Dr Lorraine Albon
Lorraine is a Consultant Physician, at Western Sussex Hospitals Foundation Trust. Having initially read Human Sciences, she went on to study medicine as a mature student and qualified from the University of London in 1992. She trained in Diabetes, Endocrinology and General Internal Medicine in London and Birmingham .During her training she developed an interest in bariatric medicine, working as a clinical lecturer at the Royal London Hospital. Lorraine was appointed as a Consultant in 2004, for much of this time as an Acute Physician and Diabetologist/Endocrinologist at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth. In 2006 she returned to the field of Bariatric medicine, and has been involved in the commissioning, initiation and running of Tier 3 services across 4 different providers, both in the community and in secondary care. Since 2007 she has been part of the highly regarded Bariatric Surgery department as a bariatric physician, and in 2017 became their lead clinician, with a wide ranging role including assessment and management of patients, design of care pathways, teaching, training and supporting research currently being undertaken in the department associated with the universities of Surrey and Chichester.
Dr Simon Aylwin
Dr Stephen Coombs
Graduated from UCL Medical School in 2004. Trained in Cardiology in London. Appointed as Consultant Cardiologist at BSUH (now UHSussex) and Lead Consultant for Implantable Cardiac Devices at Sussex Cardiac Centre in 2016. Dual sub-specialty accreditations in devices and heart failure. Responsible for delivery of advanced complex cardiac pacing procedures for Sussex, including subcutaneous ICD, advanced CRT, leadless pacing and device extraction, plus routine complex and non-complex pacing for UHSussex patients. HF Consultant at UHSussex, providing secondary and tertiary HF care, including full diagnostic services, advanced heart failure support and specialist treatment including cardiothoracic surgery, pulmonary hypertension and adult congenital heart disease services. Heart Failure clinical interests include dilated cardiomyopathy, particularly associated with neuromuscular disease and systemic inflammatory disorders, advanced CRT and cardiorenal and metabolic risk management. Research interests currently include Principal Investigator roles on Sync-AV and SMART-CRT device studies and DAPA-MI medical study at Brighton, plus UK Chief Investigator role on the upcoming EVOLUTION-HF study.
Dr Umesh Dashora
Umesh Dashora is a consultant in Hastings and has trained in diabetes and endocrinology at Newcastle and Southampton among other centres. He has been a keen member of the ABCD executive team since 2013 and has actively promoted and contributed to the ABCD journal as the news editor. He has represented ABCD in JBDS-IP and contributed to a number of recent national guidelines the most recent being diabetes management during delivery in which he is the first author. This is now published. Umesh and Dinesh have developed an online module for the Royal College of Midwives which has had very good uptake. He is the first author of one of the first ABCD position statements on SGLT-2 inhibitors in type 2 diabetes and the updated position statement on SGLT-2 inhibitors in type 1 diabetes. Umesh also published on the use of U500 in UK on behalf of ABCD . He is the meeting secretary of ABCD. He also holds the regional adviser position for the Royal colleges of Physicians of London and Edinburgh.
Dr Kate Fayers
Patient empowerment has been at the heart of Kate’s strategy for developing an intermediate community service which has relocated type 1 and type 2 diabetes care into the community and is supported by a portfolio of accredited education for patients and healthcare professionals alike. Patient engagement has been vital to the success of the service. The West Hants Community Diabetes Service was shortlisted for both leadership and diabetes team categories at the BMJ awards 2014. In 2015 the service was one of the first community diabetes services to be successfully recommissioned. In 2018, the West Hampshire team has been shortlisted by the HSJ awards for Improving Value in Diabetes for their work centred on parity of esteem and equitable access to diabetes care. The West Hants WISDOM project was awarded Highly Commended in the 2020 QIC awards for a PCN blueprint for integrated diabetes. The model has been extended to neighbouring CCGs.
Dr David Lipscomb
David has been Clinical Lead for Diabetes for the Sussex Health and Care Partnership since 2019 and before this was Clinical lead for the South East Clinical Network from 2013.
He is Consultant in Diabetes at the award winning Diabetes Care for You service at Sussex Community Foundation Trust since 2017 (prior Consultant at East Sussex Health Care NHS Trust from 2005) and Course Principal for the Diabetes in Primary Care course at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. David has a strong interest in value based care, audit, Clinical Leadership, medical management and innovation within Healthcare. He is a civil and commercial mediator and a member of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics.
Dr Shivani Misra
Shivani is a Consultant in Diabetes & Metabolic Medicine at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London. She leads the MY DIABETES study, which has recruited over 1000 participants with young-onset diabetes from different ethnic groups, and systematically phenotypes diabetes using biomarkers and genetics. In her clinical role, Shivani leads the genetic diabetes and non-classical diabetes service at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and has interests in unusual forms of diabetes including ketosis prone type 2 diabetes. Shivani is also an NIHR Stratified Medicine Champion for diabetes.
Dr Hermione Price
Consultant Diabetologist, Qualifications: BSc Hons, MBChB Hons, DPhil, FRCP.
As a consultant diabetologist I offer consultant clinics for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, I participate in the education of patients with diabetes and I am a supervisor for junior doctors in training. I am the lead for diabetes research for Southern Health foundation trust and the joint lead for diabetes at the Wessex clinical research network, which aims to increase access to research for people with diabetes living in Wessex. As part of this I am a supervisor for PhD students. Our research is based around the interface between mental and physical illness, delivery of care in community settings, and improving access to diabetes care and technology. I won the NIHR/RCP national award for outstanding leadership in research in 2021. I have presented research nationally and internationally and published research in peer reviewed journals. I am the Principal Investigator for all commercial diabetes activity in Southern Health. I am the joint Trainee Programme Director for Diabetes and Endocrinology in Wessex. I am an Honorary senior lecturer at the University of Southampton
Dr Abd Tahrani
Abd Tahrani is currently the International Medical Vice President, Obesity & NASH, Clinical Drug Development, Novo Nordisk in Copenhagen. He is also an honorary Senior Lecturer in Metabolic Endocrinology and Obesity Medicine at the University of Birmingham (UoB) and an Honorary Consultant in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Weight Management at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, he was the lead for translational research in the Centre of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (CEDAM), Birmingham Health Partners and the chair of the clinical committee of the Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO) UK. Abd is currently an associate editor for the European Journal of Endocrinology and the chair of the Type 2 Diabetes Research Steering Group in Diabetes UK and a member of the nutrition and obesity group of the ESE. Abd received several awards including NIHR research training fellowship (2008), NIHR Clinician Scientist (2012), the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Young investigator award in OSA research (2013), and SCOPE National & International Fellowships from the World Obesity Federation in (2014 & 2020). Abd’s research themes included: 1) the metabolic consequences of sleep-related disorders, 2) obesity management & health care delivery, 3) diabetes-related neuropathy. Abd has published over 170 peer reviewed articles and delivered more than 110 invited talks in the leading conferences globally. Abd held a number of positions before joining Novo Nordisk including being a trustee of ASO (UK), a panel member of the British Sleep Society Research Committee, an Expert advisor to NICE technology appraisals in obesity and neuropathy, a member of the Obesity Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) UK and a member of the strategic council of the Obesity All Party Parliamentary Group (Obesity APPG). He is a regular peer reviewer to the leading journals and research funding organisations. Till recently he was a senior editor for BMC Endocrine Disorders.
Professor Jonathan Valabhji
Professor Jonathan Valabhji is National Clinical Director for Diabetes and Obesity at NHS England, Consultant Diabetologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Professor of Practice (Diabetes) at Imperial College London. As well as a practicing clinician and researcher, he leads the NHS England Diabetes and Obesity Programmes, including the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, which in 2018 saw England achieve universal population coverage with an evidence-based Type 2 diabetes prevention programme. He qualified in 1990 from St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College, London, and in 2019 was awarded OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List for services to diabetes and obesity care.
Professor John Wass
Professor of Endocrinology, Oxford University
Head of the Department of Endocrinology at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Churchill Hospital Oxford, until 2012. Research interests: pituitary tumours, acromegaly, adrenal disease, angiogenesis in endocrinology, genetics of osteoporosis, thyroid disease. Chair RCP Group on Weight and Health . Spokesperson on Obesity Royal College of Physicians. Published over 440 articles, edited different textbooks; Oxford Textbook of Endocrinology (3 editions), Clinical Endocrine Oncology (2 editions), Oxford Handbook of Endocrinology (4 editions). President European Federation of Endocrine Societies from 2001-2003. Chairman Society for Endocrinology 2006-2009. President American Pituitary Society.
Awards:Outstanding Leadership Award, American Endocrine Society 2022; Outstanding Scholarly Physician Award, American Endocrine Society 2016 (first non-American); Lifetime Achievement Award, Pituitary Society (America) 2017; Geoffrey Harris Prize European Society of Endocrinology 2021; Academic Vice President Royal College of Physicians 2012-2015; Presented acclaimed documentary ‘The Fantastical World of Hormones’ on BBC4, 2016; Current Getting It Right First Time Endocrine Lead, NHS England, visiting and inspecting all endocrine departments in the UK (127) and doing a national report.
