SPEAKERS

SPEAKERS FOR 2008

	Dr Ahmet Fuat Dr Ahmet Fuat is a GP in Darlington and has been a GP Specialist in Cardiology for several years. He has published numerous articles on managing heart failure in peer reviewed journals and has a PhD on the management of heart failure across primary and secondary care. He is Deputy Chair of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society and a peer reviewer for several journals, including the BMJ, the British Journal of General Practice, and the European Heart Failure Journal.  His other interests include education in general practice.
	Dr Chris Arden After graduating from medical school in London, Chris spent several years working on the south coast, on a medical rotation in Portsmouth and, since 1998, as a GP Principal near Southampton. He works three sessions a week for Southampton City PCT as a GPSI in Cardiology in an echocardiography based, open access heart failure and atrial fibrillation clinic, which also provides facilities for ambulatory ECG and event recorder monitoring. The service is supported by secondary care colleagues through a mentorship programme, and collaborates with our BHF nurse specialist and cardiac nursing team.
	Dr Kathryn Griffith Dr Kathryn Griffith is a GP in York and is Clinical Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) Lead for Selby and York Primary Care Trust. She has worked in cardiology at York District hospital for over 12 years and was one of the first intake on the Bradford Course for Practitioners with a Special Interest in Cardiology in 2003. She is now one of the course tutors leading the CHD and hypertension and arrhythmia modules. Dr Griffith continues to work at York District Hospital in the Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinic and as Co-investigator for the Cardiology Research Department. She is Honorary Secretary of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society and Lead (with Dr Ahmet Fuat) in the GPs with a Special Interest (GPwSI) in Cardiology Forum, a national support group for GPwSI. She has written and lectured on managing hypertension, chronic kidney disease, ischaemic heart disease, and atrial fibrillation, and regards interpreting ECGs as challenging but fun!
	Dr Jane Skinner Dr Jane Skinner trained as a cardiologist, and has also completed training in general practice. She is a Consultant Cardiologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and has an interest in community cardiology. The community cardiology services include cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure nursing. Dr Skinner works with primary care implementing evidence-based practice and supports the development of services. Specific areas of interest include primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, cardiac rehabilitation, heart failure and the development and implementation of guidelines.
	Dr Philip Adams Dr Philip Adams is Consultant Cardiologist at the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust, appointed in 1987. He trained in Oxford and Newcastle and as a research fellow at Mount Sinai Medical Centre New York. Dr Adams has been clinical director of the Cardiothoracic Medical Directorate, College Tutor and Chair of the Northern Network of Cardiac Care Clinical Advisory Group. His interests include acute coronary syndromes, risk factors for late failure of coronary artery bypass grafting, guideline development and psychological factors in chest pain and heart failure.
	Dr Brian Karet Dr Brian Karet has been a GP in Bradford, West Yorkshire for over 20 years and is a GP specialist in diabetes and a lecturer on the Diabetes Masters programme in Bradford for GPs with special interests. He is on the committee of the Primary Care Diabetes Society. Brian’s main interest is in the development of the role of GPs with special interests and the way in which PCTs can effectively use intermediate care diabetes services.
	Dr Vinod Patel Dr Vinod Patel is associate professor in clinical skills at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick and also honorary consultant physician in endocrinology and diabetes, acute medicine and medical obstetrics at the George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.  He trained in endocrinology and diabetes at the Hammersmith and Royal London Hospitals and obtained a doctorate on haemodynamic factors in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy from the University of London; he has written many papers on this work. While his area of research is prevention of diabetic complications, he has a major interest in clinical diabetes care. He qualified in both hospital medicine and general practice and is able to work across the primary care/secondary care interface and improve diabetes care for the local community. His commitment to clinical education is to help develop world-class healthcare professionals who can deal with clinical, managerial and professional challenges. Dr Patel’s diabetes care team was instrumental in developing the “Alphabet Strategy” for patient-centred, evidence-based, multiprofessional diabetes care. This preventative and treatment-oriented strategy has been taught in numerous courses and seminars in the UK and internationally. His most recent venture is the delivery of two workshops in Bahrain sponsored by the UN Development Programme. Vinod Patel’s work is driven by the belief that a patient-centred, outcome-based, team-working approach can reduce all premature complications of diabetes and, indeed, complications of all long term conditions by at least 50%, thereby significantly improving the quality of life of people in UK.
	Professor Michael Kirby Professor Michael Kirby has been a GP in Letchworth, Hertfordshire since 1973. He was appointed as Director of HertNet (The Hertfordshire Primary Care Research Network) in 1998. His practice provides an open access echocardiography service for patients with heart failure for the North Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust. He is also Visiting Professor to the Faculty of Health and Human Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire. He qualified at St Mary's Hospital, London before working as a Cardiology Registrar at the QEII Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. He is an Associate Member of the British Association of Urological Surgeons and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. His editorial responsibilities include the British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease, the British Journal of Cardiology, Geriatric Medicine, Health & Ageing and the International Journal of Clinical Practice.  He also holds membership of several NHS advisory boards. He has published more than 200 clinical papers and 23 books. His special interests include cardiology, diabetes, osteoporosis, men's health and urology, and education. When away from work he can be found cycling the lanes of Hertfordshire.
	Dr Philip Kalra Dr Philip Kalra is a Consultant Nephrologist and Honorary Lecturer at Hope Hospital, Salford Royal Hospitals Trust and the University of Manchester. Dr Kalra graduated from Cambridge University and St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School in 1982 and after training in nephrology in Leeds, New Zealand and Greater Manchester, was appointed consultant nephrologist at Hope Hospital, Salford in 1995. He holds an Honorary appointment at the University of Manchester, and is actively involved in research, being best known for work in atherosclerotic renovascular disease. He has a major interest in postgraduate training in nephrology and is the editor of a popular textbook used by candidates preparing for the MRCP.
	Dr David Wheeler Dr David Wheeler is Reader in Nephrology at University College London. His research focusses on the cardiovascular complications of chronic kidney disease. He is Chair of the UK Renal Association's Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee. He serves on the Advisory Board of the US Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative and is a member of the Board of Directors of Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes. Dr Wheeler’s other positions include Deputy Editor of Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation.
	Dr Donal O’Donoghue Dr Donal O’Donoghue was appointed as National Clinical Director for Kidney Care in January 2007.  He has been consultant renal physician since 1992 and was the Clinical Director of Renal Services at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust in Greater Manchester until 2007. Dr O’Donoghue is an honorary lecturer at the University of Manchester and publishes regularly on the epidemiology of chronic kidney diseases, progression of kidney disease, renal anaemia, models of service delivery and clinical outcomes. Donal has been on numerous kidney service advisory groups and has championed the integration of kidney care into general vascular risk reduction strategies and care plans.

Past Speakers

SPEAKERS FOR 2006 AND 2007

	Dr Ahmet Fuat Dr Ahmet Fuat is a GP in Darlington and has been a GP Specialist in Cardiology for several years. He has published numerous articles on managing heart failure in peer reviewed journals and has a PhD on the management of heart failure across primary and secondary care. He is Deputy Chair of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society and a peer reviewer for several journals, including the BMJ, the British Journal of General Practice, and the European Heart Failure Journal. His other interests include education in general practice.
	Dr Nigel Rowell Nigel Rowell is a GP Specialist in heart failure and a Hospital Practitioner in cardiology at the James Cook University Hospital. He became a GP Partner in 1988 at the Endeavour Practice in Middlesbrough. Together with Consultant Cardiologist, Dr Adrian Davies, he runs an open access one-stop referral service for people with breathlessness based on N-terminal-pro-brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). Dr Rowell is a Board Observer for the British Society for Heart Failure and a member of the GPSI-in-Cardiology Forum.
	Dr Kathryn Griffith Dr Kathryn Griffith is a GP in York and is Clinical Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) Lead for Selby and York Primary Care Trust. She has worked in cardiology at York District hospital for over 12 years and was one of the first intake on the Bradford Course for Practitioners with a Special Interest in Cardiology in 2003. She is now one of the course tutors leading the CHD and hypertension and arrhythmia modules. Dr Griffith continues to work at York District Hospital in the Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinic and as Co-investigator for the Cardiology Research Department. She is Honorary Secretary of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society and Lead (with Dr Ahmet Fuat) in the GPs with a Special Interest (GPwSI) in Cardiology Forum, a national support group for GPwSI. She has written and lectured on managing hypertension, chronic kidney disease, ischaemic heart disease, and atrial fibrillation, and regards interpreting ECGs as challenging but fun!
	Dr Mark Davis Dr Mark Davis is a Principal in General Practice in Leeds. His special clinical interest is preventing and treating cardiovascular disease. He was a founder member and former Chair of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society and is currently a Director of the society. Dr Davis was a member of the External Reference Group of the National Service Framework  for Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and is a member of the Department of Health CHD Taskforce. He is also a member of the Professional Executive Committee of East Leeds Primary Care Trust. He holds numerous other appointments including being a member of the Executive of the British Hypertension Society (BHS) and of the BHS Guidelines Implementation Group. He was also a member of the NICE Guidelines Development Groups for Atrial Fibrillation (2006) and the NICE / BHS Hypertension Guidelines (2006). Dr Davis is on the Secondary Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee of the British Heart Foundation. He is a member of the British Cardiac Society and of the editorial boards for the British Journal of Cardiology and the British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease.
	Dr Andrew Krentz Dr Andrew Krentz is a Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology at Southampton University Hospitals and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Medicine at the University of Southampton. His clinical and research interests focus on the pathophysiology and management of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He has published more than 100 original articles, reviews, and book chapters and serves on the editorial boards of national and international medical journals, including The British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease, Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism, Drugs and Prescriber.  He is an invited member of the European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance and is a founder member of the International Society of Diabetes and Vascular Disease.  Dr Krentz received a British Heart Foundation International Research Fellowship at the University of California, San Diego, USA. He is author of several textbooks on diabetes, metabolism and cardiovascular disease.  His latest book is The Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiovascular Disease (Marcel Dekker).
	Professor Michael Kirby Professor Michael Kirby has been a GP in Letchworth, Hertfordshire since 1973. He was appointed as Director of HertNet (The Hertfordshire Primary Care Research Network) in 1998. His practice provides an open access echocardiography service for patients with heart failure for the North Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust. He is also Visiting Professor to the Faculty of Health and Human Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire. He qualified at St Mary's Hospital, London before working as a Cardiology Registrar at the QEII Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. He is an Associate Member of the British Association of Urological Surgeons and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.  His editorial responsibilities include the British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease, the British Journal of Cardiology, Geriatric Medicine, Health & Ageing and the International Journal of Clinical Practice.  He also holds membership of several NHS advisory boards. He has published more than 200 clinical papers and 23 books. His special interests include cardiology, diabetes, osteoporosis, men's health and urology, and education. When away from work he can be found cycling the lanes of Hertfordshire.
	Dr David Wheeler Dr David Wheeler is Reader in Nephrology at University College London. His research focusses on the cardiovascular complications of chronic kidney disease. He is Chair of the UK Renal Association's Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee. He serves on the Advisory Board of the US Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative and is a member of the Board of Directors of Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes. Dr Wheeler’s other positions include Deputy Editor of Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation.
	Dr Tim Butler Dr Tim Butler is a GP with special interest in diabetes in County Durham, running intermediate services in diabetes. He also supports local practices operating diabetes clinics in all surgeries. Tim has an honorary appointment in County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust Hospitals supporting traditional second care diabetes clinics and is an Honorary Clinical Lecturer in the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. Dr Butler, a chartered statistician and Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, was a lecturer in medical statistics. His research interests include insulin secretion rates and primary care diabetes.