Meet our Advisors

Matt Abrams
PNP Digital

Matt Abrams
Director at Pipe and Piper

Matt Abrams graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a BSc (Hons) in Business Information Technology and later co-founded PNP Digital in 2012. Previously the Operations Director for a web design agency, Matt developed a range of skills and experience that finally led to him set up his own company with Alex Pashley (Technical Director at the same organisation).

In the 10+ years that Matt has run PNP, he has worked with people and organisations across most business sectors including healthcare, compliance, manufacturing, hospitality, education, government and finance; redesigning business processes and leading the development of multiple award winning bespoke mobile applications and cloud-based business systems.

Matt is also the co-founder and Commercial Director of AssetGo, a market leading DVSA approved SaaS solution that enables fleet operators with a suite of tools to ensure complete compliance management of their vehicles and drivers.

PNP Digital have collaborated with ELAROS for many years, with PNP responsible for software development of the Open-OH and C19-YRS platform and earlier the Digital Bladder Diary.

Dr Samit Chakrabarty
University of Leeds

Bio

Dr Samit Chakrabarty
University of Leeds

Dr Samit Chakrabarty has studied the role of spinal circuits in the execution of motor tasks and their modulation by peripheral sensory and descending inputs from the brain, focusing on the plastic changes that the system undergoes during development or disease. After a PhD in Neurophysiology from the University of Cambridge, UK, he trained at Columbia University, NYC, and has since moved to the University of Leeds as an academic researcher.

His group is active in the fields of sensory and motor control and rehabilitation. Using innovative technologies and algorithms, they both study and work to improve the lives of those with maladies affecting sensory and motor function. He has been using AI and ML tools along with pattern recognition systems to examine biosignals acquired from multiple sources while also working to improve the signal capture and delivery of stimuli by designing new devices and using closed loop algorithms. Samit advises and works with multiple NGOs in the UK, India, and Africa, as well as start-ups and incubation centres in the UK, EU, and India, to create affordable and sustainable health care solutions that address the needs of the emerging world.

Samit is a key figure in the inception of Neu-Restore and is a member of the project’s Advisory Board.

Dr Nikki Cordell
Cordell Health

Bio

Dr Nikki Cordell
Cordell Health

Nikki is an accredited specialist in Occupational Medicine, and a Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FFOM), with over 15 years experience in delivering occupational health services, first within the military and subsequently in the private and third sector. She has a keen interest in medical education and having gained an MSc in Medical Education from the University of Cardiff, she has been very involved in the professional development of clinicians providing specialist occupational health services.

She is currently undertaking a PhD working with Professor Helen Dawes, in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Oxford Brookes University. Her research is focused on the factors influencing the ability to work for employees with a long-term health problem or disability. Other research interests include evidence in supporting those with a disability in employment, the role of employees’ health and wellbeing in organisational performance, and evidence-based assessment of fitness for work.

Nikki has worked in the military developing regionally based multi-disciplinary occupational health services. She is dedicated to raising the standards in occupational health provision and believes in a multifaceted service, focused on prevention and early intervention is the future.

As CEO of Cordell Health, she has overall responsibility for strategy, business performance and organisation of service delivery. I lead on providing management consultancy advice to organisations which includes assessing the requirement, clinical specification, procurement and assurance of occupational healthcare services. She also supports the Medical Director with complex case management referrals.

“Being a social enterprise is very important to me, I want us to make a positive difference in the workplace and my vision is to change the focus from disability to ability.”

Nikki works with ELAROS as a member of the Advisory Board for it’s SBRI project, Open-OH.

Prof. Helen Dawes
University of Exeter

Bio

Professor Helen Dawes
University of Exeter

Helen Dawes is Professor of Clinical Rehabilitation in the College of Medicine and Health. She is themelead for rehabilitation in the NIHR Exeter BRC and co-director of health technologies at Exeter network and business engagement and innovation.

Helen is a clinical academic physiotherapist working in multidisciplinary research across ages, conditions, and health and care settings. Her research focus is on rehabilitation innovations to enable people living with conditions affecting their movement to be able to move well. She collaborates with key colleagues in the UK across the NHS and Universities, and internationally with Shanghai Jiao Tong Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital, Sao Paulo, Drexel, Aarhus, Monash, and Oslo Universities. Her research involves working closely, with industry, clinicians, and the public, to develop, evaluate and translate to clinical practice transformative innovation.

ELAROS first came into contact with Helen through the LOCOMOTION project, focusing on optimising NHS services for Long COVID. She now works closely with ELAROS sitting on the Advisory Boards for both Neu-Restore and Open-OH.

Jeremy Gee
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust

Bio

Jeremy Gee
Community Advanced Practitioner | Airedale NHS Foundation Trust

Jeremy qualified as a Physiotherapist in 2009 working rotationally across a wide variety of key areas within Airedale NHS Foundation Trust before focussing mainly on rehabilitation of older adults both in inpatient and community settings. After completing a Masters in Advanced Practice at the University of Leeds in 2019 Jeremy has expanded his holistic management of people within the community setting.

The Covid-19 pandemic has raised significant challenges and the need for a co-ordinated rehabilitation response. With a strong interest in rehabilitation, multi-disciplinary working and a passion for holistic care, working towards a whole system approach to Covid-19 has been a natural progression from Jeremy’s experience so far.

Prof. Alex Horsley
University of Manchester

Bio

Professor Alex Horsley
The University of Manchester

Alex is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester, consultant at the Manchester Adult Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Centre, and CF academic lead for the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre. He is a director of the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility at Wythenshawe Hospital, where he oversees trials activity in a wide range of specialties. He is responsible for initiating and maintaining one of the largest CF trials programs in the country, having led over 20 trials of new therapies in CF since 2012 and making Manchester one of the leading sites for CF clinical trials internationally. He has been national or global lead on trials of several ground-breaking therapies, including transformative new CFTR modulator therapies. He has experience at all phases of clinical trials and has also designed and delivered clinical trials in acute COVID-19.

Alex works with ELAROS as Chairman of Mi-Trial, which is owned and operated jointly by ELAROS, the University of Manchester and the Medicines Evaluation Unit.

Dr Angel Jimenez-Aranda
University of Salford

Bio

Dr Angel Jimenez-Aranda
Associate Professor of Digital Transformation | University of Salford

Angel has extensive experience in management and digital innovation across Higher Education, the NHS, and the private sector. From 2013 to 2021, Angel led healthcare technology initiatives at an NHS hospital, developing digital innovations that comply with medical regulations and support healthcare professionals. From 2021 to 2023, he served as Digital Innovation Director at a FTSE 250 manufacturing company, where he drove digital strategies and delivered key projects focused on product data modelling, systems interoperability, and digital customer services. His interests lie in leveraging technology-driven solutions to implement transformational change, enhance decision-making, and deliver value to end-users.

Michelle Kudhail
Inspire Neurocare and Hamberley Care Homes

Bio

Michelle Kudhail
Inspire Neurocare and Hamberley Care Homes

Michelle is a neurophysiotherapist with a specialism in acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury and other neurological conditions for over 30 years. She has a broad experience having worked in the USA and the NHS and Independent sector in the UK.

She has worked clinically in the field of neurorehabilitation with a special interest in spasticity management, having completed the injectors course for use of botulinum toxin for spasticity management followed by accomplishing the non-medical prescribing qualification. She has been an invited speaker at International conferences and also the Rehabilitation Clinical Reference Group Summit. She also teaches post graduate physiotherapists and allied health professionals nationally on subjects including gait analysis, balance, upper limb rehabilitation and spasticity management.

Michelle is also an expert witness, carrying out medico-legal assessments and providing reports to the courts regarding people who have sustained catastrophic brain and spinal cord injuries.

Michelle has collaborated with ELAROS for a number of years and currently sits on the Advisory Board for their Innovate UK funded project, Neu-Restore.

Dean Mawson
DPM Digital Health

Bio

Dean Mawson
Clinical Director and Founder of DPM – Digital Health

Dean Mawson has supported the Clinical Risk Management movement in the NHS working in collaboration with NHS Digital and prominent Clinical leaders within the digital health sector for over 18 years. Dean has contributed his clinical experience and knowledge base to NHS Clinical Safety & Risk Management Systems and worked at the highest level to ensure core clinical safety principles are embedded in the practice of all organisational team members. These will be the foundational principles in which health informatics will be led throughout the next ten years or more. Dean is now the Clinical Director of his own company providing ethical advisory services to the health industry. DPM Digital Health Consultancy Ltd was formed in 2018.

For 11 years, Dean worked for a leading digital health manufacturer as a Clinical Safety Officer/Clinical Specialist accredited through NHS Digital. His NHS clinical experience spans roles as a Staff Nurse in Trauma and Orthopaedics, Charge Nurse, Ward Manager, Admissions Coordinator, and Care Pathway Facilitator. Dean has an in-depth understanding first-hand of the clinical pressures and risk management requirements of working in the NHS. The focus of his work on the digital health manufacturer side has been making sure all systems are risk-averse and comply with the national safety standards DCB0129/DCB0160. He is passionate about patient safety and an expert in his domain.

Dean is currently a Fellow of the British Computer Society (Institute of Chartered IT Professionals) and is a member of the Clinical Safety Special Interest Group Leadership Committee. He has recently undertaken a post graduate course in Artificial Intelligence Concepts: Practical Applications at the University of Oxford to further his competencies and compound his existing AI knowledge and skill sets in relation to Risk Management.

ELAROS has worked with Dean and DPM Digital Health for a number of years, Dean acting as our Clinical Safety Officer as well as a mentor for Henry Robinson in effectively leading the regulatory activity of the company.

Prof. Ruairidh Milne
Long COVID PPI Lead

Bio

Prof. Ruairidh Milne
Long COVID PPI Lead

Ruairidh Milne has had Long Covid since March 2020. He is Co-Lead for Patient and Public Involvement for the NIHR-funded Locomotion study. He is a retired public health doctor and academic, whose most recent work was with the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Ruairidh met ELAROS throught the LOCOMOTION project, and now sits on the Advisory Board for ELAROS’ SBRI Project, Open-OH.

Dr Christopher Russell
Vivisco Ltd

Bio

Dr Christopher Russell
CTO and co-founder of Vivisco Limited

Chris is the CTO of Innovate UK funded Vivisco Limited where he develops prototype healthcare technologies with an emphasis on affordability and usability.

Chris has a BEng and PhD from School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Leeds. He initially undertook a post-doctoral position in high frequency engineering before repurposing his nanofabrication skills to build bespoke tools for neuroscience and healthcare applications.

He cofounded a start-up, Vivisco during COVID-19 to develop a novel treatment for intubated patients. Since the pandemic, his focus has been to develop bespoke hardware for healthcare and bioscience applications, as well as providing consultancy services.

Prof. Manoj Sivan
WHO, University of Leeds and Leeds NHS Trusts

Bio

Dr Manoj Sivan
WHO, University of Leeds and Leeds NHS Trusts

Dr Manoj Sivan MD FRCP (Ed) is an Associate Clinical Professor and Honorary Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine (RM) with University of Leeds and Leeds NHS Trusts. He led UK’s first study on Covid-19 long term symptoms (long Covid) published in July 2020 that led to the setting up of UK’s first Long Covid service in Leeds in Sept 2020. He also led the development of the C19-YRS (Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale), a NHS England and NICE recommended tool for assessment and monitoring of the condition. His current research interests are developing rehabilitation interventions for Long Covid symptoms and outcome measurement of the condition.

His previous research on home-based rehabilitation robots has won several awards including the European Academy of RM prize and the UK Philips Nichols prize. His research has received grants from NIHR, MRC, EPSRC, ISRT, Research England and RCP.

He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Handbook of Rehabilitation Medicine. He is also the President-Elect for the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine (BSRM).

Manoj has been instrumental in advising on the development of the digital C19-YRS platform and supporting it’s roll-out. He now sits on the Advisory Board for ELAROS’ SBRI project, Open-OH.

Prof. Jacky Smith
University of Manchester

Bio

Jackie Smith
The University of Manchester

Jacky is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester and an Honorary Consultant at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. She runs a multi-disciplinary research team which focuses on understanding mechanisms underlying pathological cough and a regional clinical service seeing patients with refractory chronic cough. She is also the Director of the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility and Leads the Rapid Translational Incubator Theme of the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre.

Jacky works with ELAROS as Chief Scientific Officer of Mi-Trial, which is owned and operated jointly by ELAROS, the University of Manchester and the Medicines Evaluation Unit.

Wendy Watson MBE
Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline

Bio

Wendy Watson MBE
Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline

Wendy Watson MBE was the first BRCA carrier in the UK to undergo a preventive double mastectomy after discovering that 9 of her female relatives had developed breast cancer, taking a novel elective surgery before a potential diagnosis arose.

In 1996, she held the world’s first Hereditary Breast Cancer Awareness Week with the support of Diana, Princess of Wales. She demonstrated the cost effectiveness of this surgery and influenced specialist commissioning of genetic services and founded the National Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline. The following year she worked on the gene patent directive in the European Parliament, demonstrating that this would adversely affect the cost benefits to the NHS. She rapidly became known worldwide and now has a course at Princeton University named after her. She was awarded Tesco Mum of the Year overall winner in 2011 for her efforts in this. In 2012, her autobiography ‘I’m Still Standing’ was published by Simon and Schuster and she was awarded an MBE in 2013.

She has influenced decisions in Parliament over genetic testing and insurance which have since become law.

Wendy has always aimed to ensure that everyone has the right to all options available for their situations, as well as full support following the individual’s decision. She has demonstrated this through her dedicated work ethic, as well as tackling any issues to ensure fairness – most recently the UK army.

Wendy is passionate about ensuring that ELAROS and the MammoWave project is safely introduced into the UK, as it offers further options for younger people for whom Mammography is not suitable.

Dr James Williamson
University of Huddersfield

Bio

James Williamson
University of Hudderfield

Dr James Williamson is a research fellow in the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology (CIMAM) at the University of Huddersfield.

James has a BEng degree in Electronic Engineering awarded in 2010 from the University of Surrey. After two years in industry James joined CIMAM in 2012 for his PhD studies to research single-point on-machine metrology, graduating in 2017 with a thesis titled Dispersed Reference Interferometry for On-Machine Metrology.

James’ research interests include fibre-linked single-point metrology instrumentation, on-machine interferometric distance and topography measurement and, high speed fibre-based strain measurement.

James has worked with ELAROS for over five years. Initially James worked with ELAROS on urology projects, currently he works with ELAROS supervising Owain Medford with the development of Smart Coasters for hydration monitoring. He has also made important technical contributions in the development of Neu-Restore.

Prof. Jennie Wilson
The University of West London

Bio

Prof. Jennie Wilson
The University of West London

Jennie Wilson has a first degree in microbiology, a Master’s in Public Health, PhD in surveillance of healthcare associated infection (HCAI) and is a registered nurse. She has 30 years’ experience in infection prevention & control (IPC), has worked as a senior IPC practitioner in NHS Trusts in London and was a key player in establishing the first national surveillance programmes on HCAI in England. She led the Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Service for 10 years and developed HCAI surveillance and research initiatives in both the UK and Europe. Jennie is Professor of Healthcare Epidemiology at the Richard Wells Research Centre at the University of West London. She is a lead author of the Epic guidelines on the preventing HCAI, and her research interests include prevention of HCAI, urinary tract and respiratory tract infections, dehydration in the elderly, hand hygiene and the use of clinical gloves. She has published widely on many aspects of HCAI and is author of Infection Control in Clinical Practice, now in its 3rd Edition.

ELAROS and Jennie have collaborated for over a decade, initially working across multiple projects on hydration and dysphagia. She is currently advising and supporting ELAROS in their roll on the EU funded project, MammoScreen.