Meet the Speakers
(Subject to change)
Melissa Rochon
Melissa Rochon is the Trust Lead for SSI Surveillance, Research and Innovation within the Surveillance and Innovation Unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. She has served on several national committees focused on the prevention of surgical site infections (SSI), surgical wound healing, and the use of digital imaging in wound care.
Her current research projects include leading a central digital wound hub to support surgical site surveillance for the UK’s largest ever surgical trial, Rossini-Platform — a 'Basket Factorial MAMS' platform trial in surgical site infection, funded by the NIHR. She is also a chief investigator for WISDOM, a study aimed at developing and clinically evaluating artificial intelligence to assist clinicians in reviewing and prioritising surgical wound images About WISDOM | WISDOM.
Vicky Gentry
Vicky initially graduated from Cardiff University with a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology, with subsequent laboratory experience in the NHS and private sector, before completing her nurse training at the University of Surrey. Since qualifying as a RGN, she has acquired a wide range of nursing experience in both community and acute healthcare settings. Her interest in Infection Prevention developed whilst working as a Trauma and Orthopaedics nurse, providing care for patients who had acquired multi-drug-resistant surgical site infections.
Vicky has been working as an Infection Prevention Nurse since 2004, and since 2019, has led the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust IPC Team, as Infection Prevention Nurse Consultant. Her areas of interest lie in epidemiology and prevention of healthcare-associated infection, and innovations in the healthcare built environment to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance.
Samantha Riley
Samantha has worked for the NHS for over 20 years holding a variety of improvement-focused roles. She is an influential leader and highly knowledgeable in the field of measurement, improvement science and transformation.
Samantha initiated the highly successful Making Data Count (MDC) programme in 2018 which has transformed how many teams and organisations in the NHS use data to inform effective decision making. Samantha is passionate about the utilisation of data and information to support improvements in patient care and is a self-confessed ‘information junkie’. In particular, Samantha is a proponent of using Statistical Process Control (SPC) to look at data rather than two point comparisons and Red Amber Green (RAG).
She is the author of the highly successful guides Making Data Count and over the past three years has undertaken a considerable amount of work with Trust boards to help them understand how to use data to better effect.
Ryan George
Ryan George is a Lead Epidemiologist and Clinical Scientist at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust. He has a background in genomics and healthcare dynamics, particularly in the context of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and other infectious diseases.
His work has been recognized with awards for excellence in infection prevention, showcasing his contributions to public health and healthcare innovation.
Claire Kilpatrick
Claire Kilpatrick Claire is a global health strategist and policy advisor with varied experience across healthcare, charitable organisations and as a WHO Consultant.
Claire is the Co-Founder of S3 Global health, an award-winning consultancy of respected global experts and thought leaders shaping infection prevention and control across the world, contributing to quality of care and patient safety.
Gabriel Birgand
Gabriel Birgand is an infection control physician at the Nantes University hospital. He is leading the regional center for infection control in the Pays de la Loire department and leading the french national reference center for infection control and antimicrobial resistance in primary care and nursing homes. Gabriel is leading the Chair INSERM COMBINE at Nantes University and clinical coordinator of the European Committee on Infection Control (EUCIC) part of the ESCMID.
His PhD is from Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris on new tools for the diagnosis and prevention of surgical site infection. Gabriel is involved in several national and international research project on the prevention of healthcare associated infections and antimicrobial resistance. He was co-investigator of the ASPIRES project "Optimising antibiotic use along surgical pathways: addressing antimicrobial resistance and improving clinical outcomes" granted by ESRC under the coordination of Prof Alison Holmes. During this project, the context of IPC and AMS was quali and quantitatively assessed in three different settings: India, South Africa and England to better shape the intervention and their implementation in surgery.