Update in medicine – Leicester 2026

Dr Anette Freyer

Professor Anjan Dhar

Professor Anjan Dhar is a professor of medicine at Teesside University, consultant luminal gastroenterologist and advanced therapeutic endoscopist. He has been chair of education for the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) since 2020 and is currently deputy guidelines lead for the society. Between 2023–25 Anjan sat on the council of the BSG and was a member of the Executive Committee.

Professor Simon Conroy FRCP

Professor Simon Conroy is an academic geriatrician based in London. With colleagues, he has been awarded funding exceeding £23 million and has published over 230 peer-reviewed papers. He led the Acute Frailty Network in England (2015–21) and now leads a range of national improvement collaboratives in conjunction with NHS Elect. Simon’s ambition is to improve outcomes for older people living with frailty by embedding evidence-based medicine into clinical practice (‘campus to clinic’ translational research). His research addresses different models of holistic and patient-centred care, assessing feasibility as well as clinical and cost-effectiveness. His educational activities take an interdisciplinary perspective on developing and teaching[SB1.1] knowledge locally (frailty services), nationally and internationally. Implementation of research findings into clinical practice is key and best exemplified by work on the Silver Book and Silver Book II, the Acute Frailty Network and specialised clinical frailty networks. 

Dr Sarb Clare MBE FRCP

Dr Sarb Clare MBE is an acute medical consultant at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. She has held numerous leadership positions including deputy medical director and NHSEI RCA AIM clinical adviser and is the president of the West Midlands Physicians Association – the first female president since inception 74 years ago. Sarb clinically led the move to the new acute super hospital Midland Metropolitan. She is a national pioneer in POCUS (point of care ultrasound), which she lectures and teaches on nationally via a course and free online learning tools. Sarb’s book, Ultrasound for the generalist: a guide to point of care imaging, with Cambridge University Press, is a culmination of 20 years of POCUS experience. She is passionate about leadership, gender and diversity workplace balance, as well as widening participation. She leads a ‘Women empowering women’ movement within medicine, hosts a podcast and has delivered a TEDx Talk. In 2020, Sarb was awarded an MBE Queens Honor for her service to the NHS and her leadership during the pandemic. Sarb has recently been appointed as a leputy lieutenant for the Midlands.

Suzanne Armstrong

Suzanne Armstrong is an advanced clinical practitioner at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. She has worked as a specialist nurse and advanced practice in the field of arrhythmias for over 20 years. She has a passion for developing services to improve the patient experience and during this time has set up numerous arrhythmia services and developed the ACP role within cardiology arrhythmia clinics. For this work, Sue was nominated and won the bronze award in BJN cardiovascular nurse of the year 2023. More recently, she has been instrumental in setting up a virtual ward for atrial fibrillation patients, delivering acute level care to patients with fast heart rates within their home. The AF virtual ward service was awarded in AF Pioneers 2022, shortlisted in the HSJ Digital Awards 2023, won the HSJ Acute Innovation Award 2023 and has recently been shortlisted for the RCP Excellence in Patient Care awards.

Dr Louise Savic

Dr Louise Savic is a consultant anaesthetist with a clinical and research interest in drug allergy and perioperative anaphylaxis. She is currently a fellow with the Leeds biomedical research centre, investigating drug allergy in surgical patients. Working closely with the Association of Anaesthetists, British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and Clinical Immunology Professional Network, she leads the UK Perioperative Allergy Network – a cross-speciality working party for improving allergy care among surgical patients, including the implementation of routine penicillin allergy delabelling.

Professor Najib Rahman FRCP

Professor Najib Rahman directs the Oxford Respiratory Trials Unit and works clinically as a pleural specialist. Having qualified in Oxford, he underwent the medical SHO rotation at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, and re-joined Oxford as a specialist registrar in 2003. He was appointed director of the Oxford Respiratory Trials Unit and consultant lead for pleural disease in Oxford in 2011. Najib was appointed as professor of respiratory medicine in 2018, and runs randomised and observational studies in pleural infection, pneumothorax and malignant pleural effusion. He is trained in thoracoscopy, thoracic ultrasound and clinical trials methodology, and has published over 400 papers with over 20,000 citations and an H-index of 72. Najib is co-chair of the BTS pleural guidelines 2023, chair of the BTS Pleural Intervention Committee 2023, chair of multiple international guidelines on pleural disease, senior NIHR investigator and national speciality lead for respiratory research for the NIHR Research Delivery Network.

Professor David Webb FRCP

Professor David Webb is a senior academic and clinical lead in one of the most research-active diabetes centres in the UK. As a principal investigator and member of the Leicester NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, he is actively involved in clinical research studies testing novel interventions in the treatment and prevention of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Additional interests include the early detection of diabetes and arterial pressure wave haemodynamics in glucose disorders. David is course director of the University of Leicester’s prestigious diabetes MSc programme and an academic lead for undergraduate medicine at Leicester Medical School. NHS duties include clinical lead for type 2 diabetes and obesity at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

Dr Aklak Choudhury FRCP

Dr Aklak Choudhury is deputy medical director for quality and safety and a respiratory consultant at University Hospitals Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust. He has an MSc in Medical Education focusing on how staff practice continuous improvement in acute healthcare environments. He is a QSIR associate and has been an associate editor for BMJ Open Quality. Aklak has mentored many trainee QI programmes and delivered virtual and face to face educational QI workshops locally and nationally. He is passionate about continuous quality improvement and strives to support the RCP development programme for improvement for the benefit of our members. With the support of the CQID team, Patient Carer Network and wider system partners, Aklak helps to develop and influence policy for our healthcare systems to better the patient experience.