An introduction to our Wales Conference Ambassadors

Dr Pan He is broadly interested in exploring how human behaviour affects the natural environment, and in examining how policy can lead to consumer behaviour change that improves sustainability. Currently, she focuses on investigating how the food consumption patterns result in specific interconnected environmental and health impacts and what are the opportunities and challenges in realizing dietary sustainability. Her other branch of studies concerns empirically examining the effect of climate change and air pollution on human activities such as driving and tourism, as well as the effectiveness of environmental and energy policies at the micro-level.

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.

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.

Dr Shubha Sreenivas undertook her PhD at Bangor University and her research focused on self-attribution of facial appearance as an early predictor of improvement in depressive mood state. After completing her PhD in 2016, Dr Sreenivas worked predominantly in the Older Adults Psychology Services at Betsi Cadwaldr University Health Board (BCUHB) as an Assistant Psychologist (AP). In this role, she conducted neuropsychological assessments to support dementia diagnosis and worked with the Community Mental Health Teams. Dr Sreenivas also had the opportunity to work in the Adult Mental Health teams to assist with assessment for Autism Spectrum Conditions and shadow Clinical Psychologist in the Stroke Unit at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. These opportunities to support people also allowed her to apply and learn further about clinical and neuropsychology.

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 Katie Webb, MSc, PhD, CPsychol, FAcadMed, SFHEA is a Professor of Medical Education and an IHI Improvement Advisor at the School of Medicine Cardiff University. Professor Webb works at the boundaries of psychology and applied social science, exploring and understanding stress management and behaviour change, and how education research makes a difference to clinicians’ workplace practice and hence has an impact on patient care.Professor Webb’s teaching and research portfolio focuses on the education and training of doctors, leading high impact evaluations in health-related education and training such as HEE’s Internal Medicine Training and HEE’s Undergraduate Pharmacists Clinical Placement Pilots. In her current role Professor Webb leads on research examining preparedness for practice, transitions, identity, Quality Improvement (Primary and Secondary Care), Gender, Equity and Fairness in the Workplace and the impact of Neurodiversity in education and training of doctors and healthcare professionals.

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.

Dr Biao Zeng is an experimental psycholinguist and applied neuroscientist. His research interests are primarily in audiovisual speech perception and speech breathing. Another major part of his research interests lie in the practical areas, including VR, AI and eye-tracker applications, and brain-computer interface (BCI) for education and vulnerable groups, e.g. post-stroke survivors and ageing people. He also has research interests in political behaviour, socioeconomic status in education, and its association with children’s later development.

Professor Mandy Robbins PhD, SFHEA, is a Chartered Psychologist and a member of the American Psychological Association. Prior to her appointment at Wrexham she worked at the universities of Warwick and Bangor where her research focused on personality and individual differences in relationship to religious belief, practice, and wellbeing.She serves on the editorial board of British Journal for Religious Education, is Associate Editor for the Journal of Empirical Theology and co-editor of the Brill series Studies in Theology and Religion. She has authored five books and over 200 chapters and articles.