Leanne Armitage | St George's University of London
At present I am a third-year medical student at St George’s University of London. Between my second and third year of medical school, I took a year out to study a BSc degree in Global Health at King’s College London. During this year, I also set up and piloted a medical outreach programme called ‘Leanne’s Amazing Medics’ (LAM) designed to increase diversity across UK medical schools. Lack of diversity in the field of medicine is a significant issue because less than 5% of medical students come from deprived backgrounds and half of all schools across the UK do not produce a single medical applicant (BMA, The Right Mix 2015). Personally, I believe statistics like these are shocking and the LAM programme is working towards changing them.
As well as increasing diversity across UK medical schools, I am also passionate about inspiring young people to achieve their full potential. As such, in my spare time I engage in various public/ inspirational speaking opportunities which enable me to do this.
Thorrun Govind | Sykes Chemist
Having studied at King's College London and undertaking her training in Newark on Trent. Thorrun qualified as a pharmacist in 2016 and has continued to work hard to promote community pharmacy utilising national and local media. This has been alongside her role as a locum pharmacist and her studies undertaking a law conversion course which she aims to use to defend healthcare professionals. Having appeared on the national BBC news talking about the pharmacy cuts she subsequently went on to appear on BBC Newsnight showcasing local pharmacy and highlighting the continued impact of government policies on the sector. This drew attention to the impact of each manifesto on the care pharmacists aim to provide.
She has continued to dispense free pharmaceutical advice to the public as the Resident Pharmacist on BBC Radio Lancashire, which she has been doing for over a year now. This involves speaking to a variety of local listeners of different ages and backgrounds. This has also led to her being approached to do the same since January as the Resident Pharmacist on BBC Radio London.
Actively seeking appearances on Radio 1 discussing illicit drugs and being quoted in national newspapers regularly Thorrun has been able to promote the sector, showcasing the great work pharmacists do in reducing pressure on the rest of the NHS. She has worked hard to advocate for the profession and raise awareness of the great work pharmacy teams do. Having been dubbed a 'one woman pressure group' for relentlessly campaigning for the sector and she is not scared to challenge key figures.
Thorrun actively pushes to get pharmacy on the agenda locally and nationally. Appearances discussing pharmacy have enabled her to “myth-bust” a number of common complaints patients raise about pharmacies generally, such as the time taken to process a prescription. It’s not quite as simple as “picking a box off a shelf,'' and this has educated the public and engendered good will towards the profession.
Adama Ibrahim | Biogen
An innovation award winning operational strategy expert and patient engagement thought leader with over 17 years in the NHS on commission by the DOH and in Industry (Hoffman La-Roche, Amgen, ALMAC, ICON and Biogen). Worked in England and Northern Ireland with temporary assignments in the USA (Pennsylvania, Texas and Massachusetts). Currently part of the DIA Patient Engagement Voluntary Community Leadership team.
Experience across various therapeutic areas such as Neurology, Inflammation, Metabolic Disease, Gastroenterology and Oncology across various phases of trials in drug development include creation and execution of successful strategies for research protocols and CRO oversight, patient and site feasibility, expertise in eClinical tools such as electronic Patient consent technologies, electronic clinical outcomes assessments and interactive response technologies, creation of optimal drug packaging and administration concepts, mapping the patient journey, planning and executing effective global site and patient engagement campaigns using direct to patient methods, leading and coaching remote and complex global teams.
Currently working as one of the Co-Leads for a cross-industry group with 7 other Bio-pharma companies to create an educational white paper on the use of Blockchain technology in clinical trials. Presented findings at Orlando at the Internet and Engineering Standards Forum (IEEE).
Vijay Kunadian | Newcastle University
I am an Academic Consultant Interventional Cardiologist based at Freeman Hospital Newcastle and Newcastle University having completed all my clinical cardiology and interventional cardiology training in the North East of England and an International Academic Fellowship in Cardiology with the TIMI/PERFUSE Study Group, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. I am one of handful of female Interventional Cardiologists in the UK and to my knowledge one of few female interventional cardiologists holding the clinical academic position in the UK in my sub-specialty. I am a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh, European Society of Cardiology and American College of Cardiology. I currently serve as a Steering Committee member of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Intervention Women’s Committee (Since 2013), Young Interventionist’s Committee (Since 2013) and British Cardiovascular Intervention Society Research & Development Committee. I am an invited Speaker and Faculty member of major cardiology scientific sessions. In addition to practising interventional cardiology in one of the busiest cardiac centres, I spend a significant proportion of my time in clinical cardiovascular research with primary focus on strategies to improve cardiovascular outcomes in high-risk patients including older patients and those with co-morbidities. I am a Chief and Principal Investigator in a number of national and international clinical trials. I serve as an Academic Lead in a number Cardiology training programmes including National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) academic foundation programme, NIHR academic clinical fellowship, and DOH Modernising Scientific Careers Master of Cardiac Science programme in Newcastle. I am also lead academic supervisor to a number of students in Newcastle (MBBS, BSc, MSc, Masters for Research, MD, PhD).
