Meet the Speakers

(Subject to change)

Shanom Ali
Dr Shanom Ali is lead of the Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL) - a multi-disciplinary microbiology diagnostics and research facility at UCLH - and associate professor/lecturer at UCL and LSHTM. The ERL provides academic research and consultancy solutions that address AMR and infection control management as well as an exploring interests in antimicrobial discovery and novel therapeutics/diagnostics. The ERL encompasses a team of healthcare/clinical scientists/research nurses and academics.

Dr Ali is director and technical manager of a UKAS accredited microbiology testing laboratory performing 50000+ tests per year and has over 12 years of experience of commissioning new hospitals and assuring their microbiological safety for high-risk patients.

Dr Ali also provides teaching and training opportunities to PHD/Post-doc, MSc and medical students in microbiology/medical microbiology/infection and other cross-disciplinary fields such as chemistry/engineering/ nanotechnology/physics and astronomy. Through these projects the ERL attracts both UK, EU and international PhDs/Post-docs/MScs and medical graduates/trainees as well as medical registrars.

The ERL has over 15 years of expertise in engaging in a number of academic/industry grant-lead research in infection control/AMR/diagnostics and publish in peer-review journals accordingly. The ERL has established many links with industry and has influence in the development of products for the healthcare market. The ERL has also provided support to PHE/UKHSA in outbreak investigations that supports review of national guidelines.

Guy Davies
Guy is Deputy Director Estates & Facilities at Frimley Health NHS FT and Chairs the Trust’s multidisciplinary Water Safety Committee. He joined the Trust in 2014 as a Programme Director originally supporting the design and development of a new Emergency Centre at Wexham Park Hospital and a new Heatherwood Hospital which provides elective surgery.

 Ashley Flores
Ashley Flores, MSc, BSc (Hons), RN, Dip Infection Control, is Director of Infection Prevention & Control at Kings College Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust.

Ashley initially graduated as BSc Psychology (Hons) at the University of Leeds before completing her nurse training in Glasgow. Ashley worked in a range of clinical areas before specialising in Infection Prevention and Control in 2000. She completed her MSc in Infection Prevention and Control in 2006.

Ashley has 21 years of experience in acute and community IPC, and is an active researcher. Her interests include the behaviour of healthcare workers, specifically in the use of gloves and the impact of glove use on hand hygiene, and the management of urinary catheters. Ashley is a member of Infection Prevention Society R&D Committee and is a member of APRHAI.

David Garner
Dr Garner has been a Consultant Microbiologist since 2006, working at Nottingham University NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust before moving to Frimley Health. He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer for St George’s University London as well as a Senior Examiner for the Royal College of Pathologists. He describes himself as having a reputation for finding “interesting” outbreaks to solve, so much so that the staff on the wards where he works now just say “what are we growing now?” when he walks through the door.

Joost Hopman
Professor Joost Hopman, MD, PhD, DTM&H,works as the medical director and consultant microbiologist in the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands and is appointed as adjunct professor at the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

Since 2020 he chairs the Prevention Committee, that coordinates all prevention projects and programs in the Radboudumc. He acts as a consultant for Doctors without Borders (Médecins sans frontières) Amsterdam. He is an advisory board member of the Infection Control African Network (ICAN) and acted as a board member of the Dutch IPC section of the Netherlands Society of Medical Microbiology (NVMM).

During the COVID-19 pandemic he served as a member of the WHO Environment and Engineering Control Expert Advisor Panel (ECAP) for COVID-19, the WHO ad-hoc COVID-19 IPC expert group and the Federation Medical Specialists (FMS) Guideline development expert group IPC, the Netherlands. Furthermore, he acted in 2020 as chair of the COVID-19 Outbreak Management Team, University Medical Center Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Joost was invited to work as an IPC consultant for World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014 and 2015 in the Ebola outbreak response in Geneva and Sierra Leone and this has provided him with valuable experience in international outbreaks. From 2015-2018 he was appointed as a senior extraordinary lecturer in community health at the Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He is co-author of more than 50 publications in peer-review journals (among others in NEJM, JAMA network, Lancet infectious disease, EClinicalmedicine), a textbook chapter on patient areas and environmental cleaning and he contributed to WHO, CDC and WIP guidelines.

His research interests focus on prevention and healthcare delivery. It includes the epidemiology and prevention of healthcare-associated infections, new innovative methods of improving implementation of interventions as part of patient safety programs in both high- and low- resource settings and the impact of the hospital-built environment on prevention and patient safety. In 2017-2019 he was a member of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) conference organizing committee. In 2019 Joost served as a consultant for Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) focusing on IPC in the Dutch Caribbean. For his work he was elected as one of the International SHEA ambassadors in 2016 and was awarded with the Radboud University medal for young potentials. In 2023 Joost was awarded as the Kelsey lecturer 2023.

Joost is strongly committed to improve the health system in both high- and low/middle-income countries 

Teresa Inkster

Consultant Microbiologist and Infection Control Doctor with ARHAI Scotland , Tutor on University of Highlands and Islands MSc Infection control course . Areas of interest include outbreak management and the built environment.

Susanne Surman-Lee
Dr Susanne Surman-Lee, PhD, Hon. FRSPH, C.Biol., FRSB, FIHEEM, FPWTAG, FWMSoc. is a Consultant Clinical Scientist (Public Health Microbiologist), a Chartered Biologist and Director of Leegionella Ltd which provides independent public health consultancy, advisory, training and audit services, as well as HTM 04:01 specialist advisor / AE (Water) services, support for water safety plan and water safety group development for healthcare clients nationally and internationally. She is also a Freeman of the City of London, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers and a Fellow of the Royal Society Of Medicine,

Susanne started work in the NHS in 1970 and has accumulated >40 years of experience in Clinical and Public Health Microbiology and IPC in the built environment including the investigation of waterborne infections and incidents including those caused by Legionella, P. aeruginosa, other GM-ves and NTMs etc. in various water systems in the healthcare environment. She has been a temporary advisor to WHO in the Middle East on Water Hygiene in Healthcare, as well as a member of an international web-meeting on water quality and has supported water hygiene training in many countries including in the USA, Australia, South Africa, Europe, Japan, the Middle East. She is an author / editor of WHO “Legionella and the Prevention of Legionellosis” (2007) and “Water Safety in Buildings” (2011).

For >20 years, she has supported the development of legislation, guidance and standards, working with government departments, professional societies and standards bodies nationally and internationally. Her work with BSI is supporting the UK towards achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goal SDG6 “ the provision of safe water and sanitation for all” chairing the groups which developed BS 8680; BS 8580-2 and BS7592-1 as well working with the HSE to develop the Approved Code of Practice and Guidance L8 and HSG 274 and DOH HTM 04:01 series  including as lead technical author of the newly published NHS Estates Technical Bulletin (NETB) No.2024/3 “Designing safe spaces for patients at high risk of infection from nontuberculous mycobacteria and other waterborne pathogens”

Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin is a Clinical Microbiologist and Medial Lead for IPC and AMR at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust. Her research background includes whole-genome sequencing, C difficile infection and CPE epidemiology. Her clinical interests include infection in immuno-suppressed patients, bone & joint infection and environmental infection prevention and control. She is currently working on a project with colleagues to further the understanding of the impact of conflict on the spread of anti-microbial resistance.

George McCracken
George joined the Health Service in 1993 as a Hospital Engineer in Down Lisburn Trust.  Prior to this appointment he worked in Industry in cable manufacturing and foundry works.   In 2002 he moved to the Royal Group of Hospitals, Belfast, to take up post as a Senior Engineer, then in 2007 George took up post as Head of Estates Risk and Environment in the new Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, which is one of the largest Trusts in the UK.

He holds a 1st Class Honours Degree in Construction Engineering & Management, is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Building and an associate member of IHEEM.

Currently George leads a Risk Team that has and continues to provide an innovative approach to the management of risk with an Estates Healthcare Environment.

George has been actively involved as a British Standards Institution Committee member, latterly on BS 8680:2020 Water Quality. Water Safety Plans. Code of practice and was involved also in the update of HTM 04-01 and in the creation of various technical guidance for the management of water hygiene within healthcare premises. Recently he has been leading the creation of design guides to help support contractors and improve the performance of new build healthcare estate.

He also leads the Estates Environmental Team, which has been at the fore front of developing new and innovative technologies which promote sustainability in healthcare and also contribute to reducing healthcare inequalities to the population of Northern Ireland.

Manjula Meda
Dr Manjula Meda is a consultant in Clinical Microbiology and the Infection Control Doctor for Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust a 18800 bed hospital in Surrey. She completed her Microbiology Specialist registrar training from St. George's Hospital London rotation in 2009, following a number of years in training in Paediatrics in both the UK and in India. Since 2009 Manjula has worked in a Consultant role in microbiology and Infection prevention.

Manjula has been involved with HIS activities since 2015 serving initially as a member in its council and as its Secretary since 2021. She has represented HIS in various committees and national programmes. She is also involved actively in research in IPC and works as a research collaborator in projects with regional University and the UKHSA and as well in supporting clinical research within Frimley Health. She has managed many large IPC incidents and outbreaks and published widely in this field. She has a special interest in infection prevention and control in the built environment and has experience in managing major incidents especially around water safety in healthcare.

Cathy Whapham
Cathy has worked in contamination control for more than 25 years, predominantly alongside clinical microbiologists, infection prevention and hospital engineering teams on water hygiene programs. She has extensive practical experience of critical contamination and waterborne outbreaks within public and private sectors both nationally and internationally, and provides bespoke training and holistic advice on waterborne contamination, prevention and control strategies for in-premise drinking water distribution systems.

Cathy offers an independent advisory and consultancy service to the healthcare, leisure, residential and agricultural sectors focusing on water management problems, developing and challenging Water Safety Plans and co-ordinating Water Safety Groups. Much of her consultancy time is assigned to the multidisciplinary team at Harper Water Management Group. Alongside water consultancy, Cathy manages the Tickmore Orchards and raises native breed Ryeland Sheep in Herefordshire.

Mike Weinbren
Dr Michael Weinbren is a consultant medical microbiologist and infection control practitioner and a specialist Advisor Microbiology to New Hospital Programme. He is chair of the Healthcare Infection Society working party on water. He has an interest in water and wastewater systems.