Council

Neil Mortensen is Professor of Colorectal Surgery in the University of Oxford Medical School and has been on the staff of the Oxford University Hospitals since 1987, where he is currently honorary consultant colorectal surgeon. He is Fellow of Green Templeton College. Since his appointment in Oxford he campaigned for the recognition of colorectal surgery as a specialty and created the present department. He trained in Birmingham, Bristol and St Mark’s Hospital, and has clinical and research interests in a wide range of colorectal diseases. In 1980 he was awarded a Paul Hawley International Guest Scholarship with the American College of Surgeons. He is Past Chair of the British Journal of Surgery Society, President of the Ileostomy Association, and has been Past President of the Association of Coloproctology GBI and the Coloproctology Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. He is immediate past Editor in Chief of Colorectal Disease. He is an honorary member of a number of national and international surgical societies. He founded the first patient association for those with ileoanal pouches, the Kangaroo Club, in 2000 and in 2004 the charity OCCTOPUS – Oxford Colon Cancer Trust which supports education, research and new technology. He became a member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2013, and a member of the Trustee Board in 2016. In 2017 he was appointed Vice President, and in 2020 he was appointed President.

Tim Mitchell studied medicine at Brasenose College, Oxford before training in otolaryngology in Oxford, London, Cambridge and Sydney. He was awarded the inaugural Graham Fraser Memorial Fellowship to work with Professor William Gibson in the field of cochlear implantation. He was appointed as Consultant Otolaryngologist in Southampton in 2000 and has a subspecialty interest in cochlear and other auditory implants with the University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service. He has been an RCS Regional Specialty Professional Advisor, member of Council of ENT UK, Vice Chair of the Clinical Reference Group for Specialised Ear Services and a member of the Specialist Advisory Committee for Otolaryngology. He has been an MRCS examiner since 2004 and was Chair of the Court of Examiners from 2014 to 2017. He was elected to Council in 2017. He is a trustee of ENT UK and an honorary member of the Medical Women’s Federation. He was appointed Vice President in 2020.

Tim Goodacre qualified from St Thomas’s Hospital in 1978 following a BSc year in Psychology. After training in General Surgery as Registrar at the Brook Hospital, two years in rural Tanzania led to training in Reconstructive Plastic Surgery. Appointed to the Radcliffe Infirmary in 1991, he has seen the department grow from 3 to 21 consultants. His specialist interest has been the management of Cleft Lip and Palate, the Oxford team being one of 9 nationally designated centres for cleft care since 2000. Research and lecturing interests include the psychosocial impact of early behaviour on children with facial disfigurement, foetal MR imaging, and the development of a comprehensive outcome measure for cleft care (Cleft Q). He also conceived of a novel self-inflating tissue expander that is now under commercial development (Oxtex). Alongside clinical interests, he is an enthusiastic teacher within the medical school, and has been Regional Specialty Advisor for postgraduate training, President of BAPRAS, and latterly Chair of Professional Standards for the specialty. He has served on numerous advisory groups for plastic surgery (including the Healing Foundation Cleft Collective), and is a member of the Council and Cases Committee of the Medical Defence Union. He is civilian consultant advisor to the Army, and BAPRAS elected representative on UEMS and the EBOPRAS examination board. He is a senior assessor for the Intercollegiate Board in Plastic Surgery examination. He is a Chair of Interface Uganda charity, a trustee of the Semiliki Trust, and member of Restore scientific advisory committee. Elected by BAPRAS Council to serve on the RCS Council in May 2015. He was appointed Vice President in 2020.

Fiona Myint is a Consultant Vascular Surgeon based at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Having qualified at Guy’s Hospital, she trained in General and Vascular Surgery in London. She has a keen interest in surgical education having been a Surgical Tutor, Trust Divisional Director of Education, Trust Undergraduate Teaching Lead, Core Surgery Training Programme Director, General Surgery Training Programme Director and General Surgery SAC member. Fiona has been involved in undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum development and has been an examiner for MB BS and the MRCS for many years. She has sat on the National Selection Boards for both Core Surgery and General Surgery and holds a Masters in Clinical Education and SFHEA. She is keen to encourage undergraduates into surgical training and is the patron of the UCL Surgical Society. More recently she has developed the Harvard Surgical Leadership Program for Harvard Medical School. She was most honoured when the late Professor Jerry Kirk asked her to update his book ‘Basic Surgical Techniques’ and was pleased that he lived to see the book win the BMJ Book Prize for Surgery in 2019. Above all she is a full-time practicing vascular surgeon serving the populations of the Royal Free and the Whittington Hospitals.

Mr Garrett was elected to the role by the Faculty Board in October, and will serve a three year term to 2023. He is a consultant in restorative dentistry at the Eastman Dental Hospital, and served as President of the British Society for Restorative Dentistry in 2017-18. He was elected to the Board of the Faculty in 2015, having previously sat as its invited representative for trainees between 2006 and 2010, and most recently served as the Faculty’s Senior Vice Dean. Mr Garrett succeeds Professor Michael Escudier, who steps down at the end of his term of office having led the Faculty’s high profile campaigns to improve children’s and older people’s oral health.

Richard Kerr qualified from The London Hospital, and trained in surgery and neurosurgery in London, Northampton, Oxford and Melbourne. Based at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, he has been consultant for 24 years. With a wide cranial and spinal practice, he has subspecialty interests in skull base tumours, oncology and vascular disease. He devised and runs the Oxford Skull Base Practice and is a member of the NFII clinic, a nationally co-ordinated regional service. Research has led to publication of over 40 peer reviewed articles and 15 book chapters. He was Co-Principal Investigator in the MRC funded International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT). The publication of this trial has led to a global change in the management of aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage, with invitations to speak to learned societies from all over the world. Active in management, and a recently trained civil and commercial mediator, he has been Lead Clinician of the Neurosurgical Department, Clinical Centre Chairman of the Radcliffe Infirmary and Chairman of the Relocation Steering Committee of Services to the John Radcliffe Hospital. Elected to the Council of the Society of British Neurological Surgeons (SBNS) in 2003, he was appointed Treasurer of the SBNS in 2010 and Member of the Neurosurgical SAC in 2011. He is President-Elect of the SBNS, taking up office of President of the SBNS from September 2014. With interests in co-operation between the specialist surgical associations, audit and surgical outcome data, he was elected to council of The Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2013.

Consultant Plastic Surgeon Professor Vivien Lees was elected to College Council in 2014. She is Professor of Plastic Surgery at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester where she is specialty lead and has clinical interests in hand surgery including wrist, rheumatoid and children’s hand disorders. Her principal scientific interests are in functional anatomy of the distal radioulnar joint and forearm biomechanics. She gave the Hunterian Oration at the College in 2010 on this work. She is past Editor of the European Journal of Hand Surgery. Professor Lees was an undergraduate in Oxford and undertook clinical studies in Cambridge qualifying in 1985. She underwent plastic surgery training in Billericay and Leeds/Bradford before undertaking an overseas fellowship in Louisville, Kentucky. Having previously served as Chair of the SAC Plastic Surgery, Professor Lees has been an active member of the Councils of BAPRAS, BSSH and BAAPS. She has also acted as Examiner for the Intercollegiate Specialty examination in Plastic Surgery. Professor Lees is President British Society for Surgery of the Hand for 2014/15. She has particular interests in the development of educational programmes and led the development of the Postgraduate Diploma in Hand Surgery and the rewriting and reconfiguration of the Plastic Surgery Curriculum in its current modular format. Duties on College Council include Academic & Research Committee, Patient Safety Committee and International Committee. She is particularly concerned with issues of access to surgical careers of the UK in the face of rising costs of training. Recreations include hill walking, PPL, history and pottery.

Tim Rockall qualified in Medicine at Guys Hospital London in 1988. He undertook a period of research at The Royal College of Surgeons of England and trained predominantly in the North West Thames region. He was appointed Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London in the department of Surgical Technology and Oncology and Honorary Consultant at St. Mary's Hospital in 2000 and then Consultant Surgeon at The Royal Surrey County Hospital Guildford in 2003. He was appointed Professor of Surgery at Surrey University in 2004. He specialises in laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgery and has a particular interest and expertise in laparoscopic colorectal surgery. He has held the position of Director of the Minimal Access Therapy Unit (mattu) in Guildford since 2003 and also has an active research programme within the fields of minimally invasive surgery, new technology and enhanced recovery after surgery. He is a past President of The Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. Tim Rockall was elected to Council in 2015.

Ananda Nanu trained in the north-east of England and Liverpool, completing a masters degree in Orthopaedic surgery. He led the reconstruction of the pelvic and acetabular service in Sunderland, providing a surgical service for the management of this complex traumatic injury until the establishment of the MTC in Newcastle. He was a Council Member of the British Orthopaedic Association from 2013 to 2018 and president of the association for 2017-2018. He has contributed to a number of reputable publications, and is a chapter author of the Oxford Textbook of Orthopaedics (2011). He runs a private practice from Spire Washington Hospital.

Nick Phillips has been a neurosurgeon in Leeds since 1997. He previously trained in molecular biology in London with an interest in neurochemistry. He trained in Medicine in Edinburgh and Surgery in Leeds under the old system. His postgraduate training has been in Melbourne, Pittsburgh, Marseille and Stockholm. In Leeds he was Clinical Director of neurosurgery for seven years and is currently the training program director for neurosurgery in Yorkshire and Humberside. His specialist clinical interests are endoscopic surgery for pituitary tumours and radiosurgery for benign intracranial tumours. He is a council member of the Society of British Neurosurgeons with a special interest in national audit and outcomes. Appointed to Council of the Royal College of Surgeons in 2015 he is proud to represent neurosurgery. He is neurosurgical lead for the GIRFT program.

Stella Vig is a Consultant Vascular and General Surgeon at Croydon University Hospital. She was born in Bangor, North Wales and trained at the University of Wales College of Medicine, undertaking an intercalated BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry and qualifying in 1991. She undertook research culminating in an MCh at St Georges Hospital, London. She was appointed as a consultant in 2006. Stella has a strong interest in training and encouraging medical students and foundation years to pursue a career in surgery. She is keen to ensure that all trainees, whether male or female, are able to develop a harmonious balance between family and career. She has been the Foundation Program Director at Croydon Univesity Hospital for 10 years and holds many roles including those of Core Surgery and Higher Surgery Training Programme Director, JCST Chair for Core Surgery and General Surgery SAC member. Stella was awarded the NHS Leadership Academy London Mentor of the Year in 2015. She was also named as one of the Women of the Year. She is one of three Clinical Directors for Croydon and is keen to see efficiency and excellence in patient care within the NHS. She is passionate about foot problems in patients with renal and diabetic disease and won the BMJ Leadership Award in 2010. She Co-Chairs the London Diabetic Foot Network within the Diabetes Strategic Clinical Network and is a trustee for the College of Chiropodists and Podiatrists. She was elected to Council in 2016.

William Allum was elected to Council in 2017. He is Consultant Upper GI surgeon at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London. Following undergraduate and postgraduate training in Birmingham, he spent time at MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas. His main area of clinical interests is in oesophageal and gastric cancer, with a focus on perioperative multimodality therapy and has written and lectured extensively on upper GI cancer. He is the past President of the Association of Upper GI Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (AUGIS). He is currently Chair of NHS England Specialist Cancer Surgery Clinical Reference Group. He is a member of the Board of the European Society of Surgical Oncology and Council member of the International Gastric Cancer Association as joint coordinator of the European chapter. He has had a career long interest in training and has been Chair of the General Surgery SAC, Director of the Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum Programme (ISCP) and latterly Chair of the Joint Committee on Surgical Training. He is the Council lead for the Improving Surgical Training pilot project. He has recently been appointed visiting Professor at the new Kent and Medway Medical School. He has also worked with the GMC Education division and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, jointly chairing the working group on the implementation of the GMC Generic Professional Capabilities and currently chairing the Flexibility and Transferability in postgraduate medical training working group.

Peter Friend is Professor of Transplantation at the University of Oxford, Fellow of Green Templeton College, consultant in Transplant and Hepatobiliary surgery at Oxford University Hospitals, and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He trained at the University of Cambridge and St Thomas’ Hospital, London and carried out junior hospital posts in London and East Anglia. After specialist training, he worked as Visiting Assistant Professor of Surgery, Indiana University, USA, returning to the UK as Lecturer in Surgery, University of Cambridge, where he was also Fellow and Director of Studies in Medicine at Magdalene College. He moved to Oxford in 1999, where in addition to clinical activities, he heads a translational research group focusing on organ preservation/reconditioning and novel immunosuppressive strategies. He is author of more than 300 papers on clinical and scientific aspects of transplantation and general surgery. As Director of the Oxford Transplant Centre, he has introduced new clinical programmes including pancreatic and intestinal transplantation. Previously he has served as President of the British Transplantation Society, Thames Valley Training Programme Director (General Surgery) and Council member (Europe) of the Transplantation Society. In 2008 he co-founded OrganOx Ltd, a spin-out company from the University of Oxford, established to translate University research in the area of normothermic organ perfusion into clinical practice.

Professor Robert Sayers FRCS (Vascular Society representative)

Professor Farah Bhatti OBE is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Morriston Hospital, Swansea and the Equality and Diversity Director and Careers Lead for Graduate Entry Medicine at Swansea University Medical School. She read Medicine at Somerville College, Oxford and completed her clinical training at Jesus College, Cambridge. She trained at a number of prestigious units including The Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, and has an MD in Transplantation from Cambridge. Farah is passionate about teaching, training and equality. She is an Examiner for the FRCS(CTh) and Chair of the Women in Surgery Forum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Professor Pete Sagar qualified from Leeds Medical School with Honours, after initially gaining a First Class Honours degree in Pathology. He trained in Leeds completing an MD in IBD surgery, for which he won the Patey Prize at the Surgical Research Society, Liverpool and the Mayo Clinic where he was Chief Resident before joining the staff at St James’s University Hospital, Leeds where he has enthusiastically developed laparoscopic surgery as well as a tertiary practice in advanced/recurrent colorectal cancer. He has previously been Hon. Secretary of ACPGBI, Director of Emergency Surgery ASGBI, Regional Director for Royal College of Surgeons of England and on the Specialist Advisory Committee for General Surgery. He is currently President-in Waiting for ACPGBI and the Specialist Society (ASGBI) Council Member at the Royal College of Surgeons. He is a Consultant Surgeon at Leeds Teaching Hospitals and Professor of Colorectal Surgery at The University of Leeds and has published over 200 papers and 30 book chapters.

Paul Spraggs qualified from the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in 1987 and trained in Otolaryngology at the Middlesex Hospital and Royal National ENT Hospitals, Charing Cross and the Royal Marsden Hospitals with fellowships in Helsinki and Miami. He was appointed as Consultant ENT surgeon at Hampshire Hospitals NHSFT in 1998 and as Head and Neck surgeon at Royal Surrey County Hospital in 2007. He has been Clinical Director for Head and Neck services in Hampshire Hospitals since 2012. He has held the positions of Training Programme Director and served on the SAC for Otolaryngology during which time he was integral in the rewriting of the Otolaryngology Curriculum. He is Chair of the Reconstructive and Aesthetic Training Interface Group (TIG). Moreover, he has been an examiner for the JCIE since 2011 and been on the question writing and standard setting committee

Stephen Dover qualified in medicine and dentistry from the University of Birmingham. He undertook training in Liverpool and London, passing his Fellowship in Dental Surgery in 1984 and his FRCS in 1992, both from RCS England. Stephen completed specialist training in oral and maxillofacial surgery and following cleft and craniofacial fellowships was appointed as a consultant to both the Queen Elizabeth and Birmingham Children’s Hospitals in 1996. He continues to work in both of these centres where his practice is based on the management of complex paediatric and adult facial deformity. Stephen was a former Chair of the SAC in OMFS and a past President of both the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the European Society of Craniofacial Surgery.

John Skinner qualified at King’s College Hospital School of Medicine in 1988. He was appointed a senior lecturer at the Institute of Orthopaedics in 1999 and consultant at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, before becoming Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery. In 2004 he was awarded the ABC travelling fellowship to the United States of America. He is a member of the International Hip Society (100 members worldwide). His research interests have included DVT prevention, metal on metal hips and aspects of reconstruction and implant design after lower limb surgery. At the RNOH Stanmore he has chaired the Infection Control Committee and the Medical Staff Committee. He chaired the MHRA Expert Advisory Committee advising on metal bearing hips for 10 years and has been the advisor to the British Hip Society and the BOA on metal hips for the last 15 years. He is a co-director of the London Implant Retrieval Centre. He has served as President of the British Hip Society. He is a Trustee and Vice President of the British Orthopaedic Association and a Trustee of ARMA (Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance). He sits on the NICE guideline committee on joint replacement surgery. John is a member of the Editorial Board of the Bone and Joint Journal and reviews papers for seven journals worldwide.

Jonathan Glass qualified from St Mary’s Hospital medical School, London in 1989. He became a fellow of this college in 1993, and in 1999 was appointed as a consultant urologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals. He has a special interest in kidney stone disease, particularly stone disease in patients with complex neurological disorders and operates on children with kidney stones at the Evelina Children’s hospital. He has been a training programme director for South Thames, has sat on the Surgical Advisory Committee in urology, and has been a committee member of the Section of Endourology of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS), holding the position of chair of that committee from 2017-2019. He is a member BAUS council and was elected by BAUS membership to be the representative of BAUS to the Council of the RCS in 2019. As well as publishing on various aspects of urinary tract stone disease, Jonathan also writes opinion pieces for the British Medical Journal and other journals.

Victoria Pegna is an ST8 LTFT colorectal surgery registrar in the KSS deanery. She has a Biology BSc from UCL and MSc in Neuroscience, then studied medicine at Imperial College. She completed her junior years at St Mary’s, leaving to work in trauma in Sydney, Australia before returning to core training in Bristol, followed by her registrar posts in Sussex & Surrey. Elected to Council in 2019 Victoria quickly co-founded the Sustainability in Surgery committee and is an active environmentalist. She served as full panel member on the Kennedy report in 2021 with the aim to improve equality and diversity within Council and throughout the surgical workforce. She actively campaigns to widen participation through her position on the Women in Surgery Forum and the Worshipful Company of Barbers’ charitable award programmes and ventures.

Mr Ahmed Ahmed is a Consultant Bariatric Surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHT). After qualifying from UCL Medical School, he trained in general and upper GI surgery in London and at Stanford University (surgical resident) and the University of Rochester (MIS Fellowship) in the US. His main areas of interest are in complex revisional bariatric surgeries. He trains other surgeons in the field of bariatric surgery, runs the RCS England senior clinical fellowship in bariatric surgery at ICHT and is on the faculty of numerous courses on bariatric surgery. Ahmed is actively involved in bariatric surgery research having completed a PhD degree in mechanisms of complications after gastric bypass surgery at Imperial College London. He is a clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College London and has more than 200 publications in peer reviewed journals. His research interests include bariatric embolisation (EMBIO trial), low pressure surgery, the OR Black Box, tele-monitoring of patients post discharge and internal hernias. He was recently awarded a NIHR EME grant for his EMBIO trial. He is the clinical specialty lead for surgery for NW London and is a member of council of the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS).

Professor Peter Brennan is a NHS Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon in Portsmouth, specialising in head and neck oncology with a personal chair for his research and education achievements. He is a committed trainer and educator, collaborating across specialties and disciplines. Peter is Lead Editor of the new Gray’s Surgical Anatomy textbook and supervises important MRCS predictive validity and differential attainment research for the four Surgical Colleges. He has been Surgical Specialty Association (BAOMS) President, Chairman of the English College Court of Examiners and Intercollegiate Committee Chair for MRCS and DOHNS. He has recently led the MRCS major review. Peter is interested in human factors (HF) and patient safety, establishing unique collaborations with airline pilots, National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (Red Arrows). His work improves practice across surgical and medical specialties and includes reducing hierarchy, enhancing team working and raising awareness of many personal factors to reduce medical error. In 2019, he was awarded a PhD entitled ‘Applying HF to Improve Patient Safety.’ He promotes equality, women in surgery, trainees and SAS grades at every opportunity. Peter says that he 'is humbled, honoured, slightly daunted but excited at this great opportunity to join College Council'.

Rachel Hargest is an academic colorectal surgeon at the Cardiff China Medical Research Collaborative. Her clinical interests include anal cancer and AIN, advanced colorectal cancer, polyposis and other familial cancers and intestinal failure, for which the team in Cardiff won the BMJ Gastroenterology Team of the Year Award 2015. She is an expert teacher and trainer of students and junior surgeons. In 2019 she was awarded the inaugural FST Medal by the Faculty of Surgical Trainers of RCS Edinburgh in recognition of exceptional and long-standing contribution to surgical training. In 2017 she was presented with the Silver Scalpel Award, given by ASIT to the best surgical trainer in the UK. Her research interests include genetic changes in colorectal, gastric and lung cancer metastases, early diagnosis of colorectal cancer, gene therapy, anal fistula and the role of guidelines in controlling surgical practice. She supervises both MD and PhD students in Cardiff and Beijing. She is a trustee of SARS, and a member of many professional associations, including ACPGBI, ASGBI, BSG, Royal Society of Medicine (Past President of Surgery Section 2016-17, and former Trustee 2012-19) and The British Society of Gene and Stem Cell Therapy.

Professor Ian Loftus was trained as an academic vascular surgeon in Leicester and moved to London to help develop a regional complex aortic surgery programme. He is now Professor of Vascular Surgery at St George’s, University of London. He is Past-President of the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Society for Endovascular Therapy. He has been involved in the development of the UK National Vascular Registry (NVR) including publication of outcomes, and is Chair of the NVR Programme Board. He is currently Deputy-Chair of the National Clinical Reference Group for vascular surgery. Other roles include Regional Director of the National Aneurysm Screening Programme, past Clinical Tutor for Critical Care at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, past Chair of the UK Vascular Society Committee for Audit and Quality Improvement, and member of the Department of Health working party on peri-operative care. Professor Loftus has published over 250 articles, is co-author of the 2018 European guidelines for the management of aortic aneurysms and co-editor of the Companion to Specialist Surgical Practice, ‘Vascular and Endovascular Surgery’. He cares passionately for the profession of surgery and the wellbeing of those that work within it.

Professor Frank Smith is Professor of Vascular Surgery and Surgical Education at the University of Bristol. He trained in Vascular Surgery in the West Midlands, Edinburgh and the South West, undertaking travelling fellowships to Boston, Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle. He was a recipient of an RCS England research pump-priming grant and College Tutor for Basic Surgical Skills. He has been a member of the Vascular Society Council and Training Committee, both General and Vascular SACs, Lead for National Vascular Trainee Selection, and President of the Section of Surgery at the Royal Society of Medicine. He chaired the South West (Severn and Peninsular) Regional Surgical Training Committee. In 2006 he was appointed Programme Director for CORESS. His interests in surgical safety have since included roles with NCEPOD; NHS England Never Events Task Force; developing the National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs); and as editorial advisor to RCS England Safety Bulletins. He is currently Chair of ICBSE on behalf of the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons, and a member of the NICE Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee. His interests away from surgery include his family and triathlon. He has over 1,000 hours as a private pilot, and around 1.800 skydives.

Lasantha Wijesinghe (known to friends and colleagues as Wije) was born in Sri Lanka and graduated from Cambridge University in 1989 where he was awarded the Lewin Prize in Surgery. His House jobs were in Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds. He went on to work at the Accident Hospital in Birmingham followed by a year as Demonstrator under Prof. Harold Ellis. An SHO rotation in Addenbrooke’s Hospital led to his FRCS in 1994, followed by a Calman Registrar rotation in Yorkshire. Here he cemented his interest in vascular surgery having worked in York, Scarborough, Hull and the two major centres in Leeds. He subsequently won the Gold Medal of the ASGBI in the FRCS (Gen) examination and was awarded his MD Thesis from Leeds University. In 2002 he was appointed to his post as Consultant Vascular Surgeon in Royal Bournemouth Hospital. Wije has served on the Council of the Vascular Society, as Regional Professional Advisor for the RCS and examines for the FRCS and FEBVS examinations. Wije is married with three adult children, none of whom have the remotest interest in surgery. He has a strong interest in the training and education of junior doctors, physician’s associates, nurses, and is a Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University. In his spare time he is a volunteer and sponsor of several Christian and secular organisations, an enthusiastic cricketer and a fair-weather walker.

Chris Lavy is Professor of Orthopaedics and Tropical Surgery at the University of Oxford, Senior Research Fellow at Green Templeton College Oxford, and honorary consultant spine surgeon at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, where he has been since 2006. He initially trained as a GP then moved to surgery, and trained in orthopaedics in Bath, Norwich, Cambridge, Oxford, London, Cape Town and Paris. His first consultant post was at The Middlesex and University College Hospitals in London in 1993. He then went to Malawi working for the Christian charity CBM and as professor at the new Malawi College of Medicine. While in Malawi he built a children’s orthopaedic hospital and training centre and was also one of the leads in setting up in 1999 the regional college of surgeons, COSECSA (the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa). Subsequently he has also built hospitals in Zambia and Zimbabwe, both run by Cure International. He was awarded an OBE in 2007 for services to orthopaedics. He has published widely and is co-author of the spine surgery and global surgery chapters of Bailey and Love. His research interests include cauda equina syndrome, nerve regeneration, and surgical service delivery systems in low and middle income countries.

Nuha Yassin is a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon and has been on the staff of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust since September 2018. After qualifying from the University of Manchester in 2003, she trained in the North West, Yorkshire and West Midlands regions. Her postgraduate research experience was based at St Mark's Hospital in London where she obtained her PhD from Imperial College, London. Her research into Crohn's anal fistulae has won several prestigious awards and was short-listed for the Patey prize and the John of Arderne medal. Her research also won the prestigious Royal College of Surgeons of England Research Fellowship, and the inaugural Professor John Nicholls award for best research project at St Mark's Hospital in 2014. Nuha was awarded the ACPGBI (Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland) travelling fellowship, the Richard Cobb fellowship (West Midlands region) and the ESCP (European Society of Coloproctology) short fellowship, where she undertook some periods of surgical training at high profile European centres (Amsterdam, Milan and Barcelona). She was the Dukes' club Education and Training representative for several years and the first surgical trainee to join the Young-ECCO (European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation) committee which, after three years of membership, she chaired for one year. As an early years consultant, Nuha has developed surgical research locally and after a period of being a successful principal investigator for collaborative research studies, she was awarded an NIHR clinical research scholarship, based at Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit, with the aim of development as a future chief investigator for surgical research studies. Nuha was the West Midlands regional representative for the ASGBI and an RCS England RSPA for the region prior to taking up a position of Director of Inclusivity at the ASGBI. She is passionate about all aspects of her work and personal life and truly believes that everyone has something amazing to contribute if given the chance.

Omer Karim qualified from Charing Cross Hospital Medical School in 1982. He became a fellow of this college in 1987. After two and a half years research at The Brady Institute of Urology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA and completing his urological training, he was appointed Consultant Urologist to Wexham Park Hospital, East Berkshire in 1995. He has a particular interest in robotic assisted urological surgery which he has been performing since 2004. He is a proctor in robotic surgery having taught surgeons all over the UK, South Africa, Germany, Turkey and Kuwait. In 2015, he left East Berkshire to work in Portsmouth and now is a Locum Consultant at Charing Cross Hospital and the Royal Marsden Hospital. Omer was born in the Sudan of Irish and Sudanese parents. He was brought up in the Sudan, Germany and the UK.

Detail coming soon

Laura Hamilton attended state school in a small village near St.Helens in the North West. She was educated at Oxford University before finishing her medical degree at St. Georges Hospital Medical School in London. She trained all over the South East before becoming a T&O Registrar on the London Training Rotation. Laura completed her training in hand surgery as a Hand Fellow at King’s College Hospital, London. This was supplemented with secondment to Wrightington Hospital and an RCSE Travelling Fellowship in Hong Kong. She was appointed substantive Orthopaedic Consultant in hand and wrist surgery in Brighton in 2017. She loves to draw and teach, and is passionate about supporting trainees and encouraging minorities into surgery. She regularly teaches medical students from Brighton University Medical School, and supports them with their research projects. She enjoys teaching doctors of all levels, including volunteering on T&O FRCS revision courses. She has published and presented extensively about encouraging diversity into surgery, particularly orthopaedics. She is the founder of the Women in Orthopaedics (W.ORTH) group on facebook and twitter, and is an active member of multiple panels encouraging diversity in surgery in the UK. She is also a member of Women in Orthopaedics Worldwide (WOW) and the International Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance (IODA).

Narain Moorjani is a Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, where he is Clinical Lead for Cardiac Surgery. He forms part of the structural valve group and specialises in performing complex mitral valve repair surgery and minimally invasive cardiac surgery. He has previously worked as a consultant cardiac surgeon at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London and Assistant Professor in Cardiothoracic Surgery in Philadelphia, USA. Prior to that, he completed a research doctorate of medicine (MD) at the University of Oxford and National Heart and Lung Institute, London, investigating the genes involved in the development of heart failure. He has been appointed Affiliated Assistant Professor at the University of Cambridge, where he teaches in the Department of Anatomy, and has published 6 cardiothoracic surgery textbooks, including 'Key Questions in Cardiac Surgery', 'Cardiac Surgery: Recent Advances and Techniques' and ‘Operative Mitral and Tricuspid Valve Surgery’. From an educational point of view, he has developed a unique portfolio of 12 simulation-based, curriculum-aligned, cardiothoracic surgery training courses, which are run in Great Britain and Europe. He previously sat on the NICE guideline writing committee on Atrial fibrillation and has represented the specialty on the ST1/3 National Selection Interview Panel and JCIE FRCS (C-Th) MCQ Writing Group. He is currently the President of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery (SCTS) in Great Britain & Ireland, having previously been National Cardiac Surgical Tutor, Education Secretary and Honorary Secretary of the SCTS. More recently, he has developed the widening participation and equality, diversity & inclusion (EDI) strategy for the SCTS, set up 2 mentorship programmes (for Women In Cardiothoracic Surgery and Trust Appointed Doctors) and is co-chair of the SCTS EDI Sub-committee.

Sarah Howells FDSRCS

Sarah Howells qualified from UCH in 1982 and gained her FDS in 1999. She additionally gained a DDPH and an MSc in Dental Public Health. She has worked in the Head and Neck Unit Royal Marsden Hospital for over 20 years as an Associate Specialist. During this time, she has also worked in primary, secondary and community care with her practice limited to oral surgery. She has been involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching at the Eastman Dental Institute and King’s College London. She is keen to provide appropriate care to oncology patients within the Head and Neck Unit and other units at the Royal Marsden Hospital. She is involved in the provision of oral surgery services at Charing Cross Hospital.

Details coming soon.

Vinita Shekar is an SAS surgeon in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Ninewells hospital, Dundee. She is an international medical graduate, having graduated from India. She arrived in the UK in 2000 and completed her junior doctor training in London while undertaking International Qualifying exams and Membership of Faculty of Dental Surgery exams at RCS England. She joined Portsmouth Hospital NHS Trust as a specialty doctor in 2008 and moved to Scotland in 2014. During her junior doctor training years, she completed her master’s in law (LLM in Legal Aspects of Medical Practice) at Cardiff law school in 2010. She was awarded Fellowship by Assessment by Faculty of Dental Surgery, London in 2021. Alongside her main clinical role, she holds titles of honorary tutor at Dundee University and an educational advisor for SAS doctors and dentists in NHS Tayside. She is passionate about equal opportunities for education and training of SAS doctors and dentists. Her past roles include being an investigator officer for doctors in difficulty, a whistle-blowing advocate, clinical audit lead and clinical governance lead. She is an elected member on the council of the British Association of OMFS representing SAS surgeons and an invited Council member of RCS England. In addition, she is current co-chair of the SAS Forum. Furthermore, she represents SAS fellows and members of RCS England on the SAS committee of Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

Esther McLarty is a consultant urological surgeon, with an interest in kidney cancer, bladder cancer and the urological aspects of renal transplantation at University Hospitals Plymouth. Esther's experience in surgical education includes CS, AES, RCS England College Tutor at UHP and Training Programme Director for Core Surgical Training in Peninsula. Esther is currently Head of Peninsula Postgraduate School of Surgery and Chair of the Confederation of Postgraduate Schools of Surgery UK.

Professor Summerton is a Consultant Urological Surgeon at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and an Honorary Professor at the University of Leicester Graduating from Leicester Medical School in 1987, Duncan undertook general surgical and urological training in Plymouth, Southampton and Portsmouth, obtaining Reconstructive Fellowships in the USA (Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas) and at the Institute of Urology in London, with a further Fellowship in advanced Andrological surgery, also at the Institute of Urology, including prosthetic surgery. A Consultant since 2001 he moved to Leicester in 2005 on leaving the Royal Navy as a Surgeon Commander after 19 years of active service with numerous deployments, both on land and at sea, to areas of unrest and conflict throughout the world. His major interests are in surgical andrology and the structure/provision of surgical services and workforce. He leads the East Midlands Penile Cancer Supra-network (6.5 million population) and has chaired the East Midlands Regional Training Committee since 2009. He was Chairman of the European Association of Urology (EAU) Guidelines Panel in Urological Trauma 2009-2015 and has examined at his local Medical School and for the FRCS (Urol) for over 12 years (now an invited assessor of examiners) and sat on the Intercollegiate Board of Urology until 2017 He was the president of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) from 2018 to 2020 after 15 continuous years of service in various peer-elected positions (Regional Representative, Secretary and Chairman of the Section of the Andrology and Genito-Urethral Surgery, Honorary Secretary and Vice President) within BAUS. He was elected president of the Federation of Surgical Specialty Associations (FSSA) in September 2020 and enjoys the challenges of representing the breadth of surgical practice.

Abhinav is an Orthopaedic Registrar within the North West Thames rotation and a PhD Student at the University of Oxford. His research, funded by the NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship, focuses on improving newborn screening for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). As BOTA President, he champions effective engagement between training regions and professional bodies. He works closely with RCS England, RCS Edinburgh, BOA, ASiT, JCST, AoMRC ATDG and the chairs of T&O SAC/SDG to address trainee concerns and implement targeted improvements. He also facilitates a talented committee to work with industry partners, junior colleagues and BOA/BOTA Diversity Champions to ensure orthopaedics remains inclusive for all.

Details coming soon.