John Cooling
Director, Whzan Digital Health

Richard Lawrence
Head of Operations, Creo Medical

Des Keighan
Assistant Director of Estates, Swansea Bay University Health Board

Kevin Moss
Co-Founder / Product Director, Rescape Innovation Ltd

Kevin is obsessed with making all aspects of Rescape’s products and content simple, intuitive and beautiful.

Kevin has over 20 years of digital innovation experience managing multi-disciplinary teams. He has been at the forefront of technology working in digital product development, content creation (gaming and video) and innovation marketing.

Recently as Creative Innovation Director within Dentsu Aegis he helped clients evaluate the impact of new technologies including projects for VR, AR and voice.

He co-founded a digital agency which he sold to WPP and has worked in multiple startups. He has worked with bluechip clients including PlayStation, Lego, Sony, BBC, Honda, Channel 4 – from devising a Bafta-nominated digital drama to designing PlayStation Online.

Michael Kipping​
Director, Medical Technologies EMEAA, Element Materials Technology

Michael is Director, Medical Technologies EMEAA for Element Materials Testing which is a global testing, inspection, calibration and certification business.  Element work with a broad range of health technology businesses to proactively support them to get to market and manufacture products that are as safe as practically possible.

Previously, Michael worked for Innovate UK for four years as a Health Innovation Lead and was responsible for the management of a UK government grant funding programme called the Biomedical Catalyst that provided £30M per annum to supports UK SMEs developing innovative health & life science products.  Before joining Innovate UK, Michael was a Group Manager at Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) where he led a team that was responsible for safety & surveillance of all medical devices in UK.  He also spent 10 years in the medical device industry in a range of commercial roles working for Guidant, Boston Scientific and BIOTRONIK where he was Country Director UK & Eire.

Dr Natalie DeMello
Project Lead, Accelerate Healthcare Technology Centre, Swansea University

Dr De Mello is a Senior Innovation Technologist at Swansea University’s Healthcare Technology Centre, leading on collaborative industry-led research and development of healthcare technologies.

After gaining a BSc and PhD, Natalie worked with industry partner Innoture Ltd through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership as principle scientist to lead and develop their R&D capabilities within Swansea. This led to the successful launch of three products and a pilot clinical investigation of their medical device.

Natalie is a chartered Scientist gaining accreditation in 2019 through the Royal Society of Biology.

Natalie has been an active STEM ambassador since 2012 and regularly participates in Super Science Saturday, Swansea Science Festival and Technocamps activities. In addition to co-organising Soapbox Science Swansea since 2014.

Natalie is a Committee Member of the School of Medicine Research Ethics Sub-Committee.

Debra Rees
Diabetes Nurse Specialist , Hywel Dda University Health Board

Louise Richards
Workforce and Organisational Development, Powys Teaching Health Board

Kerry Broadhead
Head of Strategy, Swansea Bay University Health Board

Alice Hurrell
Obstetrician, Clinical Research Fellow and Trial Co-ordinator for the PARROT-2 Trial, King's College London / Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Alice is a specialist trainee in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, based in London and currently working at St Thomas’ Hospital. She is the trial co-ordinator for the PARROT-2 trial, a randomised controlled trial investigating repeat placental growth factor testing for the reduction in adverse perinatal and maternal outcomes. She has always been fascinated by pre-eclampsia and is passionate about improving outcomes for women and their babies through clinical research.

Dr Charlotte Oliver
Consultant Obstetric Anaesthetist , University Hospital of Wales

Dr Charlotte Oliver MBChB BSc is a consultant obstetric anaesthetist at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. Taking up her consultant post in 2021, she is the clinical lead for the inpatient pain service. Her interests include perioperative and maternal medicine and she is dedicated to sustainable healthcare, leading on reducing consumption and emissions from nitrous oxide and Entonox.

Lowri Smith
Congenital Heart Patient and Patient Advocate,

Lowri is a 34-year-old congenital heart patient from North Wales with lifelong experience of the health service. I receive my specialist care in England and any emergency care in Wales within BCUHB.

The NHS has given me outstanding care throughout my life, but I’ve learned the importance of speaking for myself too – the job my parents did for me when I was a child. I believe this self-advocacy is crucial for those with complex, chronic conditions or rare diseases and that encouraging patients to engage in this way benefits everyone.

I have a number of patient advocacy roles including with the North West Congenital Heart Network and Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust. I’m also part of the Bevan Exemplar 2021 Cohort.

Last year I was elected as a Public Governor for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital representing children and families from North Wales.

Stephen Hildrew
Regional Director Partnerships, Siemens Healthineers

Professor Dean Harris
Consultant colorectal surgeon in Swansea Bay University Health Board and honorary professor at Swansea University ,

“Professor Dean Harris is a consultant colorectal surgeon at Swansea Bay University Health Board since 2010, subspecialising in advanced rectal cancer. He is Lead Clinician of the Colorectal Cancer Multi-Disciplinary Team.  

At 39 he became an honorary clinical professor in Swansea University Medical School with research interests in early detection of cancer and personalised cancer treatment. He chairs Wales Cancer Research Centre’s Colorectal Multi-Disciplinary Research Group driving collaborative cancer research.

He has attracted over £1.5 million in academic grant funding and won the the MediWales Innovation Award for Research Excellence in 2016 and was awarded a place on the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme in 2021.

He is clinical director and co-founder of CanSense Ltd, a Welsh medtech company developing a liquid biopsy blood test for multi-cancer detection which was recently awarded a prestigious £1.2 million NIHR i4i grant. With CanSense he leads on designing clinically relevant trials and delivering their impact through engagement with the global clinical cancer community.

Dr Megan Mathias MBE
Chief Executive Officer, Moondance Cancer Initiative

Megan is CEO of Moondance Cancer Initiative, a not-for-profit established to find, fund and fuel brilliant people and brave ideas to make Wales a world leader in cancer survival.

• Find: our research and insights work scans for global solutions to make Wales a world-leader in cancer survival
• Fund: our investments deliver projects that help create a Wales where more people survive cancer
• Fuel: more than money, we give bold thinkers support to make ideas happen.

Steve Cartwright
Patient Experience Manager, Pfizer Oncology

Steve works as a Patient Experience Manager for Pfizer Oncology, leading projects in collaboration with the NHS and various Patient Advocacy Groups, which aim to improve and develop services for cancer patients using innovation to deliver success.

Steve is currently project managing a number of collaborations across the UK, including the development of an award winning app for Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia, which was co-created with patients, supporting them to live with the disease.

Naomi Radcliffe
Director of Kidney Services, Healthy.io

Naomi is Director of Minuteful Kidney in the UK, leading Healthy.io’s aims to close the quality gap for patients who are at risk of developing chronic kidney disease.

Prior to joining Healthy.io, Naomi spent six years in central Government in a variety of roles including Deputy Director of Productivity and Efficiency, Deputy Director for Technology Policy in NHSX, and as the Senior Health Policy Advisor in the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit in No.10.

She was a Senior Policy Fellow at the Institute for Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, managing delivery of the Patient Safety Translational Research programme and supporting the World Innovation Summit for Health that took place in Qatar in 2013 and 2014.

Naomi also has over seven years’ experience as a management consultant for Optum, working with Primary Care Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups delivering programmes to improve the quality of care and experience for patients.

Liz Grace
Key Account Manager, Wales, Roche Diabetes Care

Liz Grace has worked with Roche Diabetes Care in Wales for 8 years.  Her focus is delivering value to the NHS and optimising patient centred care, through Integrated Personalised Diabetes Management (iPDM).  This presentation looks at digital innovations from Roche Diabetes Care and how we can support personalised care and shared decision making through access to relevant patient data.

Gareth Rees
Strategic Innovations Programme Lead, Delta Wellbeing

Gareth Rees is Strategic Innovations Programme Lead at Delta Wellbeing focusing on technology projects in integrated health and social care. Prior to joining Delta Wellbeing in 2020 Gareth was healthcare lead for Samsung Electronics and Siemens.

Dr Martin Scurr
Chief Scientific Officer, ImmunoServ Ltd

Dr Martin Scurr is the co-founder and chief scientific officer of ImmunoServ Ltd., a Cardiff-based contract research organisation specialising in the immunology sector. He is also a research scientist at Cardiff University with >13 years’ experience in T cell immunology. Dr Scurr is the lead investigator on an SBRI-Innovate UK-funded project developing COVID-19 antibody and T cell tests for population-scale immunity screens. The Immuno-T test is now being used clinically to manage at-risk patient groups, with work on-going to further increase scale for the general population. In addition, Dr Scurr has led several MRC-funded projects focussed on initiating links with industrial partners to translate his research, resulting in commercial development of novel immunotherapeutics for clinical use, and tests that measure risk of cancer relapse.

Andrew Smith
Director of Healthcare Services , Objectivity

Andrew started his career on the Financial Management Training Scheme of the NHS, at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals. He later spent 10 years at the Department of Health, where he led several national programmes, working at the interface of the NHS and the commercial sector.

For the last few years, Andrew has focussed on Population Health projects and advised governments in the EU and Middle East, and supported health tech companies within the UK.

Part of Population Health is about lifestyle and wellness, as such, Andrew enjoys running with his twin boys and, alongside his wife, supporting their daughter with her Rhythmic Gymnastics ambitions.

Joanne O’Doherty
CEO, Kinsetsu Limited

John Harris
R&D Lead Pharmacist, Kinsetsu

Sean Warren
Business Director UK & Ireland, AliveCor

Sean Warren BSc (Hons) is the UK&I Business Director for AliveCor Ltd and is an advocate for solutions in diagnosis and treatment for Cardiovascular disease. In his previous role as UK&I Country Sales Manager for BTG/Boston Scientific he specialised in both interventional cardiology and radiology treatments for Venous Thromboembolism to support with reducing the risk of stroke. Sean has >10 years experience in leading medical device companies for both primary and secondary specialties that have challenged the standard of care with clinically beneficial innovation.

Professor Hamish Laing
Senior Responsible Owner (SRO), Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio, Swansea University and Digital Health & Care Wales

After a long career as an NHS reconstructive plastic surgeon in Wales, Hamish was Executive Medical Director and Chief Information Officer at ABM University Health Board until 2018.

With a chair in Swansea University’s School of Management, Hamish is Director of the Value-Based Health and Care Academy. He is also vice-chair of the Public and Patient digital Service Programme Board and Chair of the Digital Inclusion Alliance for Wales.

Earlier this year Hamish was appointed by Welsh Government as Senior Responsible Owner for the Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio, a collection of major programmes and projects which will make the prescribing, dispensing and administration of medicines everywhere in Wales, easier, safer, more efficient and effective, through digital.

Professor Peter Groves
Chairman, Health Technology Wales

Professor Peter Groves is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist based at the University Hospital of Wales and has a specialist interest in the regulation, health technology assessment and implementation of innovative medical technologies into clinical practice.  Peter is Chair of Health Technology Wales, an organization sponsored by Welsh Government to identify, appraise and promote the adoption of innovative medical technologies in NHS and Social Care Wales.  He was Chair of the NICE Medical Technologies Advisory Committee 2016-2021, a committee which publishes evidence-based guidance to promote the adoption of novel and innovative medical device technologies in the UK NHS.  Peter has provided professional support to the MHRA since 2015, latterly as Chair of the Devices Expert Advisory Committee which provides clinical, academic and operational advice to the MHRA in the regulation of medical devices in the setting of the UK healthcare system.  Peter has an academic and research interest in medical technologies and has published widely on this theme.  He is Honorary Professor at Cardiff University and at the Queen Mary University London where he contributes expertise to the Cardiovascular Innovation Programme based at the William Harvey Research Institute.

Ravinder Dosanjh
Lead Diabetes Specialist Nurse, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Wyn Owens
Deputy Head of National Sourcing - Clinical, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership – Procurement Services

Wyn is the Deputy Head of National Sourcing for Clinical Products within NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership. Wyn’s team manages the National Category Portfolio for a number of specialist clinical areas including Trauma & Orthopaedics, Cardiology and Pathology. Wyn has over 20 years’ experience of working within Public Sector Procurement in Wales, during which he has worked across a number of clinical specialities and delivered several complex procurement projects. Wyn works closely with the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) on their MedTech Strategy Programme, the DHSC Supply Resilience Group, Welsh Government’s Planned Care Programme Boards and the NHS Wales Evidence Based Procurement Board.

Philip Webb
Chief Executive Officer, Respiratory Innovation Wales

An experienced healthcare professional with extensive knowledge in academia, industry and public sector.

PhD in Cell and molecular biology. Post graduate academic and work interests include health economics, prioritisation and advanced physical and digital engineering (including 3D printing and artificial intelligence).

Experience includes 10 year career in industry with two major pharmaceutical companies within sales, marketing and medical and regulatory affairs. 20 years experience within UK National Health Service in National commissioning, specialised services, regional cancer delivery, innovation and value based healthcare.

A firm believer in user centric design and in understanding the importance of socialisation and the human: machine interface in the development of technology. Committed to net zero, SMART and intelligent technology development and importance of making work and the workplace fun.

Chris Hudson
Director of Access & Innovation, Roche Diagnostics UK & Ireland

Chris joined Roche in Oct 1998 as Marketing Manager UK and Ireland for Patient Monitoring. He was promoted to Director of PM in 2001 and subsequently became Director of Diabetes Care UK in 2005. Chris moved to Global DC as Head of Commercial Marketing in 2007 and became Head of BGM Marketing RDC global in 2009. He moved back to the UK as Director of RTD in 2012 and became Director of Healthcare Development and Strategic Services in 2015. Chris was appointed Director of Access & Innovation in September 2018. Prior to Roche, Chris worked in Marketing and Sales for several international healthcare companies in the UK and USA.

Dr David Jarrom
Senior Health Services Researcher, Health Technology Wales

David joined Health Technology Wales in February 2018. He heads HTW’s  horizon scanning function, as well as methodological development within the organisation. After completing his PhD in biomedical science, David has spent the last 10 years working in evidence-based medicine and health technology assessment for a number of Welsh and UK organisations, including NICE and AWMSG.

Denise Lowry
, Organisational Development, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board

Rhys Roberts
Lead Nurse for Primary Care and Community Nursing, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board

Simon Mansfield
Head of Value Based Healthcare, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Simon is Head of Value Based Health Care at Hywel Dda University Health Board. He has previously worked as Service Delivery Manager for Unscheduled Care in Withybush General Hospital, and has had pan Health Board responsibility for Stroke and Care of the Elderly Services. Prior to working in Hywel Dda University Health Board, he worked as Head of Informatics Programmes in ABMU Health Board, as Deputy General Manager in the Princess of Wales Hospital, and as Directorate Manager for the Pathology Directorate in ABMU Health Board. Before working within the NHS, Simon worked within the private sector as a technology and communications consultant and also as a business development manager within the information security environment. He has also worked extensively as a project manager and quality manager for a number of IT Systems Integrators.

…
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Carla Dix
Strategic Innovations Programme Lead, Delta Wellbeing

Carla has played a leading role in the Social Care sector in West Wales for 20 years. With over 11 years’ experience in the TEC field she is currently Delta Lead for the implementation of a new model of pro-active services across the West Wales region as part of the Transformation Fund awarded to the West Wales Partnership Board.

Professor Andrew Carson-Stevens
Primary Care Specialty Lead, Health and Care Research Wales

Professor Andrew Carson-Stevens is a General Practitioner and Primary Care Specialty Lead at Health and Care Research Wales. During the COVID pandemic, he was a member of the UK Urgent Public Health Group (NIHR / DHSC / CMOs) and the follow-on Covid-19 Understanding and Elimination-Trials Implementation Panel (CUE-TIP), the Wales COVID-19 Vaccine Research Delivery Group, and was principal investigator of vaccine and antiviral research studies in a range of community settings. At Cardiff University, he is Professor of Patient Safety and Quality Improvement leading research and pedagogical advances in how health and social care organisations learn from unsafe care experienced by patients and families.

Dr Andrew Freedman
Reader & Hon. Consultant in Infectious Diseases, Cardiff University / University Hospital of Wales

Dr Andrew Freedman MA, MD, MB, B Chir, FRCP (Lond. & Edin.) is Reader and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases at Cardiff University and the University Hospital of Wales, UK. He qualified in medicine from Cambridge University and St Thomas’ Hospital in 1980, and subsequently trained in Infectious Diseases at St George’s Hospital, London, and Harvard Medical School, USA, before coming to Cardiff in 1994.  His research interests include the haematological effects of HIV infection as well as clinical trials in viral treatments & vaccines. He is past Secretary of the British HIV Association and he sits on the MHRA Infection Expert Advisory Group. He was appointed lead Principal Investigator for Covid-19 vaccine trials in Wales in 2020 & Fellow of the Association of Physicians of UK & Ireland in 2021.

Sarah Townsend
Head of Research & Development, Velindre University NHS Trust

As Head of Research & Development and Sponsor Representative at Velindre University NHS Trust, Sarah manages the delivery of a wide and varied research portfolio of national and international studies.

With over twenty years’ experience in healthcare and clinical research, Sarah established the Trust’s R&D Office in 2004. She takes a lead role in executing the Trust’s strategic priorities in highly specialised, cutting‑edge cancer clinical research and other high quality studies. Sarah draws on extensive R&D strategy, policy, governance and funding expertise to achieve an optimal research delivery infrastructure for the Trust.

Sarah represents the Trust/Wales on national groups and leads the Trust’s engagement in Higher Education Institution and Pharmaceutical company research collaborations. Successful collaboration has led to the Trust sponsoring international cancer studies and other high impact investigator led early phase/later phase trials. Additionally, these collaborations have enabled the Trust to act as UK legal representative for worldwide partners.

Dr Nicola Williams
National Director of Support & Delivery, Health and Care Research Wales

Dr Nicola Williams is National Director of Support & Delivery, Health and Care Research Wales. She has led and overseen research in the NHS for over 25 years, initially delivering research projects and programmes in primary care and public health, and then overseeing research strategy and operations in secondary care, and now at a national level. Nicola has previously also worked as a policy and change advisor to the Welsh and UK Governments, and the Health Research Authority. She is also an experienced leadership coach, coach supervisor and facilitator.

Ross McLeish
Innovation Project Manager, Velindre University NHS Trust

Ross has worked for Velindre University NHS Trust primarily in Research and Development; being responsible for the set up and maintenance of UK and international studies before joining the Innovation team as an Innovation Project Manager. He holds accredited qualifications in PRINCE2 project management and intellectual property. Ross provides project management and support within Innovation and is currently part of the team leading on the RITA AI assistant project where he also undertakes the development work using the IBM Watson platform.

Non Gwilym
Assistant Director of Communications, Velindre University NHS Trust

Julia Eades
Senior Market Access Manager - Women's Health, Roche Diagnostics UK & IRE

Julia Eades is Senior Market Access Manager for Women’s Health at Roche Diagnostics. Julia has worked within Women’s Health for more than 20 years in various organisations and joined Roche Diagnostics in 2016. She is driven by a passion to support clinicians and healthcare providers in delivering innovative solutions which reform and refresh access to diagnostics and wider healthcare, and enable all women to have timely access to both.

Stephen Frith
Service Transformation, Digital Health & Care Wales

Rebecca Cook
NDR Programme Director Head of Information Design and Standards Development, Digital Health & Care Wales

Professor Jacky Boivin
Professor of Health Psychology, Cardiff University

Jacky Boivin is Professor of Health Psychology and Practitioner Health Psychologist at Cardiff University. She specialises in reproductive health, patient support and disease awareness

Thinzar Min
Honorary Consultant in General Internal Medicine, Diabetes and Endocrinology and Senior Clinical Lecturer, Swansea University Medical School

Dr Thinzar Min is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the Swansea University Medical School and an Honorary Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology at Swansea Bay University Health Board. She received her undergraduate medical degree from Myanmar (Burma) and MD (Obesity and Diabetes) from Swansea University. She completed Diabetes and Endocrinology/ General Internal Medicine training programme from the Wales Denary in 2017. Her research interests are novel therapy for diabetes, liver complications of diabetes, obesity and metabolic surgery. She has a strong interest in medical education and has been heavily involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

Cath O’Brien MBE
Chief Operating Officer, Velindre University NHS Trust

Cath O’Brien MBE is the VUNHST Chief Operating Officer covering both the Velindre Cancer Service and the Welsh Blood Service. She is also the Director of Advanced Therapies Wales.

Chris Subbe
Consultant Physician, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Elaine Lewis
Project Manager, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board - Pharmacy

Elaine Lewis (MBA CIPD) is currently a Project Manager at Cardiff & Vale UHB and during her career has held a variety of managerial positions. Her interests include whole system improvement and coaching staff through the journey of quality improvement in healthcare. She is dedicated to sustainable healthcare supporting the project on reduction of anaesthetic gases

Lynne Grundy
Associate Director Research and Development, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Lynne is the Associate Director for Research and Development at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, and is responsible for the strategic and operational management of research activity and development for BCUHB. Lynne is a Registered General Nurse and Registered Midwife, and has a Doctorate in Nursing Science.

Lynne is passionate about embedding research in the NHS and ensuring patients and the public have more opportunities to take part in research.

She has many years senior management experience in a wide variety of community and secondary care settings, within clinical and corporate departments in strategic and operational/clinical posts, as well as a Nurse Lecturer in Bangor University. Lynne also works in a regulatory capacity for the CQC and NMC.

Michelle Sullivan
Head of Public Affairs UK & Ireland, Boston Scientific

Michelle has had a diverse career in pharmaceutical and medical devices, first working in the industry in 1990.

A graduate biologist with a long-standing career in sales, management, marketing, and market development, Michelle chose to re-train in Health Economics at York University, adding the value ‘spectacles’ and ‘hearing-aids’ she employs today when working with Boston Scientific, their customers, and various industry bodies.

She sits on the Board of HealthTech Ireland, leading the Market Access workstream. 

She is in charge of the commercial EMEA workstream at Boston Scientific with regards to Environmental Sustainability and has recently passed a course in Sustainability in Business with the University of Cambridge. She is Chair of the Sustainability group, and Vice-Chair of the Commercial Policy group at ABHI.

Dr Nicky Keay
Chief Medical Officer, Forth

Nicky is Chief Medical Officier at Forth working to provide personalised health, based on blood testing, artificial intelligence techniques and best clinical medical practice. Having graduated and qualified from Cambridge University and attaining Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, Nicky went on the gain over 30 years clinical and research experience in medicine, with a focus on endocrinology. Nicky is currently Honorary Clinical Lecturer in the Division of Medicine University College London and Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Durham University. She lectures and researches in areas of endocrinology, with publications in this field. Nicky’s clinical endocrine work is with all ages, with a focus on relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) and perimenopause and menopause. Nicky is a member of British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine and the British Menopause Society.

Dr Adrian Neal
Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Head of Wellbeing , Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

Adrian qualified as a Clinical Psychologist in 2003 and for the first 10 years worked within NHS England Adult Community and Acute Adult Mental Health Services. He was also a part time Lecturer Practitioner on the Coventry and Warwick Universities Clinical Psychology Doctorate. After completing an MSc in Organisational Psychology he has specialised in Occupational Health and Wellbeing within the public sector. Moving to Wales in 2014 to take up the role of Head of Wellbeing within Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) he has been involved in a number of collaborative projects with the Welsh Ambulance Service, Welsh NHS Finance Academy, Gwent Police, Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS), London Air Ambulance, Health Education and Innovation Wales (HEIW), Powys University Health Board, National Academy of Head Teachers (Wales), and Welsh Government.  Adrian views psychosocial factors (e.g.: leadership, culture and psychological safety) as the cornerstones to organisational health and wellbeing, and ultimately sustainability and co-leads the innovative Leading People programme within Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. Adrian is Co-Chair of the Applied Psychologists in Health National Special Advisory Group, past Co-chair of the DCP’s Leadership and Management Faculty, and DCP Wales, and Chaired the BPS’ working group examining the impact of the pandemic on psychologist’s wellbeing.  Adrian is an Academic supervisor at Cardiff and Cardiff Metropolitan universities and has published academic articles and book chapters relating to mental health, occupational health, organisational culture and well-being.

Lisa Wise MBE
Deputy Director Climate Change and Environmental Public Health, Welsh Government

Lisa’s role includes leading a small, dedicated programme team with oversight for the Health and Social Care (H&SC) Climate Emergency National Programme partnering with a virtual team across Wales and bringing together all NHS Organisations, Primary Care and Social Care to drive our collective response to the climate emergency.  Having led policy and large-scale transformation programmes in HMRC, HMT, OECD and DWP, Lisa moved to Wales and the Welsh Government last year and keeps busy enjoying the beautiful Welsh outdoors with her family.

Dr Nerys Frater
GP, The Lifestyle Clinic

Nerys is a GP in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. She developed an interest in weight loss and Diabetes after feeling frustrated with local waiting lists and decided to set up her own clinic. She has developed a particular interest in group consultations and diabetes remission. The success of The Lifestyle Clinic has improved year on year and in 2021 57% of individuals with Type 2 Diabetes had a normal blood sugar within 6 months! With the continued support of the Amman-Gwendraeth cluster, the clinic is now expanding to educate interested healthcare professionals in supporting patients eager to use lifestyle as medicine. Nerys was chosen as a Diabetes UK Clinical Champion in 2021 to help expand and develop her clinic further.

Jennet Holmes
Head of Innovation and Collaborative Partnerships, Welsh Government

Dr James Evans
Research Manager, Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory, NWSSP

James works as a Research & Development Officer at the Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory (SMTL), Bridgend. His work centres on carrying out evidence reviews for the Evidence Based Procurement Board. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic James has been working within a small team assessing medical device and personal protective equipment test data and regulatory documentation for the Welsh NHS, Department of Health and Social Care and NHS Supply Chain. Previously James worked at Cedar, a healthcare technology research centre, where his work fed into the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme and Interventional Procedures Programme. James has a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology (Cardiff University), a PhD in Microbiology (Cardiff University) and a PgDip in Health Economics (University of Aberdeen).

Rhys Morris
Cedar Director, Director of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Rhys has a BSc (Hons) in Physics with Medical Physics (University of Wales College of Cardiff) and a PhD (University of Wales College of Medicine).  He is a Clinical Scientist (CS06718), Chartered Engineer and Chartered Physicist, and has been part of the Department of Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering, University Hospital of Wales, since 1996.  Rhys is an expert in compression therapies and prevention of deep vein thrombosis and has worked with industrial partners over many years in the development and assessment of medical devices. Rhys is the R&D lead for the Clinical Diagnostics and Therapeutics Clinical Board of Cardiff & Vale UHB, and the Director of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering. His clinical area of interest is in vascular ultrasound of arterio-venous fistulae for haemodialysis, and he is currently also responsible for the Medical Physics undergraduate teaching for Cardiff University.

Kieran Walshe
Director, Health and Care Research Wales

Kieran Walshe is Director of Health and Care Research Wales and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Alliance Manchester Business School. He is also a non-executive director of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, chair of the board of the UK Health Services Research UK and a member of the US AcademyHealth International Advisory Board. He was a member of the REF2014 panel for public health, health services research and primary care. He was associate director of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) health services and delivery research programme from 2012 to 2015, and directed the NIHR service delivery and organisation research programme from 2008 to 2011. He edited the journal Health Services Management Research from 2011 to 2015 and was a board member and scientific committee chair of the European Health Management Association from 2008 to 2015. From 2003 to 2006 he directed the Centre for Public Policy and Management in Manchester Business School, and from 2009 to 2011 he directed the university’s Institute of Health Sciences.

He has thirty years’ experience in health policy, health management and health services research. He has previously worked at the University of Birmingham, at the University of California at Berkeley as a Harkness Fellow, and at the King’s Fund in London, and has a professional background in healthcare management. He often works at the interface between research, policy and practice and values the opportunities it offers to engage with the policy and practitioner communities and to put ideas into action. He has particular interests and expertise in quality and performance in healthcare organisations; the governance, accountability and performance of public services; and the use of evidence in policy evaluation and learning. He has led a wide range of research projects funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Department of Health, NIHR, and EU FP7 programmes, and other government departments and NHS organisations. He has advised many government agencies and organisations, in the UK and internationally, including acting as an advisor on health reforms to the House of Commons health select committee. His current research is mainly focused on reforms to health professions regulation, on the use of inspection and rating in the regulation of healthcare organisations and services; and on organisational capabilities and processes for improvement.

Rachel Gemine
Deputy Head of TriTech Institute, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Dr Rachel Gemine is Deputy Head of TriTech Institute and Senior Research and Development Manager at Hywel Dda University Health Board, leading on grant application and management of research and evaluations. Rachel is also Honorary Senior Lecturer at College of Medicine, Swansea University.

She has collaborated or led on bids totalling over £2million and won numerous awards including MediWales Research Excellence Award and most recently the Moondance emerging leaders – management and administration.

Rachel is experienced in qualitative and quantitative methods, trial design, study management and patient involvement. Her research interest focuses on technology, with a specific interest within oncology and tobacco use.

Mark Hackett
CEO, Swansea Bay UHB

Steve Moore
CEO, Hywel Dda UHB

Steve has worked for the NHS for most of the last 30 years and has had the great privilege of holding the position of Chief Executive in Hywel Dda since January 2015.

Much of his senior career has involved working in rural areas including leading the Primary Care Trust in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly and, for a short period, being the Area Director for Devon and Cornwall in NHS England. The time he spent in the private sector as Consulting Director for Health and Social Care Policy at ICF International gave him a fresh perspective on the challenges and opportunities in the NHS through a more international lens and he hopes he has brought all this experience to bear in his current role.

He is a strong believer in the need to make our organisation the best it can be by supporting our staff to learn, develop and grow. We still have much to do in this regard, but he would like to see Hywel Dda be a fantastic place for people to develop and grow in their chosen career. By doing this, he knows we will be able to go on providing the great care and support that our patients and their families need.

Judith Paget CBE
Director General for Health and Social Services and the NHS Wales Chief Executive,

Judith was appointed to the role of Interim Director General of Health and Social Services/Chief Executive NHS Wales in November 2021. Her role includes both supporting Ministerial priorities for health and social care within the Civil Service structures, and the leadership and oversight of NHS Wales.

Judith’s previous post was as Chief Executive of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. Judith joined the Health Board as Director of Planning & Operations on 1st October 2009 and subsequently became Chief Operating Officer/Deputy CEO before her appointment as Chief Executive in October 2014.

Judith has worked in the NHS since 1980 and has undertaken a variety of operational, planning and commissioning roles in a number of NHS organisations across south, mid and west Wales. Judith was appointed to her first CEO role in April 2003.  Judith has a keen interest in partnership working across public services; primary care and community development; value based healthcare and staff development and engagement.

Judith was awarded a Companionship of the Institute of Health Service Managers in 2012 and in June 2014 won the Institute of Directors – Director in Public Service Award for Wales.  In June 2019 Judith was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to delivery and management in NHS Wales.

Adele Cahill
Assistant Director, Strategic Partnerships, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

Carys Thomas
Head of Policy (R&D Division, Health and Social Care), Welsh Government

Siôn Charles
Head of Strategy and Service Planning, ARCH

Siôn Charles is currently Head Strategy and Service Planning at ARCH – a regional collaboration between Swansea University, Hywel Dda UHB, and Swansea Bay UHB.  At ARCH Siôn supports NHS Service Transformation programmes, leads Research, Enterprise and Innovation projects, and develops Workforce, Education and Skills programmes with the University.  Siôn was previously Deputy Director at Wales’ leading health and care think tank where he supported innovation and change projects, and created opportunities for business to collaborate with the NHS to develop new products and services.  Siôn is a member of the Innovation Advisory Council for Wales, currently leading work on innovation leadership.  Siôn Chairs the All Wales Innovation Leads Group.

Thomas James
Head of Innovation and Technology, Welsh Government

Tom has been Head of Innovation and Technology for the Health and Social Services group in Welsh Government since 2014.

Tom is responsible for Welsh health and care innovation policy and development of the Healthier chapter of the Integrated Innovation strategy for Wales. Tom is also the Government’s co-design and funding lead for a range of multi million pound innovation initiatives such as Health Technology Wales and the Accelerate and AgorIP programmes.

Tom recently spent two years on secondment with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board as Assistant Director of Innovation, where he developed a new approach to Innovation for the organisation alongside the Research, Improvement and Value teams.

Tom is currently studying for a Masters degree in Innovation & Transformation with Swansea University.

Dr Orod Osanlou
Principal Investigator for the Novavax trial/ Interim Director, North Wales Clinical Research Facility, Public Health Wales

Dr Orod Osanlou is a consultant physician in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and General Internal Medicine working at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. He set up the North Wales Clinical Research Facility in 2021, delivering early phase trials, including the first ever phase I study in North Wales. He has extensive experience in early phase clinical trials using experimental medicines, including First-In-Human studies. He has planned and is overseeing the North Wales CRF move to a new bespoke 8 bed unit in early 2023 that will significantly increase capacity of delivery of early phase trials in North Wales. As All-Wales Principal Investigator, he has been involved in the planning and delivery of COVID-19 vaccine trials for Public Health Wales.

Orod is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at Bangor University, where he is the therapeutic lead, amongst other roles. He supervises a number of academics including medical students, doctors and dentists. He is also a Liberal Democrat Councillor on Wirral Council.

Orod would like to engage with any academic or industrial stakeholders who are interested in clinical trial delivery in North, Mid and West Wales.

Helen Northmore
National Head of Business Development and Industry Engagement, Tec Cymru

Pete Phillips
Technical Director, Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory, NWSSP

As the Director of SMTL for 17 years, I had responsibility for the provision of a comprehensive evaluation, assessment and performance testing service for Medical Devices, Dressings and other consumables on behalf of the Welsh NHS, as well as a commercial testing service for industry, the Department of Health, Supply Chain, and other health-care organizations. After retiring as Director in March 2022,  I took up a part-time position as Technical Director of SMTL, dealing specifically with Standardisation, Inter and Intra Governmental projects, and various technical/scientific issues.

Gwyn Tudor
CEO, MediWales

As CEO of Mediwales for nearly 19 years, Gwyn has overseen a transformation of the forum to its current size, influence and corporate structure. Gwyn works with the directors and members of MediWales to develop the forum’s future strategic direction. His in-depth knowledge of the life science sector allows him to represent MediWales’ members’ interests on a number of Welsh and UK government panels and boards. Gwyn’s career has developed over twenty years from being a front line product designer working in a number of sectors, including the development of medical devices, to his current managerial role. 

Dr Rob Orford
Chief Scientific Adviser for Health (CSA-H), Welsh Government

Rob Orford has been Chief Scientific Adviser for Health in Welsh Government since January 2017. Dr Orford’s remit covers professional leadership of healthcare scientists in NHS Wales and the provision of specialist technical and scientific health advice. His background is as a laboratory scientist working across developmental biology and molecular oncology from Post-doctoral Fellow (CRUK) through to Investigator Scientist (MRC). Dr Orford has worked at a national and international level in rapid risk assessment for emerging health threats for the Health Protection Agency and Public Health England as Principal Scientist and Group Leader. At the start of COVID-19 Dr Orford set-up and co-chaired the Welsh Government Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a SAGE-like group for Wales as is a member for COVID-19 SAGE. Dr Orford is a member of the National Genomics Board and a STEMNET Ambassador.

Keir Lewis
Professor and Medical Director, Swansea University, Respiratory Innovation Wales

Ifan Evans
Executive Director of Strategy, Digital Health Care Wales

Ifan was recently appointed Executive Director for Strategy at Digital Health & Care Wales, which leads delivery of national digital platforms and services for NHS Wales.  His responsibilities include strategic planning, digital transformation programmes, commercial, and partnering.  Previously Ifan was Director Digital, Technology & Transformation in the Welsh Government, where he wrote A Healthier Wales, the national strategy for health and care in Wales.  Ifan was the Welsh Government lead for Brexit readiness across health and social care, and for digital response to the Covid-19 pandemic.  He has been a champion across government and NHS Wales for innovation, technology adoption, and digital transformation.  Ifan is passionate about applying digital technologies and data as tools to clarify and simplify, reducing unwarranted variation and making services better for professionals and the public.  He believes that working openly with a wide range of partners is the best way to address current and future challenges in health and care, particularly by applying new solutions to existing problems and measuring outcomes in real time. Ifan has a private sector background, and has degrees from Oxford, Aberystwyth, and Cardiff Universities.

Sian Morgan
Consultant Clinical Scientist/ AWMGS Laboratory Director, All Wales Medical Genomics Service (AWMGS)

Sian is currently  the All Wales Medical Genomics Service (AWMGS) Laboratory Director. She has extensive experience in the development and delivery of genomic services having worked within the service for over 31 years. The AWMGS is a tertiary service, hosted by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and commissioned by the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC) to deliver Rare Disease, Cancer and Pharmacogenetics services for the population of Wales. Sian leads a laboratory of over 150 staff with very differing professional roles and banding. She is responsible for the strategic direction of the genetics laboratory service at a local, Welsh, and national level. Since 2018 Sian has also held an Honorary Contract with Public Health England. AWMGS continues to be a stakeholder within the Welsh Government strategy for precision medicine, which sets out the intention to develop and deliver a national approach for precision therapeutics in Wales. Sian has successfully identified and continue to develop strategic relationships and alliances leading to business, research and wider service developments.

Robyn Davies
Head of Innovation, Velindre University NHS Trust

Robyn Davies is the Head of Innovation for Velindre University NHS Trust.  He is passionate about innovation and the role of emerging digital technology in transforming healthcare.   He plays an active role in healthcare innovation not only in Velindre, but also across the Welsh NHS.

He is also passionate about Welsh Entrepreneurship and has been a volunteer mentor at the Alacrity Foundation from its inception.  He is a Cardiff University Psychology graduate, with an Exec Health MBA from Cardiff Business School.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health and a Fellow of the CIPD.  He is also a visiting Professor at the University of South Wales and was elected a Fellow for Innovation at Cardiff University in 2020.

Tom Powell
Innovation and QI Manager, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board

Tom is an experienced health and social researcher and innovator with a breadth of knowledge and experience following various roles across academia, the NHS and civil service, including clinical research, provision of national statistics, health economics, informing national policy development and health service delivery.

Mark Briggs
Assistant Director of Innovation & Adoption Ambassador for Precision Medicine, Cardiff and Vale UHB & Life Sciences Hub Wales

Mark Briggs is the Assistant Director for Innovation for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and the Precision Medicine Ambassador for the Life Sciences Hub Wales.  Prior to these roles he was Co-Director Midland-Wales Advanced Therapies Treatment Centre, Programme Lead for Advanced Therapies Wales and both Head of Cell and Gene Therapy for the Welsh Blood Service and Head of Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation for the Velindre Cancer Centre within the Velindre University NHS Trust.

Before to moving to the public sector Mark spent more than 20 years within R&D in the commercial Life Sciences industry in a series of senior roles leading the development and application of enabling and disruptive technologies primarily for drug discovery, development, safety testing.  In his latter corporate years, he focussed upon the industrialisation of advanced therapies with a view to enabling safe and robust, turn-key production of both genetically and non-genetically modified cellular therapies.