Keith is a pancreas surgeon in Birmingham. He is the honorary Treasurer for the Pancreatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Surgical Specialty lead for the Royal College of Surgeons of England. His research focuses upon improving patient pathways and outcomes, pancreatic fistula, pancreatic exocrine insufficiency and the surgical management of locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Juan Valle is a Professor of Medical Oncology in the University of Manchester (Division of Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health). He is based at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust within the Gastrointestinal Disease Group and treats cancers of the pancreas, liver and biliary tract, and neuroendocrine tumours (NETs).

Prof Valle has been awarded a number of grants for research leading to a number of high-impact, practice-changing publications and presentations at national and international meetings; he is a peer-reviewer for a number of international medical journals and grant-awarding bodies.

Dr Vikramjit Mitra (MBBS, FRCP, PG Cert. Clinical Education) is a consultant gastroenterologist with special interest in pancreatico-biliary (PB) medicine and advanced endoscopy (EUS, ERCP, EMR and enteral stenting) at University Hospital of North Tees. He completed gastroenterology training in the Northern Deanery followed by a fellowship in HPB endoscopy at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. He has been involved in the development of HPB services in Teesside region and runs a one stop multi-professional pancreatic clinic in his hospital. His interests include development of HPB disease specific patient pathways, HPB endoscopy training and research in pancreatico-biliary disease. He is a core member of the Northern School of Endoscopy and has been a faculty in JAG approved endoscopy training courses. In 2018, he joined as a member of the Pancreas Section of the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) and currently chairs the Pancreas Clinical Research Group at the BSG.

Vicki is based at ELHT, a tertiary centre for pancreas conditions. Vicki commenced in post in April 2020 as the Pancreatic Specialist Nurse for the Rapid Diagnostic Service for Lancashire and South Cumbria Cancer Alliance. Vicki works tirelessly to improve the diagnostic and treatment pathways for patients receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Vicki has proven experience in service improvement for pancreatic cancer patients having worked previously as a HPB Specialist Nurse in Wigan. During her 8 years in post at Wigan, Vicki successfully designed and implemented the nurse-led accelerated jaundice pathway which went on to win the Nursing Times Cancer Nursing Award in 2018. The pathway which was designed by Vicki has been adopted to date, by 8 other NHS Trusts across England.

Vicki went on to receive the Chief Nursing Officer Silver Award in November 2019, this was awarded by Chief Nursing Officer, Ruth May in recognition of Vicki’s commitment and innovative work in service improvement for pancreatic cancer patients.

Keith is a pancreas surgeon in Birmingham. He is the honorary Treasurer for the Pancreatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the Surgical Specialty lead for the Royal College of Surgeons of England. His research focuses upon improving patient pathways and outcomes, pancreatic fistula, pancreatic exocrine insufficiency and the surgical management of locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Juan Valle is a Professor of Medical Oncology in the University of Manchester (Division of Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health). He is based at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust within the Gastrointestinal Disease Group and treats cancers of the pancreas, liver and biliary tract, and neuroendocrine tumours (NETs).

Prof Valle has been awarded a number of grants for research leading to a number of high-impact, practice-changing publications and presentations at national and international meetings; he is a peer-reviewer for a number of international medical journals and grant-awarding bodies.

Dr Vikramjit Mitra (MBBS, FRCP, PG Cert. Clinical Education) is a consultant gastroenterologist with special interest in pancreatico-biliary (PB) medicine and advanced endoscopy (EUS, ERCP, EMR and enteral stenting) at University Hospital of North Tees. He completed gastroenterology training in the Northern Deanery followed by a fellowship in HPB endoscopy at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. He has been involved in the development of HPB services in Teesside region and runs a one stop multi-professional pancreatic clinic in his hospital. His interests include development of HPB disease specific patient pathways, HPB endoscopy training and research in pancreatico-biliary disease. He is a core member of the Northern School of Endoscopy and has been a faculty in JAG approved endoscopy training courses. In 2018, he joined as a member of the Pancreas Section of the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) and currently chairs the Pancreas Clinical Research Group at the BSG.

Vicki is based at ELHT, a tertiary centre for pancreas conditions. Vicki commenced in post in April 2020 as the Pancreatic Specialist Nurse for the Rapid Diagnostic Service for Lancashire and South Cumbria Cancer Alliance. Vicki works tirelessly to improve the diagnostic and treatment pathways for patients receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Vicki has proven experience in service improvement for pancreatic cancer patients having worked previously as a HPB Specialist Nurse in Wigan. During her 8 years in post at Wigan, Vicki successfully designed and implemented the nurse-led accelerated jaundice pathway which went on to win the Nursing Times Cancer Nursing Award in 2018. The pathway which was designed by Vicki has been adopted to date, by 8 other NHS Trusts across England.

Vicki went on to receive the Chief Nursing Officer Silver Award in November 2019, this was awarded by Chief Nursing Officer, Ruth May in recognition of Vicki’s commitment and innovative work in service improvement for pancreatic cancer patients.

Prof. Enrique Domínguez-Muñoz, is the director at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), a reference center for the diagnosis and therapy of pancreatic diseases, as well as for education and development in endoscopic ultrasound. Prof. Enrique Domínguez-Muñoz is an internationally well-known expert in pancreatic function and pancreatic diseases. He has developed and optimized several pancreatic function tests, among them the 13C-mixed triglyceride breath test that is shown during the Masterclass. He is professor of Medicine at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He has been president of the Spanish Society of Gastroenterology (SEPD), (2008-2012) and of the Spanish Foundation of Gastroenterology, (2012-2014). He has been also Editor-in-Chief of the Spanish Journal of Gastroenterology. He’s published many original articles and reviews on the topics being presented and discussed during this webinar series. He has recently been elected as President of the European Pancreatic Club for 2024.

Richard Is an Academic Clinical Lecturer and General Surgical Registrar in the West Midlands. His academic activities include being co-CI on the SUNRRISE Trial- an international emergency surgery RCT across the UK and Australia, along with working on several other RCTs. He has extensive experience in trainee collaborative studies and was a senior member of the team that delivered the RICOCHET audit. His research interests include surgical site infection, hernias, research methodology and cross specialty research.

Prof Mark A Taylor CStJ PhD FRCSI FRCS(Eng) FRCS(Gen Surg) is a Consultant HPB Surgeon at the Mater Hospital, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and Visiting Professor at Ulster University. He trained in Belfast and at the Regional HPB and Transplant Unit in Edinburgh. His Doctorate of Philosophy was in the pathophysiology of obstructive jaundice. He is the President of GBI Hepato-pancreato-biliary Association (GBIHPBA), President of the Pancreatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (PSGBI), and on the Medical Advisory Board of Bowel Cancer UK. He served as the Lead for Education, Training and Research with The Association of Upper GI Surgeons (Augis) for five years until September 2019. 

Professor Giuseppe K. Fusai qualified with honours in 1987 at the University of Milan, Italy. He began his training in General Surgery in Italy and in 1992 he was awarded with a Master of Surgery (MS) from the University of Parma.

He moved to the UK in 1995 and in 1996 became Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He specialized in Hepato-pancreato-biliary Surgery and Liver Transplant and he has worked in several Centres of Excellence in the UK and abroad, including Nagoya University Hospital in Japan.

He is a Professor of Surgery at University College London and Consultant Surgeon in HPB Surgery in the Liver Unit at the Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust in London. His primary clinical and academic interest is in pancreatic cancer and neuroendocrine tumours as well as liver metastases and in the modalities to treat patients with advanced disease, including vascular reconstruction. He has published more than 100 peer reviewed publications and he is a member of several societies and committees, including the European Association of HPB surgery (E-AHPBA) and the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO).

He is also the President of the Italian Medical Society of Great Britain and in 2010 he founded “Fiorina”, a charitable fund for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, which to date has supported several clinical and research projects.

Mr Andrew Smith is a consultant surgeon at the Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust. He qualified at St Mary’s Hospital/Imperial College Medical School, London in 1991. He was awarded a fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1995. Mr Smith’s surgical training took place in Leicester and Nottingham. This included 2 years of research which resulted in a Doctor of Medicine thesis which was awarded with distinction. He then undertook advanced training in hepatobiliary and laparoscopic surgery by completing a fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, USA.

Mr Smith has a busy laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery practice. He performs advanced laparoscopic surgery for gallstones, abdominal wall hernias and hiatus hernias (reflux disease), and laparoscopic surgery for abdominal pain relief. In addition he performs over 80 major pancreas resections per year for pancreatic diseases. He is chairman for pancreatic disease within the Yorkshire Cancer Network. He has an active research programme in benign and malignant pancreatic disease and plays an active role in medical education.

After an initial MD investigating the endoscopic diagnosis of small bowel disease, Professor Andrew Hopper went on to perform a 18 month advanced endoscopy fellowship at Westmead University Hospital, Sydney, Australia in endoscopic luminal mucosal resection coupled with diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). Prof Hopper currently provides specialist therapeutic endoscopy and EUS services to the pancreatic and upper gastrointestinal networks (benign and cancer) for the South Yorkshire region. Professor Hopper became the chair for the Pancreas section of the British Society of Gastroenterology (Sept 2017) and has active research and fellow programme with 80 peer review publications including chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, endoscopic giant ampullary adenoma removal and complications of acute pancreatitis.

Sanjay Pandanaboyana is a consultant HPB surgeon at the Freeman hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne. Sanjay underwent his higher surgical training in the Scotland followed by HPB fellowships in Edinburgh and Leeds. His clinical areas of interests are pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis with particular emphasis on PROMS and QOL.

He has a strong research portfolio with close to 100 publications and currently hold a position of Associate professor in the University of Auckland, New Zealand and Senior Clinical Lecturer, Newcastle University.

Sanjay has a particular interest in systematic reviews and metaanalysis with more than 30 systematic reviews published on topics related chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.

Professor Palmer took his current position of North West Cancer Research Chair in Medical Oncology at the University of Liverpool in 2011. His research interests relate to HPB cancers (liver, pancreas and biliary tract) and incorporate basic laboratory science, translational research and clinical trials. His laboratory research is currently investigating novel therapeutic approaches to the treatment of HPB cancer through stimulation of anti-tumour immune responses and targeting tumour micro-environment, and developing and validating biomarkers for a stratified approach to the treatment of pancreatic cancers. He is a member of the UK NCRN Upper GI cancers clinical studies group, and the hepatobiliary and pancreatic sub-groups. He is Director of the Cancer Research UK/NIHR Liverpool Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and Deputy Director of the Liverpool CR UK Cancer Trials Unit and has established a portfolio of early phase clinical trials and translational studies in this field as well as making significant contributions to multi-centre phase III trials.

Dr. James Good is a leading Birmingham-based cancer specialist. After training in Cambridge and London, he has established a cutting edge practice focused on gastro-intestinal and head/neck oncology. James works closely with top surgeons and key medical specialties to develop an integrated treatment plan that achieves the best possible outcomes, whilst ensuring that wellbeing is made a key priority

Since 2018, Dr. James Good has been Clinical Director of Stereotactic Radiotherapy for GenesisCare, the UK’s largest provider of private radiotherapy. He is leading the implementation of MRI-guided radiotherapy in Oxford, London and other centres – a technique that offers a step-change in accurate tumour targeting, with great potential to improve patient outcomes even further.

Having qualified from Barts and The London, I undertook my PhD at Imperial College investigating the Molecular Pathogenesis of Cholangiocarcinoma. I returned to my Birmingham roots for my Registrar training, and recently commenced a post as an Academic Clinical Lecturer. My research interests include Omics-interrogation of HPB malignancies, clinical trials, and trainee-led collaborative research. Working within the ‘Beggs Lab’ at the University of Birmingham we are investigating molecular early diagnostics and prognostic markers for cholangiocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer. Though much work of late has been COVID-related, recently launching CONTACT, national study of the impact of COVID on pancreatic cancer patients. As lead of the Roux Group, and Associate Speciality Surgery Lead for Pancreatic Cancer with RCS/AUGIS I have championed collaborative trainee-led studies, such as RICOCHET, the UK’s largest audit of pancreatic cancer diagnostic pathways, RICOCHET 2, and Surg-Panc-UK (CT-PET use in pancreatic cancer).

Prof Mark A Taylor CStJ PhD FRCSI FRCS(Eng) FRCS(Gen Surg) is a Consultant HPB Surgeon at the Mater Hospital, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and Visiting Professor at Ulster University. He trained in Belfast and at the Regional HPB and Transplant Unit in Edinburgh. His Doctorate of Philosophy was in the pathophysiology of obstructive jaundice. He is the President of GBI Hepato-pancreato-biliary Association (GBIHPBA), President of the Pancreatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (PSGBI), and on the Medical Advisory Board of Bowel Cancer UK. He served as the Lead for Education, Training and Research with The Association of Upper GI Surgeons (Augis) for five years until September 2019. 

Dr David Chang is a Reader in Surgery at University of Glasgow. His research focus on the development and implementation of novel therapeutic strategies for pancreatic cancer particularly around DNA-damage response deficiency, by utilising molecular biomarkers of therapeutic response. Dr Chang undertook his pancreatic surgical fellowship, PhD, and post-doctoral training in Australia. He was recruited to University of Glasgow in 2013, as part of an initiative to implement precision medicine in Scotland and the UK. He co-leads Precision-Panc, a Cancer Research UK precision medicine programme to deliver personalised cancer care for pancreatic cancer, and is the overall translational lead. Dr Chang is also involved in the Precision Promise, a Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (USA) precision medicine initiative. He also contributes to ICGC-ARGO, aiming to shape the future of the next generation cancer genomic projects to ultimately realise the goals and promises of precision medicine.

Clinically Dr Chang is a Consultant Pancreatic Surgeon at the West of Scotland Pancreatic Unit in Glasgow Royal Infirmary, a tertiary pancreatic referral centre for the West of Scotland. As a surgeon scientist, he aims to shorten the distance between the bench and the clinic to ensure meaningful and seamless translation.

Prof Steve Pereira is a consultant gastroenterologist with special interests in disease of the pancreas and biliary tree, ERCP and endoscopic ultrasound. He has been a consultant at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since 2000 and also at the Royal Free Hospital since 2008, and was appointed Professor of Hepatology & Gastroenterology at UCL in 2015. The research interests of his group centre on the pathogenesis, early diagnosis and novel treatments for biliary tract cancer and pancreatic tumours, as well as benign pancreaticobiliary diseases. He currently leads a number of multicentre clinical endoscopy trials and translational research studies sponsored by UCL, including an early pancreatic cancer and NET biomarker discovery pipeline. We are always looking for new participating centres!

Lois Daamen is a medical doctor and clinical epidemiologist, who currently works as a post-doctoral researcher in the research group of Prof. Dr. H.M. (Lenny) Verkooijen at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. She started doing research on pancreatic cancer as a Medical Student in 2012, after she joined the Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary research group at the Department of Surgical Oncology at the University Medical Center Utrecht, supervised by Prof. Dr. I.Q. Molenaar. She performed research on pancreatic anastomosis techniques and designed a website on which all anastomosis techniques are concisely summarized and visualized. After graduating from Medical School in 2016, she started clinical work as a resident not in training at the Department of Surgery at the St. Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein. In June 2017, she started a PhD-track on pancreatic cancer recurrence at the Departments of Radiotherapy and Surgery at the University Medical Center of Utrecht. She initiated two nationwide randomized controlled trials (the RADAR-PANC trial and ARCADE trial) and received a grant for the continuation of this research line from the Dutch Cancer Society. In 2018, she started the master Epidemiology at Utrecht University, of which she completed both the Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Statistics specializations. On the 14th of January 2021, she successfully defended her PhD thesis on Detection and Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer Recurrence.