Podiatry 2023: Speakers A - E

Claire Angus joined the Royal College of Podiatry in January 2018 as the Director of Membership Services. Claire is responsible for leading, developing and implementing the organisation's membership, professional and employment support strategies.

An experienced senior membership professional, Claire has worked in the Professional Membership Body sector for over 20 years. Claire was previously Assistant Director of Development at the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) where she was responsible for leading, developing and implementing the College's membership, international and fundraising strategies. As well as increasing membership recruitment and retention, she also developed and launched a new membership experience strategy to modernise and personalise the way the organisation communicated and engaged with its members.

Before taking up that role, Claire spent 14 years at the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) supporting its 125,000 members worldwide. Her AAT roles included Assistant Director of Global Development, leading new market development with a key focus on the Middle East, and Assistant Director of Education and Training, leading qualification development and student engagement.

Claire holds an MSc in Psychology, CIMA's Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting and an MBA in Leadership Practice.

Anita has followed a clinical/academic research career. She influences views and opinion through being a pragmatic provocateur using research and teaching and social media to share expertise, motivate and engender others.

Her 86 publications can be found here.

Anita delivered the Casson Memorial Lecture and is a committed amd passionate member of the professional body to support research being a member of the editorial board, research and development board, as well as promoting AHP research through the National Institute for Health research podcasts. She is also the elected council member for research (Royal College of Occupational Therapists).

Anita is currently on secondment with the Welsh government to write the AHP research strategy. Anita leads on national projects to influence fairness within the Allied Health Professions. Her current research highlights the need for Allied Health professionals to be credible, relevant and more importantly reflect local populations. Her most recent grant is to explore the credible and relevance of occupational therapy to the Somali community.

Emily is a leadership coach, speaker, author, business mentor and founder of Active Step Healthcare Ltd.

Since starting her private podiatry practice in 2011 Emily has been a finalist in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and has used her extensive experience and successful approach to support other practice owners around the world with business coaching, mentoring and leadership development.

Her coaching tends to focus on building practice resilience, developing multifaceted leadership capability and organisational culture.

She is known for her innate ability to help her clients gain clarity and certainty, thus building confidence in their own ability to achieve their personal and practice goals.

Marian is Team Lead for Luton and South Bedfordshire Podiatry within East London NHS Foundation Trust where they currently have three podiatry apprentices in their fourth, second and first years. Marian has been supporting them clinically throughout their time with the Trust. She has also been supporting students in the service for many years.

Professor Ivan Birch is Consultant Expert Witness in forensic gait analysis with FGA Services and Emeritus Professor of Human Sciences.

Ivan graduated in 1978 with a BSc Joint Honours in Science from the University of Salford, gained an MSc in Human Biology from the University of Loughborough in 1980, and was awarded a PhD in Biomechanics by the University of Brighton in 2007.

He has extensive experience of teaching biomechanics, anatomy, physiology and research methods, and is a Member of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Podiatry. In 2015 he was awarded the status of Chartered Scientist by the Science Council for his work in gait analysis as evidence.

Ivan is included on the National Crime Agency Specialist Operations Centre Expert Witness Advisers Database in the UK, and has more than 40 years’ experience of gait analysis

Dr Helen Branthwaite is the MSK project lead for the College as well as a MSK podiatrist and senior lecturer in Clinical Biomechanics, Staffordshire University.

She has developed the Royal College of Podiatry MSK CPD modules to enhance practice as well as the MSK toolkit designed to showcase MSK practice in podiatry. At the centre of this work is developing an understanding of MSK patient demographics, incidence of injury service provision and interventions. Data is critical for professional development and there is a strong need for us to utilise it to improve practice.

Ben is a podiatrist and Head of Education and Professional Development at the Royal College of Podiatry, an Honorary Lecturer at Cardiff University and Visiting Lecturer at the Welsh Wound Innovation Centre.

Ben has a clinical and academic background in diabetes foot disease and has recently completed a professional doctorate in person-centred practice.

Dr Cherry is Associate Professor of Personalised Care within the Long Term Conditions (LTC) research group at the University of Southampton, and senior clinician at Southampton Central Primary Care Trust.

Dr Cherry holds a wide portfolio of grant and publication history and has keen interest in supporting self-management, shared decision-making, and living well with LTCs.

Kerry graduated from University of Central England with BSc honours degree in Podiatry in 1996. She commenced surgical training in 2008 with Mr Paul Bewick at Cannock Chase Hospital and completed the MSc Theory of Podiatric Surgery in 2009. Following a career break for family commitments, she started a part-time honorary trainee post in 2013 with Mr Julian Pavier at Newark Hospital and was awarded her Surgical Fellowship in 2015. Kerry gained Independent Prescribing in 2016 and HCPC Podiatric Surgery Annotation in 2020.

Kerry has worked part-time as a Specialist Registrar for Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 2015 and 2017-2019, Wye Valley NHS Trust Hereford 2016-2018 and Bridgnorth, Shropshire 2018-2019. She currently holds a Specialist Registrar post as a Podiatric Surgeon for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (2019 to date) performing elective surgery and has particular interest in prophylactic and limb salvage/preservation surgery of the diabetic foot.

Kerry gained her Certificate of Completion of Podiatric Surgery Training (CCPST) in May 2023 working with Mr Henry Brown and Miss Helen Milnes. She has presented previously at the Royal College of Podiatry and Podiatric Surgery conferences and published peer-reviewed articles in international journals. Kerry is currently the Midlands Deanery registrar representative and a founding member of the Podiatric Surgery Research Strategy group aiming to develop and promote research within the profession.

Monique Cleary is a final year BSc student at the University of Southampton, and recipient of the first The College of Podiatry Trust grant.

She is currently working on a Podiatry Inclusive Image Collection (PIIC) and a toe pressure measure, with an interest in emergent leadership after participating in 2023 class of 150 Leaders, The Council of Deans’ healthcare student leadership programme and The Clinton Foundation’s Global Initiative University

 

Dr Emma Cowley is a Senior Teaching Fellow in podiatry at the University of Southampton with an external role as Dean of the Faculty of Podiatric Medicine at the Royal College of Podiatry.

Her career journey and roles in the wider musculoskeletal community inspired her to facilitate others in their careers with delivery of the RCPod MSK Capability Framework and the new Podiatry Career Framework in 2023.

Emma brings expertise from education, research, product development, professional policy projects, leading communities of practice, and her years as a clinical podiatrist to inform her collaborative leadership style with optimisation of foot health care at the heart of her work.

Luxmi Dhoonmoon is a Nurse Consultant Tissue Viability working for Central North West London (CNWL) NHS trust.

Luxmi completed her BSc (Tissue Viability Pathway) in 2010 and MSc Advanced Practice in 2013 at St Georges University of London and is currently enrolled on a PhD in Nursing studies with the University of Nottingham, year 3. She is also a Professional Nurse Advocate and Queen’s Nurse.

Passionate about wound care and with a passion for all types of wounds she was introduced to the Stop the Pressure campaign across CNWL NHS trust to reduce harm in our care homes and reduce our safeguarding concerns in regards to pressure ulceration. She also leads a team of Tissue Viability Nurses and Nursing Assistants to deliver a seamless service across the community both for ambulant and housebound patients and in care homes and mental health settings.

Luxmi won the Journal of Wound Care award for Best Clinical research in 2015 for making a difference in patients with chronic wounds while using topical oxygen therapy. She contributed to several case studies, best practice statements and research to enhance clinical evidence forming the future of practice.

Luxmi has published several clinical evaluations on patient care and improvement and recently authored an article in Independent Nurse on Long Covid and self-care. She recently co-authored a best practice document with Wounds UK to reflect assessment of dark skin tone in practice.

Luxmi's aim is to develop her clinical research further to improve public health and lower limb care in the community.

Professor Michael Edmonds is Consultant Physician at King’s College Hospital, London with special interest in the care of people with diabetes complications. He developed a new model of diabetic foot care, the multidisciplinary Diabetic Foot Clinic, in 1981, to provide early, aggressive treatment of the various factors that contribute to the rapid progression of diabetic foot problems. The clinic at King’s College Hospital brought about a 50% reduction in major amputations in people with diabetes. This underpinned the St Vincent declaration which, in 1989, set a target in Europe of reducing major amputations by 50% in people with diabetes.

His work has had three main aims: firstly, to develop the best possible care for the diabetic foot patient, secondly, to research into the causes of and devise new treatments for diabetic foot problems and thirdly, to teach health care professionals about the best care of the person with diabetic foot problems.

He was also Chairman of the Diabetic Foot Study Group (DFSG from 2001-2005), won the Karel Bakker award at the 6th International Symposium on the Diabetic Foot in 2011, the DFSG Life Time Achievement Award in 2013 and Edward James Olmos Award for Amputation Prevention in 2014. He gave the Arnold Bloom Lecture to Diabetes UK in 2014.