Meet the UKDHC Team
The United Kingdom Digital Health and Care CIC (UKDHC) is dedicated to fostering a collaborative environment for health and social care informaticians, organising educational events, promoting research and innovation, advocating for ethical practices in clinical informatics, and collaborating with stakeholders to enhance healthcare quality and efficiency through digital solutions.
Meet the UKDHC Team
Emeritus Prof WA Wallace
Director, Chair & Conference Officer
Emeritus Professor W Angus Wallace, renowned in health informatics and orthopaedic surgery, established the Faculty of Health Informatics at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2000, serving as Dean until 2005.
He initiated and developed a Master’s program in Health Informatics and was one of a team of four who developed the eLogbook for UK and Ireland surgical training. A 30-year Orthopaedic & Accident Surgery Professor in Nottingham, Professor Wallace specialized in Shoulder & Elbow Surgery, and co-founded the British Elbow and Shoulder Society (BESS).
He has authored over 350 research papers and remains active in academic reviews.
Currently, he leads “UK Digital Health and Care” (UKDHC), reflecting his enduring enthusiasm and influence in the field of Clinical Informatics.
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Dr DJ Hamblin Brown
Director & Finance Officer
DJ is CEO and principle architect of CAREFUL (https://careful.online), a care co-ordination platform. He qualified as a doctor in the UK in 1996. He trained as an emergency physician in the NHS from 2004 to 2018 and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in London (FRCEM), with specialist registration in EM.
He worked for many years in an advisory capacity within healthcare, including as a Clinical Advisor to CQC. More recently, DJ spent three years as the VP of Medical Affairs with United Family Healthcare in Beijing (United Family Healthcare -), a group of seven hospitals and 14 primary care clinics where he was accountable for the safety and quality of clinical activity within the system.
Before that, he was the Group Medical Director for Aspen Healthcare, which operated nine hospitals and clinics across the UK. He has dedicated most of his working life to the challenges of improving healthcare.
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Mr Taimur Shoaib
Director, General Secretary & Data Protection Officer
Mr. Taimur Shoaib, a UK Consultant Plastic Surgeon, specializes in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery. He holds prominent positions at La Belle Forme Clinic, Harley Street, since 2009, and 2014, respectively.
A Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, he is La Belle Forme’s Clinic’s owner, Medical Director and also a Faculty Member at Allergan Medical Institute. Previously, he contributed significantly at Glasgow’s Canniesburn Plastic Surgery Unit (2006-2014).
Mr. Shoaib’s very extensive qualifications include MB. ChB., FRCSEd, MD, and FRCSEd(Plast). He is highly acclaimed for his expertise in aesthetic medicine and cosmetic surgery, as evidenced by the numerous industry awards he has collected.
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Dr J N François Taljard
Director & Technical Officer
Dr. J N François Taljard, Consultant Anaesthetist, University Hospital Monklands since 2009, MBChB (University of Pretoria, South Africa) and an MSc in Health Informatics (University of Sheffield).
Trained and served as a Military Medical Officer in South Africa (South African Medical Services SAMS) for many years before resigning his commission in good standing.
Career in the UK included extensive higher training in Paediatric Anaesthesia, PICU and Retrieval of Critically ill children. Involved in paediatric anaesthesia, he’s a recognized practitioner in private healthcare.
Dr. Taljard, a Fellow by Examination of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, Member of BCS Clinical Informatics, holds a MSc in Health Informatics and is a part time PhD Researcher at University of Strathclyde, he significantly contributes in clinical care, Health Informatics and Clinical Safety work in both the public and private healthcare sectors.
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Dr James Reed
Director & Membership Officer
Dr James Reed Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and Head of NHS Digital Academy, has been the Chief Clinical Information Officer at Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health NHS FT since 2013. He has longstanding experience in all aspects of clinical informatics.
The Trust has been recognised as one of the most digitally advanced mental health organisations in the UK. Dr Reed was instrumental in the development of the Digital Health CCIO network, and chaired the advisory panel between 2019 and 2023.
Most recently he has combined his NHS work with industry, and was appointed as a Physician Executive with InterSystems February 2023. He is interested in developing clinical informatics into a mature and well-supported career choice.
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Ms Katie Bjerkan
Director
Katie has played an increasingly influential role in driving ambitious organisational outcomes for NHS England and AstraZeneca, delivering on corporate, patient, legal and strategic delivery, managing risk to build sustainable delivery models whilst navigating geographically diverse and disperse landscapes.
Acting as an advocate for data and digital; Katie has streamlined, digitised, and automated end-to-end processes to improve safety and deliver efficiencies, driving continuous performance improvement whilst securing a real difference to patients by harnessing the power of data and analytics, as well as leveraging national and international best-practice.
Katie brings significant experience providing vision and leadership to set the strategic direction to achieve digital, data and technology transformation across healthcare to ensure alignment to overall organisational objectives driving cultural transformation at scale, whilst successfully championing the patient voice to support improved outcomes in a challenging political and financial climate. Katie is confident in acting with resourcefulness, resilience, and creativity to deliver at pace, championing the use of data to design and embed transformation that is built on transparent and evidence-based foundations to support informed decision-making for health and social care priorities maximising societal impact.
Katie brings transferable governance and varied experience in complex and matrix-style environments from the private, public, charity, research, and education sectors.
Katie is committed to securing a real difference in strategic and operational delivery whilst ensuring our values and strategic aims are at the forefront of delivery.
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Mr David J Wright
Director UKDHC & CEO - DWMC International
CEO/MD in variety of Medical Organisations ranging in size in complexity.
Consultant to WHO on health systems improvement in Iran, and also European Commission as an independent evaluator of major healthcare projects. Expert with ISQua on quality improvement.
Currently supporting:
Careful (Asia Pacific), Middle East, North Africa & RNMC (Australia).
Connect2MyDoctor (telehealth services)
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Dr Anita Phung
Advisor to the Board
Portfolio GP currently working as a locum in South East London. Ten years of clinical experience, predominantly working within the NHS, as well as 2 years experience of working in pharmaceutical medicine and 2 years experience of working for a health tech start up.
Main interests include Digital Health and Health Optimisation. Previous Member of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics and is currently working on projects with the aim of building better digital systems, as well as providing education and training in Digital Health.
She loves efficiency, and enjoys being creative and coming up with solutions to streamline systems and processes.
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Ms Nehal Hassan
Advisor to Board and Chair of UKDHC Student Committee
A clinical pharmacist and currently a PhD researcher at the Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, UK.
Nine years of experience as a senior clinical pharmacy specialist at critical care units of the National Heart Institute, Cairo, Egypt, teaching experience at Misr International University for seven years.
Research interest lies in digital health, particularly the applications of artificial intelligence in medicine, through predicting and preventing disease conditions. I am also developing an understanding of how artificial intelligence tools (as clinical decision support systems) can inform the shared decision-making process, and improve patients’ engagement in their clinical care.
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Dr Penny Kechagioglou
Member UKDHC Executive Committee
Dr Kechagioglou is the Chief Clinical Information Officer, deputy Chief Medical Officer and Consultant Clinical Oncologist at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire. She has been an NHS consultant since 2010 and has served as specialist advisor for the CQC, MHRA and Healthcare Ombudsman, as member of the NICE HTA Committee and as Vice-Chair of Research Ethics Committees.
She is an Employer Advisor Board member at the University College Birmingham, member of the UKAD Innovation Commission and Vice-Chair of the Digital Health Networks CCIO Advisory Panel. She has also been a member of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics. Penny has completed a Doctorate in Business at Warwick Business School with a focus on Innovation and Leadership and is the author of Springer’s ‘Healthcare Innovation Success: learning from organisational experience’.
She has also competed an MSc in Public Health and Health Management at the University of London, an MBA at Bradford University and a PGDip in Digital Health from NHS Digital Academy (Imperial College). Penny is an undergraduate and postgraduate tutor, lecturer, mentor and professional health coach and is passionate about improving health and care through innovation, digital technologies and integration.
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Professor Kevin Moore
Member UKDHC Executive Committee
Professor Kevin Moore, FRCP, PhD: As Professor of Hepatology at UCL and Honorary Consultant Physician at the Royal Free Hospital, my research focused on understanding the mechanisms of disease and the development of complications of liver disease. My work has led to seminal discoveries in pathogenesis of hepatorenal syndrome and rhabdomyolysis as well as development of novel methods for measurement of nitrosative and oxidative stress. The work on rhabdomyolysis discovered a new treatment which on current studies is likely to save >100 000 lives/year.
Whilst leading the Alcohol Care Team, I undertook a dry January study which showed the medical impact of no alcohol for 1 month, and identified a potential mechanism by which alcohol promotes cancer growth. Together with Dr Mehta, we undertook the AlcoChange study which has now been replicated in a bigger study and recently published.
In 2014 I founded the Applied Medical Science programme with Professor Spratt, and this now has ~450 students undertaking this Biomedical Science BSc degree. In 2020, I co-founded Salutare, a digital health start-up which now employs 10 people. We have created software for MDT referral and discussion, medicines and disease monitor, as well as digital phlebotomy software. The digital phlebotomy software was created during Covid to allow patients to have blood tests requested by their GP without the need for a blood form. It has now been used for more than 2 million blood tests within North Central London. H Index >70
Four editions the Oxford Handbook of Acute Medicine (1997-2017) which has sold over 100 000 copies.
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Ms Helen Robson
Member UKDHC Executive Committee
Helen Robson, Head of Clinical Integration and Transformation at Connect Health, has worked at Connect Health since 2010. Originally joining as an advanced physiotherapy practitioner, Helen has had a portfolio career in healthcare including clinical leadership, NICE guideline committee member, clinical informatics and then moving to digital transformation of healthcare services.
Helen was a cohort 2 TOPOL digital fellow, and her project around digitally enhanced consultation won a Dynamites rising star award. She has also held the position of Honorary Chair of the Northeast Chartered Society of Physiotherapy regional network for 6 years.
Helen is deeply committed to transforming healthcare to enhance the experiences of both service users and clinicians, while also advocating for greater female leadership within IT teams.
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Dr Ameet Bakhai
Member UKDHC Executive Committee
Ameet Bakhai is a Consultant Cardiologist and Clinical Research Director at the Royal Free London NHS Trust UK, a Harvard Scholar, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
He has enabled innovation of drugs, devices and diagnostics in multiple cardiac areas of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, acute
coronary syndromes, lipid and blood pressure management and risk factor reduction and prediction for cardiovascular
events.
He is a founder of 2 companies, author and has published over 100 papers and received a national award for a decade of work
in clinical cardiovascular research from the Royal College of Physicians and is a recognised key opinion leader for Pharma,
Device, Medtech, AI, Clinical Trials and Medical Education companies.
He’s in the leadership team of the UK Research and Development directors’ group since its inception, a previous fellow of the faculty of clinical informatics and the 1st Chief Research Informatics Officer for the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
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Ms Sarah Coetzee
Marketing and Communications Expert
Proficient in all aspects of marketing and communication, Sarah has spent the past 25 years providing creative and effective solutions mainly in the financial services industry.
She is practised in strategy and tactics and specialises in corporate communication. Energetic and meticulous, Sarah has managed change projects for some large organisations and led marketing teams with a dedicated focus on delivery and results.
With a master’s degree in intercultural communication, Sarah brings a depth of knowledge and skill that address UKDHC’s marketing and communication needs.
Sarah is also a professional editor and is a full member of the Professional Editors’ Guild.
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Dr Zakiuddin Ahmed
Member UKDHC Executive Committee
Dr. Zakiuddin Ahmed is a strategist, healthcare entrepreneur, motivational speaker, coach, mentor and a visionary physician leader who specializes in fostering collaborations to create socially beneficial & innovative solutions in Healthcare utilizing information technology with a Patient Centric Focus.
CEO, Digital Care (Pak)
Director, Riphah Institute of Healthcare Improvement & Safety (Pak)
Co Founder & CSO A.V. (USA)
President, Galileo Life Sciences (Canada)
Chairman Board of Directors, TeleMedicx ((USA)
President, HQSAP
Convenor, Health Asia
V. Chairman, OPEN Karachi
Convenor, Digital Health Pakistan
Adjunct Professor, Digital Health, HSA
Secretary, Health Research Advisory Board
Visiting Professor, King Edward Medical University
Chairman, International Conference on Patient Safety
Founder, Institute of Innovation Leadership in Medicine
Dr Zakiuddin Ahmed
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Mr Peter Salisbury
Member UKDHC Executive Committee
A subject matter expert in interoperability standards and their clinical assurance with a specialism, in GP systems. Over the last 15 years I have worked at NHS Digital and NHS England on pathology standards, GP2GP and GP Connect. I have a thorough appreciation of the collaboration and different skill sets needed to create clear and implementable standards, from scoping and design, right through to clinical assurance and implementation. I have a clear understanding of what is unique about healthcare IT in the UK and the different points in the system that need to be adjusted to improve interoperability.
Achievements
• Lead on design and delivery the GP Connect data model for data export (strategic approach for a common data model for national applications for GP systems).
• Delivered GP Connect structured data into live for the 2 main GP systems suppliers.
• Seamlessly delivered the changes to GP2GP caused by the GP suppliers’ transition to SNOMED CT for all GP systems suppliers on time without issue.
• Lead on the delivery of all aspects of testing and assurance of GP2GP 2.2 a and b releases for the 2 major GP systems suppliers.
• Co-authored the guidance on how to populate the code-able concept for SNOMED codes and translations for the FHIR UK Core standard and for the STU3 Care Connect standard in conjunction with Jeremy Rogers
Dr Zakiuddin Ahmed
show lessAchievements
• Lead on design and delivery the GP Connect data model for data export (strategic approach for a common data model for national applications for GP systems).
• Delivered GP Connect structured data into live for the 2 main GP systems suppliers.
• Seamlessly delivered the changes to GP2GP caused by the GP suppliers’ transition to SNOMED CT for all GP systems suppliers on time without issue.
• Co-authored the guidance on how to populate the code-able concept for SNOMED codes and translations for the FHIR UK Core standard and for the STU3 Care Connect standard in conjunction with Jeremy Rogers
show lessOur International Colleagues and Collaborators
Dr Rafael Richards
Anestesiologist
Specialties:
- Data Rights and Open-Source Policy
- Blockchain in Healthcare and Lifesciences
- Biomedical Engineering
- Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Publications:
http://www.experts.scival.com/jhu/expert.asp?n=Rafael+Richards&u_id=4951
Website: http://vistadataproje
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Professor Saseendar
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon
Fellowship-trained Shoulder and Knee Arthroscopy and Arthroplasty surgeon:
Associate Editor of Indian Journal of Orthopaedics (Springer) & Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma (Elsevier)
Honorary member of South American Arthroscopy Society (SLARD)
Member of Education Committee of SICOT
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Professor Winston Rennie
Consultant Radiologist
show moreConsultant Musculoskeletal Radiologist 2004- present. Owned a Zx Spectrum- couldn’t afford a Commodore 64! Aspire to perfect the Diagnostic pathway in Clinical Musculoskeletal Radiology.
My aphorism: “an error of observation is human but an error of interpretation is ignorance of the art of radiology” Aspiration- To play to perfection the solos of my guitar God- Slash (maybe buying a Top Hat might help?)
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Ms Sue Dunkerton OBE
Chair, Devices for Dignity MIC
Experience:
Chair, D4D Steering Committee NIHR Devices for Dignity MedTech Co-operative
NIHR Devices for Dignity MedTech Co-operative
The Knowledge Transfer Network etc.
Dr Prakash Jayakumar
Assistant Professor of Surgery & Perioperative Care
Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy Massachusetts Institute of Technology Austin, Texas, United States. Surgeon-scientist dedicated to health care systems transformation through health services and human centered design research.
I have the privilege of working within inter-disciplinary teams at the interface between clinical care, digital health, and policy and practice innovation.
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Dr Shalika Chularatna
Doctor and Health Informatician
Areas of interest: Health Information Terminology (Snomed), coding(ICD 10), interoperability standards (HL7, FHIR),
Health Information system Security, e-learning, infodemic management, and health information policy and strategy planning.
Goal to gain more knowledge on management in different aspects of Healthcare Information Technology HIT through research to advance the practice of medicine and ultimately provide quality healthcare.
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Mr Jan de Lange
Health innovator empowering networks with strategic marketing.
Experienced Senior Marketing Professional, and consultant at the interface between digital innovation in healthcare and strategic marketing.
Specialised in interoperabilty, data availability and openEHR.
Creator of the international online education concept Masterclass openEHR, in collaboration with Hanna Pohjonen (Rosaldo Oy Finland). Professional member of openEHR International. Guest lecturer Digital Innovation Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and Hanze University of Applied Sciences.
Co-founder of eFORZE
Together with co-founder Jan Weterings, Anesthesiologist and Medical Director Zuyderland Medical Center, eFORZE connects international innovative people to push boundaries, using digital innovations as open data ecosystems, digital applications and wearables to improve the efficiency of healthcare (including prevention) and to improve the quality of life of citizens and patients.
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Collaboration across borders and disciplines
Establishing a Constructive Partnership in the continuously developing Field of Health and Care Informatics for the benefit of all.