COVID-19 Conference: Sharing the international lessons learned

Lord Kakkar is Professor of Surgery University College London, Chairman UCLPartners Academic Health Science Partnership and Director, Thrombosis Research Institute, London.

He completed his medical degree from King’s College Hospital Medical School London and received his PhD from Imperial College London. His research interests include the prevention and treatment of venous and arterial thromboembolic disease and cancer associated thrombosis.

Lord Kakkar was created a Life Peer in 2010 and sits on the crossbenches of the House of Lords and was appointed a member of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council in 2014.

He currently serves as chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission, Chairman of the Kings Fund, and Chairman of UK Biobank.

Anita Simonds is a Consultant in Respiratory Medicine with a clinical and research interest in ventilatory support in adults and children, particularly non-invasive ventilation, and weaning from invasive ventilation.  She is President Elect of European Respiratory Society and previous editor of European Respiratory Journal Open Research, and author of publications on acute and chronic respiratory failure, non-invasive ventilation and sleep disordered breathing.

Recent work related to COVID-19: European Respiratory Society clinical lead on covid-19. Research on transmission of infection and aerosol generating procedures, frontline management of severe covid-19 patients weaning from invasive ventilation.  

Dr Charles A Powell, MD, M.B.A is Professor of Medicine and System Division Chief for Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and Medical Director of Respiratory Therapy at Mount Sinai Hospital.

He received his medical degree at the University of Chicago and trained in Internal Medicine at Columbia University and in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Boston University. A primary focus of Dr Powell’s research and clinical activities is lung cancer. He also directs research programs focused on early detection of lung interstitial disease and airways disease.

Dr Powell is NIH funded, has published over 100 articles, and directs an NIH funded laboratory that examines the genomics of lung cancer and lung fibrosis. He was the founding chair of the ATS Assembly on Thoracic Oncology and he sees patients in consultation regarding lung nodules and lung cancer. Dr Powell’s international reputation in the field is demonstrated by his election as President of the Fleischner Society.

Dr Powell is the CEO of the Mount Sinai-National Jewish Health Respiratory Institute that is a partnership of The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, a top-ranked academic medical center in New York City, and National Jewish Health, the nation’s leading respiratory hospital based in Denver, Colorado. Combining the strengths of both entities into an integrated Respiratory Institute brings together leading expertise in diagnosing and treating all forms of respiratory illness and lung disease, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), interstitial lung disease (ILD) and bronchiectasis.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, at the epicentre of the New York City pandemic at Mount Sinai Health System, he was responsible for recruiting and overseeing the recruitment of physicians and staff to cover critical care responsibilities in the Mount Sinai Health System; for developing protocols to repurpose home BiPAP ventilators for use in hospital intensive care units; for participating in oversight of COVID-19 clinical research activities in the health system; and for leading clinical and translational research efforts in COVID-19 associated lung disease.

Barbara Casadei is a British Heart Foundation (BHF) Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Oxford and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust where she leads the Cardiovascular Theme of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre.

Professor Casadei graduated in Medicine (cum Laude & Gold Medal) at the University of Pavia, Italy and moved to Oxford in 1989 to undertake her clinical and research training. She was awarded the Joan and Richard Doll Fellowship at Green College in 1991, a DPhil in Cardiovascular Medicine in 1995, and a BHF Senior Research Fellowship in 2001. 

Professor Casadei is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the current President of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). As Vice-President of the ESC, she established the Women in the ESC (WinESC) initiative and the Society’s 5-yr Strategic Plan on Research, initiated a partnership with the National Initiative on Gender, Culture and Leadership in Medicine, Brandeis University, US, and with the Said Business School of the University of Oxford (The Women Transforming Leadership Course). More recently, she has established the ESC Patient Forum which has embedded patients in most ESC activities (e.g., in Practice Guidelines, Education, Research and Advocacy), founded EuroHeart, an initiative supporting the continuous evaluation and improvement of quality of cardiovascular care in Europe, and initiated an international campaign of information on COVID-19 and cardiovascular disease directed to national cardiac societies, health professionals and patients.

Professor Casadei provides a clinical service at the John Radcliffe Hospital (Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) and leads a bench-to-bedside translational research programme, which spans from clinical trials to bench-based investigation in human tissue and cells.     

Professor K Srinath Reddy is the President, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and formerly headed the Department of Cardiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He was appointed as the First Bernard Lown Visiting Professor of Cardiovascular Health at the Harvard School of Public Health (2009-13) and presently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard (2014-2023).

He is a Padma Bhushan awardee (conferred by the President of India) and holds advisory positions in several national and international bodies including WHO. He is the first Indian to be elected to the National Academy of Medicine, USA and was awarded several prestigious doctorates and fellowships by institutions which include Universities of London, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Lausanne and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is also an Adjunct Professor of the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University and Honorary Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney. Proffessor Reddy has published over 500 scientific papers in peer-reviewed national and international journals of repute.  

Under his leadership, PHFI has established five Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPHs) in different regions of India, to advance multi-disciplinary public health education, research, health technologies and implementation support for strengthening health systems. He recently published a book Make Health in India: Reaching A Billion Plus. Professor Reddy is a member of the Government of India Technical Taskforce for Covid-19. He is also an Advisor to the Governments of Odisha, Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh on Public Health.

Professor Reddy has been appointed Member of the Committee on "Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on human rights and future response" by the National Human Rights Commission, India.

Dr Hadi Manji qualified in 1982 from Trinity Hall, Cambridge and the Middlesex Hospital. After training as a General Practitioner in Edinburgh, he subsequently trained in neurology at the National Hospital and L’Hopital Kremlin Bicetre, Paris. He was appointed Consultant Neurologist in 1982. His has published widely on aspects of general neurology, Neuro-infectious disorders including HIV and Peripheral nerve disorders. He is the Senior Editor and author of the Oxford Handbook of Neurology - the third edition is now in preparation. He is currently President of the Clinical Neurosciences Section of the RSM.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he jointly chairs a weekly virtual MDT at the National Hospital attended by over 100 neurologists, neuroradiologists, virologists and immunologists, to discuss Neuro-COVID cases, which has proved very successful. He is a joint senior author of paper accepted by the journal Brain "The Emerging spectrum of COVID-19 neurology: clinical, radiological and laboratory features."

Dr Andrew Russman is Head of the Stroke Program and Medical Director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr Russman is board certified in Neurology, Vascular Neurology, and Brain Injury Medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He focuses his practice on all aspects of acute stroke care, stroke prevention, and the management of complex cerebrovascular disorders.

Dr Russman graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Michigan in 1991, and a Master of Arts in Medical Science from Boston University School of Medicine in 1993.  He received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Michigan State University in 2001. Following residency training in Neurology at the Cleveland Clinic in 2005, he completed a Vascular Neurology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in 2006. After several years of clinical practice at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Dr Russman returned to the staff of the Cleveland Clinic in 2012.

Dr Russman is the Medical Director for the Cleveland Clinic Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit, which delivers an expert team to care for stroke patients at their doorstep throughout the Greater Cleveland area.

Dr Russman is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Neurology, and the American Heart Association. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters.

Emily Holmes, PhD, DClinPsych is a Professor in Psychology at the Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Sweden.  She is affiliated to the Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Clinical Neuroscience, and is a Visiting Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK.

Holmes received her degree in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, UK. She is also a clinician and completed a clinical psychology training doctorate at Royal Holloway University of London, and a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience in Cambridge, UK. She became Professor in 2010 at the University of Oxford. Holmes is an elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and is a Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences. She is the recipient of several international awards, including the American Psychological Association and the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Holmes also serves on the Board of Trustees of the research charity "MQ; transforming mental health” and is an Associate Editor for Behaviour Research and Therapy.

Holmes’ work as a clinical psychologist has fueled her research questions. She is interested in psychological treatment innovation in mental health – both in creating new techniques and reaching more people. Under the wider umbrella of mental health science, her approach brings together psychology, neuroscience, psychiatry, maths and more. Holmes’ research has demonstrated that mental imagery has a more powerful impact on emotion than its verbal counterpart. Her group is particularly interested in understanding and reducing intrusive memories after trauma. This is relevant for people after a traumatic event, whether a severe motor vehicle accident, traumatic childbirth, war or events during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andrew D Badley, M.D., is a consultant in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and the Chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine. Dr Badley serves as director of the HIV Immunology Laboratory and Chair for the Mayo Clinic SARS-CoV2/COVID-19 Research Task Force. 

Dr Badley joined the staff of Mayo Clinic in 2002. He is recognized with the distinction of the HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Professorship in Infectious Diseases honoring Walter R. Wilson, M.D.

Dr Badley earned his B.S. and M.D. at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he also completed an internship. He subsequently completed an internal medicine residency and an infectious disease fellowship at Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education.

Dr Badley’s research focuses on virus-host interactions, in particular, how viral proteins modify the host immune response and/or cell survival. His long-term goals are to develop novel strategies to cure HIV by eradicating HIV from its reservoirs and to create novel immune-based therapies with applications in both virology and oncology. He has given invited presentations on his research both nationally and internationally and has authored numerous journal articles, abstracts and book chapters. He serves on multiple editorial boards and holds reviewer responsibilities for prominent scientific publications.

In recognition of his work, Dr Badley has received many awards and honors, including the Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research, conferred by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund; the Dalhousie Young Alumnus Award, conferred by Dalhousie University; and the Outstanding Investigator Award, conferred by Mayo Clinic.

In addition to his clinical and research activities, Dr Badley is active in education and provides mentorship to postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, among others. He holds full faculty privileges in Virology and Gene Therapy at Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Dr Badley is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He was elected to membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He has served on multiple committees for professional societies, including in leadership roles, and he has served in a variety of capacities for the National Institutes of Health.

Robin Shattock is a Professor of Mucosal Infection and Immunity at Imperial College, London. The main focus of his research is the investigation of the mechanisms of mucosal infection and the development of novel preventative strategies. His group has a strong interest in mucosal immune responses to infection and vaccination with active programs on COVID-19, HIV, Ebola, Lassa, Marburg and Chlamydia. Professor Shattock has secured funding from the MRC-UK, EPSRC, CEPI and European Commission.

He is the scientific director of the European AIDS Vaccine Initiative (EAVI2020) that coordinates a program of EU funded vaccine research across 22 institutions. He directs the Future Vaccines Manufacturing Research Hub and Imperial College. His research team is leading a range of clinical trials of candidate vaccines. Professor Shattock Chairs the Research and Advisory Steering Committee of the International Partnership for Microbicides. He is the Founder of VacEquity Global Health and VaxEquity Ltd. He is an elected fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Professor Sian M Griffiths OBE, JP FFPH practiced as a service based public health physician at a local, regional and national level in the UK before moving to her academic post in Hong Kong. A former Regional Director of Public Health and Director of Public Health for Oxfordshire, she was President of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians between 2001-4. In 2003 she chaired the Hong Kong SAR government's SARS Inquiry, joining the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) as Director of the School of Public Health and Primary Care in 2005. Since 2013 she is Emeritus Professor at CUHK and was Senior Adviser on International Academic Development to the previous Vice Chancellor until 2018.  

In the UK, her current roles include interim Advisory Member of the Board of Public Health England and Chair of the Global Health Committee, Visiting Professor at Imperial College, London and Deputy Chair of the Charity Gambleaware. She was Chair of Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health and Development until July 2018 and  has just joined the Board of the National Centre of Rural Health and Care.

Sir Simon Wessely is Professor of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London. He is a Consultant Psychiatrist at King’s College Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital.

After studying medicine at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he finished his medical training at University College Oxford, graduating in 1981. He obtained the MRCP in Newcastle, before moving to London to train in psychiatry at the Maudsley. He is an active clinical academic psychiatrist and was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999.

Starting his research career in unexplained symptoms and syndromes, he established the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Unit in 1991 and was a founder member of the Cochrane Depression and Anxiety Group. In 1996 he established the Gulf War Illness Research Unit which, in 2003, subsequently became the King’s Centre for Military Health Research.

Sir Simon is currently Chair of the government’s Independent Review of the Mental Health Act.

Professor Roger Kirby is a prostate surgeon with over 40 years’ experience in the NHS and private practice.

Graduating from Cambridge University in 1975, Roger trained at the Middlesex Hospital and was appointed Consultant Urologist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London in 1986. There he became one of the first urologists in the UK to perform open radical prostatectomy for localised prostate cancers.

In 1995 he moved to St George’s Hospital where he was appointed Professor of Urology and Director of Postgraduate Education. In the same year, he was instrumental in founding two charities: Prostate Research Campaign and The British Urological Foundation, both of which have gone on to become major charitable organisations.

In 2005 he established The Prostate Centre in Wimpole Street, London, a centre of excellence outside the NHS, and was one of the first surgeons in England to use the da Vinci surgical robot for laparoscopic prostatectomy.

Professor Roger Kirby has published more than 350 peer-reviewed scientific publications, written 68 books mainly on prostate disease and men’s health, and founded two scientific journals: Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases and Trends in Urology and Men’s Health.

In 2016 he received the prestigious Royal College of Surgeons’ Clement Price Thomas Award for services to surgery.