Speaker Bios
Browse our esteemed roster of expert speakers for the NACCS Autumn CPD Webinar 2026.
Prof Joana Berger-Estilita
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Joana Berger-Estilita is a Portuguese-Swiss anesthesiologist and intensive care physician based in Bern, Switzerland. She combines clinical practice with research and teaching, focusing on perioperative medicine, medical education, and interprofessional collaboration. Her work connects the care of surgical and critically ill patients with the education of healthcare professionals and teams.
She works as a consultant in anaesthesiology and intensive care at Salemspital, part of the Hirslanden Medical Group, and as a researcher at the University of Bern’s Institute for Medical Education. Her academic interests include how clinicians learn, how professional competencies are assessed, and how education can support patient care.
Berger-Estilita obtained her medical degree from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal. She subsequently completed a Master of Medical Education at the University of Dundee and a doctorate in Clinical Investigation and Health Services Research at the University of Porto. These qualifications underpin her combined interests in clinical medicine and education.
Her research includes interprofessional education, self-directed learning, patient-centred perioperative care, and gender equity in anaesthesiology and intensive care. She has contributed to systematic reviews, international surveys, and collaborative clinical research. Across these subjects, her publications examine both the experiences of healthcare professionals and approaches to improving clinical practice and training.
She has also contributed to European specialist education through the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. Her activities have included examination committee work, participation in e-learning initiatives, and co-direction of the European Perioperative Intensive Care Curriculum e-course, supporting education across professional communities.
Alongside these roles, Berger-Estilita serves as Associate Editor-in-Chief of BJA Open. She has spoken publicly about the importance of mentorship, educational training, and addressing unconscious gender bias in academic medicine. Her career brings together clinical practice, educational scholarship, editorial responsibilities, and an interest in collaboration within anaesthesia and intensive care teams.
Dr Jernej Drobez
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Dr Jernej Drobez is a Post-CCT Fellow in Neurocritical Care at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH). He previously completed a two-year fellowship in perioperative medicine at UCLH, caring for patients undergoing complex and high-risk surgery.
He served as Guideline Development Committee Lead for the recently published Centre for Perioperative Care guideline on the perioperative care of people with Parkinson’s disease. His contributions included leading the evidence synthesis, coordinating a multidisciplinary writing group, and working with Parkinson’s UK to involve patients and carers in shaping the recommendations. He is also undertaking an MSc in Perioperative Medicine at University College London, with his dissertation focused on perioperative care for people with Parkinson’s disease.
Alongside this work, he has co-led award-winning quality improvement projects to improve postoperative pain management at UCLH. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and supports colleagues through teaching and mentoring in perioperative medicine and quality improvement. In this webinar, he will explore the perioperative pathway for people with Parkinson’s disease, highlighting practical recommendations relevant to neuroanaesthesia and neurocritical care.
Mr Angelos Kolias
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Mr Angelos Kolias is a Consultant Neurosurgeon and Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Addenbrooke’s Hospital and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. He was awarded a Hunterian Professorship by the Royal College of Surgeons of England in recognition of his contributions to neurosurgical research in 2023. He is internationally recognised for his research on acquired brain injury with publications in journals such as the NEJM, Lancet Neurology, JAMA Neurology, and PLOS Medicine.
Mr William McDevitt
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Will is a Clinical Scientist in Neurophysiology at Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and Birmingham Children’s Hospital, a Visiting Lecturer at Aston University, and Research Associate at the University of Birmingham.
Prof Virginia Newcombe
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Virginia Newcombe is Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine at the University of Cambridge, as well as a Consultant in Neurosciences and Trauma Critical Care, and Emergency Medicine at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Virginia’s research focuses on traumatic brain injury of all severities using biomarkers and advanced neuroimaging with a particular interested in how the acute phase affects long-term outcome trajectories. She is Chief Investigator for BRAINS-TBI, a multi-center study investigating use of blood biomarkers in emergency departments for diagnosis and prognosis of mild TBI in the UK setting.
Dr Gemma Nickols
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I have been a consultant at Southmead hospital in Bristol since 2015. My sub-speciality interests include neuroanaesthesia (predominantly emergency surgery) and vascular anaesthesia. I trained in the Severn Deanery and completed advanced neuroanaesthesia training at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London. I have been the NACCS linkperson for Bristol since 2015 and wrote the local anaesthetic guideline for the use of intra-operative MRI at Southmead.
I am the audit lead for my department and an active member of the Society of Anaesthetists of the Southwestern Region (SASWR), having been a resident doctors committee member.
I led the organisation of the NACCS ASM in Bristol, in May 2018.
Mr Dimitri Pournaras
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Dimitri Pournaras graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and undertook all his postgraduate training in the UK. He was awarded a Royal College of Surgeons of England Research Fellowship to conduct research on obesity, diabetes and metabolic surgery.
He completed his PhD in the Department of Investigative Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London investigating the mechanism of action of bariatric surgery and the role of the gut on appetite and glucose homeostasis. He then trained in oesophagogastric surgery in Cambridge and Norwich. Following a Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Fellowship approved by the Royal College of Surgeons of England in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, he was appointed as a Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal and Bariatric Surgeon in North Bristol NHS Trust where he currently works as part of the multidisciplinary team treating obesity as a disease. He also has an honorary position at the University of Bristol Medical School as associate professor.
Dimitri is the inaugural British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society/Royal College of Surgeons of England bariatric Surgical Specialty Lead and is committed to high quality, collaborative, patient centred research with the objective to improve obesity care.
Dr Lara Prisco
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n 2012, after I completed my specialist training in Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Hyperbaric Medicine in Italy (Trieste) I moved to the UK. I completed fellowships in Intensive Care at the General Intensive Care Unit at UCLH, St George’s Hospital, and lately subspecialised in Neuroanaesthesia and Neurointensive Care Medicine at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London and Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge.
In 2013, I obtained a Master in Science in Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine at Catholic University in Rome (Italy). In 2014, I was appointed as Clinical Lecturer at the University Department of Anaesthesia in Cambridge to further my research interests. Since May 2016, I work as a Consultant in Neuroanaesthesia and Critical Care at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where I have developed and lead the continuous EEG service. Since March 2018, I am a part-time Academic Clinician and was awarded an NIHR Fellowship in 2021. I am a Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences with an NHS Research leadership role in Neurocritical care. I am the UK representative of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine since October 2023.
Dr Girija Rath
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Dr Girija Prasad Rath is Professor of Neuroanaesthesiology and Neurocritical Care at the Neurosciences Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India. With advanced super-specialty training (DM) in Neuroanaesthesiology, his clinical and research interests include neuroanaesthesia and neurocritical care, with a special interest in paediatric neuroanaesthesia. He has authored over 250 scientific publications and edited two books, Handbook of Trigeminal Neuralgia and Fundamentals of Pediatric Neuroanesthesia. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neuroanaesthesiology and Critical Care (JNACC).
Alongside his academic and editorial roles, Dr Rath has been actively involved in professional society leadership at national and international levels. He has served as President of the Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care (SNACC), Secretary/Treasurer of the Indian Society of Neuroanaesthesiology and Critical Care (ISNACC), and Executive Committee Member representing India in the Asian Society for Neuroanesthesiology and Critical Care (ASNACC). He currently serves as Registrar (Academics) at AIIMS, New Delhi.
Dr Jonathan Rhodes
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Jonathan was educated in Manchester and then the University of Edinburgh. He trained in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care and is currently a Consultant in Critical Care and Anaesthesia at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Honorary Reader at the University of Edinburgh. During his training he developed an interest in the pathophysiology of acute brain inflammation following trauma. This culminated in a neuroscience PhD.
He continued his research interests focused on traumatic brain injury (TBI), as part of the team behind the Eurotherm 32-35 study. He maintains diverse interests in TBI research, including fever management, multimodality monitoring and his most recent multicentre study, evaluating the significance and impact of venous thromboembolism in patients with isolated traumatic brain injury (Traumatic Brian Injury Associated DVT Incidence and Significance -TARDIS, cofounded by the NACCS and the BJA). He enjoys teaching both at an undergraduate and post graduate level. He is the lead for the Neurological Critical Care section of the University of Edinburgh’ s MSc in Critical Care.
For fun he designs and builds experimental rocket engines, is the UK altitude holder for a single stage amateur rocket (23k feet Mach 1.7), is a passionate Marker, loves building all manner of flying things, technology, and miscellaneous Nerdery.
Jonathan has been married to the ever patient and forgiving Deborah (aka Patsy) for over 30 years. They have 4 wonderful, complex, grownup children, but Rupert the Cockapoo is their favourite.
Research Interests:
– The role of inflammation in the neurobiology of secondary brain injury.
– The role of hypothermia and targeted temperature management in acute brain injury.
– The use of brain oxygen tension monitoring in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
– Decision support tools in complex neuro critical care.
– The incidence and significant of deep venous thrombosis complicating traumatic brain injury.
Prof Aarti Sarwal
Dr Joe Sebastian
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Joe Sebastian has been a Consultant Neuro Anaesthestist at Salford Royal since 2007, having trained on the Imperial School of Anaesthesia Registrar Rotation, and completed a post CCT Fellowship at the National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, Queens Square. His main clinical interests are Anaesthesia for skull base and awake craniotomy and dexmedetomidine sedation.
Dr Samuel Tsan
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Dr Samuel Ern Hung Tsan is a consultant neuroanaesthesiologist and neurointensivist and an Associate Professor of anaesthesiology and critical care at the University of Malaysia Sarawak and Sarawak General Hospital.
He holds a Master of Anaesthesiology with Distinction from the University of Malaya and is a Fellow of the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland. He completed his International College on Perioperative Neurosciences Training-accredited neuroanaesthesiology and neurointensive care fellowships at St George’s Hospital in London, United Kingdom.
He is a dedicated researcher who, in addition to authoring publications in international peer-reviewed journals, has contributed multiple book chapters. His research interests include regional anaesthesia in neurosurgery, neurointensive care, airway management, and physician mental health. He is actively engaged in teaching undergraduate medical students and postgraduate anaesthesiology trainees. He refines his clinical practice at Sarawak General Hospital, where he provides specialized neuroanesthesia and neurointensive care services. His current leadership roles include serving on the executive committee of the Malaysian Society of Anaesthesiologists and the Malaysian Society of Neuro Anaesthesiology and Critical Care. He is also the Convenor for the Wellbeing Special Interest Group in the College of Anaesthesiologists, Academy of Medicine, Malaysia.