Our people

Our people

The Centre for HealthTech Innovation draws on a community of 150 scientists and clinical academics from across the University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Directors

The Clinical and Scientific Directors of the Centre for HealthTech Innovation.

Management board

Ai Lyn Tan, Associate Professor (Consultant); early inflammatory arthritis; rheumatoid arthritis; osteoarthritis

Deborah Stocken, Professor (Clinical Trials); early phase and late phase clinical trials

Maisoon Al-Jawad, Professor of Biological Physics and Biomineralisation; biomineralisation; biomimetic materials

Rory O'Connor, Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine; rehabilitation medicine; restorative rehabilitation technologies

David Brettle, Chief Scientific Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust; medical physics; image processing

Stephen D. Evans, Professor of Molecular and Nanoscale Physics; lipid membranes; microbubbles; drug delivery

Alison Jones, Lecturer in Computational Biomechanics; improvement of surgical devices and interventions for musculoskeletal pain and degeneration

Geoff Hall, Professor of Digital Health and Cancer Medicine; gynaecological cancer; cancer informatics and data analytics

Simone Wilkes, Research Innovation and Development Manager – Health Technologies; builds partnerships that address unmet clinical needs and attract funding

Early career researchers

Research team members

Kate Absolom, University Academic Fellow; quality of life; patient reported outcome measures (PROMs); cancer

Paolo Actis, University Academic Fellow; single-cell nanosurgery; intracellular biosensing; nanopores

Peter Adams, Associate Professor; biophysics; photosynthesis; light-harvesting proteins

Ali Alazmani, University Academic Fellow; soft materials for sensing and actuation; morphable soft-bodied robotics

Ane Appelt, Associate Professor; radiotherapy; medical physics; clinical oncology

Julie Aspden, University Academic Fellow in Pervasive Transcription; RNA; mRNA translation; ribosomes

Marc Bailey, Associate Professor of Vascular Medicine; abdominal aortic aneurysm; vascular smooth muscle; pre-clinical imaging

David Barton, Professor in School of Mechanical Engineering; automotive braking systems; medical engineering

Al Benson, Lecturer in Cardiovascular Science; computational modelling; cardiac arrhythmias; exercise intolerance

Helen Berry, University Academic Fellow; regenerative medical devices; tissue engineering; decellularised biological scaffolds 

John Biglands, Clinical Scientist; quantitative MRI in rheumatoid arthritis

William Bonass, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology; gene structure and expression

David Broadbent, Clinical Scientist; MRI physics

Claire Brockett, Associate Professor; biomechanics; musculoskeletal modelling; tribology 

Steven Brookes, Senior Lecturer; oral biology; Amelogenesis Imperfecta

Nigel Bubb, Lecturer in Dental Materials; dental materials; mechanical testing; glass

David Buckley, Professor of Medical Physics; quantitative MRI; tracer kinetic analysis

Richard Bushby, Research Professor (Physics); lipid-stabilised microbubbles as theranostic agents; high-spin polymers

Matteo Castronovo, Lecturer in Biochemistry; DNA and RNA self-assembled nanosystems; biomolecular physics; nanoscience

Samit Chakrabarty, Lecturer; sensory motor neurophysiology; medical technology; closed loop stimulation systems

Thomas Chamberlain, Associate Professor; carbon nanomaterials; electron microscopy; chemistry in confinement

Caroline Chilton, University Academic Fellow; clostridium difficile infection (CDI); antibiotic resistance; intestinal microbiota

Paul Chumas, Consultant Neurosurgeon; paediatric neurosurgery; craniofacial surgery; brain tumours

Louise Coletta, Senior Lecturer; cell biology; cancer research

Fiona Collinson, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant; GI oncology; brain tumours

Michael Colman, University Academic Fellow; human physiology; computational modelling; cardiac arrhythmias

Philip Conaghan, Professor of Musculoskeletal Medicine; pathogenesis; improving therapies for common arthritides 

Gordon Cook, Professor (Clinical); tumour immunology and immunotherapy

Kevin Critchley, Associate Professor; nanoscience; quantum dots; bionanotechnology

Richard Cubbon, University Academic Fellow and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist; vascular biology; metabolism; diabetes

Peter Culmer, Associate Professor in Healthcare Technologies; mechatronics systems; robotics; load sensing

Erica Dall-Armellina, Associate Clinical Professor; cardiology; cardiovascular imaging; MRI

Andrew Davies, Lecturer; medical X-ray imaging; image analysis

Francesco Del Galdo, Associate Professor (Consultant); biomarkers; immunopathogenesis of disease; clinical trial design

Mehmet Dogar, Associate Professor; robotics; manipulation planning; motion planning

Lorna Dougan, Professor of Physics; hierarchical biomechanics; extreme biophysics; water and aqueous solutions

Abbas Dehghani-Sanij, Chair in Bio-Mech and Medical Robotics; biomechatronics; biorobotics; assistive technologies

Hazel Fermor, Lecturer in Musculoskeletal Regenerative Medicine; tissue engineering; decellularised biological scaffolds; self-assembling peptides

Steve Fitzgerald, Associate Professor; crystal defects; dislocations; elasticity

Steven Freear, Professor of Ultrasonics and Embedded Systems; ultrasonics; embedded systems

Joshua Freeman, Postdoctoral Research Fellow; terahertz technology; high power lasers; semiconductor devices

Peter Giannoudis, Professor (Clinical); immune-inflammatory response; mesenchymal stem cells; bone regeneration

Helen Gleeson, Cavendish Professor of Physics; liquid crystals; photonic materials; devices

John P. Greenwood, Professor of Cardiology; MRI; percutaneous coronary intervention; stable coronary artery disease

Marlous Hall, University Academic Fellow; advanced analytical methodology; epidemiology; cardiovascular survivorship and multimorbidity

Stephen Halpin, Senior Research Fellow and Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine; global rehabilitation; chronic pain and sleep; long COVID

Russell Harris; Professor in School of Mechanical Engineering; manufacturing processes; high value manufacturing

Taj Hassan, Consultant in Emergency Medicine; lead for clinical decision units/observation medicine

Brian Henson, Senior Lecturer in Design and Manufacture; affective engineering; kansei engineering; Rasch measurement theory

Anthony Herbert, Lecturer in Medical and Biological Engineering; tissue biomechanics; bioreactors; scaffolds

Jenny Hewison, Professor of the Psychology of Healthcare; relationships between research methods, evidence and policy making in healthcare

Peter Hillmen, Professor (Clinical); paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH); chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL)

Raymond Holt, Lecturer in Product Design; rehabilitation technology; mechanics of prehension; inclusive design

Eileen Ingham, Chair of Medical Immunology; acellular biological scaffolds for tissue repair; regeneration in musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems

David Jayne, Clinical Professor; general surgery with coloproctology subspecialisation; robotic & minimally invasive surgery; gastrointestinal oncology; global surgery

Louise Jennings, Associate Professor; bioengineering; biomaterials; biotribology

Animesh Jha, Professor; glass and mineral science; optical fibre, bulk and waveguide lasers; amplific device engineering

Zhongmin Jin, Visiting Professor; tissue re-engineering; joint replacement and substitution; functional spinal interventions

Jamie Johnston, University Academic Fellow; neuroscience; sensory processing; vision

Elena Jones, Associate Professor in Stem Cell Biology; mesenchymal stem cells; bone regeneration; cartilage regeneration

Gin Jose, Chair in Functional Materials; ultrafast laser materials processing; photonic glasses; nanomaterials

Nikil Kapur, Professor of Applied Fluid Mechanics; fluid flow; heat transfer; experimental characterisation

Robert Kay, Associate Professor in Advanced Manufacturing; digital fabrication; additive manufacturing; 3D printing 

Anne-Maree Keenan, Professor of Applied Health Research; musculoskeletal conditions; foot and lower limb pathologies; osteoarthritis

Martin Levesley, Pro Dean for Student Engineering; dynamics and control; rehabilitation robotics; medical robotics

Andrew Lewington, Consultant Renal Physician and Honorary Associate Professor; AKI; kidney transplants

Sarah Mackie, Associate Professor (Consultant); giant cell arteritis; polymyalgia rheumatica

Ryan Mathew, Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon; neurosurgery with brain tumour specialisation

Michael McDermott, Professor of Experimental Rheumatology; autoinflammatory syndromes; cystic fibrosis (CF); biologics in rheumatoid arthritis

Dennis McGonagle, Professor of Investigative Rheumatology; imaging; pathogenic mechanisms of arthritis; tissue microanatomy

James McLaughlan, Associate Professor; diagnostic ultrasound; high intensity focused ultrasound; acoustic cavitation

Marlene Mengoni, Lecturer; non-linear finite element method; computational biomechanics; musculoskeletal tissues

Shona Michael, Clinical Scientist; clinical engineering

Alan Mighell, Senior Lecturer (Consultant) in Oral Medicine; oral medicine; amelogenesis imperfecta; genetics

Paul Millner, Professor in Bionanotechnology; electrochemical biosensors; nanobiosensors, nanocomposites

Louise Murray, Academic Clinical Oncologist; re-irradiation; technical radiotherapy; brain tumours

Faisal Mushtaq, Associate Professor; cognitive neuroscience; psychology; learning

Mamatha Nagaraj, University Academic Fellow; self-assembly, liquid crystals; polymers

Catherine Noakes, Professor of Environmental Engineering for Buildings; environmental fluid flow problems; indoor air quality

Zhan Huin Ong, University Academic Fellow; nanomedicine; drug and gene delivery; biomaterials

Virginia Pensabene, University Academic Fellow, organs-on-chip; hybrid microfabrication; sensors

Sally A. Peyman, University Academic Fellow; microfluidics; lab on a chip; microbubbles

Helen Philippou, Professor; mechanisms of thrombosis; novel safer antithrombotic therapeutics; drug discovery programmes

Sven Plein, Professor of Cardiology (Clinical); biomedical imaging; MRI; cardiovascular disease

Karen E. Porter, Reader in Cardiovascular Cell Biology; vascular biology; human primary cell culture; cardiovascular complications of diabetes

James Poulter, University Academic Fellow in Molecular Neuroscience; genetics; functional geonomics; neurodevelopment

Nick Preston, Research Fellow; rehabilitation; cerebral palsy; developmental coordination disorder

Mar Pujades Rodriguez, Research Fellow and Senior Clinical Epidemiologist; pharmacoepidemiological studies

Anthony Redmond, Professor of Clinical Biomechanics; biomechanics; imaging; rheumatology; orthopaedics

Robert Richardson, Professor of Robotics; exploration robotics; surgical technologies; prosthetics

Ian Robertson, Centenary Chair in Microwave and Millimetre-Wave Circuits; field robotics; wireless communications; millimetre-waves

Ian Rowe, University Academic Fellow and Honorary Consultant Hepatologist; liver disease; treatment of cirrhosis and HCC

David Russell, Honorary Clinical Associate Professor; diabetic foot disease; wound healing; lower limb revascularisation

Stephen J. Russell, Professor of Textile Materials and Technology; textile engineering; materials and manufacturing; nonwovens technology

Jurgen Schneider, Professor of Biomedical Imaging; MRI, MRS; preclinical imaging

Julian Scott, Professor of Vascular Surgery, abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms; open and endovascular AAA/TAAA repair

Jung-uk Shim, Lecturer in School of Physics and Astronomy; microfluidics; INP; biophysics

Manoj Sivan, Associate Clinical Professor; pain medicine; non-inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions; rehabilitation technology

Steven Sourbron, Visiting Professor; biomedical imaging; imaging biomarkers; quantitative imaging

Paul Steenson, Senior Lecturer; nanotechnology; semiconductor devices

Todd Stewart, Senior Lecturer; orthopaedics; joint replacement; trauma

Zeike Taylor, Associate Professor; medical simulation; computer-assisted interventions; medical image computing

Alan Tennant, Emeritus Professor Rehabilitation Studies; epidemiology; psychometrics; health services research

John Thomson, Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist; paediatric cardiology; interventional cardiology; adult congenital heart disease

Darren Tomlinson; Associate Professor; biomolecular engineering; cancer; cell signalling

Giles Toogood, Consultant of Hepatobiliary Surgery; laparoscopic, hepatobiliary and transplantation surgery; gallstones

Giuseppe Tronci, Associate Professor (Healthcare Materials); degradable polymers; biopolymers; medical devices

Charalampos Tsoumpas, Lecturer in Medical Imaging; tomographic imaging; computational modelling; lung diffusing capacity

Pietro Valdastri, Chair in Robotics and Autonomous Systems; surgical robotics; robotic endoscopy; robotic actuators

Mi Wang, Professor of Process Tomography and Sensing; CAT scanning; complex process and multiphase flow measurement and imaging

Nicholas Warren, Associate Professor; polymer synthesis; block copolymer self-assembly; biomaterials

Kevin Watterson, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon; cardiac surgery

Sophie Williams, Associate Professor; medical engineering; orthopaedic engineering

Klaus Witte, University Academic Fellow (Consultant); Vitamin D; heart failure; electronic implantable cardiac devices

Chris Wood, Associate Professor; high-frequency biosensors; cell manipulation technologies; microfluidic systems

David Wood, Professor of Dental Materials; bioceramic; in-vitro testing; tissue engineering

Heiko Wurdak, Lecturer; stem cells; cancer biology; brain tumours

Shane Xie, Chair in Robotics and Autonomous Systems; rehabilitation robotics; exoskeletons and orthotics; robotic mechanisms

Xuebin Yang, Associate Professor; stem cells; tissue engineering; orthopaedics 

Zhi-Qiang Zhang, Associate Professor; wearable/pervasive sensing technologies; wearable human motion analysis