience as a Family Doctor in Scotland. His principal interests have been primary and secondary prevention of disease and the discipline of Lifestyle Medicine. As well as leading his NHS team to the highest awards for quality (2003-2013) he founded a charity in 1991 providing weekly activity and support in venues around the county of East Lothian for people living with long term conditions including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, lung disease and frailty. He has recently retired from clinical practice to concentrate on the applications of Lifestyle Medicine to healthcare. In 2016 he co-founded BSLM, a registered charity, to promote the principles of Lifestyle Medicine to healthcare professionals and the public. He serves as Chairman of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine, President of the European Lifestyle Medicine Council, as Vice President of the Mediterranean Lifestyle Medicine Institute and is a member of the Executive Committee of the World LM Organisation.

Dr. Samandika Saparamadu graduated from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and currently works as a general practitioner in Singapore. He is board certified by the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine. He is a founding member and the president of the Sri Lankan Society of Lifestyle Medicine. He also serves as the Chair of the Asian Lifestyle Medicine Council and the Lifestyle Medicine Research Alliance.

Dr. Catalina Figueroa is a medical doctor from Chile, specializing in internal medicine and holding international certification in lifestyle medicine from IBLM. With a passion for promoting holistic health and well-being, she co-founded and served as the inaugural president of the Chilean Society of Lifestyle Medicine from 2020 to 2022.

Currently residing in the Netherlands, she obtained a MSc title in One Health, focusing on researching the urban exposome and strategies to foster healthier urban living environments and more equitable healthcare services. Her current endeavors include research initiatives at the University Medical Center Utrecht, where she leads the design and implementation of a comprehensive lifestyle program for patients.
Beyond her research pursuits, she continues remote clinical consultations for patients with chronic conditions in Chile and serves on the executive committee of the World Lifestyle Medicine Organization. She also actively contributes to the advancement of lifestyle medicine education in Chile. In her leisure time, she enjoys dancing, running, and embarking on adventurous hiking trips.

Dr Ifeoma Monye is the President and Founder of the Society of Lifestyle Medicine of Nigeria, President and Co-Founder of the African Lifestyle Medicine Council, Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Regional Director of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine, Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners & Sessional NHS GP, Consultant Family Physician at the National Hospital, Abuja and Founder of the Brookfield Centre for Lifestyle Medicine, Abuja, Nigeria. She is one of the pioneer diplomates of Lifestyle Medicine from the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Dr Hung The Nguyen is the current President of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine. He is a General Practitioner who works with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. He is a medical and cultural educator and he sits on a number of healthcare boards. He is the Royal Australian College of General Practitioner 2021 Australian GP of the Year.

Padmaja Patel is a board-certified internist, specializing in lifestyle medicine and healthcare transformation strategies. She currently holds the position of PresidentElect at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), as well as the Vice President role at the World Lifestyle Medicine Organization. In addition, Dr. Patel serves as Vice President of Midland Quality Alliance, an ACO-REACH located in Midland, TX. She is also a member of the National Quality Forum’s 2024 Healthcare Professional Stakeholder Advisory Council and the Endorsement and Maintenance Committee of the Partnership for Quality Measurement. Dr. Patel was a founding member of the advisory board of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s Health Systems Council, and she is currently serving as the Chair of ACLM’s Clinical Practice and Quality Committee. Dr. Patel is a pioneer in the field of Lifestyle Medicine (LM) and has developed innovative care delivery models. Her work includes designing a physician officebased intensive cardiac rehabilitation program and serving as Medical Director of the Lifestyle Medicine Center at Midland Health. She has also held the position of lifestyle medicine Medical Director at Wellvana, a national value-based healthcare organization. Dr. Patel has successfully delivered LM-based ITLC programs for chronic disease remission in both in-person and virtual settings. She is a strong advocate for LM integration within health systems across the patient care continuum and in employee and population health. Her efforts to integrate lifestyle medicine into employee health have resulted in significant cost savings. Additionally, her work in population health helped move the county health rankings for Midland, TX, from #40 in 2016 to #27 in 2022. During her time with Wellvana, Dr. Patel designed LM care delivery models to integrate LM within ACOs and Medicare Advantage. Her contributions have been instrumental in advancing the integration of LM into healthcare systems and improving patient outcomes. Dr. Patel has been awarded the prestigious title of Fellow of ACLM, in recognition of her remarkable contributions to the field of Lifestyle Medicine. Additionally, she has been honored with the 2023 AMWA Inspire Award, which acknowledges her as a source of inspiration for others through her dedication to healthcare, compassionate treatment of patients, leadership, advocacy, and community service. Dr. Patel is a Certified Lifestyle Medicine Intensivist, which is a recognition given to those who have successfully used Lifestyle Medicine as a therapeutic intervention to prevent, treat, and even reverse chronic diseases in individuals, populations, and communities. She is also a co-founder of Healthy City, a non-profit organization aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of plant-based nutrition within her community.

Dr Sarah Caddy is a Director of Chimp Management and a General Practitioner of 11 years. She graduated from the University of Sheffield Medical School in 2002.

Dr Caddy worked as a Partner in a Practice and Executive Business Manager in the West Midlands for 6 years whilst carrying out her clinical work as a doctor.

She continues to work as a practising NHS GP and she has had great success in helping her patients deal with and manage many causes of personal stress; illness and injury, relationships, bereavement, addictions and anxiety and depression.

Dr Caddy has extensive knowledge and experience in creating programmes to meet the needs of each individual audience or team having presented one-off keynotes or a series of workshops for ongoing learning and skill acquisition to improve chances of success for individuals and teams.

Dr William Bird MBE is passionate about getting people active. As a family GP in the 1990s, he pioneered the concept of social prescribing by setting up the first Health Walk scheme, closely followed by the first Green Gym. He quickly found that companionship and contact with nature were major driving forces in keeping people active. William is now a global authority on health and activity, and is an advisor to the World Health Organisation, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and Sport England. Recognising William’s contribution to health and physical, William was awarded an MBE in the 2010 Queen’s New Year Honours and as an Honorary Professor at the University of Exeter in 2021.

In 2010, he set up Intelligent Health, an organisation that has a mission to build healthier, active and more connected communities. Intelligent Health’s flagship programme is Beat the Street, which sees communities transformed into a giant game where players achieve points and prizes by walking, cycling, and scooting around their local area. Beat the Street has had over 1.6 million participants worldwide to date and is backed by research which demonstrates sustained physical activity behaviour change.

Dr Mathilde Touvier is a Research Director at Inserm, principal investigator of the NutriNet-Santé cohort. She is a graduate of AgroParisTech and Doctor in Epidemiology and Public Health. After six years at the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) and one year as a visiting researcher at Imperial College London, she joined the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team CRESS-EREN (U1153 Inserm / Inrae / Cnam / Université Sorbonne Paris Nord / Université Paris Cité), of which she became Director in 2019. She coordinates researches on the links between nutrition and health (e.g. PI of a European Research Council ERC Consolidator Grant 2020-2025 on the impact of industrial food, food additives and food processing on health), with >420 publications in this field. She is expert in several workshops, e.g. at the French National Cancer Institute (INCa), the Ministry of Higher Education and Research (France 2030 ambassador), the international network Global Burden of Disease, and she is member of the Scientific Council of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO-IARC). She received the Inserm Research Prize in 2019 and a prize from the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation in 2021. She has been appointed Professor at the College de France in Public Health for 2022-2023.

Labros Sidossis is a distinguished professor at Rutgers University, with his area being in Wellness and Healthy Lifestyle, Adipose Tissue Metabolism. He specialises on the effect of diet and physical activity on metabolic diseases.
He has various research interests: Lifestyle interventions for the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases; Metabolic regulation after severe burn injury; Functional significance of brown fat activation and browning of white fat; Regulation of VLDL-TG metabolism; Obesity: Epidemiology, prevention and treatment

PhD specialized in epigenetics. Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine in Warsaw and epigenetic biomarkers in menopause project lead at the technology center Eurecat in Catalonia. Engaged in studies on the involvement of naturally derived active metabolites on epigenetic machinery and gene expression regulation. Master’s in biotechnology at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, PhD in genetics and developmental biology at the Autonomous University of Madrid, MBA graduate at IE Business School in Madrid.

Professor Dame Louise Robinson, is an academic GP and Professor of Primary Care and Ageing at Newcastle University. She was the first GP to be awarded a prestigious NIHR Professorship, followed by a NIHR Senior Investigator award. Professor Robinson also holds a UK Regius Professorship in Ageing and was awarded a Dame hood in 2018 for services to the care and research of older people. Louise’s personal research programme is focused on improving quality of life and quality of care for older people, especially those living with dementia. She leads 1 of 3 Alzheimer Society national Centres of Excellence on Dementia Care and a NIHR Global Health group on Dementia Prevention and Care. Louise was primary care lead for the Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge and was a member of the NICE Dementia Care Guidelines development group.

Rupa has been a frontline GP for over 23 years and is the Managing Partner of Woodley Centre Surgery, Co-Clinical Director of Wokingham North PCN, and Deputy Chair of the Berkshire West Primary Care Alliance.

Rupa also works as a Clinical Advisor for the Primary Care Transformation Team at NHS England, and is Transformation Lead for the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Rupa is chair of an NHS Confederation design group exploring workforce and estates in primary care.

Roy Taylor qualified in medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and is Professor of Medicine at Newcastle University. He founded the Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre in 2006 to develop innovative research techniques. Using these new methods, he showed that his 2008 Twin Cycle Hypothesis could be proven in clinical practice. Type 2 diabetes was shown to be a simple, reversible condition of excess fat within liver and pancreas. Subsequently he has extended these observations on the cause of type 2 diabetes and how remission can be achieved. This has led to practical application in the NHS with the national ‘NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission’ programme now well underway.

Between 1986 and 2000, Professor Taylor developed the system now used throughout the United Kingdom for screening for diabetic eye disease, with major reduction in blindness due to diabetes across the UK.

He has published books in lay language explaining type 2 diabetes (eg ‘Life Without Diabetes’) plus training books on retinal screening. He has been invited to deliver many named lectures. He received the 2023 Robert Turner Award for Research Impact.

Javeno Mclean, has been training people for over 22years. STARTED WHEN HE WAS 16! After making the transition from cricketer to personal trainer he is now recognised as one of the most respected , unique, INSPIRATIONAL and passionate trainers in the WORLD. His health centre in BLACKLEY,MANCHESTER has won the GYM OF THE YEAR AWARD 3 X in a row and his work has been broadcast across the UK and now the world. His dream written on a piece of paper over 15 years ago on a piece of paper in his mums kitchen.. after the success of his classes an holding the record for the busiest group exercise class in the UK and the birth of his son; he decided it was time to make that dream come true and open his own facility called J7 HEALTH CENTRE. A family facility that would have a menu of exercise that the entire family could be involved in. He has now become a household name for his life changing work with the disability, cancer, elderly and vulnerable people. Although he is a current team GB POWERLIFTER his no nonsense militant approach to training himself is substituted for an approach that’s far more delicate, loving, understanding and passionate. His main focus is to carry on his nationally recognised work with the disabled and elderly.

MULTI AWARD WINNING
• current TEAM GB powerlifter
• record holder for the BUSIEST GROUP EXERCISE CLASSES IN THE UK
• owner of the 3 x GYM OF THE YEAR
• Winner of the QUEENS JUBILEE COMMUNITY HERO AWARD 2022.
• WORLD RECORD HOLDER FOR THE BIGGEST WHEELCHAIR EXERCISE CLASS.

My name is sheena fraser, I’m a GP partner and trainer with a special interest in dermatology, minor surgery, Lifestyle medicine and microbiome science. I live and work in Glasgow but completed my medical training in Sheffield.

My interest in Lifestyle medicine and microbiome science started in 2018 when I attended my first BSLM conference. I have since completed my diploma in lifestyle medicine, lectured in sleep, taken part in a sleep and microbiome webinars for BSLM in 2021 and presented at the 2021 and 2022 annual BSLM conferences. I write regular blogs for BSLM on lifestyle related topics. I am also involved in medical training of GP trainees and regularly lecture in Dermatology, lifestyle medicine and microbiome science. I am passionate about preventative medicine and applying lifestyle medicine with my patients so started a patient walking group once a week in April 2021.

After 4 years of writing and researching with my fellow microbiome obsessed friend, Siobhan Maccormack, “Gut Microbiome for clinicians” (an online course on the gut microbiome) was published Sept 2022 in collaboration with BSLM. Its aim is educating more health professionals in this fascinating novel field. After realising we were not ready to part ways and had only really touched the surface of microbiome science, Siobhan and I launched the “Microbiome Medics Podcast”. My own clinical practice has changed greatly with my new found microbiome knowledge and I thrive on the excitement of this new field of medicine.

I’m a busy mum to 3 children and am passionate about cooking food from scratch using local produce (often foraged). I am a keen supporter of The Soil Association and value our connection to nature and the need to protect the integrity of our soil and natural ecosystems.

Dr Siobhan McCormack has been a GP partner in the NHS for over 30 years, sufficient time to witness first-hand the tsunami of Non-communicable Chronic Disease derailing the healthcare landscape. Searching for answers, she happened across the British Society of Lifestyle medicine (BSLM) in 2018 and has not looked back since.

She completed the BSLM Diploma in Lifestyle Medicine in 2020 and, thirsty for more knowledge, decided to return to her medical studies and is doing an MSc in Nutritional Medicine at the University of Surrey.

Her passion for all things Microbiome began in 2018 when she accidentally read The Psychobiotic Revolution and discovered she had a rainforest in her colon. Since then, she has been reading and researching the human microbiome and, in the process, has become a UK expert on boring friends and family about the marvels of the trillions of tiny animalcules that inhabit the human gut. Happily, Dr Shiv has found an outlet for her niche microbial enthusiasm by co-authoring this BSLM Gut Microbiome course with the equally nerdy Dr Sheena. This has satisfied her dual passions (Lifestyle Medicine and the Microbiome) whilst sparing her family untold pain.

She has lectured widely, often unsolicited, on Microbiome Science, Sleep and Lifestyle Medicine but this is her first assault into e-learning territory.

Unlike Dr Sheena, Dr Shiv is a rubbish cook and a disinterested gardener but appears obsessed with attending Lifestyle Medicine courses, walking lots, and trying to do bendy yoga stuff.

Dr Federica Amati works as Head Nutritionist and Head of Science Communications for nutrition science company, ZOE. She works clinically as the Head of Nutrition for Curia Health and Well Founded Health. She is a Research Fellow at King’s College London and a lecturer in Nutrition at Imperial College School of Medicine. Dr Fede’s approach focuses on improving dietary quality following the principles of evidence-based, personalised nutrition science for health and disease prevention throughout the life course. Alongside her research and nutrition work, Dr Fede has written two books, Recipes for a Better Menopause and Every Body Should Know This (out April ‘24, Penguin).

Dr Fede holds a PhD in Clinical Medicine Research from Imperial College London, a master’s in Public Health and is an Association for Nutrition (AfN) accredited Nutritionist. She is the Nutrition Topic Lead at Imperial College London School of Medicine where she teaches medical students about the importance of nutrition. Dr Fede has published scientific articles on person centred care, the gut microbiome, the Mediterranean Diet, nutrition in pregnancy, food and mood and the importance of infant health for long term disease prevention.

Dr Fede is a frequent podcast and talk guest as well as a contributing expert for several media outlets including The Times, Financial Times How to Spend It, Vogue, Marie Claire, The Telegraph, The Guardian and Grazia where she focuses on practical ways to harness the power of our daily food choices for better health.

Dr Fede studied Biomedical Sciences with Honors in Pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh, her Master’s in Public Health at Imperial College London, her MSc in Global Health Nutrition from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and her PhD in Clinical Medicine Research from Imperial College London.

Professor Robert Thomas is a full time NHS Consultant Oncologist at Bedford and Addenbrooke’s Hospitals. He is also a Clinical teacher at Cambridge University, a Professor of Sports and Nutritional science at the University of Bedfordshire and author of the book “How to Live”.

He manages patients with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormones and biological targeted treatments but incorporates nutritional and lifestyle strategies into routine management to enhance their effect, reduce side effects and improve outcomes.

In addition, he is head of a Lifestyle and Cancer Research Unit which designs and conducts government and university approved scientific studies which evaluate the impact of exercise, diet, gut health and natural therapies on cancer, long covid other chronic diseases and exercise performance. He is currently chief investigator of the national covid vaccine nutritional intervention study and the YourPhyto study evaluating phytochemical and probiotic strategies to improve gut health and their impact on prostate cancer progression. The scientific papers from this research, can be reviewed on cancernet.co.uk/rthomas.htm.

He has been awarded the UK’s “Hospital Doctor of the Year”, The British Oncology Association “Oncologist of the Year” and The Royal College of Radiologist Research Medal. He is a proud Fellow of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Mike Banna is a GP partner, trainer and Training Programme Director in West Sussex, and is a BSLM regional director.

Amanda is a Professor of Behavioural Medicine and an NIHR Research Professor in Public Health. She is also the Director of the Centre for Lifestyle Medicine and Behaviour (CLiMB) at Loughborough University (https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/climb/). Her work is focused on investigating the effects of lifestyle interventions on health outcomes and she is the chief investigator on several on-going trials that are examining the effectiveness of public health based physical activity and weight management interventions. Amanda is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and a Registered Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council. Amanda has published more than 180 papers and has been awarded significant grant funding during her career. Amanda provides expert guidance to health charities and is a scientific panel member for Yorkshire Cancer Research. She is also an advisor to the British Society for Lifestyle Medicine. Her work also has a global perspective where she has been using her expertise in Africa to help shape and promote healthy lifestyles in this region. Amanda is a keen runner and enjoys listening to all types of music, as well as watching cricket and tennis.

Prof Craig Ritchie is Founder and CEO of Scottish Brain Sciences, Professor of Brain Health and Neurodegenerative Medicine at the University of St Andrew’s, and the Honorary Professor of the Psychiatry of Ageing at the University of Edinburgh, having moved from his role as Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Mental Health at Imperial College London in October 2014. He completed his PhD at UCL through an MRC Health Services Research Fellowship and was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Old Age Psychiatry at Imperial College London in 2007. He has also served as R&D Director at West London Mental Health Trust from 2010-14 and Deputy Director of the London Northwest NIHR Clinical Research Network. In 2014 he was appointed as Chair in Psychiatry of Ageing at the University of Edinburgh. In 2015 he established the Centre for Dementia Prevention and that year took on the academic leadership role of the EPAD (European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia) Programme. Between 2017 and 2022 he was the elected Chair of the Scottish Dementia Research Consortium and in 2020 he founded and was the inaugural Director of Brain Health Scotland. He has published over 400 academic papers, conference abstracts and book chapters and secured approximately €100M of grant funding in his career to date.

His main research interest is the interface between clinical trials and translational epidemiology (cohort studies) with a drive to develop the infrastructures at a national level (in Scotland) to prepare health systems and prosecute rapid ‘research into practice’ programmes. He is a pioneer and leading advocate for the Brain Health Movement that works across the life course from primary to secondary prevention of late-stage neurodegenerative disease. This involved working at a public health and policy level as well as developing and implementing Brain Health Clinics across Scotland following ‘The Scottish Model for Brain Health Services’. This work has led Scotland to being one of the Flagship Countries in the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative for Health Care Readiness.

He established Scottish Brain Sciences in summer 2022 to accelerate the development of both diagnostics and therapeutics for early-stage neurodegenerative disease and moved full time into the role of CEO of this company in January 2023.

I am a clinical academic, working with people with suspected or confirmed dementia and their families. My work is interdisciplinary and considers mechanisms through epidemiological and biopsychosocial enquiry, using them to co-design evidence-based interventions and test them. I lead the Lancet Standing Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care, 2017 and 2020 with the next commisison planned for 2024. These produced new research and meta-analyses of life-course risk and an overview of current knowledge on interventions. The findings have substantial implications in preventing and delaying a significant proportion of dementia. They have resulted in changes in, for example, WHO, UK and US policy which aim to reduce dementia risk. I also research interventions to improve the lives of people with dementia and their families and staff caring for them and particularly consider underserved and minority communities. START for family carers has long-lasting effects on depression and anxiety symptoms, increases quality of life, is cost-effective and might save money.We are awaiting results from DREAMS START led by Penny Rappaport and m, aiming to improve sleep in family carers. Sergi Costafreda and I lead the ENHANCE study aiming to improve cognition in underserved midlife and older people.

Eef’s research interests are in early dementia screening and treatment, and she has set up collaborations with UK universities in Oxford, Cambridge, and London, and multiple partners abroad, e.g., in Shanghai China, Bangalore India, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta Indonesia, and Perth Australia, to assess her test battery. This research includes the use of standardized questionnaires to investigate risk and protective factors for dementia and age-related cognitive decline, which is funded by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust and other bodies, such as the New Dynamics of Ageing (investigating the use of ICT). Eef is also involved in exercise, sex steroid, and nutritional treatment programs to improve cognitive function and mood in the elderly (e.g., KEEPS funded by NIA in the USA).

Mr. Ampat works as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust and as a Clinical Teacher at the School of Medicine, University of Liverpool. Mr. Ampat is the lead for the Musculoskeletal Special Interest Group of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine. Though a surgeon by training and practice, Mr Ampat now specialises in treating people with spine, feet and other musculoskeletal problems without surgical intervention and with lifestyle modification. For seniors with generalised musculoskeletal pain, he has developed a functional rehab programme called “FREE FROM PAIN” (aka Fear Reduction Exercise Early with Food from plants, Rest and relaxation, Organisation [family & friends] and Motivation [Ikigai] to help with Pain from Arthritis and to Increase Natural strength – https://www.freefrompain.org.uk/ ). “Free from pain” combines the knowledge from the blue zones with the fusion of three different exercise programmes, including the Otago exercise programme. Mr. Ampat has written books published in peer-reviewed medical journals and lectures both nationally and internationally. Outside work, he enjoys time with his wife and two daughters. Mr. Ampat attends church regularly and occasionally preaches on Sundays. He derives his inspiration from his eldest daughter, Talita, who is profoundly handicapped and wheelchair-bound due to Cerebral Palsy.

David was appointed as the inaugural Director of the Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) in May 2019, tasked with establishing and developing CPOC as a genuinely cross-organisational, multidisciplinary initiative delivering perioperative care for true patient benefit. CPOC is hosted by the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA), and in his second 3-year term, David continues to drive forward transformational change across the perioperative patient journey.

Prior to becoming Director of CPOC, David was the Chairman of the RCoA Clinical Directors’ Network, a national network of medical leaders in anaesthesia, intensive care, and pain management. He continues to sit on the College Council and is also a representative on several major Royal College quality, safety and professional standards committees. David lectures locally, regionally and nationally on perioperative care and also on medical leadership.

David is currently the Executive Medical Director at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where he is committed to raising the clinical voice across the Trust and wider Integrated Healthcare Systems. He is also the Trust’s Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO), Caldicott Guardian and was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive in April 2022.

Prior to joining Sherwood Forest Hospitals in 2019, David was the Deputy Medical Director at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust for 2 ½ years. This followed an extensive career within the Trust as Divisional Director, Clinical Director and Head of Service, dealing with the various competing demands of medical leadership and management across a complex organisation. His clinical background is anaesthesia, perioperative care and adult critical care.

Before embarking on his leadership journey, David was a Regional Advisor for 8 years, an inaugural Intensive Care Medicine Training Programme Director and a Faculty Tutor.

Dr Angharad Kate Woolley joined BSLM in 2022 as the Learning Academy Director. She qualified as a GP in 2019 and works in a medium sized practice on the outskirts of Nottingham. She teaches at the University of Leicester, on the subject of lifestyle medicine and works with Nottinghamshire Alliance Training Hub, on their social prescribing educational community of practice, for link workers across the county. She is also active in research and is currently completing an NIHR In-Practice Fellowship at the Leicester Diabetes Centre. Her research is in the area of patient education to facilitate lifestyle change in cardio metabolic disease. In addition to her passion for Lifestyle Medicine, she has a strong interest in global health, having worked and volunteered in a number of countries and spent 3 years on the RCGP Junior International Committee. She is passionate about reducing the influence of socioeconomic deprivation on a person’s ability to follow a healthy lifestyle.

Dr Wendy Sweet (PhD) has been an award-winning presenter and educator in the New Zealand exercise industry for over 30 years. Her doctoral studies were through the Faculty of Health, Sport and Human Performance at the University of Waikato, where she lectured for a number of years in sport and exercise physiology, nutrition and health promotion. She has also presented at the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine conferences in the past. Her menopause and post-menopause lifestyle science courses empower women the world-over to understand lifestyle-science specific to the menopause transition and her more recent CPD/CEC lifestyle science courses for Health Practitioners sell out in days.

Dr Shacaluga is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and Lifestyle Medicine Physician, with over 16 years’ experience in women’s health. Amy has always been committed to the pursuit of evidence-based, holistic approach to medical care, especially when it comes to the health of her patients.

Dr Shacaluga works at The University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff and focuses on Haematology in Obstetrics care, Obstetric Diabetes as well as High risk obstetrics.

My scientific integrative approach to health ensures that I look at wellness from an “upstream” perspective. I am increasingly aware of how disease needs to be seen from many angles within a multidisciplinary team setting. It is apparent to me that we cannot continue to keep plastering over health issues with pharmaceuticals – dealing purely with symptom control without looking at the “how” or “why” of the development of those symptoms. While I advocate the need for hormones and medicines in appropriate circumstances, I believe that each patient is unique and that one size does not fit all.

My long-term goal is to empower women to take ownership of their health goals and concerns, affording them the opportunity to future-proof their health. Modern medicine should be about health prevention and improved well-being of patients not just treating their symptoms.

Dr Katerina Bambang MRCOG PhD is a Consultant Gynaecologist and Subspecialist in Reproductive Medicine at the Hewitt Fertility Centre and Recurrent Pregnancy Loss Clinics based at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, UK. She also has a Paediatric Gynaecology practice at one of the largest tertiary paediatric hospitals, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital NHS Trust.

Following graduation from the University of Birmingham in 2003, Katerina began training in Obstetrics & Gynaecology taking time out to complete a PhD at the University of Leicester which was awarded in 2014. She underwent core training in Birmingham and Manchester hospitals and then undertook subspecialty training in reproductive medicine and surgery at the Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust. She completed this in 2018 and was appointed there as a consultant in 2019.

She is lead for fertility preservation for children and young adults and is a founding member of the Northern Consortium for Fertility Preservation. She has published in a range of peer reviewed journals and has also contributed to books. Her research interests currently focus on the role of nutrition in early pregnancy and miscarriage.

She has a special interest in all areas of fertility care especially reproductive endocrinology as well as recurrent pregnancy loss and the emerging field of integrative gynaecology.

Kate Valentine is mother of 4, NHS nurse for 24 years and founder of Singing Mamas -a national non-profit movement for maternal well-being.
Kate trains and nurtures women to become leaders and supports them to establish and lead song-sharing communities. These grass-roots community leaders become role models to other women and mothers, supporting and empowering them to improve their own well-being through the singing mamas, evidence-based approach to group singing.

Kate’s vision to have every new and expectant mother prescribed a course of group singing, funded by the NHS is her North Star. The steps she has taken over the past decade and the massive success of Singing Mamas within communities, primary care and within nurse education demonstrates that her passion for creative health is shared by many.

Dr Sam Manger is a clinical and academic General Practitioner and Consultant with a focus on lifestyle medicine and mental health. He is the Academic Lead of the Postgraduate Degrees in Lifestyle Medicine at James Cook University College of Medicine and Dentistry, as well as the Immediate Past-President of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine. He is an Ambassador for the Federal Government initiative Equally Well Australia, Advisory Group Member of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Shaping a Healthy Australia project and Handbook of Non-Drug Interventions (HANDI), host of The GP Show podcast for health professionals and was awarded the RACGP QLD GP of the Year in 2021.

Regius Professor of Physic, Professor of Medical Gerontology Trinity College Dublin and Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing, St James’s Hospital Dublin

Rose Anne Kenny is Regius Professor of Physic (Medicine) and holds the Chair of Medical Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin. She is the founding Principal Investigator of The Irish LongituDinal study on Ageing (TILDA) and Director of the Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing (MISA) at St. James’s Hospital, where she is also director of a large national falls and syncope and autonomic function laboratory. She is Director of the new WHO Centre for Longitudinal Studies in Ageing and the Lifecourse.

TILDA includes extensive research of physiological determinants of the ageing process as a measure of biological ageing.

She is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, London and Ireland, a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology, Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine Ireland, and was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She has received a number of international awards and has published widely, authoring over 600 publications including, her recently published book “Age Proof – The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life” which was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2022. In 2020, she was elected President of the Irish Gerontological Society. In 2022 she was nominated 24th Regius Professor of Physic at TCD (1637), the first female nominee.

Barbara grew up in Northern Ireland and graduated from Nottingham University Medical School in 1997 with BMedSci (hons) BM BS. She completed her GP training in 2001 and is a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners. She currently works as a GP Partner in an inner city training practice in Edinburgh. She has a particular interest in how lifestyle affects health and strives to help her patients make positive lifestyle changes that enhance their health and wellbeing. Barbara completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Obesity Care in 2016.

Bogdan is a British physician, currently working as the Clinical Lead and Global Director of the National Academy for Social Prescribing which was founded in 2019 by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Bogdan has played a key role in the development of Social Prescribing in England since 2015 through establishing and chairing the NHS England Social Prescribing Champion Scheme (2015-2022) consisting of over 20,000 doctors, medical and healthcare trainees championing the subject in their own institution.

His work has influenced national and international healthcare policy and has been instrumental to spreading and scaling social prescribing globally by hosting delegations and ministerial visits from over 30 countries, as well as implementing social prescribing in the core curricula of the majority of universities and medical schools within the UK. Bogdan has contributed to several peer-reviewed publications and policy documents, including the NHS Long Term Plan, the Personalised Care Model, GP Partnership Review, as well as authoring three books on medical education.

As an Honorary Lecturer, Bogdan currently lectures at University College London as part of the MASc on Creative Health. In addition, he holds teaching roles at Imperial College London, Harvard Global Health Institute, and has recently been named ‘Top 100 Most Influential People in Health’ in the UK (Health Service Journal Top 100, 2022).

Rachel became Chief Executive of the Patients Association in 2017, bringing with her over 20 years’ experience of health and social care in the not-for-profit sector.

She has overseen a significant period of change at the Association. Rachel is a member of the NHS Assembly and also a member of several national health bodies.

Fraser is Consultant Rheumatologist Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Honorary Professor of Lifestyle Medicine & Innovation Newcastle University, Visiting Professor Northumbria University, Adjunct Professor Southern Cross University

Engagement Lead, MRC-Versus Arthritis Centre for Integrated Research into Musculoskeletal Ageing, Director of Science & Research, British Society of Lifestyle Medicine. Editor-in-Chief, Wiley open access journal ‘Lifestyle Medicine’. Senior author of An Essential Book of MCQs for Certification in Lifestyle Medicine.

Clinician, educator & researcher: PhD, Dip Clin Ed and the highest UK educational recognition, Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. British Society for Rheumatology Young Investigator & Innovation in Development awards, plus Arthritis Research UK Epidemiology Training Fellowship, plus Royal College of Physicians Excellence in Patient Care Awards Lancet Research Award (shortlist) for whole pathway group consultations work. Sir Jules Thorn Trust funded NIHR CRN-adopted national evaluation study. Inaugural Fellowship of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine and passionate advocate for Lifestyle Medicine globally.