Speaker Bios
Browse our esteemed roster of expert speakers for the NACCS Autumn CPD Webinar 2026.
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.
Dr 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.
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.
Prof Aarti Sarwal
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.