Dr Kevin Fernando

FAcadMEd MSc Diabetes, GP Partner North Berwick Health Centre, GP with Specialist Interest in CVRM & Medical Education, Content Advisor for WebMD Medscape Global & UK and Honorary Clinical Reader at the University of Dundee

Kevin is a part-time GP Partner working at North Berwick Health Centre, near Edinburgh. Kevin is also Scottish lead of the Primary Care Diabetes Society, Content Advisor for WebMD Medscape Global & UK and a co-founder of GoggleDocs.​

Kevin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2000 and holds both MRCGP and MRCP(UK) qualifications and has completed a Master’s degree in diabetes which he passed with distinction.​

Kevin has been elected to Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and also the Academy of Medical Educators for his work in diabetes and medical education.​

Dr Patrick Holmes

MB BS, MSc, DipTher, MRCGP​

Dr. Holmes has been a GP Partner at St. George’s Medical Practice, Darlington for 25 years. He is a local clinical commissioner for diabetes.

He is North-East & North Cumbria Diabetes Clinical Network Primary Care Lead, Primary Care Diabetes NIHR Research Lead for the North East and Associate Editor for Diabetic Medicine and member of the UKKA SGLT2i in Chronic Kidney Disease 20212 & 2023 writing group.

He is an active participant of GoggleDocs (www.goggledocs.co.uk), an innovative group of medical educators working in the SoMe space.

His clinical interests are adult type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease prevention and chronic kidney disease.

Twitter: @drpatrickholmes​

Bev Bostock

PgDip (Diabetes) MSc (Respiratory Care) MA (Med Ethics and Law) QN Advanced Nurse Practitioner & PhD student Asthma Lead, Association of Respiratory Nurses, Primary Care Respiratory, Society Executive Committee Member, Primary Care Cardiovascular Society Council Member, Editor in Chief, Practice Nurse Journal Independent Training Consultant

Beverley is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in general practice in Gloucestershire and is Editor in Chief of Practice Nurse journal.  She qualified as an RGN at St George’s Hospital London and gained a BSc in Professional Nursing Studies after completing 2 years of an advanced clinical practice MSc at Wolverhampton University.  She is an Independent Nurse Prescriber and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Diabetes Management from the University of Warwick along with an MSc in Respiratory Care and an MA in Medical Ethics and Law.

Beverley has extensive educational experience having developed modules at diploma, degree and master's level in subjects such as diabetes, heart failure and cardiovascular disease.  She teaches on these topics and others, including chronic kidney disease and atrial fibrillation,  for a range of NHS organisations. 

Beverley is a council member for the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society and has been a member of various national steering groups for cardiovascular disease, hypertension and dyslipidaemia. She has been a Visiting Lecturer in behaviour change at Imperial College London for the MSc in Preventive Cardiology.

Beverley has been a Queen’s Nurse since 2015, a title which is given to nurses who have demonstrated a high level of commitment to patient care and nursing practice.

Dr Joe Martins

Consultant Interventional Cardiologist working at Russell’s Hall Hospital, Dudley and the Wolverhampton Heart and Lung Centre.

Dr Martins is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist working at Russell’s Hall Hospital, Dudley and the Wolverhampton Heart and Lung Centre.  He completed his undergraduate training at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and moved to the UK in 1996. He did a research fellowship at Imperial College London and was awarded his MD for his work on atrial fibrillation and the use of Rapid Access Arrhythmia Clinic in the management of new suspected arrhythmias. 

After completing his cardiology training in the West Midlands, he was appointed as a Consultant in 2008. He is the medical director of Action Heart and has additional interests in preventative cardiology, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and medical education, lecturing widely both locally and nationally.

Prof Ahmet Fuat

Professor Ahmet Fuat has recently retired as a GP in Darlington, Co.Durham after 37 years in the same practice and 41 years as a qualified doctor. He will continue to work as a GPSI Cardiology running a genetic lipid service for County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust, and take up a role as Medical Director for OBEROI Consulting.

He has been a GPSI Cardiology for 26 years having undertaken a Postgraduate Diploma in Cardiology at Bradford University graduating with distinction. He started the first one stop diagnostic and integrated heart failure clinic in the UK in 2002 with local colleagues.

He has a PhD in research in heart failure diagnosis and management, which includes work on natriuretic peptides and has generated several publications that influenced guidelines and led to his recognition as an Honorary Professor at Durham University.

He holds various roles in CVD and research including the immediate past President of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society (PCCS) which he was instrumental in reforming and current education and research lead, and GP Research Engagement lead for NENC CRN.

He has a passion for medical education and remains an active lecturer, tutor and researcher. He is a peer reviewer for most high impact Cardiovascular journals, BMJ, BJGP and research bodies. His work in community cardiology has been recognised with Fellowships from the RCGP, RCP London and RCP Edinburgh and the PCCS.

Vicky Ruszala

MRPharmS MFRPSII

Vicky Ruszala is a specialist pharmacist in cardiology and heart failure at North Bristol NHS Trust. She works in a specialist capacity, trying to improve inpatient experience for those with heart failure, diabetes and renal disease and reducing errors in multi-morbidity care.  She is passionate about the role of pharmacists in providing care in long-term conditions.

She has 12 years of experience working in diabetes and has completed multiple secondments in secondary care and primary care across two ICBs. She worked for both as a specialist pharmacist in the integrated diabetes services, contributing to strategic changes in the systemic management of diabetes. In her current cardiology role she is leading on improving holistic CVRM care in primary care and taking part in the redesign of the BNSSG Heart Failure Integrated pathway.

She has held specialist national roles including chair of the UKCPA Diabetes Group committee, pharmacist lead of the endocrinology Clinical Reference Group for NHS England was part of the guideline development group for the original NICE Type 1 diabetes guideline. Currently she works as part of the British Society of Heart Failure education committee and is working on national projects to enhance heart failure education.

Nadia Malik

Practice Pharmacist, Queens Park Medical Centre with an interest in diabetes

Nadia is a highly skilled and passionate clinical pharmacist who is focused on improving patient outcomes, particularly in the areas of diabetes and associated co-morbidities. She is dedicated to addressing both health and cultural inequalities and is motivated to innovate, initiate and spread best practice.

Her expertise in advising people with diabetes during Ramadan has been instrumental in helping healthcare professionals provide evidence-based care. Her patient-centred work in the CVRM field has been recognised in publications, and at high profile conferences such as the Clinical Pharmacy Congress, DUK, and the i2i Clinical Summit. Nadia's commitment to improving patient outcomes and addressing health inequalities is helping to make a real difference in the lives of her patients.

Prof Raj Thakkar

BSc(Hons) MBBS MRCGP MRCP(UK)

Raj trained at UCL and in the Oxford Deanery. His varied roles have included working as a GP partner since 2004, Clinical Commissioning Director for Bucks CCG/BOB ICB in planned care, Cardiac Lead for Thames Valley Strategic Clinical Network, primary care cardiology lead for the Oxford Academic Health Science Network and atrial fibrillation champion for NHSIQ Thames Valley. He is also on the national expert advisory groups for lipids, heart failure and valve disease, and is currently the national primary care workstream co-lead for the cardiac transformation programme (NHSE). Raj is the President of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society and Honorary Visiting Professor at Cardiff University Medical School.  

Raj has worked as a presenter on BBC Radio and is a medical writer, speaker, and advisor. He has written and published over 200 articles and several books including the MIMS consultation guide which won the BMA book of the year award in the category of medicine -2012. He has achieved two atrial fibrillation pioneer awards, was a national finalist for GP of the year in 2017 and a national HSJ finalist -2019 for his work in atrial fibrillation. 

Dr William Hinchliffe

Dr. William Hinchliffe started his Renal consultancy in 2015 at City Hospitals Sunderland, now South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. He has a longstanding subspeciality interest in diabetic kidney disease and has lectured on this topic in addition to its evolving treatments over the past 10 years. More recently, he has been working across primary and secondary care boundaries through honorary contracts with both AKI (Acute Kidney Injury) and CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) projects- with an emphasis on the CaReMe (CardioRenalMetabolic) axis.

Prof Partha Kar

National Specialty Advisor, Diabetes in the NHS

He is an International Medical Graduate (Kolkata, India) who works as a Consultant in Diabetes & Endocrinology at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, UK since 2008- and won multiple awards at the BMJ, HSJ & Guardian Care Awards.

He has helped to expand use of technology in Type 1 Diabetes- namely use of Flash Glucose/CGM and implementation of use of CGM in T1D pregnancy along with use of online digital self-management platforms- while recently leading on real world data collection on Closed Loops for subsequent NICE review for wide access.

His other work has involved championing “Language Matters”; principles of Peer support for Type 1 Diabetes as well as Co- creator of Type 1 Diabetes comic (Volume 1 to 4).

He is one of the leading users of social media in diabetes care- and writes a monthly blog for the British Medical Journal.

He has also been recognized as one of the most influential figures from the ethnic minority population across healthcare in the UK by the Healthcare Service Journal in 2020,2021 & 2022.

He has recently been appointed by the GMC as their Clinical Advisor for International Medical Graduates in the NHS.

He received an OBE for services to Diabetes care in 2021

Dr Varun Anand

MSc, MRCP, MRCGP, DipBSLM GP with a special interest in Lifestyle Medicine

Dr Varun Anand is a Portfolio GP in Hull with a special interest in Lifestyle Medicine. He graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2012 and completed Academic Foundation Training in Nottingham in 2014. He completed Academic GP Training in 2018 with a Masters in Primary Care.

He is a Salaried and Health Assessments GP and Yorkshire & Humber Physical Activity Clinical Champion for the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities. He has been a GP Tutor for Hull York Medical School and previous chair of the RCGP Nutrition and Lifestyle Special Interest Group. Varun’s other interests include playing cricket and spending time with his young daughter!

Phil Newland-Jones

Consultant Pharmacist in Diabetes and Endocrinology and is the Clinical Director of the Diabetes and Endocrine service at University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

Philip Newland-Jones is a Consultant Pharmacist in Diabetes and Endocrinology and is the Clinical Director of the Diabetes and Endocrine service at University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.  He is a member of the UKCPA Diabetes and Endocrinology Committee, the Joint British Diabetes Societies (JBDS-IP) Committee, and the Centre of Perioperative Care (CPOC) diabetes working group.  He is also currently part of the “Defining the Future of Endocrinology” working group for the Society for Endocrinology. 

 At a national level he is the lead pharmacist for NHS England Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinical Reference Group and has worked at committee level in multiple diabetes organisations over the past 15 years. He is an editorial board member of “Diabetes in Primary Care”, “Practical Diabetes” and “Medicine Matters diabetes”.  He is also a specialist advisor to the CQC for diabetes/endocrinology in secondary and intermediate care services.  In 2015 he was awarded the National Leadership in Pharmacy award by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and in 2021 was voted as “diabetes healthcare professional of the year” at the QIC awards.  In 2021 he was designated as a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Philip leads a large dynamic team and is responsible for the direction of inpatient and outpatient diabetes and endocrine care at University Hospital Southampton.  He works in a Consultant practitioner prescribing Pharmacist role on a day to day basis reviewing inpatients and outpatients with diabetes and endocrine issues. His dedication to education ensures the rest of his time is taken up educating doctors, nurses, allied healthcare professionals and students within secondary care, primary care and university settings.  He is an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton is the MSc module lead for “Modern Management of Diabetes, Nutrition and Pharmacotherapy” at the University of Southampton.

Dr Eimear Darcy

6 session GP principle from Northern Ireland passionate about Primary Care Cardiovascular-Renal-Metabolic Review.

An early adopter of Primary Care CVRM thought processes she has been her practice diabetic prescribing lead since 2017, having graduated from Queens University Belfast in 2012. 

She was the GP lead for a 2022 Northern Ireland Health Care Award winning project focused on CVRM thought process implementation in the primary care setting. 

She sits on the Diabetes Northern Ireland Formulary Implementation Group. She has presented regionally on Primary Care CVRM Review to both the Irish Cardiac Society and the Northern Ireland Heart Failure Nurse Forum. 

She is co-author of the nationally published Medscape Primary Care Type Two Diabetes Cardiovascular Renal Metabolic Review Checklist, which she feels is an aspirational care leadership document giving a road map to colleagues for real world implementation of CVRM in the primary care setting.  

Dr Brendon Neuen

Dr Brendon Neuen is a Nephrologist and Director of the Kidney Trials Unit at Royal North Shore Hospital, and Senior Research Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, Australia. He graduated with 1st Class Honours and the Academic Medal from James Cook University, holds Masters in Global Health from the University of Oxford, PhD from the University of New South Wales, and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the American Society of Nephrology.

He is widely recognised for his expertise in cardio-renal-metabolic medicine. Dr Neuen established the SGLT2 Meta-Analysis Cardio-Renal Trialists' Consortium, bringing together data on >90,000 patients to better understand the effects of this class of medicines in different types of patients. His work has directly informed more than 25 major international and national guidelines, position papers and scientific statements which optimal care for people with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease.

Dr Muthu Vaduganathan

MD MPH FACC FHFA is a cardiologist and clinical trialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Muthiah Vaduganathan, MD MPH FACC FHFA is a cardiologist and clinical trialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He is co-director of the Center for Cardiometabolic Implementation Science at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is a Section Editor of the FIT / Early Career section of JACC, Associate Editor of JACC Heart Failure, and serves on the editorial board of the European Journal of Heart Failure. He serves as the US national ambassador to the ESC Heart Failure Association. His research focuses on drug development, clinical trials, and implementation of cardio-renal-metabolic therapies, and he has authored or co-authored more than 650 peer-reviewed publications. He participates on study leadership of ongoing advanced-phase trials in cardiometabolic medicine and heart failure.

Prof David Strain

Associate Professor of Cardiometabolic Health at the University of Exeter Medical School.