Carolyn Chew-Graham is a General Practitioner and Professor of General Practice Research at Keele University. Her areas of interest and expertise include the primary care (including in prisons) management of people with mental health problems, multiple health conditions and unexplained symptoms, and the mental health and wellbeing of clinicians.Patient and Public Involvement is key to all her research. She chairs the RCGP ‘Research Paper of the Year’ panel. Carolyn was awarded an OBE for services to general practice and primary care research, including research into Long Covid, in the King’s Inaugural Birthday Honours List, June 2023. Carolyn is an NIHR Senior Investigator.

Jeannie Haggerty is a professor in the Department of Family Medicine of McGill University in Montreal and first holder the McGill Research Chair in Family and Community Medicine Research, based at St. Mary’s Hospital Centre. Trained in Epidemiology & Biostatistics, she is a health services researcher whose domain of research is the factors related to continuity, accessibility and quality of primary care. She has developed and validated measures of the patient experience of patient-centered health care, access and continuity, and how these measures relate to changes in organizational and professional practices. In recent years she has focused more particularly on socially vulnerable populations.  She was recognized as 2018 Researcher of the Year by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.She was president of the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG, 2008-2010), the founding Scientific Director of the Quebec Knowledge Network in Integrated Primary Health Care (Réseau-1 Québec 2013-2017), and Scientific Director of the McGill Primary Care Practice Based Research network (2016-2024). She has been active in engaging patients as partners in researcher and quality improvement.

Dr Jean-Frédéric Levesque is the Chief Executive of the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation, and the Deputy Secretary, Clinical Innovation and Research at the NSW Ministry of Health.  

Jean-Frédéric is an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity at the University of New South Wales. He has authored more than 160 peer reviewed publications and his seminal research on healthcare access and inequity has been cited more than 3,000 times.   

Jean-Frédéric Levesque has a Medical Degree, a Masters in Community Health and a Doctorate in Public Health from the Université de Montréal, Canada. He brings extensive leadership in healthcare systems analysis and improvement, combining experience in clinical practice in refugee health and tropical medicine, in clinical governance and in academic research.  

William (Bill) Ventres, MD, MA is a family physician and medical educator. He spent more than 25 years as a community-based family doctor working in both ambulatory and hospital settings, focusing on the care of underserved and minority populations in safety-net clinics and correctional health settings. He taught medical students throughout his clinical career and was a community-based academic until 2017, when he joined the faculty in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock.Bill contributed greatly to development of global family medicine, physician-patient communication, cross-cultural practice, and the use of qualitative methods in generalist research. A member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine since 1988 he has been closely associated with the STFM Annual Conference as a presenter, mentor, Foundation Trustee, Editorial Board member, and colleague. He retired from UAMS in 2023 as the Ben Saltzman, MD, Distinguished Chair of Rural Family Medicine in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. He currently lives in San Salvador, El Salvador, where he is enrolled as a doctoral student in Latin American Philosophy at the José Simeón Cañas University of Central America.

Professor Igor Švab. First Head of the Department of Family Medicine and current Dean of the Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana. He graduated in 1981, Masters in 1988, and PhD in 1991 at the University of Ljubljana. President of the European Association of Family Physicians WONCA Europe 2004-2010.  He is coordinator of national and international research projects and World Bank projects in the field of family medicine. Editor-in-chief of the Slovenian Journal of Public Health, Editor of the European Journal of General Practice,  Member of Slovenian and Croatian Academy of Medical Sciences, honorary member of the Royal College of General Practitioners (UK) and recipient of the title of WONCA World Fellow. He published more than 100 scientific and professional articles in MEDLINE.

Suzanne Strasberg is a Canadian primary care clinician with extensive experience in national medical leadership and board governance.

Dr Suzanne Strasberg was chair of board of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and previously served as board chair for MD Financial Holdings Inc. a post she held for four years, has served as a board member with the CMA, and as board chair, board director and president of the Ontario Medical Association. She was a founding member of the Coalition of Family Physicians of Ontario.

She was a family doctor in Toronto as a member of the Jane Finch Family Health Team. Her clinical interests include pediatrics, adolescent medicine, gynecology and palliative care.  She was provincial primary care lead at Cancer Care Ontario from 2012 to 2018. She qualified in medicine from the University of Toronto and ICD.D from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto

Richard Hobbs is a Pro-Vice-Chancellor (without portfolio) at the University of Oxford, where he holds the inaugural PCRT Mercian Chair in Primary Care (2022-) 

Previously the inaugural Nuffield Professor of Primary Care (2011-22) at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences (2011-2024), he remains Director of the Oxford Institute of Digital Health (2020-) and is Lead for Global Partnerships for Oxford Primary Care. He delivered 42 years of service to the NHS as a doctor, 38 years committed to a disadvantaged and challenging inner-city practice until 2019, and 34 years of leadership and excellence as a clinical scientist focussed mainly upon primary care, clinical epidemiology, and vascular disease.

He is one of the world’s foremost primary care academics and has held many national and international leadership roles, leading the development of two of Europe’s most highly rated centres for academic primary care, firstly at Birmingham and since 2011 at Oxford, now one of the largest and most successful centres for academic primary care in the world. He has made major contributions to growing primary care academic capacity, in terms of people development and research networks. He was the fifth recipient of the RCGP Discovery Prize in 2018 (occasional awards since 1953) and was awarded a CBE for services to medical research in 2018 in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.   He has an outstanding track record in cardiovascular disease research, delivering trials that changed international guidelines and practice, especially in the areas of stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (BAFTA, SAFE, and SMART trials), heart failure burden and diagnosis (ECHOES and REFER trials), and hypertension self-management (TASMINH 1-5).

He made many non-remunerated contributions to educational charitable boards, serving as trustee on some 7 learned societies and universities. Within universities, he has led several major change initiatives and the associated people management within Oxford University.  He also leads a new Institute of Applied Digital Science at Oxford.

At the onset of COVID-19 he re-tasked much of his research to urgent COVID studies and is co-Chief Investigator of all the UK National Urgent Public Health Priority Studies in primary care, namely the national repurposed therapies platform trial (PRINCIPLE), national COVID Surveillance (Oxford-RCGP RSC), the national PC diagnostics platform trial (RAPTOR/CONDOR), and the national COVID novel anti-viral platform trial (PANORAMIC). Several papers during Covid ranked top 10 in the world for downloads by SSRN, who also list him as a ‘highly cited global researcher’.

He has authored over 600 peer reviewed publications, has an h-index of 121, i10-index of 498, with >140,000 citations (>60,000 since 2019), with 136 papers with >100 citations, 20 papers >1000, and 15 papers >2000. 

Professor Emeritus Trinity College Dublin, Tom O’Dowd was appointed Professor of General Practice in 1993 and continues as a practising GP in West Tallaght, Dublin. After general practice vocational training in Ireland, Tom joined the University of Wales College of Medicine (1980 – 86) as a lecturer and subsequently the University of Nottingham (1986 – 1993 as a senior lecturer. He has been involved in curriculum change and design and postgraduate research supervision. He was Chairman of the Education Committee of the Medical Council that led to the current professionalisation of medical education in Ireland.

Prof Liz Sturgiss is a clinical general practitioner and primary care researcher in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at Bond University, Queensland. Liz leads an emerging research program on complex and chronic disease management in primary care that focuses on the translation of guidelines into real-world practice and the implementation of innovative interventions. Her research is based on theoretical principles from behaviour change and implementation science.

Florian Stigler is GP and researcher with a passion for making Evidence-Based Family Medicine exciting and easy to understand. He trained in Styria/Austria with postgraduate studies in the UK in Manchester (MPH) and London (DrPH). He works as a GP with focus on preventive medicine. He has a passion for new projects and created “Golden Nuggets of Family Medicine” – newsletter for busy GPs to provide exciting, practical, evidence-based and short insights. For free and without industry funding. He has been involved several professional organisations (AMSA, IFMSA, JAMÖ, WFPHA).

Dr Nagina Khan is a  Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Kent.  Her work champions lived experience, patient involvement, and socially impactful research, and she is actively involved in editorial roles with BMJ Leader, BMJ Mental Health, and other journals to help bring diverse voices into academic publishing.

Dr. Nagina Khan, PhD is a Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Primary Care at the University of Kent’s Centre for Health Services Studies (CHSS), where she also serves as Director of the MSc Applied Health Research Programme. Her current research supports Integrated Care Systems (ICS) to enhance collaborative research, prioritise underserved populations, and strengthen local infrastructures for evidence-based practice and innovation. Her expertise spans mental health, social justice, and healthcare equity. She has held research roles at the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry and as a Project Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Canada, where she focused on culturally appropriate mental health care for South Asian communities. She was previously a Medical Research Council (MRC) Research Training Fellow at the University of Manchester, researching complex interventions for depression, and later conducted postdoctoral work at the NIHR School for Primary Care Research on early intervention for first-episode psychosis.

She is currently an Associate Editor for BMJ Mental Health and an Editorial Fellow for BMJ Leader. She also served on the Editorial Board of BMC Medical Education. Her research interests include medical education, professionalism, social justice in healthcare, culturally appropriate care for South Asian Communities, and global mental health.

Dr John Gillies is an Edinburgh graduate who has worked in Malawi and as a general practitioner in rural Scotland, latterly in Selkirk for 16 years. He has been an undergraduate tutor, a GP educational supervisor and a training programme director with NHS Education Scotland. He was Chair of the Royal College of GPs in Scotland from 2010 to 2014 and deputy director of the Scottish School of Primary Care from 2015-2019. www.sspc.ac.uk He is an Honorary Professor of General Practice at the University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews. In 2019, he chaired a group for the Scottish Board for Academic Medicine which produced recommendations on increasing undergraduate exposure of medical students in Scotland to general practice. John is from North Uist Western Isles Scotland, proud of his Gàidhlig roots, language, and heritage. He co-directs the Compassion Initiative within the Global Health Academy, which works across disciplines to use the growing evidence for compassion in workplaces including healthcare. He is on the editorial board for a book of poetry for new doctors, “Tools of the Trade”, gifted to all new doctors in Scotland, published jointly by Scottish Poetry Library and Polygon Press in June 2022. He keeps fit — and tries to keep sane– by cycling and walking in the Scottish Borders, Western Isles and beyond.

Clinician, Activist, and Thought Leader who Challenged Accepted Obstetric Care

Family Physician, Pediatrician, Neonatologist, Maternity Care Researcher, Maternity, Primary Care and Organizational Consultant

“Refusing to serve as an officer in the US Army Medical Corps during the Viet Nam War, he fled to Canada in 1967 with his wife Bonnie. He became a family practitioner, pediatrician, advocate, professor, and researcher at McGill and the University of British Columbia. Michael Klein has played a vital role in placing maternity care at the heart of family medicine. Motivated by concerns over the harmful effects of certain then widespread medical interventions, he pushed for the adoption of family-friendly birth practices, the re-introduction of midwifery, the promotion of doulas in birth and the elimination of routine intrusive interventions such as episiotomy. An influential mentor to many, his approaches are now widely adopted in maternity care.” Citation for the Order of Canada 2016.

Sir David Haslam was a GP in Cambridgeshire for 36 years and is a past Chair of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), past-President and past Chairman of Council of the RCGP, past-President of the BMA, and former Professor of General Practice at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus.

He is currently chair of the charity “Young Lives vs Cancer”, Non-Executive Chair of Itecho Health, and an Associate with Kaleidoscope Health and Care. He has written 14 books, mainly on health topics for the lay public and translated into 13 languages, and has been invited as keynote speaker to Conferences in 33 different countries. Every year for over ten years he was listed by the HSJ as one of the most influential people in the NHS and was named by Debretts and the Sunday Times as one of the 500 most influential and inspirational people in the UK. David was awarded CBE in 2004 for services to Medicine and Health Care, and knighted in 2018 for services to NHS Leadership. 

“My passion is to help each other realise social impact through citizen, organisation and system movements.” Emma Challans-Rasool is Director of Horizons and Founder and Chair of @Proud2bOps a National Network of Operational Managers and Leaders. As a Director in Horizons, Emma leads at national level and is proud to have built a strong professional presence and credibility across health and care and supporting business sectors. Proud2bOps is a multi-award winning network, leading and supporting under represented professionals; Ops, Managers and Administrative Professionals. She is an entrepreneurial leader, continually striving to bring innovative solutions to improve people lives. As an experienced board level director and systems leader within the health and care sector she is a values driven leader centred around people, continually striving for innovation and improvement that enhances patient, colleague and customer experience. Her career includes senior positions with portfolios of organisational development, culture, operational management, quality improvement and large scale movements. She has experience both in the public and private sector, in both commercial and public facing businesses. With extensive non-executive director experience in citizen facing organisations, organisational effectiveness and continuous Improvement is at the heart of everything. She is a qualified coach & mentor committed to enhancing people’s performance and satisfaction. A very family orientated person and she values time with my friends and family, loves the outdoors, being creative, and enjoys fun holidays and adventures.

“Shedding light on the work that people do not often see and therefore take for granted.” Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Family Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. Implementation scientist and an expert in qualitative and mixed methods research. My research examines the interpersonal and organizational aspects of health care delivery with a particular focus on primary and behavioral health care. I enjoy examining and understanding how to address the challenges that emerge when implementing innovations and quality improvements in primary care practices, and my research highlights the often-invisible work and value of primary care clinical teams. One of my current projects is to study the staffing configurations of advanced primary care practices (professionals, roles, functions) in the United States (U.S.). I am honored to be a National Academy Medicine member, and I currently serve on the National Academy of Science Engineering and Medicine Standing Committee for Primary Care, which is an advisory committee to the federal government on primary care. For fun, I mom, a wife, a Portland Timbers fan, a foodie, and dog-lover who endeavours to be a decent recreational tennis player.

Leading Academic GP and Health Service Researcher

Inaugural RAND Chair of Health Services Research at the University of Cambridge where he founded and directed the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research (CCHSR), a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and RAND Europe.(2009-2016)

Martin Roland trained in clinical medicine at the University of Oxford, where he obtained a first class honours degree and his doctorate. Following vocational training for general practice in Cambridge, he worked in London and Cambridge before moving to the Chair of General Practice in the University of Manchester in 1992. In 1994, he established and subsequently became Director of the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre. Between 2006 and 2009, he was also Director of the NIHR School for Primary Care Research, a collaboration between the five leading departments of primary care in England. Clinically active throughout his career, his main research interests were in developing methods of measuring quality and evaluating interventions to improve care using both quantitative and qualitative methods. With over 350 publications, his h-index is 80. Professor Roland was appointed CBE for services to medicine in 2003.

“The educator never left”…Teacher, Mentor, Family Doctor and Researcher.Dr. David Rábago is the Vice Chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine.David began professional life as a middle- and high-school teacher in Milwaukee and Chicago. After a nine-year teaching career, he transitioned to academic medicine. He has taught clinical and research-related topics at the medical school and residency levels. One of his goals is to help optimize the relationships between clinical, research and education endeavors of academic family medicine to the benefit of each. David is family physician at Penn State Health Medical Group, with a special interest in prevention, shared decision-making, and patient autonomy.

On an Academic Journey from the Azores to Lake Léman

Alexandre Gouveia has a particular interest in quality and patient safety, in postgraduate teaching, and in clinical research within the Department of Ambulatory Care at Unisanté (University of Lausanne, Switzerland).

Alexandre was appointed senior physician in 2021 and took on the responsibility of the Polyclinic of General Practice. In 2022, he began part-time training in medical education at Harvard University (Master of Medical Sciences in Medical Education). In 2023, he earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Lausanne, focusing on potentially avoidable hospitalizations in Switzerland.

After obtaining his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon in 2004 and completing his specialization in General Practice and Family Medicine in 2009, Alexandre Gouveia worked as a primary care physician in a group practice (Viana do Castelo, Portugal) for five years, and as a lecturer in Community Health at the School of Medicine of the University of Minho (Braga, Portugal).

In 2014, he began his medical career in Switzerland as a resident physician at the University Medical Polyclinic in Lausanne and was appointed deputy chief resident in 2015. After earning a CAS in Clinical Research in 2017, he worked for two years in the Internal Medicine Department at CHUV as deputy chief resident and received his FMH title of specialist in General Internal Medicine in 2019.

Oscar Lyons is a researcher, educator and doctor who specialises in healthcare leadership development.

Oscar worked as a doctor in Hauora Tairāwhiti and Counties Manukau (Aotearoa NZ) before completing his DPhil in “Evaluating Medical Leadership Development Programmes” at Oxford University.

After his DPhil Oscar was the first Programme Director for the Oxford University MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership. He now runs Thrum Leadership Ltd., a spinout from his DPhil research that supports real-world impact from leadership development in healthcare through evidence-based programmes and research. Oscar is Associate Editor of BMJ Leader, Assistant Director of the Green Templeton College Health Systems Development Centre, and Module Lead for Oxford University’s MSc in Surgical Science and Practice. Oscar spends his spare time singing in bands, playing bass, cycling and rowing.