Diagnostics advisory committee members

Brian is a consultant chemical pathologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Brian qualified in medicine from the University of Zimbabwe. He trained in chemical pathology at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, where he did an MD on C-reactive protein. He holds an MSc in Applied Statistics and Operations Research from the Birkbeck College, University of London.

He has been senior lecturer at the Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital, and consultant at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Current appointments include consultant chemical pathologist in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at Oxford University Hospitals, honorary senior clinical lecturer in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, and the designated individual for one of the licences under the Human Tissue Authority for the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford.

His clinical interests include endocrinology, renal stones, renal tubular disorders, and metabolic disorders of calcium metabolism. Research interests include health economics modelling, the use of biochemical tests in diagnosis and management of malignancies, and the use of big data in medicine.

Neil is a professor of health technology assessment (HTA) at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. He is deputy director of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) funded Complex Reviews Support Unit (CRSU). His research interests include methods development for evidence synthesis and decision-analytic modelling and the use of “development focussed” HTA to support decision-making regarding the development of, and investment in, nascent healthcare technologies.

He holds postgraduate degrees in pharmacology, health economics and applied statistics and an MBA. He has worked in the pharma, academic, and consultancy sectors in roles spanning basic pharmacological research, clinical development, epidemiology, and health technology assessment.

Keith is a professor of statistics and data science, Department of Statistics at the University of Warwick

Biography to follow.

Dr Ahmed is a consultant in acute medicine at Barking, Havering, and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Dr Ahmed graduated from the University of Khartoum, Sudan in 1994. She is a clinician with more than 20 years of experience in internal medicine, both in the UK and abroad. She has special interest in medical education, is currently the teaching lead in the department and studying towards an MSc degree in Medical Education.

Lay member.

Ruth is a passionate advocate for patient-centred care, health equity, and inclusive systems. She brings lived experience and a strategic voice to a wide range of national and local healthcare programmes.

Formerly a programme manager at NHS England delivering digital transformation initiatives, Ruth stepped back from employment two years ago due to deteriorating health. She now dedicates her time to influencing healthcare policy and practice through patient and public involvement.

She is a patient and public voice partner on NHS England’s Patient Advisory Forum, EDI Repository Panel, and the Responsible Adoption of AI Committee. She also chairs the NHS Genomic Medicine Service People and Communities Forum and serves as a co-investigator and PPI lead on several NIHR-funded health research programmes.

Ruth is an associate board member at the Professional Standards Authority and chairs Advisory Appointment Committees at Barts Health NHS Trust, Cambridge University Hospitals, and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. She also contributes at a local level as a member of her hospital’s Patient Panel.

Ruth has a growing interest in the ethical and inclusive use of artificial intelligence in healthcare and is committed to ensuring that innovation works for all communities.

Dr. Joy Allen is head of market access and public affairs at Roche Diagnostics UK and Ireland. Joy has been with Roche Diagnostics UK and Ireland since 2021. She initially joined as a health economics manager and has recently transitioned into the role of head of market access and public affairs. Joy now leads the health economics, public affairs and market access teams to support broader patient access to diagnostics and devices which provide benefits to patients and the health care system.

Prior to joining Roche, Joy spent over 10 years at the NIHR-funded In Vitro Diagnostics Co-operative Newcastle as a senior methodologist. There, she led a team of interdisciplinary scientists to support healthtech developers with evidence development and access requirements for adoption into the UK NHS. Notably, during the pandemic Joy was a co-founder of the COVID-19 National Diagnostic Research and Evaluation Platform (CONDOR) which provided a single national route to evaluate new diagnostic tests for COVID-19 as well as a contributing member of the NIHR Urgent Public Health Committee.

John is professor of health economics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He studied economics at the University of Aberdeen and at the University of York.

He has been a member of the NICE Appraisals Committee, the Scottish Medicines Consortium and the national advisory committee on Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs. His main research interests concern the use of economic evaluation to inform healthcare decision-making and the measurement of health preferences and outcomes.

Sam is an NIHR academic clinical lecturer at the University of Bristol and GP partner in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire. He was previously a Wellcome Trust research training fellow from 2015 to 2020 for his doctoral research, 'Approaches to diagnosing dementia syndrome in general practice'. He continues to focus on research relating to diagnostic approaches in general practice, and the care of the older adult. He is a member of the health technology assessment prioritisation committee: integrated community health and social (A), board member of Avon Local Medical Committee, and works as a sessional doctor for the out of hours GP provider in Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire.

Farai Goromonzi is Senior Manager Market Access for ZOLL Medical Ltd, UK and Ireland. Specialising in the implementation of economic principles and methodologies and supporting optimal resource allocation within the healthcare service. His role focuses on designing and evaluating healthcare policies and addressing health disparities.

Farai earned his Master’s degree from City, University of London in economic evaluation of healthcare and an MBA from the University of Manchester.

Lay member.

Rashmi is an expert-by-experience as a bereaved and current carer to family members with multiple illnesses. As a carer he has direct experience of physical and emotional health and social challenges patients and families face every day. He understands how with a little support their physical and psychological wellbeing can be improved, enabling them to make positive contributions to local communities. Rashmi is from a BAME background, and lives in a diverse and socio-economically disadvantaged community.

Rashmi is experienced in assessing and developing innovative approaches for agile public involvement, including use of rapidly convened public consultation workshops. He has experience of responding to policy priorities, through his work with Lambeth CCG and more recently with South-East London and South-West London’s Integrated Care Boards. He has worked with many voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations. He is a Trustee of Patients and Public Participation Group (PPGs) Network, actively working with local community groups, Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and Integrated Care Boards.

Rashmi is a Chair of the Cicely Saunders Institute PPI Strategy Group, and leads on Public Involvement Advisory Group for the NIHR South London Applied Research Collaboration (ARC). Rashmi brings a collaborative, enquiring and balanced approach, which systematically and effectively fosters patient/public involvement and engagement, plus an excellent track record of contributing to policy engagement and health service delivery teams.

Patrick is Head of costing and service line reporting at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

Patrick started as a trainee accountant at St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1983, and apart from a brief sojourn to the far north-west of Scotland as a postmaster, has worked in the NHS ever since in a variety of roles and institutions including at the Royal London, Homerton, Whipps Cross and Great Ormond Street before moving to Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells

He is currently head of costing and service line reporting, and has implemented an automated system of calculating costs at a patient level, and firmly believes that improved costing can help the NHS to understand its business, and maximise the value of healthcare.

He has direct operational experience as a programme manager of an NHS Breast Screening Unit, to go with experience as a management and costing accountant, and he has successfully completed 2 PFI projects (BLT and TWH) as financial lead to offset the significant number of hospitals that he has helped to shut over his career.

He is an active member of the HFMA Costing Special Interest Group, and is also a member of NHSI's Costing Advisory Group and technical review group, is a reviewer for both NICE and NIHR, and has presented regularly at national events on acute costing standards.

He was a member of tariff calculation groups for NCAT for Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy, is a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and a member of HSUG. He lectures on statistics for journalists for RSS. He benchmarks costing approaches with international colleagues and is a training mentor for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Michael is a GP working in North Wales. He works part time for the General Medical Council as a Case Examiner within Fitness to Practice. He also works as clinical lead GP for a Health Board Surgery and a Medical Adviser to the Out of Hours Service.

He has previously held roles as a GP Partner and been an elected member of the Local Medical Committee. An interest in medical regulation has seen him previously sit, for several years, on medical fitness to practice tribunals and he has completed an LLM in Healthcare Ethics and Law.

Alex Novak is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Ambulatory Care at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and is the Director of Emergency Medicine Research Oxford (EMROx). He was appointed as Associate Professor by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in 2023, and has received numerous regional and national awards including Royal College of Emergency Medicine Principal Investigator of the Year 2020.

He is Chair of the Thames Valley Emergency Medicine Research Network (TaVERN), and of the Acute, Critical and Emergency Care Research Oversight Committee (ACE-CROC) for the Trust, he is also a Steering Committee member of the newly-formed Academic Centre for UrgenT and Emergency Care (ACUTECare). He has a broad portfolio of research activity, with a strong interest in the evaluation of diagnostic technologies, particularly the development and evaluation of AI-assisted image interpretation in acute healthcare settings.

André is a Senior Manager in Digital Transformation at NHS England with a background in Nuclear Medicine and Imaging, specialising in Strategic Healthcare Innovation and national-scale Digital Transformation. He moved from Portugal to the UK in 2008 and has extensive experience across all aspects of service provision, both operationally and managerially, at large Trusts including Barts Health and Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Trusts, where he led Nuclear Medicine teams. He has also held senior positions as Head of Clinical Research and Diagnostic Imaging Strategy Lead at other NHS Trusts. André has been the Chair of the RTN committee at the British Nuclear Medicine Society since 2023. He holds two Master's degrees in Nuclear Medicine and Biomedical Engineering and a Postgraduate degree in Health and Social Care Management. André has been an invited lecturer at City University of London, Southbank University, Portsmouth University, Brighton and Sussex Medical School and King’s College London University, with several years' experience teaching Nuclear Medicine modules in graduate and postgraduate programmes. His expertise spans across Nuclear Medicine and Radiology, as well Strategic Management of Imaging services and Digital Transformation in Products and Platforms development. André is also a Trustee at his local Cancer Centre and a Governor at his local school.

Andrew is professor of Cancer Studies and Surgery at the University of Manchester and honorary colorectal and peritoneal consultant surgeon at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester. Andrew has been a member of NICE Technology Apprasial Committee C from 2016 to 2025. In terms of diagnostic evaluation, Andrew has chaired a Health Technology Appraisal (HTA) review (2009-2011); Andrew has led research projects in the development of composite circulating biomarkers predicting cancer; conceptualisation research of interactions between prognostic and pharmacodynamic tumour biomarkers; imaging studies in cancer assessing reproducibility, concordance and levels of agreement; and real world data and simulation study evaluating the Will-Rogers phenomenon (WRP) and stage migration due to the introduction of new imaging modalities into clinical practice over time. Andrew has led research projects in health economics, including cost-effectiveness analyses, discrete choice experiments, and Multicriteria Decision Analyses. Andrew led a PhD study to assess the role of a novel minimally invasive test of liver function in patients undergoing liver resection. Andrew has been a member of several evidence evaluations in cancer risk epidemiology namely with the International Agency for Research in Cancer (IARC) Monograph scheme and the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) Continuous Update Project (deputy chair; then chair) Andrew has been member of several national and international guideline development groups.

Matt studied operational research at Lancaster University where he received his doctorate. He worked for the University of Sheffield for over 20 years, during which time he conducted cost-effectiveness analyses primarily for the National Institute for Health Research.

Matt is director of the School of Health and Related Research Technology Assessment Group, an academic group undertaking modelling work to provide data for NICE technology and diagnostic appraisals.

Dr Weir-McCall is a university lecturer in the Department of Radiology at the University of Cambridge, and an honorary consultant cardiothoracic radiologist at Royal Papworth Hospital. He is research lead in the Department of Radiology at Royal Papworth Hospital, with an interest in the development and testing of novel diagnostic approaches in cardiopulmonary disease.

He sits on the Executive Committee of the British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging, and the Guideline Committee of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography.

Dr Kate Xu is a consultant haematologist at University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and a honorary associate professor at University College London. She is the clinical service lead for diagnostic haematology and specializes in diagnostic haematology, Specialist Integrated Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service (SIHMDS), myeloma and leukaemia. Dr Xu also has an interest in the development of novel diagnostic approaches in haematological disorders.