Introducing our Annual Conference speakers
Find out more about the speakers for the 2024 аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±Íø Annual Conference.
We're please to welcome expert speakers from the world of perinatal medicine to the аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±Íø Annual Conference in Sheffield. Our speakers come from all areas of the multidisciplinary team. You can find out more about them below and .
Dr Anita D’urso
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, East Midlands Neonatal Operational Delivery Network
Dr Anita D’Urso is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Psychology Lead for the East Midlands Neonatal ODN. She has worked in neonatal and paediatric care for over 10 years. She is passionate about ensuring that all families have access to evidence based psychological support as a means of prevention and intervention for psychological distress. Anita is passionate about developing psychological thinking in all aspects of neonatal care, including for babies, families and neonatal staff. Anita has been working with other Psychology colleagues over the past year following a successful NIHR grant to develop an app (Canopie-Neonatal) for parents on neonatal units to provide universal level, evidence-based psychological resources.
Dr Beverly Tsai-Goodman
Consultant Paediatric and Fetal Cardiologist & Deputy Director of Medical Education, Royal Brompton Hospitals
Dr. Tsai-Goodman has been a consultant paediatric and fetal cardiologist for over 20 years, currently working at the Royal Brompton and St Thomas’ Hospitals. Her main interest lies in diagnosing abnormalities of the fetal heart as early as 15 weeks gestation as well as managing newborn infants and children with congenital heart defects.
She is a keen educator, and she is currently Deputy Director of Medical Education at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital overseeing the delivery of education and training of UK and international medical graduates. She was previously the training program director for Paediatric Cardiology in Bristol and London.
For the last 30 years, she has been running a very successful two-day hand on course which has drawn delegates from worldwide. Her ‘Echocardiography for Neonatologists’ course is hosted jointly with the neonatal team at St. George’s Hospital.
Associate Professor Caroline Hartley
Associate Professor, University of Oxford
Caroline is an Associate Professor and Sir Henry Dale Fellow funded by the Wellcome Trust and Royal Society, at the Department of Paediatrics, Unversity of Oxford. Caroline did an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and a PhD in Neuroscience. Her Postdoctoral Research focused on developing methods to assess analgesic efficacy in infants using noxious-evoked brain activity, and as part of this she led the Poppi (Procedural Pain in Premature Infants) Clinical Trial investigating the analgesic efficacy and safety of morphine in premature infants. In 2018, Caroline was awarded a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship to investigate the impact of apnoea on brain development in premature infants.
Dr Catherine Longley
Neonatal Registrar, Homerton University Hospital
Dr Catherine Longley has just completed neonatal GRID training in London. She is the current co-chair NeoTRIPs a national neonatal research and quality improvement group and a trainee committee member for Everyday Excellence as part of the London School of Paediatrics.
Dr Helen McDermott
Post-CCT Clinical Research Fellow, Chelsea & Westminster
Helen has recently completed neonatal GRID training in the West Midlands and is now a Clinical Research Fellow at Chelsea & Westminster. She has an interest in neonatal neurodevelopment and is an advocate for collaboration in research and training, having co-chaired the West Midlands paediatric trainee research network ‘PRAM’ and also the national RCPCH trainee research network working group. She is looking forward to bringing all these experiences together in her new role, working to gather evidence to support better outcomes for our tiny babies and families in the UK.
Professor Jenny Kurinczuk
Emeritus Professor of Perinatal Epidemiology, National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford
Jenny Kurinczuk is Emeritus Professor of Perinatal Epidemiology at the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU, University of Oxford. Jenny joined the NPEU in October 2003 and she was Director from 2011 until her retirement in 2023. Jenny’s research focuses on the causes and consequences of conditions from conception through pregnancy which affect mothers, their pregnancy outcomes and the health of babies as they develop during infancy, childhood and beyond. Jenny is national programme lead for the PMRT collaboration responsible for the national Perinatal Mortality Review Tool (PMRT).
Katie Cullum
Lead Nurse, East of England Neonatal Operational Delivery Network
Katie is a paediatric nurse by background. She currently works as Lead Nurse for Innovation and Quality Improvement at the EoE Operational Delivery Network (ODN) and is a qualified QSIR practitioner. Katie is also a member of the аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±Íø Quality Steering Group. She is the programme lead for the Neonatal Transitional Care Programme, a national study programme she introduced while working as Nurse Education Programme Lead in 2021. This programme was shortlisted for the Nursing Times Award in 2021 and won the аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±Íø GOPI MENON Award in 2022 for ‘Outstanding Team’.
Katie has always enjoyed teaching both clinically and regionally, as well as serving as an Associate Lecturer for HEIs. She holds a PGCert in Clinical Education awarded by the University of Edinburgh. Katie is also an Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and non-medical prescriber, having worked for many years in neonatal intensive care. She studied at Southampton University for this and obtained her MSc in 2015. Katie has also enjoyed a range of other previous roles such as Freedom to Speak up Guardian, Staff Governor, Neuroprotection Lead Nurse, Bereavement Lead, Neonatal Sister, and Paediatric Staff Nurse. In 2022, Katie completed the Mary Seacole Leadership Programme with the FNF and requested to become an FNF Alumni ‘Champion’ to promote the excellent leadership courses they offer and support future FNF students. She has recently become a member of NHS England's Maternity and Neonatal Stakeholder Council and is currently undertaking an EMBA.
Mrs Kelly Harvey
Director, North West Neonatal Operational Delivery Network, Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust
Kelly has been a neonatal nurse since 2002 and has worked in a variety of clinical roles as well as education and management, latterly working as an Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. Her current role as a Senior Lead Nurse for the North West Neonatal Network allows her to fulfil her passion for ensuring neonatal care provided for babies and families across the region are of the highest standard. She was the Neonatal Nursing advisor for the National Neonatal GIRFT programme and is part of the аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±Íø Quality Collaborative where she was involved in the development of the quality improvement toolkits for preterm optimisation. She is an executive committee member of the National Neonatal Nurses Association, a role through which she is keen to ensure the nursing voice is heard.
Dr Louise Bracken
Senior Research Pharmacist and Co-Director Paediatric Medicines Research Unit, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Louise joined Alder Hey in 2010 and completed a PhD at the University of Liverpool in 2015. She is a Senior Research Pharmacist and in 2021 was appointed as the Co-Director of the Paediatric Medicines Research Unit. She recently completed the NIHR Advanced Research Scholars Programme. Louise is a member of the c4c Pharmacovigilance Expert Advisory Group, board member of the European Paediatric Formulations Initiative and a committee member of the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacists, Neonatology Special Interest Group. She was the Chief Investigator for the PADDINGToN study. Her research interests include neonatal and paediatric medicines, family integrated care, drug safety, acceptability of medicines to children and medicines optimisation.
Louise Weaver-Lowe
Neonatal Nurse Lead and Network Director, North West Neonatal ODN
Louise started her career as a Registered Nurse before completing Midwifery training. It was during her midwifery training that she discovered neonatal care and has been a neonatal nurse for over 30 years. After completing her Qualification in Speciality and enhanced practice courses she continued her neonatal career from staff Nurse to Head of Nursing.
In her Head of Nursing role she also had responsibility for gynaecology, genetics and maternity theatres. While she loved this role, Neonatal Services remained her real passion and she moved to a Directors Role in the North West Neonatal Network. This role enabled Louise to take a wider, more national view of neonatal services and become involved in a number of national initiatives. She hopes her current role as the first National Neonatal Nurse Lead that she can continue to ensure that neonates get the best possible start and that their families are supported throughout their neonatal journey.
Dr Neil Patel
Consultant Neonatologist, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow
Neil is a neonatologist at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow. He has a clinical and research interest in neonatal hemodynamic assessment and management, including cardiac function and pulmonary hypertension in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH).
Neil leads active collaborations within international CDH research groups including the International CDH Study Group and EuroCDH Consortium. His other research interests include digital health innovation and Family Integrated Care. Neil is Clinical Innovation Director at the Royal Hospital for Children, Clinical Lead in the West of Scotland Innovation Hub, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Glasgow, and an NHS Research Scotland Senior Fellow.
Dr Ngozi Edi-Osagie
National Clinical Director - Neonatology, St Mary’s Manchester Foundation Trust
National Clinical Director Neonatal Critical Care – NHS England and Neonatal representative Race and Health observatory
Ngozi Edi-Osagie has been a consultant neonatologist at Manchester Foundation Trust since 2002. She is one of the Group Associate Medical Directors at Manchester foundation trust. She has broad clinical and leadership experience, having been a clinical lead, a clinical director, and a Clinical head of division of clinical services.
She was clinical lead for the development of a single hospital service across the city of Manchester overseeing the merge of 10 hospitals and community services into a single trust. She is involved in external investigations and peer review of neonatal services. She is the neonatal representative on the NHS Race and Health Observatory
She chairs the Neonatal Critical care CRG and co-chairs NHSE Neonatal Development Board. She is President Elect of the Manchester Medical Society (Paediatrics). Her research interests are focused on health inequalities.
Nigel Gooding
Consultant Pharmacist – Neonates & Paediatrics; Lead Neonatal Pharmacist East of England ODN
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Addenbrooke’s Hospital)
Nigel has specialised in neonatal and paediatric pharmacy for almost 30 years, working previously at Ipswich Hospital and Leicester Royal Infirmary. As a Consultant Pharmacist and Independent prescriber, he has a particular interest in neonatal pharmacy, safe prescribing and medication safety generally and still has an active role in providing a clinical service to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. He leads an ever expanding team of pharmacists and technicians to support neonatal and paediatric services at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
Nigel is also the Lead Neonatal Pharmacist for the East of England ODN and has been in this role ‘officially’ since the start of 2024. Nigel has previously been Chair of the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacy Group (NPPG) and is still a part of the committee and also currently sits on the NHSE Neonatal CRG and Neonatal Partnership Board.
Professor Nigel Hall
Professor of Paediatric Surgery, Southampton Children’s Hospital
Nigel is Professor of Paediatric Surgery at the University of Southampton, Consultant Paediatric and Neonatal Surgeon and Clinical Lead for neonatal surgery at Southampton Children’s Hospital. He is passionate about delivering high class surgical care to term and preterm neonates with a range of congenital and acquired surgical conditions. Particular areas of interest are Necrotising Enterocolitis and Oesophageal Atresia and he leads an active research program into both of these conditions aiming to generate an evidence base to support improvements in clinical care and ultimately improve patient outcomes.
Dr Nigel Kennea
Consultant in Neonatology, St George’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Nigel has been a Consultant in Neonatology at St George’s, for approaching 20 years, and is Lead Medical Examiner for the boroughs of Wandsworth and Merton. He has a long-standing interest in support of families following bereavement and learning from deaths. He has directly contributed to mortality surveillance work nationally, worked on learning from avoidable deaths and has been a national trainer for the RCP’s Structured Judgement Review methodology which is used to identify and describe quality of care in adult patients.
More recently, Neil has led the introduction of the Medical Examiner system at St George’s and in the communities of Wandsworth and Merton and he is an RCPath national trainer for new Medical Examiners. He will describe the new statutory Medical Examiner system and its interaction with neonatal teams to best support teams and families following bereavement.
Professor Patrick McNamara
Professor of Paediatrics, University of Iowa
Patrick McNamara graduated from Queens University Belfast in 1987, received his MRCPCH in Pediatrics in 1997 and Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training in Neonatal Medicine in 2002. He is currently a Staff Neonatologist and Director of the Division of Neonatology at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, and Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, University of Iowa.
He is the current chair of the PanAmerican Hemodynamic Collaborative, Pediatric Academic Society Neonatal Hemodynamics Advisory and Neonatal Hemodynamics (TnECHO) Special Interest Group at the American Society of Echocardiography. His clinical and research interests include myocardial performance in the settings of a hemodynamically significant ductus arteriosus, pulmonary hypertension and targeted neonatal echocardiography. He has published over 350 peer reviewed publications, chapters and other works.
Peter Bradley
Director of Services, Bliss
Peter joined Bliss in 2018, taking the Director of Services role in 2022. This role leads Bliss’ work with parents and carers, and healthcare professionals. Peter sits on the National Neonatal Audit Project Project Group and on the NHS Race and Health Observatory Maternity and Neonatal Working Group.
Previous roles included working as Head of Information and People Development at Citizens Advice Merton and Lambeth, and senior management roles with Sova, a charity supporting people with convictions. He has an MA in International Development, and worked in volunteer programming roles at leading development charity VSO.
Dr Peter Davis
Consultant Paediatric Intensivist / Clinical Director South West Paediatric Critical Care Operational Delivery Network, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
Trained in paediatrics in Cardiff, Birmingham and Leicester, before specialising in Paediatric Intensive Care, firstly in Birmingham, then as an ECMO fellow in Leicester, with subsequent training at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and finally as Chief Fellow at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Consultant in Paediatric Intensive Care at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children from 2003, and director of the unit from 2007 until 2012.
Member of PICANet Clinical Advisory Group from 2006, and Chair of the group from 2011 to 2020.
Member of the NHS England Paediatric Critical Care Clinical Advisory Group from 2012 to 2016, Chair from 2020 to 2022, and a member again from 2023 onwards. Clinical Director of the South West Paediatric Critical Care Operational Delivery Network since its inception in 2020. Also a member of the South West Clinical Senate.
Member of the Scientific Committee of the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit from 2019, and Chair from 2021 onwards. Member of the UK Rare Disease Forum. Research interests include epidemiology and critical care haematology. Author on over 60 peer-reviewed papers.
Dr Rebecca Chilvers
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Rebecca Chilvers is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Lead Psychologist for the EOE Neonatal ODN.
Dr Sarah Seaton
Lecturer in Perinatal and Paediatric Research, University of Leicester
Sarah is a Lecturer in Perinatal and Paediatric Research at the University of Leicester. Her expertise is in paediatric statistics and epidemiology. She recently completed an NIHR Advanced Fellowship where I explored the transition from neonatal to paediatric care using data linkage and qualitative interviews with families. She has been involved in leading and analysing several previous studies focused on babies born very preterm, which is a particular interest of mine. She is also the co-lead of the Paediatric Intensive Care Audit Network (PICANet).