Beverley Bostock

PCCS President Elect, Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Mann Cottage Surgery and Editor in Chief, Practice Nurse Journal

Bev is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in long-term conditions.  She is currently President Elect of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society.  She has a special interest in cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease and lipid management along with common comorbidities such as metabolic liver disease, asthma and COPD. She is Editor in Chief of Practice Nurse Journal and has been a Queen’s Nurse since 2015.    

In a previous role she developed and delivered accredited modules in cardiovascular disease, heart failure and diabetes in collaboration with the Open University.  As well as holding an MA in Medical Ethics and Law and an MSc in Respiratory Care, Bev has a Post Graduate Diploma in Diabetes from the University of Warwick. Bev has had an extensive range of articles published in various journals on the management of long-term conditions and is a regular speaker at national conferences.

Prof Raj Thakkar

PCCS President and CKD representative

As President of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, Prof Raj Thakkar will serve a two-year term, representing the Society and guiding it in line with its aim and governance.

Working closely with the Board of Directors, Secretariat, and other key officers, the President leads strategic planning, chairs major meetings and conferences, and oversees succession and recruitment processes.

Externally, the President represents PCCS at national events and contributes to key healthcare initiatives, including NICE stakeholder engagement. 

Dr Chris Arden

GPSI Cardiology, Editor-in-Chief for PCCJ, Winchester, Hampshire

Chris Arden is a GP near Winchester, Hampshire. He also works in community cardiac clinics in Southampton and Winchester as a GPSI in cardiology, assessing patients with suspected heart failure, atrial fibrillation, palpitations, hypertension and valvular heart disease.

The community cardiac service provides echocardiography, ambulatory ECG, blood pressure and event recorder monitoring; receiving consultant mentorship support from secondary care and working in partnership with specialist heart failure and cardiac rehabilitation nursing colleagues.

He does a weekly stress echo clinic at Southampton General Hospital and has BSE accreditation in echocardiography.

Chris Arden is Editor in Chief of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Journal, a member of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, British Society of Echocardiography, British Society of Heart Failure and British Heart Valve Society. He is on the editorial board of the British Journal of Cardiology.

Danny Bartlett

Clinical Lead, NHS England (KSS Primary Care School)

Danny works at the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Primary Care School as the clinical lead after working as a pharmacist within general practice for over 5 years. He also teaches at the University of Brighton at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level and is passionate about all things education and workforce. A long-standing history in increasing education and competency in CVRM disease and wider upskilling, he has led on some great innovative placement projects as well as developing and expanding supervision and clinical competence of multiprofessionals within primary care. Although a pharmacist by background, he is keen to broaden and link all professions within the school to a centralised and targeted mission at improving education, development and retention of all staff within primary care.

Nicola Bowers

Head of Research and Innovation, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Dip HE, RGN, BSc, MSc, Nurse Prescriber

Nicola is an experienced nurse with approximately thirty years of practice and holds an Advanced Practice Nursing Master’s degree. As a nurse prescriber specializing in Cardiology and clinical research, she has developed extensive expertise as an autonomous clinical practitioner, skilled innovator, and dedicated communicator.

Throughout her career, Nicola has contributed several successful publications and has received multiple nationally recognized awards for her pioneering work in digital innovation. She is committed to harnessing data derived from these projects to enhance cardiovascular care on a global scale. Nicola is particularly passionate about integrating clinical research into everyday clinical practice.

In addition to her role at Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust, Nicola serves as President of the British Association for Nursing in Cardiovascular Care (BANCC), where she supports the acquisition of essential knowledge and skills for specialist practice in cardiovascular nursing. She also holds key positions as a Heart Failure Clinical Researcher with the British Society of Heart Failure (BSH) and as a Senior Research Fellow at Buckinghamshire New University (BNU). In these capacities, Nicola reviews clinical research proposals, leads educational webinars, and delivers lectures for both undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students.

Nicola further provides medicolegal advice and consultancy services to pharmaceutical companies, primary care providers, and allied health professionals. She offers expert opinions and educational guidance on national and global cardiology medications, innovative medical devices, and clinical trial materials, ensuring up-to-date, evidence-based practice across the sector.

Prof Derek Connolly

Consultant Cardiologist and Director of R&D at Birmingham City Hospital

Derek is a Consultant Cardiologist at Birmingham City Hospital, Birmingham UK and holds a honorary academic positions at both the University of Birmingham Institute of cardiovascular sciences and at Aston University medical School. Derek trained in Cambridge, London, Edinburgh and San Diego where he was a Carnegie Scholar. Derek has a first class degree in Pharmacology from the University of Edinburgh where he was the Brunton medallist and Keasbey Bursary holder. Derek’s PhD in molecular cardiology is from the University of Cambridge. Derek is the Chief or Primary Investigator of multiple large trials in Cardiovascular medicine. Derek developed one of the UKs first primary angioplasty programmes, and one of the UKs largest cardiac CT programmes. He has been a council member of the PCCS since it's refoundation.

Dr Paula Cowen

MRCGP, NW Regional Medical Director for Primary Care, NHS England

Having qualified in 1995 from the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Dr Cowan practised in Internal Medicine, Critical Care, and Anaesthesia within Ireland. In 2001, she embarked on a career in Primary care and completed General Practice training through the Mersey Deanery. Dr Cowan has been a GP partner at the Eastham Group Practice since 2003 and continues to work 2 days per week in General Practice.

As a clinical leader, Dr Cowan was involved in Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) activity in a number of leadership roles, and as Clinical Chair until the closure of the CCG on June 30th 2022. She led on key projects, encouraging integrated working across partner organisations aiming to facilitate transformational change in many areas including Digital Platforms and interoperability, addressing system health and care inequalities.

Dr Cowan has brought this aim and drive for transformational change to her role as NW Regional Medical Director for Primary Care, supporting areas such as Primary Care - Secondary Care interface, Provider collaboration, Women's health, Prevention & Cardiovascular Disease Management and Digital solutions to improve patient care. Dr Cowan is eager to promote the wide range of clinical expertise and roles across all of Primary Care.

Dr Sarah Davies

MBBCh (hons), FRCP, MRCGP, PGDip Diabetes

Sarah is a GP in Cardiff with a special interest in diabetes.  She is the All Wales lead for diabetes in primary care and Clinical Director for Diabetes in primary care for Cardiff and Vale UHB.  She is a Diabetes UK Clinical Champion, Primary Care Diabetes Society committee member and a presenter for NB Medical Hot Topics, leading their diabetes course.

Prof Janaka Karalliedde

Professor of Diabetes, School of Cardiovascular Medicine and Metabolic Sciences, King's College London, Consultant Physician in Diabetes and Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital London

Janaka graduated with a distinction in medicine from the University of London and was awarded UK Medical Research Council Clinical Research Training Fellowship and PhD by the University of London for research on the pathophysiology and treatment of cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. 

He is an active clinician working with more than 20 years of experience and specialist expertise managing patients with kidney and cardio-vascular complications related to diabetes at Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital. He has established community based clinics in London working with primary care colleagues focussed on early identification and treatment to reduce cardiovascular and kidney complications.

Janaka is a clinician scientist with a research focus on the pathophysiology and treatment of cardio-renal complications in people with diabetes. He speaks frequently at national and international meetings and has published more than 100 articles on cardio-renal disease. He has led on UK Kidney Association (UKKA) and Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD) diabetic kidney disease guidelines and is the co-chair of this working group.

Janaka has also led an award winning programme of work on risk stratification and clinical prioritisation [Health Service Journal award (2023), Quality in Care diabetes award (2024), Royal College of Physician excellence in patient care awards (top three 2025)] that enables early identification and clinical prioritisation of people with modifiable risk that is now embedded in routine care.

Dr Xenophon Kassianides

General Practitioner with Extended Role in CVRM Medicine at the Yorkshire and Humber Deanery, Honorary Clinical Lecturer, Hull York Medical School, First5 GP Representative and Council Member, Primary Care Cardiovascular Society

Xenophon is a General Practitioner with Extended Role in Cardiovascular-Renal-Metabolic (CVRM) Medicine, working with The Ridings Medical Group and NHS The Humber Health Partnership. He holds an MD from Hull York Medical School and has completed postgraduate studies in Clinical Practice, Management, and Education with the University of Lancashire. He is a Member of both the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Xenophon's clinical and research focus is on CVRM conditions, with a particular interest in integrated care and prevention. His work in cardiology includes investigating cardiovascular outcomes and patient-reported outcomes in chronic kidney disease, as well as the effects of intravenous iron on cardiovascular health. He has served as Principal Investigator of the NIHR-adopted randomized controlled trial ExplorIRON-CKD and contributed to national research efforts, including the COVID-19 RECOVERY trial.

Passionate about academic medicine, Xenophon  has an extensive publication record and has taught widely, holding lecturer positions with several UK medical schools. He continues to contribute actively to education as an Honorary Lecturer at Hull York Medical School and as a peer reviewer for leading scientific journals.

Affreen (Affy) Mohammed

IP Lead Clinical Pharmacist and Pharmacy Service Manager for Drake Medical Alliance Primary Care Network

Affreen (Affy) Mohammed is an IP Lead Clinical Pharmacist and Pharmacy Service Manager for Drake Medical Alliance Primary Care Network in Plymouth, supporting nearly 60,000 patients across five practices.
Since taking on the leadership role, Affy has expanded and developed the Pharmacy Team, successfully delivering several key initiatives including lipid management optimisation, DOAC prescribing and monitoring, and supporting primary care colleagues with hypertension management.

Affy has a specialist interest in CVD prevention and is passionate about improving patient outcomes through better system-wide collaboration. She is actively involved in driving integrated approaches across Devon ICB, Community Pharmacy, Derriford Hospital, and Primary Care to strengthen CVD pathways and enhance preventative care within her community.

Dr Susan Piper

Consultant Cardiologist, King's College Hospital, London, Honorary Senior Lecturer, King’s College London

I am a Consultant Cardiologist specialising in Heart Failure at King’s College Hospital, London. With extensive experience in both clinical practice and leadership, I have played an active role in shaping heart failure management at national, regional, and European levels. From 2019 to 2023, I served as Board Member and Treasurer of the British Society for Heart Failure, and from 2018 to 2022, as a member of the ESC Committee on Patient Care.

I currently lead the South London Heart Failure Steering Group, which is part of both the South London Operational Delivery Network and the London Cardiovascular Clinical Network. I am also the Topic Advisor for the recent update of the NICE Chronic Heart Failure Guidelines,

Additionally, I am a Domain Expert for the National Heart Failure Audit and maintain an active research and academic role as an Honorary Senior Lecturer at King’s College London. My publications cover a wide range of heart failure-related topics, reflecting my commitment to advancing both clinical understanding and patient care in this field.

Dr Lucy Pollock

Consultant Geriatrician, Author

I’m a consultant geriatrician. I love high quality patient-centered care of older people. I enjoy meeting and teaching resident doctors, students, GPs and AHPs, and watching these colleagues learn what it is about geriatric medicine that is so irresistible.

I trained at Cambridge, Barts and in other London hospitals before moving to Somerset in 1997.

The Book About Getting Older (2021) and The Golden Rule (2024) are both published by Penguin Random House.  @lucypollock | Linktree

Emily Turner

Lead Pharmacist, Aire Valley Surgery. Founder, PREVENTIVE health

Emily Turner is the Lead GP Practice Pharmacist for a large practice in Leeds, with a special interest in cardio-renal disease. She has also held the role of West Yorkshire Clinical Lead for CVD Prevention, collaborating across the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership to enhance cardiovascular health outcomes. In this capacity, Emily has demonstrated extensive evidence in addressing and reducing health inequalities throughout the system.

On a national level, Emily contributes as a member of the England CVDPREVENT Audit Clinical Panel, the National Atrial Fibrillation Expert Advisory Group, and as a Clinical Educator for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. As an accomplished speaker, she offers valuable expertise and practical guidance to clinicians working in primary care.

Helen Williams

National Clinical Director for CVD Prevention, NHSE and Consultant Pharmacist for CVD, SE London ICB and UCL Partners

Helen is the National Clinical Director for CVD Prevention at NHS England and is working on delivery of the national CVD ambitions for AF, Blood Pressure and Cholesterol in the NHS Long Term Plan. Helen has worked as a CVD specialist for more than 25 years across all care settings. She was clinical adviser to the national AF programme and developed the pharmacist-led virtual clinic model to optimise uptake of anticoagulation in AF, which has now been spread nationally. Helen has recently been appointed as one of the long term conditions lead for South East London Integrated Care System and is also working at UCLPartners on the implementation of proactive care frameworks for long-term conditions to support primary care in the post COVID-19 environment.

Dr Aled Williams MBBCh MRCP (Uk) PhD

Consultant Nephrologist in Morriston Hospital, Swansea

Dr Williams is a Consultant Nephrologist in Morriston Hospital, Swansea. He qualified as a consultant in 2021 having trained in Wales throughout career and completed a PhD in Peritoneal Dialysis in 2018.

Specialist Interests: Interventional Nephrology, vascular access for dialysis patients, diabetes management in renal patients and clinical research.

Affiliations: UK Kidney Association, Vascular Access Society of Britain & Ireland (VASBI), American Society Nephrology (ASN), Royal College of Physicians (RCP)