Professor Keith Lloyd
Appraisal Panel Chair

Professor of Psychiatry, Swansea University

Close Biography of Professor of Psychiatry, Swansea University Professor Keith Lloyd
Appraisal Panel Chair Keith is a Professor of Psychiatry at Swansea University and Director of its Institute of Life Science with a long standing interest in medtech and sportstech innovation, wellbeing and health. He was Pro Vice Chancellor for medicine health and life science at Swansea University and before that head of the medical school. Prior to joining Swansea University, he led what is now Health and Care Research Wales. He has worked with the James Lind Alliance on public and patient perspectives in research priority setting and with the Cochrane collaboration. Keith continues to work clinically as a psychiatrist in Swansea.

Dr Andrew Champion

Assistant Director, Evidence Evaluation and Effectiveness

Close Biography of Assistant Director, Evidence Evaluation and Effectiveness Dr Andrew Champion Andrew has worked in the NHS for almost 30 years, covering a wide range of research and managerial roles. A strong interest in evidence-based medicine led to his appointment in 2003 as Manager/Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline programme. In 2016 Andrew took up his current role at the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC), where he is now enhancing the evidence-based decision making approach across the organisation.

Abigail Swindail

Clinical Informatics Lead for Community Nursing & Children's Services, Digital Health & Care Wales

Close Biography of Clinical Informatics Lead for Community Nursing & Children's Services, Digital Health & Care Wales Abigail Swindail Abi Swindail, is the Clinical Informatics Lead for Community Nursing & Children’s Services at Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) and a Registered Nurse and Health Visitor. She joined DHCW in August 2021 and works primarily within the Connecting Care National Programme Team. Her aim is to embed digital technology within nursing to improve quality, safety, and release time to care for nurses across Wales. Abi has a diverse nursing background within community care, having worked as a District Nurse, Prison Nurse, Health Visitor, and as a service manager.

Andy Smallwood

Assistant Director of Procurement, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership

Close Biography of Assistant Director of Procurement, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership Andy Smallwood Andy has worked within procurement management for over 25 years. Having undertaken national roles within NHS England, Andy has spent the past 10 years at NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership As Head of Sourcing and more recently as Assistant Director of Procurement. A strong believer of evidence-based procurement, Andy is the founder of the Orthopaedic Data Evaluation Panel and a co-opted member of the National Joint Registry Steering Committee.

Professor Chris Hopkins
Appraisal Panel Deputy Chair

Consultant Clinical Scientist and Head of the TriTech Institute, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Close Biography of Consultant Clinical Scientist and Head of the TriTech Institute, Hywel Dda University Health Board Professor Chris Hopkins
Appraisal Panel Deputy Chair Professor Chris Hopkins is a Consultant Clinical Scientist and Head of the TriTech Institute in Hywel Dda University Health Board. Chris is also a Clinical Director within the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Chris is a Fellow of the Academy for Healthcare Science and was recently awarded the Excellence in Healthcare Science Research and Innovation Award at the NHS England Chief Scientific Officer’s Excellence in Healthcare Science Awards 2022.

Debbie Laubach

Operations Manager, MediWales

Close Biography of Operations Manager, MediWales Debbie Laubach Debbie oversees all event organisation and activities at MediWales and frequently engages with members. She creates and facilitates relationships across the sector, assisting in collaboration and understanding the needs of the life science community.

Emma Hughes

PPI Advisor

Close Biography of PPI Advisor Emma Hughes Emma is a dynamic policy strategist with a successful background in driving forward change at local and national level. She has experience working with the private, public and third sector and is actively engaged in the public affairs agenda of government and shaping health and social care policy. Emma is the Policy and Engagement Manager for the charity, Genetic Alliance UK. She has worked for the past six years to help improve systems and processes for rare disease patients in accessing orphan and ultra-orphan medicines, technologies and specialised services.

Iolo Doull

Medical director, NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee

Close Biography of Medical director, NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee Iolo Doull

Dr James Risley

Deputy Executive Medical Director, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Close Biography of Deputy Executive Medical Director, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board Dr James Risley James is the Deputy Executive Medical Director for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. An Emergency Medicine consultant, he is dual-qualified in law and has an Executive MBA. He has an interest in innovation and entrepreneurship, with a focus on how to improve patient care through healthcare technology.

Dr Jared Torkington

Consultant Colorectal Surgeon, Cardiff & Vale UHB

Close Biography of Consultant Colorectal Surgeon, Cardiff & Vale UHB Dr Jared Torkington Jared is a Consultant Surgeon in Cardiff & Vale University Health Board. His clinical and research interests include Bowel Cancer and Laparoscopic Surgery. He was appointed Associate Medical Director for Innovation to support the new collaboration with Cardiff University in the field of Clinical Innovation. He chairs the novel Multidisciplinary Team approach to Clinical Innovation.

Karen Jones

Senior Pharmacist, All Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre

Close Biography of Senior Pharmacist, All Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre Karen Jones

Lee Davies

Executive Director of Strategy and Planning, Hywel Dda UHB

Close Biography of Executive Director of Strategy and Planning, Hywel Dda UHB Lee Davies Lee has worked for NHS Wales for 18 years, having joined the NHS Wales Graduate Leadership Development Scheme after graduating from Cardiff University where he studied physics.He held operational management positions in Swansea NHS Trust and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg UHB before taking on a performance improvement role with the NHS Wales Delivery and Support Unit. In 2013, he joined Cardiff and Vale UHB and became Operational Planning Director three years later.Lee has a wealth of experience of working with clinical teams to deliver transformational change for the benefit of patient care. A recent example was the establishment of CAV 24/7, a new approach to how patients access urgent care within the Cardiff and Vale UHB. He has a particular interest in the use of data and analytics to support service improvement and redesign.

Dr Lisa Trigg

Assistant Director, Research, Data and Intelligence, Social Care Wales

Close Biography of Assistant Director, Research, Data and Intelligence, Social Care Wales Dr Lisa Trigg Lisa’s role is to support the social care sector in Wales with evidence and research to inform policy and service design. Before joining Social Care Wales, Lisa spent seven years at the London School of Economics conducting comparative research on long-term care systems. Her PhD research explored approaches to quality in residential care. Before this, Lisa spent seventeen years in management and consulting roles in Australia and the UK.

Louise Baker

Project Lead, Innovation and Adoption Team, Life Sciences Hub Wales

Close Biography of Project Lead, Innovation and Adoption Team, Life Sciences Hub Wales Louise Baker Louise works as a Project Lead within the Innovation and Adoption Team focussing on Digital, artificial intelligence and Robotics. She has 23 years of experience working in Local Authority Health and Social Care front line services. This includes spending nine years as a Telecare and Technology-Enabled Care Developer, managing telecare and remote monitoring services and delivering service change within an integrated health and social care community team setting Louise has also worked closely with industry to design new technology to support health and social care challenge and promoting the use of technology within the community via training programmes.

Luella Trickett

Director, Association of British HealthTech Industries

Close Biography of Director, Association of British HealthTech Industries Luella Trickett Luella joined ABHI in 2019, with over 25 years' experience in the pharmaceutical and HealthTech industries. Her career has seen her hold numerous specialist manufacturing and commercial roles at Baxter Healthcare, with responsibility for a range of product portfolios across the HealthTech spectrum within the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Maria Selby

Principal Officer Children Services, Social Services Health and Housing, Neath Civic Centre

Close Biography of Principal Officer Children Services, Social Services Health and Housing, Neath Civic Centre Maria Selby

Dr Mohid Khan

Consultant Gastroenterologist, Cardiff & Vale University Health Board

Close Biography of Consultant Gastroenterologist, Cardiff & Vale University Health Board Dr Mohid Khan Mohid is a Consultant Gastroenterologist in Cardiff & Vale UHB. He has led the transformation of the Neuroendocrine Cancer Service in South Wales through a Value Based approach focusing on patient reported outcomes and experience, achieving European Centre of Excellence status. He has had leadership roles in a variety of digital healthcare, innovation and clinical research projects at local, national and international levels.

Dr Rhodri Davies

Cardiology Consultant at the University Hospital of Wales

Close Biography of Cardiology Consultant at the University Hospital of Wales Dr Rhodri Davies Rhodri is a Cardiology Consultant at the University Hospital of Wales and as Associate Clinical Professor at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University College London. He has a background in computer science and machine learning and his main research interests are in translating AI methods to clinical care to improve patient management and gain new insight into disease.

Robert McAlister

PPI Advisor and Public Partner

Close Biography of PPI Advisor and Public Partner Robert McAlister Bob is a member of the public who comments on health and care research matters. He is a public research partner at the Wales Cancer Research Centre and he is on a board that advises on research access to Care Homes. His public involvement has taken him to UK level representation. In his working life he was employed in teaching, policing and school attendance

Sara Pickett

Principal Health Economist, All Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre

Close Biography of Principal Health Economist, All Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre Sara Pickett

Sarah Dean

Clinical Informaticist, Digital Health And Care Wales

Close Biography of Clinical Informaticist, Digital Health And Care Wales Sarah Dean

Dr Susan Myles

Director, Health Technology Wales

Close Biography of Director, Health Technology Wales Dr Susan Myles Susan has been engaged in applied health technology assessment for 25 years. Before joining Health Technology Wales, she led the development and work of the Scottish Health Technologies Group. Susan has received scholarships from the Department of Health and Medical Research Council, and is a previous recipient of a Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy. She holds qualifications in Economics (BA), Health Economics (MSc & PhD) and Epidemiology (PgDip).

Dr Tom Crosby

Consultant Oncologist, Velindre Cancer Centre

Close Biography of Consultant Oncologist, Velindre Cancer Centre Dr Tom Crosby Tom is Medical Director of the Wales Cancer Network, Clinical Lead of Clinical Systems Transformation at Velindre Cancer Centre. He is based in Velindre Cancer Centre and currently specialises in upper gastrointestinal cancer; Tom is a leader in Upper Gastrointestinal Oesophageal Chemo-radiotherapy Research, Service and Development in the UK. Tom is also currently the clinical lead for the Transformation of Cancer Services Programme in South East Wales.

David Heyburn MBE

Head of Operations - Innovation and Value, NHS Wales Executive (secondment)

Close Biography of Head of Operations - Innovation and Value, NHS Wales Executive (secondment) David Heyburn MBE David has nearly 30 years of leadership and management experience within the NHS, specialising in change and transformation activities at regional and national levels. He has worked in hospital, community and policy settings as well as in business continuity and emergency planning. David has a healthcare science background and outside of the NHS, he is one of the Directors of a men's mental health and wellbeing charity.