SOA Congress 2026 | #SOA26

Dr Aoife Abbey

Consultant Intensivist, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire

Aoife Abbey is a Consultant Intensivist at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire. She is an Intensive Care Society Council member, Chair of the Public Affairs division and former Chair of the Society's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) group. 

Aoife is author of an international published non-fiction book Seven Signs of Life and section editor for From the inside at Intensive Care Medicine

: @whistlingdixie4

Joe Alderman

NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Anaesthetics, Postdoctoral Researcher in AI and Digital Health, University of Birmingham

Joe is an NIHR clinical lecturer in anaesthetics, and a postdoctoral research in AI and digital health at the University of Birmingham. His PhD was focused on predictive models and risk scores which are used throughout healthcare – how can we ensure these data-driven tools are safe and effective for everyone? He leads on mixed-methods research and policy projects relating to AI in health, and has recently founded an international initiative to build ‘The Health Chatbot Users’ Guide’.

Dr Sekina Bakare

Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare Trust, London

Dr Bakare is currently an Advanced Trainee in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia in Northwest London. She graduated with Honours from the University of Bristol and commenced her career in the West Country before pursuing Specialty Training in Northwest London. As an elected member of the Trainee Advisory Group of the Intensive Care Society and leverages her expertise to contribute actively to the society's Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Working Group. She also holds the additional responsibility of serving as the EDI lead on the Editorial Board for GPCISv3.

Dr Bakare is deeply passionate about advancing Equity in Healthcare and Medical Education, with clinical interests spanning Major General Surgery and Transfer Medicine.

: @@sekina_bakare

Chris Bourdeaux

Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Chief Clinical Information Officer, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

Chris Bourdeaux is a consultant in intensive care medicine and clinical director of critical care at University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Foundation Trust. He leads a team of data scientists, NHS data analysts, and clinicians conducting research on routinely collected intensive care data.

Dr Andrew Breen

Consultant Intensivist, Leeds Teaching Hospitals

Andy is a consultant in ICM working in Leeds Teaching Hospitals, having been appointed in 2005. He is Clinical Director for Adult Critical Care in Leeds, and an elected the Intensive Care Society's Honorary Secretary.  He graduated in Liverpool in 1995, where he completed his clinical training in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine.

Andy has strong interest in point-of-care ultrasound, having been a founding member of the FICE committee, current member of the FUSIC committee and co-author of a number of POCUS accreditation programmes. Other interests include ethical decision making and advance care planning, the science of quality improvement and IV fluids education.

: @ICUbreeno

James Bruce

Clinical Occupational Therapist, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHSFT

James is an Occupational Therapist employed within the Intensive Care Unit at Bristol Royal Infirmary Hospital. He works as an ICU clinical specialist in a unique role focused on early rehabilitation, humanistic care, and rehabilitation education across the ICU team. He engages patients in early rehabilitation, screens rehabilitation needs, and delivers rehabilitation throughout the post ICU inpatient pathway.

James has a strong interest in upper limb dysfunction following critical illness, long term functional outcomes, and learning directly from patients to improve acute care practice. He is currently completing a research fellowship to strengthen his research pillar of practice.

He has co-authored the Occupational Therapy chapter for GPICS versions 2 and 3, and the GPICS Rehabilitation chapter version 3. He is an Intensive Care Society council member, deputy of learning in the ICS, associate editor for JICS,  a steering group member for the current JLA and ICS adult critical illness research prioritisations and a steering group member for the NCEPOD rehabilitation following critical illness study. He supported the development of the AHP Critical Care Professional Development Framework. He is the Chair of the ICS AHP Professional Advisory Group, co chairs the AHP Critical Care Network for the South West of England and deputy chair of the recent formation of the UK and Ireland OT ECMO network.

Dr Sarah Burgess

Locum Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust

Sarah has been involved in the Intensive Care Society for many years, representing intensivists in training in the Trainee Advisory Group, and later as deputy chair and chair.  She has run multiple study days for the society and has recently been appointed lead for CPD within the education division.

Sarah has recently qualified as a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine, and is working as a locum consultant in Lister Hospital, Stevenage

Professor Luigi Camporota

Consultant Intensivist , Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Luigi Camporota is consultant in critical care and Lead of the Severe Respiratory Failure and ECMO Service at St Thomas’ Hospital. He is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Intensive Care Medicine at King’s College London.

Luigi Camporota is the Chair of the Acute Respiratory Failure Section of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) and on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM) and Intensive Care Medicine (ICM). His clinical and research interest is His clinical and research interest in Respiratory failure, ARDS, mechanical ventilation, respiratory monitoring, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R). He has contributed to over 200 published peer-reviewed papers and > 20 book chapters and edited a book in Intensive Care.

: @Luigi_ICM

Dr Mike Charlesworth

Consultant in Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia, Intensive Care Medicine and ECMO, Wythenshawe Hospital

Mike is a consultant in cardiothoracic anaesthesia, intensive care medicine and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). His clinical interests are around VV-ECMO, mechanical circulatory support, heart/lung transplantation and major cardiac surgical care. He is passionate about education and leads the local teaching programme as well as being a newly appointed FFICM Examiner. 

He has been an Editor of Anaesthesia for eight years and has contributed more broadly through highlighting the importance of scientific dissemination in the research process. He enjoys running most days but was built for comfort, rather than speed.

Professor Bronwen Connolly

Professor of Critical Care, Queen’s University Belfast

Bronwen Connolly is a critical care physiotherapist, and Senior Lecturer in Critical Care at Queen’s University Belfast.  She is the Chief Investigator of the NIHR HTA-funded MARCH trial, investigating the effectiveness of mucoactive drugs in acute respiratory failure, and leads the development of a core outcome set for trials of physical rehabilitation in critical illness.  Bronwen is the recipient of three previous NIHR Fellowships, and her research interests focus on acute respiratory and rehabilitation physiotherapy, the recovery, long-term outcome and survivorship of post critical illness patients, and clinical trial methodology around complex rehabilitation interventions.  Bronwen sits on the NIHR Critical Care National Specialty Group and the UK Critical Care Research Group.

: @@bronwenconnolly

Professor Hannah Conway

Advanced Practitioner in Critical Care and National Lead for FUSIC® Heart, UK

Hannah Conway is an Advanced Critical Care Practitioner and Associate Professor of Advanced Clinical Practice, specialising in cardiothoracic critical care. As National Lead for FUSIC® Heart and Chair of the Advanced Practitioners in Critical Care Professional Advisory Group, she champions the development of critical care education and professional standards.

https://linktr.ee/cardiacaccp

: @cardiacACCP

Dr Andrew Conway-Morris

Consultant Intensivist, University of Cambridge/Addenbrooke’s Hospital

Dr Conway Morris is a critical care consultant and MRC Clinician Scientist based at the University of Cambridge.  He trained at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, undertaking a PhD in Edinburgh focused on immune failure in critical illness and nosocomial infection.  His research interests include neutrophil function and dysfunction in critical illness, where he identified complement component C5a as a key driver of dysfunction in patients.  He has also developed and tested a number of diagnostics for pneumonia, using both host and pathogen-focussed techniques.  His animating force is a desire to improve the management of infection in intensive care, and combat the rising tide of antimicrobial resistance.  He was recently awarded the Royal College of Anaesthetists 2023 Mackintosh Professorship.   He is the director of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine’s research and antimicrobial stewardship learning pathways.

: @andymoz78

Dr Paul Dean

ICS Honorary Treasurer and Chief Clinical Information Officer, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

Dr Paul Dean is a Consultant in intensive care at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, and former Chair of the Society's Standards Division. He continues to be responsible for leading national work such as the Guidelines for the Provision of Intensive Care Services (GPICS), setting the standard in which every ICU in the country should operate. 

Paul is also Medical Lead for Lancashire and South Cumbria Critical Care Network.

: @d1975p

Jill Featherstone

Specialist Nurse in Organ Donation, NHSBT

I joined NHSBT’s Professional Development Team following time as a Specialist Nurse Organ Donation with the Northern Region at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough. This was following a long career in critical care with a wide range of critical care experience with leadership experience both in critical care and in the volunteer and charity business sector.  

I work collaboratively with national and regional medical leads to develop and deliver training opportunities for NHSBT partners in the clinical areas both in the UK and internationally. This includes the highly regarded and award winning National Deceased Donation Course. This course provides donation education to both adult and paediatric trainees becoming our next generation of consultants. Induction programmes for CLODs and Trust/Health board Organ Donation Committee Chairs are core to local donation service leadership and conference opportunities achieve a wider audience reach. My role also supports a more cohesive multidisciplinary approach across the package of education programmes the Professional Development Team deliver.

Our aim is to build confidence and excellence in donation practice, train in multidisciplinary ways and remain world class by providing a high level of engagement, interest and academic rigour whilst complementing specialist nurse training for a cohesive approach.

I am passionate about the family end of life experience, teamwork, simulation, service improvement and innovation using a wide variety of forums to have the greatest impact and reach as possible.

: @JillFeatherston

Dr Polly Fitch

Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Royal London Hospital

Polly Fitch is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist working in Adult Critical Care at the Royal London Hospital in East London. Working in this role since 2017 she has responsibility for delivering psychological interventions for patients, relatives, and staff in the Intensive Care Unit. She has particular interests in talking about death and dying in acute health settings including how best to facilitate difficult news conversations and support end of life situations. She has specialist experience of facilitating discussions and decision making around complex medical information in the context of a diverse patient population with differing health beliefs. In addition, she is committed to working with colleagues across the Trust to promote reflection and learning in relation to communicating about death and bereavement, including facilitating Schwartz Rounds, Death Cafes and co-organising the Barts Health Annual Bereavement Conference. She has previously held posts in the Tower Hamlets Palliative Care Team (with specialist input to respiratory services) and the Tower Hamlets Community Learning Disability Service. She retains strong links with health psychologists working across the borough. She is a member of PINC-UK (Psychologists working in Intensive Care), the BPS and is HPC registered.

Dr Luke Flower

Specialty Registrar & Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Cambridge

Dr Flower is a Specialty Registrar in Intensive Care Medicine in London and a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, based at the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Heart & Lung Research Institute. His doctoral research focuses on mechanisms of immune dysregulation in severe acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure and is supported by Cambridge University's first Centre for Pandemic Risk Management Doctoral Research Fellowship.

His clinical and research interests centre around the pathophysiology and management of ARDS and cardiogenic shock. He has also been involved in several critical care ultrasound initiatives, including leading a large national study investigating echocardiography in shock (NEAT-ECHO) and serving as lead editor of the textbook Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Intensive Care.

Dr Flower currently serves as Co-Chair of the UK Trainee Research in Intensive Care (TRIC) Network, Academic StR Representative to the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, and International Subcommittee Lead for the American Thoracic Society Critical Care Assembly’s Early Career Professionals Working Group. He is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Intensive Care Society, a member of the Intensive Care Society’s EDI Working Party, and has received the Intensive Care Society's ICU People Champion Award and the Association of Anaesthetists’ Kathleen Ferguson Award for his work addressing health inequity.

: @LukeFlower1

Professor Kevin Fong

Consultant Anaesthetist, University College London Hospitals

Kevin Fong is consultant anaesthetist at UCLH and professor of public engagement and innovation in the Department of Science, Technology, Education and Public Policy (STEaPP) at University College London. Dually accredited in anaesthesia and critical care medicine, he also works as a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) doctor with Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex. In March 2020, Kevin was seconded to NHS England as National Clinical Advisor in Emergency Preparedness Resilience and Response for the COVID-19 incident.

He is an honorary senior lecturer in physiology at University College London, where he organises and runs an undergraduate course in Extreme Environment Physiology. He studied astrophysics and medicine at University College London and a masters in astronautics and space engineering at Cranfield University. He is a member of Royal College of Physicians, a Fellow of the Royal College of anaesthetists and has completed postgraduate clinical training in Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine. Kevin has a long standing interest in human space exploration and space medicine and has worked with NASA's Human Adaptation and Countermeasures Office at Johnson Space Centre in Houston.

Dale Gardiner

National Clinical Lead for Organ Donation, NHSBT

Dr Dale Gardiner is a Consultant in Adult Intensive Care Medicine at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the Associate Medical Director – Deceased Organ Donation at NHS Blood and Transplant.

His professional interests are medical ethics, the diagnosis of death and deceased organ donation.

Dale is a Board Member of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine and Chair of the Professional Affairs and Safety Committee. He is co-chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges task and finish group to update the 2008 Code of Practice for the Diagnosis and Confirmation of Death.

Originally, Dale came from Australia but migrated to the UK in 2002.

: @dalecgardiner

Dr Ned (Edward) Gilbert-Kawai

Consultant Intensivist and Anaesthesia, Royal Liverpool Hospital

Ned Gilbert-Kawai is a Consultant in Critical Care Medicine & Anaesthesia at The Royal Liverpool University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.  Ned completed his PhD at University College London on the effect of hypoxia on microcirculation and then undertook a Masters in Genomic Medicine at Imperial College London. He was the Chief Scientific Officer for the Xtreme Everest 2 expedition (UCL Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment (CASE) Medicine, 2013), and has since maintained an interest in both cardiovascular physiology and genomic medicine. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Intensive Care Society and an examiner at the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine Exams.

Dr Steve Harris

Chief Research Information Officer, University College London Hospital Biomedical Research Centre

Steve Harris is a Principal Research Fellow in Translational Data Science at UCL, an NHS Consultant in Critical Care, and the Chief Research Information Officer at UCLH Biomedical Research Centre. He has held fellowships from Wellcome, and the Health Foundation, and won more than £10m in grant funding. He is Co-Director of the Central London NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaborative, and co-investigator for CHIMERA, the Wellcome Innovation Flagship Critical Care Asia, and co-leads the NIHR Health Informatics Collaborative for Critical Care. At UCLH, he led the implementation of the Experimental Medicine Application Platform (EMAP) and FlowEHR that aim to bridge the 'AI chasm', and deliver algorithms and inference to the bedside.

Rebekah Haylett

Physiotherapist in Critical Care and ICS Physio PAG Member

: @Becky_HPhysio

Dr Thomas Hellyer

Clinician Scientist in Critical Care Medicine, Newcastle University

Senior clinical fellow / honorary consultant critical care medicine.

I am a clinician scientist in critical care medicine at Newcastle University and my clinical practice is based in the Royal Victoria Infirmary intensive care department. My research focuses on improving antibiotic stewardship in critically ill patients. Striking the right balance of effectively treating patients with severe infections while avoiding harms associated with antibiotic overuse, is challenging for critically ill patients.

My current research focuses on optimising antibiotic durations in patients with sepsis. RISC-sepsis is an NIHR EME funded project that is an embedded mechanistic trial within a large pragmatic RCT. We immune phenotype patients to determine whether sepsis-induced immune dysfunction impacts antibiotic stewardship interventions. SHORTER is an NIHR HTA funded pragmatic RCT that aims to determine whether short, fixed-course antibiotics (5 days) are safe and effective in critically ill patients with sepsis.

Professor Andy Higgs

Consultant in ICM & Anaesthesia, Warrington Teaching Hospitals

Andy Higgs is a Consultant in Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine in Warrington Hospitals, Cheshire, having trained in Liverpool, North West England and Melbourne, Australia. He has a long-standing interest in airway management, especially extubation and in the ICU. Andy was Clinical Director of ICU between 2005 and 2007 and joint Clinical Lead Anaesthesia/ICU from 2007 to 2011. He is a faculty member and contributor to the Aintree Difficult Airway Management course. He co-authored the Difficult Airway Society Extubation Guidelines (2012) and chairs the joint Royal College of Anaesthetists/Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine/DAS group, aiming to produce a guideline for Airway Management in the Critically Ill.

Dr Julie Highfield

Consultant Clinical Psychologist , Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Julie Highfield is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Lead for Organisational Health in Adult and Paediatric Critical Care, Cardiff. She is the National Project Director for Wellbeing in the Intensive Care Society. She has a long experience of working as a psychologist in medical and health care settings and works closely with staff in their experience of working in healthcare, as well as advising managers on matters of workforce wellbeing. Julie has worked with the British Psychological Society and its Division of Clinical Psychology in Wales. She led the BPS team writing the National Guidance for Staff in the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Julie works with the Welsh Assembly Government in various projects, including as the lead for Critical Care Workforce Task and Finish Group, and Modelling for Rehabilitation for patients post COVID-19, and the Wellbeing Conversation Tool. She has a number of publications and book chapters in the field of critical care, staff wellbeing, and leadership.

: @DrJulie_H

Dr Ben Ivory

Consultant Intensivist and Anaesthetist, NHSBT

: @bennoivory

Gemma Jones

Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist for Critical Care, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Gemma is a Speech and Language Therapist based in Cardiff with over 20 years of experience in Intensive Care. She specialises in dysphagia management, FEES, tracheostomy management, and supporting communication for patients who are critically ill.

Gemma is Chair of the National Specialist Interest Group for SLTs in Intensive Care and a member of the ICS AHP Professional Advisory Group. She also serves as a Specialist Advisor to the RCSLT for Critical Care. Her contributions include developing national policies and guidelines such as the ICS SLT Pillar, RCSLT Tracheostomy Competencies for SLTs, and the ICS Capability Framework.

Dr Justin Kirk-Bayley

Consultant Intensivist & Anaesthetist and National FUSIC® Lung Lead, UK

Justin Kirk-Bayley is a Consultant Intensivist & Anaesthetist at Royal Surrey NHS Trust in Guildford, UK where he has been Clinical Lead for ICU, and is now Deputy Medical Director. His clinical passion is for pragmatic delivery of point of care ultrasound, having run a training fellowship for over a decade and being a part of the ICS’s FUSIC committee. He has published and teaches ultrasound around the world. As his Trust’s Professional Director for Therapeutics, he is committed to medication safety and optimisation, lecturing internationally about improvement in medication process and has helped found the Turning the Tide group to improve the UK’s use of intravenous fluids. (@Turningthe_Tide)

: @PARADicmSHIFT

Professor Shondipon Laha

ICS President and Consultant in Critical Care Medicine and Anaesthesia, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

: www.ics.ac.uk
: @shond3

Professor Nazir Lone

ICS Director of Research and Professor of Critical Care and Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh

Nazir is a Professor of Critical Care and Epidemiology and one of the Intensive Care Society's Directors of Research. Nazir’s programme of research focuses on health services research and health care quality improvement for acutely ill patients. His research aims to directly improve the quality of care for patients before, during and after an episode of acute or critical illness through rigorously conducted research and engagement with key stakeholders. He has a particular research interest in epidemiological methods and using linked 'big' data, multimorbidity and end-of-life care in acute and critical care settings. 

His current programme of work includes NIHR-funded work to apply artificial intelligence (AI) methods in the context of multimorbidity (AIM-CISC) in which he co-leads work to develop AI tools to reduce adverse events. Furthermore, he leads Innovate UK funded work to improve multimorbidity recognition in emergency care settings using data analytics. 

: @ICULone

Ben Lowe

Registrar in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Professor David McWilliams

Professor of Critical Care and Rehabilitation , Centre for Care Excellence, University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust

David McWilliams is a Professor of Critical Care and Rehabilitation and Clinical Academic Physiotherapist at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and Coventry University's Centre for Care Excellence. He is the chair of the physiotherapy working group for the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, and Chair of the Intensive Care Society National Rehabilitation Collaborative. David was a member of the guideline development group for the NICE guideline ‘Critical Illness rehabilitation’ and led an NCEPOD study into rehabilitation and recovery following critical illness. David is recognised as an international expert on critical care physiotherapy and rehabilitation, regularly presenting both nationally and internationally on the subject.

: @Davido744

Reena Mehta

Consultant Pharmacist, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & Chair of ICS Learning Division

Reena is a Consultant Pharmacist in Critical Care at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London and Chair of the Intensive Care Society’s Learning Division.

Her specialist areas of interest are anti-microbial stewardship, medicines use in extra-corporeal circuits and health inequalities. 

She has worked in Critical Care for over 15 years, and has co-authored and provided specialist input nationally into areas such as pharmacy critical care workforce, clinical guidelines, and advanced critical care training.  Reena is an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Intensive Care Society and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at King’s College London.   Within her organisation, she is a Principal Investigator on a number of CRN Portfolio studies

Reena is also the Pharmacy Lead for the South East London ICS - Critical Care/ODN and a member of the United Kingdom Adult Critical Care Pharmacy Leadership Forum.  She has recently completed an MSc in Health Economics, Policy & Management at the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

: @ReenaM2703

Dr Victoria Metaxa

Consultant in Critical Care, King's College Hospital

Dr Ashley Miller

Consultant Intensivist

: @icmteaching

Professor Hugh Montgomery OBE

Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University College London

• Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, UCL
• Director, UCL Institute for Human Health and Performance
• Consultant Intensivist, Whittington Hospital
• London Leader, GLA.

Professor Ramani Moonesinghe OBE

National Clinical Director for Critical and Perioperative Care, NHS England

I am the National Clinical Director for Critical and Perioperative care at NHS England, a Professor at UCL and a consultant at UCL Hospitals (UCLH). During the pandemic, I provided national leadership for critical care – this included clinically leading the government’s Ventilator Challenge and overseeing all clinical and operational support for NHSE’s critical care response across a range of issues including workforce support (including securing £10 million to support mental health and wellbeing support for the critical care community), medicines and equipment procurement and clinical guidelines. Subsequently I led the NHSE critical care transformation programme which increased critical care bed capacity by 25%, commissioned regional adult critical care transfer services, provided intensive care training for thousands of nurses, pharmacists and AHPs, and supported service modernisation including enhanced care services. I continue in this role at NHSE, and in addition, during 2025, took on the full-time role of National Director of Patient Safety for 6 months. I am currently leading the development of the Modern Service Framework for Sepsis, which will commit to improving care and outcomes for patients with severe infection over the next 10 years, which will be published in 2026.  

Academically, I lead and support research across the translational pathway from device development and validation through to clinical trials and policy research. My academic roles include being head of the Research Dept for Targeted Intervention at UCL, Director of the NIHR Central London Patient Safety Research Collaboration and co-lead of the Critical and Perioperative Care theme of the UCLH Biomedical Research Centre. I have been chief investigator on research studies recruiting over 110,000 participants to the NIHR portfolio. I am a firm believer in supporting the role of the resident and non-medical workforce in clinical research.  I established high-profile resident-led infrastructure projects (e.g. the original “RAFT’ - first trainee research network in anaesthesia/perioperative care, and the RCoA’s trainee-led Sprint National Anaesthesia Project programme), and my studies have provided support for over 250 NIHR Associate Principal Investigators.  I also mentor early and mid-career researchers from the breadth of the NHS workforce including nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals.

Outside work, I am married to a very patient and supportive inventor and live in Sussex with him and our adopted children aged 6, 9 and 10. I was awarded the honour of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2021 for services to anaesthesia, perioperative and critical care.

: @rmoonesinghe

Paul Mouncey

Co-Director, ICNARC

Paul is Co-Director, and Clinical Trials Unit Director, at the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre (ICNARC) . Paul is an epidemiologist with over 20 years’ experience of conducting multicentre randomised clinical trials, initially in Cancer, but at ICNARC focussed in adult and paediatric critical care. Paul is currently the Joint-Chief Investigator for the UK-ROX trial (NIHR130508), which is a highly challenging trial within the critical care setting, using extensive data collected routinely by the national clinical audit for critical care (Case Mix Programme) database.

Paul is the lead for the Development of an adaptive platform trial in paediatric critical care and sits on the REMAP-CAP International Trial Steering Committee. He sits on both the NIHR Critical Care National Specialty Specialty Group, which has responsibility for overseeing delivery of studies on the NIHR portfolio for critical care, and the UK Critical Care Research Group.

: @paulmouncey

Katie Nurcombe

Chief Executive Officer, Intensive Care Society

Professor Brenda O'Neill

Professor in Physiotherapy and lead for the Centre for Health and Rehabilitation Technologies (CHaRT) School of Health Sciences, Ulster University

Brenda O’Neill is a Professor in Physiotherapy, and lead for the Centre for Health and Rehabilitation Technologies (CHaRT) School of Health Sciences, Ulster University, Northern Ireland. She leads research focused on the health and rehabilitation of people after critical Illness and people with respiratory conditions. She has expertise with a range of research methodologies and is involved in several multi-centre research programmes funded by the NIHR and is the Chief Investigator of the NIHR HTA funded iRehab trial (NIHR 132871)

Dr Segun Olusanya

Consultant Intensivist

Segun is a newly appointed Intensive Care Consultant at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, with special interests in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), clinician wellbeing, point of care ultrasound, equality/diversity/inclusion, and online education. His real claim to fame is running an award winning wedding cake and confectionery business with his wife, Fehintola; he primarily functions as Chief Taster, and occasional Dish Washer.

: @iceman_ex

Professor Marlies Ostermann

ICS Director of Research, ESICM President-elect, Consultant Intensivist and Nephrology, Guy’s and St.Thomas’ hospital NHS Trust

Marlies is a Consultant in Critical Care & Nephrology at Guy’s & St. Thomas’ Foundation Trust, London and Honorary Senior Lecturer at King’s College London.

Following medical school in Goettingen (Germany), she completed her postgraduate training in the United Kingdom and Canada. She is one of the Directors of Research at the Intensive Care Society, and actively involved in the Renal Association. She is Deputy Chair of the AKI working group of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.

Her clinical and research interests include acute kidney injury in the critically ill, including biomarkers and long-term complications, and all aspects related to acute renal replacement therapy.

: @MarliesOsterman

Dr Jack Parry-Jones

Consultant Intensivist and Dean, FICM

I am a consultant in adult ICM in Cardiff; a large intensive care service including major trauma, neuro-critical care, CAR T therapies, and Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OOHCA). I have an interest in long-term complex intensive care patients, rehabilitation and intensive care follow up services.

I trained in medicine, anaesthesia, and ICM but have only worked in ICM since 2002. I am committed to the development of ICM as speciality in its own right and to a College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM). The keys to CICM lie in our members, with our commitment to education, examinations, advocacy, career long support, our professional standing with other specialities, research, development of standards and developing good strong relationships with other Colleges and professional Societies.

Prashant Parulekar

Consultant in Intensive Care, Acute & General Internal Medicine , William Harvey Hospital

Prashant is a Consultant in Intensive Care, Acute & General Internal Medicine at William Harvey Hospital (East Kent Hospitals). He is an honorary senior lecturer at Queen Mary University London (QMUL), giving lectures regarding the role of echocardiography in resuscitation and chairing tutorials on diagnostics and imaging modalities in resuscitation. He teaches and lectures at both regional and national ultrasound and echo conferences and courses.

He is member of the national Focused Ultrasound in Intensive Care (FUSIC) committee and is BSE Level 2 accredited in Critical Care Echocardiography. He is a FUSIC & FICE (Focused Intensive Care Echocardiography) supervisor & mentor and runs national FUSIC courses. He is published in research in the use of echo and ultrasound in Intensive Care and Acute Medicine and in the assessment of haemodynamic status using echo.

Prashant was the Chief Investigator (CI) for the national lung ultrasound and echo CORONA study (COre ultRasOund of covid in iNtensive care & Acute medicine) assessing the lung ultrasound features and the incidence of left and right ventricular dysfunction in COVID ICU patients. He is the creator and co-host of Ultra Live, the world’s first live POCUS gameshow at the SOA this year. 

: @parulekar8550

Professor Natalie Pattison

Professor of Clinical Nursing, University of Hertfordshire

Professor Natalie Pattison is a clinical academic who has worked clinically in cancer, critical care and critical care outreach. She is a Professor of Clinical Nursing with a joint appointment across the University of Hertfordshire and East and North Herts NHS Trust. Natalie also holds a Researcher in Residence (ICU) position at Imperial College London, working in the CATO team, with an honorary contract with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. She is the clinical lead for critical care follow-up services, combining this with a research role. Her research interests focus on her clinical area of critical care and critically ill ward patients, end of life in critical care, and disability in critical care. She is widely published in critical care supportive care.  She is Chair of the National Outreach Forum, immediate past-Chair of UK Critical Care Research Group, and the UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance. She is also Deputy Lead for the National Institute for Health Research National Specialty Group for Critical Care.

: @drnatpat

Marcus Peck

Consultant Intensivist and Anaesthetist, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Marcus Peck is an NHS anaesthetist & intensive care consultant, past-cochair and current network lead of the Intensive Care Society’s Focused Ultrasound in Intensive Care (“FUSIC”) committee, and editor of the OUP textbook 'Focused Intensive Care Ultrasound'. He is a passionate POCUS advocate, who speaks and teaches widely, and sits on multiple national committees focused on improving POCUS training opportunities and quality assurance. He relishes breaking down organisational barriers and dreams of the day when POCUS is normal practice for every frontline clinician. You can find Marcus on X as @ICUltrasonica".

: @ICUltrasonica

Dr Benjamin Post

Post-CCT Fellow in Critical Care and Anaesthesia, The Royal Marsden Hospital / Imperial College London

Ben is a post-CCT fellow in critical care and anaesthesia at the Royal Marsden Hospital. He completed a PhD in AI for healthcare at Imperial College London, and his research focuses on extracting human-interpretable patterns from routinely collected healthcare data to predict clinical outcomes.

Professor Susanna Price

Consultant Cardiologist & Intensivist, Royal Brompton Hospital

Professor Susanna Price trained at King's College London, and continued training in cardiology and intensive care medicine at a number of centres, including St Thomas', St George's and Royal Brompton hospitals, London. During her cardiology training, she undertook a fellowship in echocardiography at the Thoraxcenter, Rotterdam and on completion of her training, she was awarded the Jill Dando GUCH fellowship, allowing her to train for a further two years in imaging and management of the critically ill grown-up congenital heart disease (GUCH) patients. 

She has extensive expertise in critical care cardiology, including extracorporeal support and adult congenital heart disease, as well as echocardiography for valvular heart disease and intensive care/peri-procedural transoesophageal echocardiogram.

Professor Price is Chair of the Pan-London Cardiogenic Shock Board, NHS London, aiming to improve survival of patients with cardiogenic shock. She is Vice President of the European Society of Cardiology,  sits on the on the global ELSO board of directors,  is a member of ECMONet, as well as a WHO advisor for acute cardiovascular disease, and a Deputy Editor of the European Heart Journal. She received Honorary Membership of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) for her exceptional contribution to the ESICM and the speciality of intensive care medicine over a prolonged period. 

Professor Zudin Puthucheary

Consultant Intensivist , UK

Dr Zudin Puthucheary is a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Intensive Care Medicine at the William Harvey Institute, Queen Mary, University of London, and a Consultant at the Royal London Hospital Adult Intensive Care Unit. He graduated from Nottingham University in 1997, and moved to London post MRCP in 2000. Following a 3-year stint in Sydney, he started his Respiratory training in Bristol, before completing his critical care training in London. He worked as a Respiratory and Critical Care Consultant at National University Hospital Singapore before returning to the UK.

His research focusses on acquired functional disability, and the use of metabolic, nutritional and exercise interventions to prevent and treat muscle wasting, and has published over 100 papers with a H index of 39. Zudin is a nationally elected Council member of the Intensive Care Society (UK). He was the inaugural chair of the UK National Post-Intensive Care Rehabilitation Collaborative, a multi-professional cross-disciplinary group focussing on rehabilitation and restitution of critical illness survivors. His work on acute muscle wasting has won awards from the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine , European Society of Anesthesia, the British Thoracic Society, the Intensive Care Society, The American Society of Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition and Zudin was named a Global Rising Star by the Australia and New Zealand Intensive Care Society.

He chairs the  UK National Post-Intensive Care Rehabilitation Collaborative, a multi-professional cross-disciplinary group focussing on rehabilitation and restitution of critical illness survivors. 

: @Zudin_P

Professor Louise Rose

Professor of Critical Care Nursing, King’s College London

Dr Antonio Rubino

Cardiothoracic Anaesthetist and Intensivist, Royal Papworth Hospital

Antonio Rubino is a cardiothoracic anaesthetist and Intensivist at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. He is clinical lead for Organ Donation for the Eastern Region as part of the National Transplant service. He is Intenisve Care Society's national lead for the focused transoesohpageal echocardiography (fTOE) program. His research interest include critical care ultrasounds, ECMO and cardiothoracic donor organs optimisation.

: @AEA_rubino

Professor Kordo Saeed

Consultant Clinical Microbiologist, University Hospitals Southampton NHS Trust

He is the clinical lead for the implementation of respiratory metagenomics in the critical care at the University Hospital Southampton. Currently working as a consultant clinical microbiologist and lead for the bacteriology laboratory at University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust & an honorary associate professor at the University of Southampton School of Medicine. His interests are infections in intensive care and orthospinal & major trauma-related infections.  He is the chair of the Rapid Diagnostics and Biomarker Working Group of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC) and the secretary for the Bone and Joint Infection Working Group. He has published on Infection Control, Antibiotic Stewardship, Bone and Joint Infections and sepsis.

Sara Scott

Consultant Intensivist, Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Sara graduated from Queen’s University, then moved to the North East of England for her postgraduate training. She was elected onto the Trainee Professional Advisory Group in 2019. She has CCT’d in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia in April this year and has recently taken up a consultant post at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead.C

Professor Manu Shankar Hari

ICS Director of Research and Professor of Intensive Care

Manu is one of the Directors of reseach at the ICS. He trained in Intensive Care Medicine in London, completed his MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and did his PhD in Immunology at the Peter Gorer Department of Immunobiology at King's College London, UK. 

Currently, Manu is Chair of Translation Critical Care Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. His translational immunology research programme aims to enable precision immunomodulation in critically ill adults with sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). For additional details, please see - https://www.ed.ac.uk/inflammation-research/people/principal-investigators/professor-manu-shankar-hari. 

: @msh_manu

Professor Mervyn Singer

Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University College London

No bio provided

Jennie Stephens

Consultant in Intensive Care and Acute Medicine , Royal Cornwall Hospital

Jennie is a Consultant in Intensive Care and Acute Medicine in, the sometimes sunny but always beautiful, Cornwall in Southwest England.

She is an avid point of care ultrasonographer and teaches bedside scanning on a regular basis.  She was a founding member of three of the major working groups for point-of-care ultrasound training in the UK (FUSIC, FAMUS and CACTUS).  She continues to contribute educational material, time and enthusiasm to all three. 

She has an interest in enhanced care delivered outside of the critical care setting. She has contributed to recent national guidance from the Society of Acute Medicine and Intensive Care Society helping define how this is best delivered.

She is mum to two young boys, cross-fit enthusiast and occasionally competent gardener.

Professor Charlotte Summers

Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University of Cambridge

: @charlot_summers

Dr Ema Swingwood OBE

Consultant Physiotherapist, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust

Ema is a Consultant Therapist (Physiotherapist by background) in Critical Care at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. Her area of clinical expertise and interest is ventilation, weaning and complex airway clearance. 

Having completed the Advanced Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy Msc programme at University College London (UCL) in 2012, Ema has continued her research focusing on the use of Mechanical Insufflation-Exsufflation (MI-E) and other cough augmentation strategies. Her current PhD work focuses on the use of MI-E in the intubated population which is funded through the NIHR Clinical Academic Research Fellowship pathway. 

Extra-curricular activities include contributions to the Undergraduate Physiotherapy programme at the University of the West of England, and post-graduate teachings at University College London and Brunel University. She sits on the Intensive Care Society Physiotherapy Professional Advisory Group and Education Committee, the Equity, Diversity and Belonging Committee of the CSP, and ICUsteps support group network. She has been part of the multi-professional authorship for BTS/ICS documents related to Respiratory Support Units and Weaning Centres. Most recently, she is part of the NHSElect working group for the development of a Critical Care Capability Framework.

: @emaroids1

Ella Terblanche

Critical Care Dietitian and PhD Research Student, Health Sciences University

Ella is a critical care dietitian, researcher, and strategic workforce leader with extensive clinical, academic, and national leadership experience across the NHS. She was honoured with an MBE in 2021 for services to critical care dietetics, recognising her sustained contribution to advancing practice, leadership, and professional standards.

She was the professional lead for dietetics for NHS Elect/ ICS AHP Critical Care Capability Framework and most recently is a project lead for the British Dietetic Association’s workforce programme. She is pursuing a PhD focused on improving nutritional recovery after critical illness, has contributed to multiple national publications, and has served as an investigator on NIHR multicentre portfolio studies.

Rob Tobin

Partner, Kennedys Law

Rob is a medical lawyer with over 25 years’ experience. He leads Kennedys’ large healthcare team in Cambridge and is the firm’s Head of Medical Law. He is a strong advocate of advance care planning, keen to ensure autonomy and the individual remain at the heart of all medical decision-making. He advises NHS Trusts on all aspects of medical law, including medical negligence litigation; serious medical treatment decisions; end of life decisions; deprivation of liberty; judicial reviews; consent and capacity to treatment; and mental health law. He and his team advocate on behalf of healthcare organisations at coroners’ inquests, including complex Article 2 and Jury inquests. Rob lectures on mental health; mental capacity; medical treatment decisions; inquests; deprivation of liberty; and consent and writes articles on these subjects. He is the legal advisor to the Intensive Care Society’s Legal, Ethics and Advisory Group and is a member of the Cambridge University Hospital ethics committee. He sat on the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges’ Working Group drafting the 2025 Code of Practice for the definition and confirmation of death (2025). During the pandemic, Rob advised the National Executive Critical Care Committee on legal and ethical issues concerned with the treatment of patients in the NHS. Rob is a Trustee of North London Hospice.

Recent case highlights include:

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & Ors v Tooke & Ors – Rob acted for 2 NHS Trusts in this case concerning Jordan Tooke, a 29 year old man with learning disabilities in need of dialysis and a kidney transplant, provision of which would potentially require restraint and sedation (up to GA) 3 times a week.

Patricia's Father & Ors v Patricia (by her litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) & Ors [2025] EWCOP 30 (T3) - Rob acted for the mental health trust in this high profile matter concerning a young person with a severe eating disorder alongside a personality disorder. The case concerned whether long term enforced treatment, to include restraint for NG feeding, could be provided in her best interests.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (1) and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (2) v RD 2022 – acting for the Trusts where a young adult in her mid-20s had fluctuating capacity. She was in a cycle of self-harm to such extent the High Court agreed it was in her best interests to provide no further lifesaving treatment in the event she self-harmed again and required such treatment, despite the fact life-saving treatment was available.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v AH 2021 - Rob acted for the Trust in the very high profile case obtaining a declaration it was no longer in P’s best interests to receive ventilatory support and it was lawful for that to be withdraw. This case went to the Court of Appeal and concerned a 56 year old patient, who “in terms of the neurological impact and complications” was described as “the most complex COVID-19 patient in the world”.

Tafida Raqeeb v Barts Health NHS Trust and others 2019 – Rob acted for Barts in complex Judicial Review and medical treatment case concerning withdrawal of life sustaining treatment for 5 year old Muslim child, whose parents sought to take her to Italy for ongoing medical treatment.

Dr Chris Tomlinson

AI+ Academic Senior Fellow, King's College London, UCL

Dr. Chris Tomlinson is a Clinician Scientist and AI+ Academic Senior Fellow at King’s College London, with a background in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care. His research integrates large-scale electronic health records, epidemiology, and artificial intelligence to address fundamental challenges in medicine. Dr. Tomlinson’s portfolio includes pioneering work in proteomic machine learning for drug discovery and the development of clinically-aligned generative AI for tasks such as automated discharge summarization. Notably, he led Foresight-England, a world-first initiative that developed a population-scale generative AI model for COVID-research from the records of 57 million individuals. His research is frequently featured in leading medical journals and has informed health policy and clinical guidelines internationally.

Zoe Van Willigen

Critical Care Physiotherapist, University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust

Zoe van Willigen is a Critical Care Physiotherapist with almost twenty years’ experience in the speciality. She has led the Early Mobilisation Project on intensive care (ICU) in Southampton since 2012, which is estimated to have saved her NHS trust over £2.5million. Zoe has conducted and published research into the family and patient experience of rehabilitation on ICU, leading to a number of pilot projects to address the provision of services throughout the ICU recovery pathway. Zoe is chair of the Thames Valley and Wessex Critical Care Network’s rehabilitation group and has also recently been employed by ICUSteps to lead national online rehabilitation classes for former ICU patients. Zoe holds one of only 10 physiotherapy professional advisory group seats for the Intensive Care Society and is also on the specialist advisory group for the current NCEPOD trial into rehabilitation after critical illness.

Sarah Vollam

Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Oxford Critical Care Research Group

Sarah is a Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher in the University of Oxford Critical Care Research Group. She co-leads the NIHR-funded Enhanced Recovery After Critical Care (ERACC) programme of research, aiming to design and test an enhanced care pathway for critical care survivors. 

Sarah has a clinical ICU nursing background. She is an outgoing Associate Editor for Nursing in Critical Care and Deputy Chair of the Intensive Care Society's National Rehabilitation Collaborative. She is also a Visiting Fellow at Oxford Brookes University.

Professor Sarah Wallace OBE

Consultant Speech and Language Therapist in Critical Care, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Sarah Wallace OBE FRCSLT is a Consultant Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester and honorary senior lecturer at the University of Manchester. She specialises in Critical Care and has over 30 years of clinical experience as an SLT. After training in Manchester, Sarah has worked in hospitals and Non-Government Organisations in the UK, Singapore, Grenada (WI) and Cambodia. Whilst working clinically in cardiothoracic, ECMO and general critical care in Manchester, she also teaches and conducts research internationally, focussing on laryngeal injury, dysphagia and communication issues post intubation and tracheostomy. She has over 60 publications, several top cited articles winning awards from the BMJ and the ICS. She holds expert advisor roles with the Intensive Care Society (ICS), the National Tracheostomy Safety Project and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and has contributed to many policies, guidelines and initiatives including GPICS, FEES, NCEPOD and the ICS National Rehabilitation Collaborative. Sarah is also an Associate Editor for JICS. She has pioneered new treatments for laryngeal recovery in ICU, setting up the first FEES service in Asia and the UK and supports SLT service development in the UK, Sweden and Chile. 

Dr Jonny Wilkinson

Consultant Intensivist and Anaesthetist, Northampton General Hospital

: @Wilkinsonjonny

Dr Clare Windsor

Consultant Intensivist, Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

Clare is a Consultant in ICM & Anaesthesia in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, having been appointed in 2014 and is a current ICS Council Member.

She has a keen interest in patient safety and governance, taking the lead for Critical Care Governance since 2015 and being an active member of the ICS Standards & Guidelines Committee.

She is a strong advocate for the care of young adults as they transition into the care of Adult Critical Care and was the lead author for the joint national guidelines between the ICS and PCCS (Paediatric to Adult Critical Care Transition).

Other interests include Organ Donation, having been a Clinical Lead for Organ Donation since 2019, and a representative of the ICS on the National Organ Donation Committee.

: @ClareMWindsor

Dr Parjam (PJ) Zolfaghari

Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia, The Royal London Hospital

PJ was born in Iran and moved to the UK when he was 11 years old. He studied medicine at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ (UMDS) and after initially training to be a surgeon, he switched to anaesthesia and critical care medicine training in East London. He did his PhD with Mervyn Singer at UCL on mitochondrial dysfunction in sepsis and multiorgan failure before starting his consultant post at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, London. His interests are metabolic response in critical illness and trauma. His current main focus is his passion for teaching: he runs the Critical Care MSc at Queen Mary University London and is a senior lecturer in the Critical Care and Perioperative Medicine Research Group at QMUL. He is also one of the associate editors of BJA Education. He was Programme Director for three editions of SOA (2023 to 2025) and is very excited to bring education, research and debate to this multi-professional meeting, as well as great social events in the evenings (another one of his passions!). 

: @PJZolfaghari