An introduction to our Wales Conference Ambassadors

Matt Turner is a Consultant Anaesthetist, Royal Gwent and Grange University Hospitals, with an interest in orthopaedics. He worked with colleagues from around the UK to bring the Obstetric Anaesthetic Association annual meeting to Wales in 2022. He is also an avid runner outside of work.

Dr Liba Sheeran is a Reader and Director of Impact and Innovation at the School of Healthcare Sciences and Population Health research theme Lead at the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences. Liba has led several interdisciplinary projects mostly concerned with developing and evaluation of digital health technology interventions that deliver health and wellbeing support and management tailored to individual needs of people with complex long-term conditions (LTCs) such as back pain and osteoarthritis. Liba uses a variety of methodologies including large dataset mining, experimental techniques, co-creation, design thinking, human computer interaction and participatory action research. Through this work, Liba aims to bring multi-disciplinary perspective to phenotyping LTCs to tailor its management, and health and wellbeing support. Liba is a founding member of the Welsh Institute of Physical Activity, Health and Sport, as well as an educator and collaborator on Pain-Ed, an international group of academic experts to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice in pain management.

Mr Petros Mylonas is a Clinical Lecturer and Speciality Training Registrar in Restorative Dentistry, as well as a Senior Fellow of Advance HE and Cardiff University Senior Fellow in Education. Petros currently leads on the BDS 2 module – Preparing for Patients (Clinical) and co-lead undergraduate teaching in Dental Materials. Clinically, Petros practices all forms of Restorative Dentistry and will eventually complete his higher specialist training in Restorative Dentistry to Consultant level. In terms of research, Petros is a Principal Investigator in the Biomaterials research group with research interests in: surface metrology science and application, dental materials creation and characterisation, dental education/pedagogy, and restorative dental sciences. Petros has specific research specialisation in the development of novel in-vitro research techniques, and uses of surface metrology in characterising human hard tissue or other biomaterial surface topographies. Petros has worked extensively with multiple UK-based Universities and international industry partners.

Claire is Director of Professional Practice Hydra Research and Innovation Centre University of South Wales and a Former T/Chief Constable. A passionate and committed public service leader with 30 years’ experience of Policing and partnership working. Experienced in working with wider public service partners and local and national government. Significant experience of strategic leadership, operational policing, change management, critical incident command, financial management and performance improvement. Previous National Police Chiefs Council lead for Neighbourhood Policing across the UK and led on the Wales Schools Programme and Police community support officers (PCSO’s).

Martin trained as an Adult Nurse at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London between 1993 and 1996, and combined academic work and clinical practice at what is now Barts Health NHS Trust, as a specialist in Men’s Health (Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Ejaculation). On moving to Wales, he transferred his clinical work to Cwm Taf University Health Board, where he works in the Urology Department. He completed a Masters degree in Physiology in 2001 and a PhD in the clinical management of premature ejaculation in 2009. He has published widely in academic journals on the subject of Urology and Men’s Health, and edited four textbooks in anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology. He was the grant administrator for the Research Capacity Building Collaborative (RCBC) for Wales (2015 – 2021) and is the non-medical representative for Wales at the UK Health Education Advisory Committee (UKHEAC).

Director of the Bangor Imaging Centre in the School of Human and Behavioural Sciences, home to a research dedicated 3T whole body MRI system used for functional and structural imaging studies. Liaising with researchers from the College of Human Sciences on study design, data acquisition and processing and resources available to help with their research questions, Professor Paul Mullin’s aim is to keep the Bangor Imaging Unit a world-class centre for neuroimaging research in North Wales. Paul’s personal research falls into three broad areas: development and validation of MRS techniques for the detection of neurotransmitters; the use of these techniques to measure changes associated with neurotransmission and neural activity in health and disease; and the use of magnetic resonance imaging to investigate basic neurologic and physiologic processes in health and disease. Paul’s current ongoing research however is focused on two of these areas: the study of functional neurochemical changes through the use of functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy (fMRS); and measurement of changes in cerebral physiology and blood flow.

Ro Kulkarni is a senior Shoulder and Elbow Consultant and lead surgeon at the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. He has vast experience in the treatment of shoulder and elbow disorders and is the current elected President of the British Elbow and Shoulder Society. He is on the council for the Shoulder and Elbow Society of Europe (SECEC) and the UK national delegate. As a recognised leader in Shoulder and Elbow surgery, Ro is an expert advisor to a number of national and international organisations. He is deeply involved in the development and implementation of the tariff based funding system for the NHS in England.

Professor Gibin Powathil is an applied mathematician, focusing his research on interdisciplinary multi-scale approaches to utilise mathematics to understand the underlying complexity of various biological and biomedical problems in medicine and in particular, cancer. Currently, Gibin is working on developing multiscale models of cancer growth and treatment protocols to study various optimum treatment strategies; eventually to devise much needed predictive patient specific multimodality treatment regimes. These mathematical and computational models can be very helpful in gaining valuable insights into the mechanisms and consequences of various complex intracellular and intercellular changes during and after therapy. Gibin received his PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Canada for his research on mathematical modelling of brain tumours. He has also received a MS in Computational Mathematics from National University of Singapore and MSc in Mathematics from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India.

Dr Beverly Pickard-Jones’ primary research revolves around the exploration of priors in visual perception across different age groups. By employing visual illusions as investigative tools, Beverly seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding the intricate workings of perception and cognition. In addition to Beverly’s work in visual perception, she is excited about integrating technology and education. Beverly’s pedagogical research focuses on leveraging AI technologies to optimise the learning experience and foster greater knowledge retention among students. By embracing AI in educational practices, she believes that we can equip students with the skills they need to excel in a dynamic and swiftly changing technological landscape. Beyond Beverly’s research and teaching endeavours, she is the Employability Lead for the School of Psychology and Sport Science. In this capacity, Beverly actively contributes to the university's strategic plan to embed employability and transferable skills into the curriculum to equip students with the skills necessary to excel in work and research, thus producing well-rounded graduates ready to make meaningful contributions to society.