Meet our Programme Committee…

Dr Choudhuri is a Consultant Haematologist and Cancer lead for Haematology at Northern Care Alliance (NE Sector) and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her areas of interest include Myeloma and Venous Thromboembolic diseases. She is the appointed lead for NIHR Haematology LCRN, Greater Manchester and is extensively involved in trials design and delivery. Dr Choudhuri has multiple publications in peer reviewed journals and is a coauthor for multiple national guidelines (BSH). Dr Choudhuri is involved in multiple collaborative projects focusing on improving Cancer service delivery and is also the Chairperson for Northwest Haematology Association. She and her team are the recipients of the prestigious National HSJ award, Royal College of Pathology Achievement award, National Macmillan Excellence Award and the Greater Manchester Cancer Quality Improvement award.

Josh is the current BSH President and a consultant in haematology at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust where he has provided care to patients with Haemoglobinopathies and Lymphoma for more than 20 years. He is Clinical Lead for the North-East and Yorkshire Haemoglobinopathy Coordinating Centre.

Cathy Burton has been a Consultant Haematologist at St James’s University Hospital, Leeds, specialising in Lymphoma and Diagnostics, since 2009 after being an Academic Clinical Lecturer and completing a MD in the biology of Hodgkin lymphoma. In 2014, she became Clinical Lead of the Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service in Leeds, which serves a 6 million population and provides diagnostic services to numerous NCRI and commercial trials. Cathy is heavily engaged in translational research in lymphoma trials and belongs to the NCRI Lymphoma Clinical Studies Group.

She is Chair of the NCRI Hodgkin lymphoma study group and is deputy Chair of the NCRI Science study group. She actively participates in the Precision Medicine for Aggressive Lymphoma consortium, which is a national network of diagnostic and therapeutic researchers working to develop molecular assays alongside clinical trials in aggressive lymphomas and is an invited member of the Lunenberg Lymphoma Biomarker Consortium, an international collaboration studying the application of biomarker analyses to clinical practice in lymphoma. She has recently become a member of the BSH Programme committee organising the BSH annual scientific meeting. Cathy is currently the Clinical Director for the Oncology Clinical Services Unit in Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Alexandra trained as a nurse in Leicester and qualified in 1993 and has since worked in ENT, Renal, Diabetes, Surgical Day Case before moving into the Haemostasis and Thrombosis specialities. She is currently the VTE Prevention Clinical Nurse Specialist at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in Nuneaton. She has implemented the VTE Prevention CNS role at Kettering General Hospital and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals prior to working at the George Eliot. She has also been the Haemophilia and Haematology Obstetric CNS while at Kettering and the VTE Ambulatory Clinic Nursing Lead while at Sheffield. Alexandra is the digital secretary for the VTE Specialist Network and has a special interest in education.

Stavroula Chante is the Lead Cancer Nurse at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. The Lead Cancer Nurse is a pivotal, strategic role which provides expert knowledge and support to enable the organisation to deliver against the UK cancer agenda and the NHS long term plan for cancer services. The role is important in ensuring that all cancer teams within the organisation are given the support, guidance and information required for safe delivery of the national policies. The aim of the role is to ensure that the cancer care is of high standard, equitable and consistent for all patients that use the services within the organisation and enhance patient experience via establishing robust cancer services.

Within my current role I aim to maintain my clinical skills by assessing, reviewing and performing procedures for haematology patients and patients who undertake bone marrow transplant. I also remain involved with academic responsibilities as Lecturer and Module Leader within Oxford Brookes University; providing teaching on the subjects of haemato-oncology, systemic anticancer therapy and bone marrow transplantation, to nurses who wish to acquire the qualification of systemic anticancer therapy administration.

Professor of Paediatric Haematology, King’s College London; Consultant Paediatrician, Evelina London, Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust; Chair, National Haemoglobinopathy Panel (NHP); and Co-lead South East/South London Haemoglobinopathy centre from 2020; Chair, Steering Committee, Sickle Cell disease (SCD) Improvement Project, England from April 2022 to institute changes in response to ‘No one’s listening’ report, England November 2021 from April 2022. Main research in sickle cell disease, thalassaemia and end organ damage haemoglobinopathies with over 130 publications in high impact journals and book chapters chief Investigator, UK multiple clinical trials for new drugs in SCD. Chief investigator for African research and innovative for sickle cell education (ARISE) Horizon 2020 funded project 2019-2024

International roles: Founder, Academy for Sickle cell and thalassaemia (ASCAT), a leading world scientific conference in sickle cell disease and thalassaemia from 2006. Co-chair of the treatment subcommittee for consortium for Newborn screening for Africa (CONSA) an international network that seeks to demonstrate benefit of newborn and early diagnosis of sickle cell disease from 2019; Consortium on Newborn Screening in Africa – Hematology.org. Member WHO expert group for African sickle cell centre of excellence from 2022.

Gill Lowe is a Haematology Consultant at University Hospitals Birmingham. She specialises in disorders of haemostasis and thrombosis. She has a PhD in inherited platelet disorders. She has ongoing involvement with the Birmingham Platelet Group and is a trustee of the Platelet Society and on the executive committee of the ITP forum.

She has an interest in clinical research and is the NIHR haematology specialty group co-lead for the West Midlands Local Comprehensive Research Network, and deputy lead for the national specialty group. She sits on the NICE Health Technology Assessment prioritisation committee. She is deputy director for research, development and innovation at UHB. She has participated in and organised numerous educational meetings, including events targeted specifically at patients and their families, and those for doctors in training.

Amany Ihab Mohamed is a haematology specialty registrar at Leeds Teaching Hospitals and the Haematology Trainee Representative for the East/West Yorkshire Deanery. Her interests include clinical research, medical education and patient advocacy. She has participated in various research and educational projects and holds a postgraduate diploma in public health and health promotion.

Amany has an interest in improving medical education and is currently working on developing educational resources for trainees via the Pathology Portal haematology sub-group and coordinating the teaching program for the BSBMTCT-Adoptive Cellular Therapy Trainee sub-group.

Dr Wendy Osborne is a Consultant Haematologist at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She graduated with First Class Honours from Newcastle University in 1998 and completed her General Medical Training at Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham. Dr Osborne worked in haematology departments in Glasgow before returning to Newcastle to undertake Higher Specialist Training.

Dr Osborne is Chair of the British Society of Haematology Lymphoma Special Interest Group and a member of the NCRI Clinical Studies Group, High Grade lymphoma sub-group, Hodgkin lymphoma subgroup. Dr Osborne is on the medical advisory panel for Lymphoma Action and is a principal investigator and co-investigator for numerous clinical trials. Dr Osborne is the teaching lead for the haematology undergraduate programme at Newcastle University and was appointed as an Associate Lecturer in 2016

Antonia is the Junior Doctor Representative on the Programme Committee. She is an academic foundation doctor at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, having graduated from Leicester Medical School in 2021.

She has a particular interest in haemato-oncology and will undertake an academic placement in haematology in 2023.

Professor Stanworth’s research aims to improve patient outcomes by defining safe and effective use of blood components, and the role of alternatives to transfusion, in both adults and children.

Keith has been a BSH Board member since 2020, and chairs BSHE. A qualified accountant, he was CEO of the British Medical Association from 2013-18 and prior to that held board level positions in the business services, education and publishing sectors for companies including Thomson Financial, Datastream, BMJ and City & Guilds.

Currently, he runs his own consultancy practice, and his portfolio includes a number of NED, pro bono and charitable appointments.