Welcome to the Herts and Beds Gastroenterology Symposium

Dr John Anderson has worked in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, for over 25 years. His clinical practice now focuses on advanced therapeutic endoscopy, training and education. Dr Anderson provides a specialist tertiary therapeutic colonoscopy service for ESD and complex colonic polypectomy and helps provide the local ERCP service. Previous roles include National Endoscopy Training Lead, Chairman of the BCSP accreditation committee, BCSP and BSG Endoscopy committee member, JAG and BCSP assessor, and Lead for National Quality Improvement in Colonoscopy (EQIP) in the UK. He is a Founder and Director of the online endoscopy learning platform GIEQS.

Dr Sergio Coda is a consultant specialist gastrointestinal endoscopist with a wealth of experience spanning academic, secondary and community health care. He is a BCSP accredited colonoscopist and Clinical Director for BCSP at Queen's Hospital and King George's Hospital, London. He is also NHSE North East London Endoscopy Network Lead and regional advisor. He trained at La Sapienza University of Rome (2001-2007) with an exclusive commitment to interventional endoscopy and pursued advanced training in endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) at the National Cancer Center Hospital of Tokyo (2007). He received his PhD in Advanced Endoscopic Imaging from Imperial College London in 2014. His clinical interests include early endoscopic detection and resection of pre-neoplastic lesions and early cancers throughout the GI tract. He is a passionate advocate of minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic techniques such as transnasal endoscopy (TNE), robotic colonoscopy (Endotics), Speedboat Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (Creo Medical), and full-thickness endoscopic resection (FTRD System Ovesco).

Dr Irfan Amin is a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Peterborough City Hospital, with over 15 years of experience delivering outstanding patient care. He has a specialist interest in gastrointestinal endoscopy and advanced colonic polypectomy, and is a Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) accredited colonoscopist, reflecting his high standards in quality and safety. Dr Amin completed his specialist gastroenterology training in the East of Anglia in 2013 and has since taken on key leadership roles, serving as Clinical Lead for Endoscopy. He chairs both the IBD MDT and the Upper GI MDT, demonstrating his commitment to multidisciplinary, evidence-based care. Dr Amin aspires to further advance therapeutic endoscopy services within the unit, including the development and expansion of Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD), to provide cutting-edge, minimally invasive treatment options and improve outcomes for patients locally.

Dr Mohamed Shariff is a Gastroenterologist at West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Deputy Lead for ERCP for the East of England region. He has a specialist interest in hepatobiliary endoscopy and practises ERCP and EUS. As part of the West Herts faculty, he runs JAG training courses in ERCP and EUS and, in his role as East of England lead, has promoted coordinated progression to high-quality ERCP across the region through sharing best practice, network meetings and standard operating procedures.

Professor David S Sanders is a Professor of Gastroenterology and a Consultant Gastroenterologist. He leads the Academic Unit of Gastroenterology at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital (Sheffield Teaching Hospitals) and the University of Sheffield. He has published more than 500 peer reviewed papers and is internationally recognised for his work in coeliac disease, gluten related disorders and small bowel endoscopy. He has received multiple research awards including the European Rising Star Award (2010), Cuthbertson Medal (2011), Silver Medal from the UK Nutrition Society (2017), the Swedish Gastroenterology Society Bengt Ihre Medal (2017), and the British Society for Gastroenterology Hopkins Prize for Endoscopy (2019). His clinical work has also resulted in awards from Coeliac UK and other organisations, including Outstanding Achievement Award (2024). He is the current Chair of the Coeliac UK Health Advisory Council and a BSG Council Member. Previous roles include chair of the BSG Small Bowel and Nutrition Section, the Audit Committee, and President of the International Society for the Study of Coeliac Disease. He works in the Sheffield Unit, which is the NHS England designated National Centre for Refractory Coeliac Disease and a World Endoscopy Organisation GI Centre of Excellence. Sheffield Gastroenterology was also the recipient of the Royal College of Physicians Excellence in Patient Care Award (2021) for its small bowel endoscopy services.

Dr Hugo Penny is a Consultant Gastroenterologist and Honorary Clinical Lecturer at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which is the National Centre for Non-Responsive and Refractory Coeliac Disease. Hugo previously undertook a Wellcome Trust PhD Fellowship in mucosal immunology in Matthew Hepworth's lab at the University of Manchester. His current research focuses on clinical and translational aspects of host immune responses in coeliac disease and other enteropathies.

Dr Yooyun Chung is a consultant hepatologist at King's College Hospital with subspecialist interest in autoimmune liver disease, pregnancy-related liver disorders, and neuroendocrine tumours. Following medical training at UCL, Dr Chung completed higher specialist training across London including King's College Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital. She is undertaking a PhD with research focusing on autoimmune liver disease and reproductive health in liver disease.

Dr Ching Lam is a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with a specialist interest in nutrition and functional gastrointestinal disorders. She has held her post since 2017. Dr Lam graduated in medicine from the University of Belfast and completed a PhD in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders at the University of Nottingham in 2014. She undertook her specialty training in General Medicine and Gastroenterology in the East Midlands. At Sheffield, she plays a key role in developing nutrition services and delivering high-quality, patient-centred care. She is an accredited endoscopy trainer for JAG-approved courses and a screener for the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. Nationally, Dr Lam is an active member of the British Society of Gastroenterology Neurogastroenterology and Motility Section Committee and a mentor within the BSG mentoring scheme. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, establishing her as a leading voice in functional GI disorders and nutrition.

Dr Leo Alexandre is an associate professor of gastroenterology at Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, and an honorary gastroenterologist at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. His current research themes focus on the early detection of upper GI cancer, Barrett's chemoprevention, and risk prediction in GI malignancy. His clinical interest is in the endoscopic management of premalignant and malignant upper GI disease.

Dr Joshua Chew is a Consultant Gastroenterologist and an Inflammatory Bowel Disease Physician at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since 2017. He graduated with honours from the University of Sheffield in 2003 and trained in Sheffield, Manchester, London and Newcastle before returning to Sheffield. He was appointed as an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Gastroenterology at the University of Manchester before receiving a Wellcome Trust funded PhD studentship and then an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship at the Centre for Molecular Medicine, University College London. His research interests lie in studying dysfunctional molecular mechanisms in macrophages of the innate immune system and their role in inflammatory bowel disease.

Professor Mark McAlindon's clinical and research interests include capsule endoscopy, small bowel and nutrition, most recently colon capsule endoscopy and magnet-controlled upper GI capsule endoscopy.

Javaid Subhani is a Cambridge and London trained Gastroenterologist. He has been a consultant in secondary care since 2001. He publishes little, treats thousands of patients and has a particular interest in management dilemmas faced by clinicians and patients in secondary care. He has written databases to record patient management and outcomes in IBD, nutrition, hepatology and colorectal EMR. He has personally performed more than 1400 colorectal EMR procedures on LNPCPs and recorded their long-term outcomes. Along the way he has been part of the regional virtual CPMDT, runs a regional EMR referral service, and has previously held multiple leadership roles including Clinical Director of three hospitals.

Dr James Wang is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist specialising in neuro-oncology and uro-oncology, with a parallel leadership role as Digital Lead for Cancer Services at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre within East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust. His clinical practice spans radiotherapy and systemic therapies, alongside active involvement in clinical trials and service development across a hub-and-spoke cancer network. He leads on digital transformation initiatives, including electronic health record implementation, research-ready routine data, and the development of AI-enabled workflows to support audit, workforce planning, and real-world evidence generation. His academic interests focus on applied clinical AI, imaging biomarkers, and translational digital infrastructure, and he contributes to national AI governance and educational activity through committee work, conference leadership, and collaborative research.

Dr Keith Siau is a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, with interests in ERCP, IBD, upper GI endoscopy, endoscopy training and quality improvement. He is actively involved in research, education and guideline development within UK and European gastroenterology.

Dr Jay Patel is a Consultant Hepatologist and RCP Tutor for Medicine at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Farhad Peerally (MBChB MRCP MMedSci PhD) is a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Kettering General Hospital and Associate Professor with the SAPPHIRE group (Social Science Applied to Healthcare Improvement Research) at the University of Leicester. His research focuses on patient safety across diverse healthcare settings, investigating how organisations learn from and respond to safety incidents, how safety roles are developed, and how safety practices can be improved through simulation and training. He also holds active clinical research interests in inflammatory bowel disease care quality, Barrett's oesophagus, and safety in gastrointestinal endoscopy. He leads the Patient Safety and Applied Human Factors module on the MSc Quality and Safety in Healthcare programme at the University of Leicester, where he supervises PhD, doctoral psychology, and masters students. He serves as Secretary of the Midlands Gastroenterology Society and is a committee member of the British Society of Gastroenterology New Consultants Advisory Group and Clinical Services Committee. He is a past recipient of the Royal College of Physicians Turner Warwick Lecturer Prize and the British Society of Gastroenterology Alistair McIntyre Prize for improving gastroenterology training.

Gary Atkin is a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at East & North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust. He was appointed in 2010 and worked initially at the Royal Free London Foundation NHS Trust before moving to East & North Herts in 2016. His main clinical interest is colorectal cancer, and in particular the utilisation of minimal access techniques as well as early rectal cancer. He was until recently the lead clinician for colorectal cancer at East & North Herts and has been performing transanal minimally invasive surgery (TAMIS) for rectal lesions since 2012.