The Great Debate on Social Media

Dr Elena Mucci is a UK Consultant Geriatrician with a specialist interest in frailty, dementia, healthy ageing and medicines optimisation. She is widely recognised for translating complex clinical topics into clear, practical messages for both the public and healthcare professionals, using a calm, evidence-based style and everyday language.

Through her active social media presence (including Instagram at @doctor.elenamucci), Dr Mucci uses short-form education, patient-centred storytelling and myth-busting content to improve health literacy, challenge misinformation and promote safer, more person-centred care. Her posts and videos regularly reach broad audiences, spanning patients and families as well as multidisciplinary clinicians, and she is experienced in adapting tone, format and clinical depth to suit each group.

Alongside clinical work, Dr Mucci develops educational resources and delivers teaching to doctors, pharmacists, nurses and allied health professionals, with a focus on actionable tools that support better conversations, better decisions and better outcomes for older people. At the Royal Society of Medicine Great Debate on Social Media, she will share practical insights into how credible clinical messages can cut through noise, travel further, and drive meaningful engagement and behaviour change.

Tim Mitchell is a Consultant ENT Surgeon at University Hospital Southampton. He has a subspecialty practice in otology and undertakes cochlear implant and other auditory implant surgery as part of the University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service. He has a major interest in training and assessment. He was a member of the Specialist Advisory Committees in Otolaryngology and Audiovestibular Medicine from 2012-2017. He has been an MRCS examiner since 2004 and was Chair of the Court of Examiners at the Royal College of Surgeons of England from 2014-2017. He has examined in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, UAE and Egypt.

Mr Mitchell has been a trustee of ENT UK and a member of the Council of the British Society of Otology. In 2017, he was elected to the Council of RCS England, served as Vice President from 2020 to 2023 and was elected as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2023. He has been a strong advocate for equity and inclusion through the recruitment of female surgeons as MRCS examiners and through the support of Women in Surgery and Women in ENT Surgery. As Vice President, he led on the implementation of RCS England’s response to the Kennedy report. He is one of only 5 men to be awarded Honorary Membership of the Medical Women’s Federation. He has received Honorary Fellowships from the Association of Surgeons of India and the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka.

Vishaal started his career as an NHS doctor, and subsequently transitioned into healthcare strategy consulting. He worked in strategy consulting for 4 years, with a particular focus on commercial due diligence for private equity firms, and corporate strategy for hospitals and medical technology companies.

He then chose to pursue a longstanding interest in leveraging digital health to meaningfully improve patient outcomes – initially as business development and client success lead at Ada Health, a venture-backed AI health technology company; and then managing digital health solutions for a FTSE 100 consumer healthcare company that owns global brands such as Durex and Nurofen. Vishaal now works at YouTube, where he has built and launched the YouTube Health brand in the UK in partnership with the NHS.

Vishaal is also leading the expansion of Google's Health AI solutions into the MENA region, signing a first-of-kind Gemini Live deal with the Saudi Ministry of Health.