Dr Lisa Anderson Heart Failure Consultant, St George’s University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Lisa Anderson has worked towards improving heart failure services across South West London since 2005. In 2016 she led the project to open the UK’s first Acute Heart Failure inpatient unit. She proposed the NCEPOD inquiry into inpatient heart failure deaths and chaired the writing group for the UK Ambulance Service heart failure guidelines in 2018. She also acted as Clinical Expert for the Evidence Review Group for Ivabradine and the NICE technical appraisal for sacubitril/valsartan. She subspecialises in cardiac MR and her original paper describing T2* for the detection of cardiac iron is one of the most internationally cited publications in this field. Lisa is the National Coordinating Investigator for the Global Prevalence of ATTR-CM in HFpEF trial and was the National Coordinating Investigator for the ATTR-ACT trial and DISCOVERY clinical trials. She is Chair Elect of the British Society for Heart Failure. She is one of the organisers of the Cardiorenal Forum Annual Scientific Meeting.

Mrs Carys Barton Heart Failure Nurse Consultant, Imperial NHS Foundation Trust

Carys Barton is the current deputy Chair of the British Society for Heart Failure (BSH). She served as Chair of the BSH Nurse Forum from 2019 to 2021 and a board observer from 2017 to 2019. She is also Junior Secretary and a British Association for Nurses in Cardiovascular Care (BANCC) Council Member, a Committee Member of the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) Cardiovascular Special Interest Group, the Heart Failure Policy Network, the Pumping Marvellous clinical committee, and the cardiorenal scientific committee. She is committed to supporting the education and development of heart failure specialist Nurses and allied health professionals, through the BSH and the nurse forum but also as an honorary lecturer of heart failure masters modules at Glasgow Caledonian University and Keele University.

Dr Sarah Birkhoelzer Wessex Cardiology Registrar

Sarah Birkhoelzer has a subspecialty interest in heart failure and cardiovascular imaging. She is currently out of programme to do a PhD at the University of Oxford in the Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research in Cardiometabolic Disease and Heart Failure. As one of four Centennial Ambassadors of the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS), Sarah was invited by the Virginia Chapter of the American College of Cardiology to spend 12 days in with the imaging team in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Washington D.C. in 2022. Sarah advocates for diversity and inclusion in Cardiology and is a member of the BCS Women in Cardiology committee.

Dr Kate Bramham Consultant Nephrologist, King’s College Hospital; Reader at King’s College London

Kate Bramham is the UK Co-Lead for Rare Renal Diseases Registry and the London Kidney Network Health Inequalities scoping and prevention committees. She has authored several original manuscripts and book chapters on renal disease, pregnancy and ethnicity. She is leading several clinical studies and trials in the UK and Africa to improve detection of early kidney disease, using point-of-care approaches and novel treatments to protect kidney function in people of African ancestry. Kate is passionate about working closely with underserved communities to change the trajectory of kidney disease.

Professor Derek Connolly Consultant Cardiologist and the Director of Research and Development at Birmingham City Hospital

Derek Connolly holds honorary academic positions at both Aston Medical School and at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham. He trained in Edinburgh, Cambridge, London and San Diego where he was a Carnegie Scholar. He has a first-class degree in Pharmacology from the University of Edinburgh where he was the Brunton medallist and Keasbey Bursary holder. His British Heart Foundation-funded PhD in molecular cardiology is from the University of Cambridge. He is the Chief or Primary Investigator of multiple large trials in cardiovascular medicine. He developed one of the UKs first primary angioplasty programmes, and one of the UK’s largest cardiac CT programmes. He is a council member of the British Primary Care Cardiovascular Society. He was on the design and naming team of the forthcoming super hospital, the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital which will open in 2024. His main interests are in the detection and treatment of coronary artery disease with a particular emphasis on both primary and secondary prevention. He was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by Aston University for his contributions to medical science.

Dr Peter Cowburn Consultant Cardiologist, University Hospital Southampton

Peter Cowburn has a specialist interest in heart failure. He has a long-standing interest in cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) and reported the first case series of inotrope-supported CRT. He helped establish a novel nurse-led inpatient heart failure service at UHS, which led to a dramatic reduction in inpatient mortality (2008). He established an inpatient ultrafiltration programme in 2010, the first in the UK. He has held a number of positions on the Board of the British Society for Heart Failure (BSH) between 2007 and 2019 including Deputy Chair and Treasurer. He was made a Fellow of the BSH in 2022.

Dr Matt Graham-Brown Clinical Associate Professor of Renal Medicine and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist, University of Leicester

Matthew Graham-Brown has research interests that include identification, characterisation and mitigation of cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease, optimisation of lifestyle and cardiovascular pharmacotherapy and implementation science. He is current Co-Chair of the UK CardioRenal Clinical Study Group and has active project grant funding from the British Heart Foundation and Kidney Research UK.

Professor Darren Green Consultant Nephrologist, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust; Honorary Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Manchester; Visiting Professor of Life Sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University

Darren Green has a clinical and academic interest in the relationship between heart failure and both chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury. Within this interest, his research portfolio encompasses a broad landscape from biomarker discovery projects through to the use of artificial intelligence in clinical decision making. Darren and his team are always looking for new collaborations in these and other areas.

Professor William G Herrington Co-lead, Renal Studies Group, Medical Research Council Population Health Research Unit, University of Oxford; Honorary Consultant Nephrologist, Oxford Kidney Unit

William Herrington is also a practising Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at the Oxford Kidney Unit. He jointly leads the Renal Studies Group, which he joined in 2010, contributing to landmark renal trials (SHARP, 3C and UKHARP3). He is Chief Investigator of the EMPA-KIDNEY trial. He supports a number of clinical practice guideline working groups, and co-chairs the UK Kidney Association guideline group responsible for recommendations on the use of SGLT2 inhibitors in adults with kidney disease. He is also interested in trial methodology and has chaired the UK Renal Trials Network since 2020.

Ms Karen Jenkins Consultant Nurse, Kent Kidney Centre, East Kent Hospitals, University NHS Foundation Trust. President, Association of Nephrology Nurses UK

Karen Jenkins has been a nephrology nurse for most of her nursing career and became a Consultant Nurse in 2003. She works mainly in advanced kidney care, focusing on supportive kidney care. She has a wealth of experience in many areas of renal nursing, including haemodialysis, anaemia management, advanced kidney care research and service design. She is passionate about education and training, clinical leadership, and raising the profile of renal nurses. This is exemplified by her work in national roles as President and co-founder of the Association of Nephrology Nurses UK, Past MDT Clinical Vice President and a Trustee of the UK Kidney Association and Consultant Editor for the Journal of Kidney Care.

Professor Paul Kalra Consultant Cardiologist, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Paul Kalra is one of the founders of the Cardiorenal Forum and past Chair of the British Society for Heart Failure. His research interests include the role of iron deficiency and its correction in patients with heart failure, cardiorenal disease and the impact of hyperkalaemia on RAAS inhibition use.

Professor Philip Kalra Consultant Nephrologist, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust; Professor of Renal Medicine, University of Manchester

Philip Kalra graduated from Cambridge University and is Professor of Nephrology in Salford and the University of Manchester. He has a major research focus on renovascular disease, cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease (CKD), CKD progression and iron use in CKD, and he leads the research team in Salford. He was Academic Vice President of the UK Renal Association from 2016–19, Chair of the UK Kidney Research Consortium during this time and was Chair of the NIHR CRN Renal Disorders group from 2010–18. He has been involved in the development of several large UK clinical trials in nephrology and cardiology, including the ASTRAL, PIVOTAL and IRONMAN trials, and he has played a role in amalgamating cardiorenal education and research within the UK. He is also one of the founders of the Cardiorenal Forum.

Dr David Lappin Consultant Nephrologist/Honorary Personal Professor of Nephrology, Galway University Hospitals/National University of Ireland, Galway

David Lappin graduated in Dublin in 1991. He trained in nephrology in Dublin and Manchester and obtained a PhD in Medicine in 2002. His areas of interest are clinical nephrology, diabetic nephropathy and resistant hypertension. He is the Treasurer and incoming President of the European Union of Medical Specialists (EUMS) Section of Nephrology, the current UEMS lead for the European Specialty Examination in Nephrology, and former member of the European Renal Association CME sub-committee.

Dr Kieran McCafferty Consultant Nephrologist, Barts Health NHS Trust, London

Kieran McCafferty is an active trialist in the field of cardiorenal metabolic disease having led on over 60 trials in the last five years. He is the Clinical Director of the NIHR Barts Health clinical research facility, the North Thames clinical research network renal speciality lead, and co-chairs the UK Kidney Research Consortium on Clinical Study Groups on chronic kidney disease and diabetic kidney disease.

Professor Gerry McCann NIHR Research Professor (Experimental Medicine) and Professor of Cardiac Imaging, University of Leicester

Gerry McCann is the cardiovascular theme lead for the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre. Gerry was a full-time NHS consultant cardiologist before undertaking successive NIHR research fellowships since 2011. He directs a very active clinical imaging research programme with funding from the British Heart Foundation, the Medical Research Council and his NIHR Research Professorship is focused on the prevalence of heart failure in a multi-ethnic population with type 2 diabetes and how best to diagnose and prevent symptom onset, working closely with researchers from the Leicester Diabetes Centre.

Dr Geraint Morton Consultant Cardiologist, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Geraint Morton trained in cardiology in Wessex and also completed a clinical research PhD in cardiac MRI at King’s College London. He was appointed Consultant Cardiologist in Portsmouth in 2014. His subspecialty interests are heart failure and complex devices. He is Clinical Lead for the Heart Failure and Implantable Devices Services at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust. He has published widely in his fields of interest, most recently focusing on multidisciplinary working and pathways of care in heart failure.

Dr David Mulcahy Consultant Cardiologist, Blackrock Health Hermitage Clinic, Dublin

David Mulcahy qualified from the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, and trained in London and Bethesda before returning to Ireland as Consultant Cardiologist in the Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Dublin. He then moved to Tallaght Hospital in 2000, and founded the clinical CRY Unit in conjunction with the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young in 2007.

Dr Sohail Munshi Chief Medical Officer of Manchester and Trafford Local Care Organisations; Senior Clinical Adviser to Director of Clinical Integration, NHS England

Sohail Munshi has been a GP in Manchester for 25 years. His practice received an overall ‘outstanding’ status from the Care Quality Commission in 2016. He set up England’s largest GP federation in 2016 and received a BEM in the Queens honours awards in 2017 for services to the community and primary care. In 2018 he became the CMO of MLCO - a pioneering new public sector organisation, improving care by bringing together NHS community health and mental health services, primary care and social care services in the city. Working with local people, the MLCO aims to improve health and wellbeing through the integration of health and social care at a place level. In 2019 the locality of Trafford was also incorporated under the executive leadership of MLCO. Since March 2021, Sohail has also been supporting the National NSHE team on Covid vaccinations and primary care recovery. He is the senior clinical advisor to Nikki Kanani, the National Director for Clinical Integration. He is the SRO for the ‘Making every contact count’ programme nationally which is designed to both support better prevention as well as interventions aligned to reducing health inequalities.

Miss Kathrine Parker Specialist Renal Pharmacist and NIHR Clinical Doctoral Fellow, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Kathrine Parker has worked for the Trust since 2010. In 2016 she completed her Masters in clinical pharmacy and in 2019 she received a personal funding award from the NIHR to investigate anticoagulant use in chronic kidney disease as part of a clinical academic doctoral fellowship. Her other interests include drug dosing in dialysis, symptom management in advanced kidney disease, kidney transplantation immunosuppression in the elderly and PD peritonitis. Kathrine prescribes for patients on the dialysis unit and kidney transplant clinic. Kathrine was recently appointed as the UK Kidney Association Academic Vice President representing the multi-professional team.

Professor Smeeta Sinha Consultant Nephrologist, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust; Honorary Professor, University of Manchester; Visiting Professor, Manchester Metropolitan University

Smeeta Sinha is currently the NHS England National Clinical Director for Renal Medicine and the NHS England Clinical Lead for the Renal Services Transformation Programme. Her clinical interests are in chronic kidney disease, multi-morbidity including diabetic kidney disease and cardiorenal syndrome. She also leads the complex glomerulonephritis service at Salford Royal. Smeeta’s research interests include vascular calcification, multi-morbidity and glomerulonephritis.

Dr Lisa Willcocks Consultant Nephrologist, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge

Lisa Willcocks studied medicine at Oxford University, and undertook her training at Oxford, Brisbane (Australia) and Birmingham, before undertaking speciality training in nephrology in the Eastern Region. During this time, she was awarded a PhD in Immunology from the University of Cambridge. She has been a Consultant Nephrologist at CUH since 2010, where she has a special interest in immune-mediated renal disease. Lisa is also involved in a number of clinical trials in glomerulonephritis, and the joint Chief Investigator for the NIHR-funded TURING trial, comparing rituximab with placebo for the treatment of nephrotic minimal change disease and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

Professor Derek Yellon Director, Hatter Cardiovascular Research Institute, UCL, London

Derek Yellon is also an Honorary Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town and holds Honorary Chairs at the University of South Alabama in the USA, and the North China Coal Medical University in China. He has published in excess of 600 full papers and edited 23 books and has an H factor of 115. He runs a translational research Institute whose interest relates to the pathophysiology of acute myocardial infarction and cardioprotection in the setting of diabetes, ischaemia / reperfusion injury including molecular aspects of ischaemic injury in both the basic and clinical arena.