Helen Ward
Helen Ward is Clinical Professor of Public Health at Imperial College London, and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. She trained in Medicine at Sheffield University, has a Masters in Epidemiology and a PhD in Public Health from the University of London. She has worked extensively on the control of infectious diseases including HIV, sexually transmitted infections and novel conditions including COVID-19. She co-leads the Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) Study, one of the largest research projects in the world documenting the acute and long-term health impacts of SARS-CoV-2. REACT is tracking the health of over 3 million people in England following the pandemic to quantify the impact and varied experiences of long COVID. REACT is also studying the biological basis of long COVID in a detailed sub-study of 10,500 people. Helen is Director of the Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC) at Imperial, founded in 2011 to promote participatory approaches to improving healthcare and biomedical research. This includes working closely with patients, charities, and communities as partners in research. Advisor
Carolyn Chew-Graham
Carolyn A. Chew-Graham is Professor of General Practice Research at Keele University. Carolyn’s main areas of interest and expertise include the primary care management of people with mental health problems, multiple health conditions and unexplained symptoms; and the mental health and wellbeing of clinicians. She has qualitative research methods expertise, drawing on theories from social sciences and psychology, but always with a focus on clinical practice – trying to answer questions that are important to patients, their families, health care professionals and the NHS. Carolyn is a member of the NHS England Long Covid Taskforce and has published articles and research on Long Covid. Her 2020 paper Finding the ‘right’ GP was the first qualitative study describing the experiences of people with Long Covid in navigating healthcare. She has co-written an e-learning module for GPs on Long Covid. Carolyn chairs the RCGP ‘Research Paper of the Year’ panel. She was Chair of the Society of Academic Primary Care 2019-2022. Carolyn was a member of the NICE Clinical Guideline Development Group Depression (update) - work which directly impacts on commissioning decisions and patient care. She is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Health Expectations. Carolyn was awarded the President’s Medal by RCPsych in 2021. Carolyn was awarded an OBE for services to general practice and primary care research, including research into Long Covid, in the King’s Inaugural Birthday Honours List, June 2023.Advisor
Graham McMillan
Graham advises the charity on public affairs, policy, regulation, campaigning, stakeholder engagement and corporate communications.
Graham has over 35 years of experience working in consultancy advising major businesses, trade associations, SMEs, NGOs and charities on public affairs, public policy, campaigning, stakeholder engagement, issue and crisis management, sustainability, responsibly business and corporate communications.
Graham has been in senior leadership roles at consultancies like Pagefield/PPHC, FTI, Teneo, Blue Rubicon and Fishburn Hedges and he was co-founder and CEO of Open Road, the award winning consultancy he helped to found in 2007 and sold to Blue Rubicon in 2014.
Graham has worked across a wide range of sectors in his career but has always had a range of healthcare related clients. His clients have included: AstraZeneca, BMS, HCA Healthcare, Novartis, SPMSD, Bowel Cancer UK, Nuffield Hospitals, National Grid, The Crown Estate, Kingfisher, Asda, L’Oreal, Arup, Unilever, TheCityUK, The Association of British Insurers, The Investment Association, HSBC and Prudential.
Graham is a Director and Trustee of the Early Years Alliance and works pro bono for a number of NGOs and charities including Long Covid Support, Forum for the Future and Blueprint for Better Business.Advisor
Dr Selina Shaw
Dr Selina Shaw is a General Practitioner with 18 years experience as a doctor in the NHS. She has a special interest in the care of people living with Long Covid. She began her medical journey with a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University before going on to complete her accelerated graduate-entry medical degree at University of Newcastle upon Tyne. She undertook her postgraduate training at the Royal Free Hospital in London and Watford General Hospital, gaining broad experience across a wide range of medical specialties. Selina completed her GP training in the Windsor area and qualified as a GP in 2017. Since then, she has served as a GP partner, leading a busy NHS practice of 14,000 patients and a team of over 40 staff. She continues to work as a GP in Buckinghamshire. After developing Long Covid herself during the pandemic, personal experience sparked a deep professional interest in the science and treatment of this complex condition. She is currently running a private clinic dedicated to Long Covid treatment based at 222 Healthcare in Stokenchurch, Buckinghamshire to give patients access to cutting edge treatments and support. Dr Shaw seeks to combine evidence-based medical care with her compassionate, person-centred approach. Dr Selina Shaw brings to the advisory board not only clinical expertise but also lived experience, which helps shape her holistic understanding of the challenges faced by those with Long Covid. Alongside her professional commitments, she is also a busy mum of four, balancing family life with her work and advocacy.Advisor
Professor Nisreen Alwan
Nisreen Alwan MBE is Professor of Public Health at the University of Southampton and Honorary Consultant in Public Health at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. She leads research in lifecourse disease prevention towards optimising the wellbeing of families and reducing health inequalities. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she focused on the quantification and recognition of Long Covid. She was awarded an MBE for services to Medicine and Public Health during the pandemic in the Queen’s New Year Honours 2021, and named among women leading change from across the world in the BBC 100 Women 2020 list. Nisreen delivered a TEDx talk describing public health communication, power, objectivity and vulnerability themes around the topic of Long Covid. She continues to lead research in Long Covid particularly around the aspects of epidemiology, prevention and inequalities. Advisor
Professor Mark Faghy
Professor Mark Faghy is a leading researcher in Clinical Exercise Physiology, specialising in the pathophysiology of long-term conditions and rehabilitation at Loughborough University. His work focuses on the mechanisms and impact of Long Covid, integrating scientific investigation with patient-reported experience to drive meaningful solutions. He leads an international research team and has delivered pioneering studies throughout the pandemic, including the UK’s first clinical trial on antiviral treatments for Long Covid. Alongside his research, he is an active advocate for patients, shaping policy discussions, raising awareness, and improving care pathways for people living with chronic illness.Advisor
Dr Graham Lloyd-Jones
Dr Lloyd-Jones is a Consultant Radiologist at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. He is an educator in the field of medical imaging and the founder/CEO of Radiology Masterclass, a leading UK-based online educational resource for medical students and resident doctors. During the COVID-19 pandemic he has worked on gaining a collaborative and interdisciplinary understanding of disease mechanisms. His work highlights the vascular nature of the acute lung disease in COVID-19, how this differs from conventional viral pneumonias, and how failure of the medical community to understand the acute phase of disease leads to misunderstanding of Long COVID. His work on COVID-19 disease mechanisms also highlights the importance of oral health in mediating immune responses, and how oral dysbiosis and gum disease contribute to disease severity. As a result, he has become an advocate for furthering the understanding of connections between oral biology and the development of multiple important systemic diseases.Advisor
Robin McNelis
Robin McNelis, Clinical Specialist Chartered Physiotherapist, specialised in Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy since 1999 both in NHS and Private Healthcare. In 2020, life changed both personally and professionally for Robin after contracting Covid in March 2020 which resulted in a series of complications including being formally diagnosed with Long Covid in August 2020. Around this time, Robin was instrumental in setting up The Long Covid Clinic at The Wellington Hospital – one of the first of its kind in the UK – using his professional experience as well as using his personal lived-experience of the condition. In 2022, Robin accepted a post as Clinical Lead of the Enfield Community Post Covid Service, providing therapy services to Long Covid patients who had come through the PCS Assessment Clinic at UCLH. After 2 years leading the service and against a background of uncertain funding, Robin made the decision to leave the NHS and develop his independent business full time having been providing services alongside his fulltime job until the pandemic. Robin is now working mainly as part of Dr Kane's Long Covid Clinic Multidisciplinary Team. Advisor
Dr Binita Kane
Dr Kane is a Consultant Respiratory Physician, with a special interest in healthcare leadership and innovation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Kane was an active member of Independent SAGE regularly communicating science to the public. In Manchester, she led the COVID Virtual Ward programme, providing remote care between 2020 and 2022. Her experience became deeply personal when her daughter developed Long Covid in 2021. This catalysed her advocacy, international research collaborations, and the founding of The Long Covid Clinic in the independent sector in 2022, which she now leads full-time. Dr Kane is actively involved in collaborative research with Professor Mark Faghy. She is a founding member of the International Society of Long Covid and Post-Infection Associated Syndrome (ISLC-PAIS)). Dr Kane hosts a YouTube channel in partnership with Long Covid Support called The Long Covid Clinic What You Can Do (@LCCWYCD), aimed at empowering patients with information. She has represented patients in Parliament as part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group meetings for Long Covid and ME and has worked with the Department of Health and Social Care to influence policy in management of post-infectious conditions. Advisor
Laura Evans
Laura is CEO of Glass Ceilings Change Management. She is a consultant, leader, and public speaker with almost two decades' experience spanning Operations, Policy, Regulatory Compliance, and HR across the public, private, and charity sectors. Laura is Chair of a domestic abuse charity in South Liverpool, a Director on a Multi Academy Trust Board, and a member of Liverpool Chamber’s Business Policy Committee. Nationally, she sits as an Expert Advisory Board member on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion with the Institute of Directors and also attends the IoD’s Economic Policy and Trends Group. She is an Associate Member of the Employment Lawyers Association, Civil Mediation Council, and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; a Chartered Fellow with the Chartered Management Institute; and, brings an international best practice perspective as a Fellow with Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia and New Zealand.Advisor
Dr Caroline Dalton
Dr Caroline Dalton is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Genetics. She leads the Living Well with Chronic Disease theme at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, and the Health and Disease group at the Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre, both at Sheffield Hallam University. Dr Dalton has a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Immunology. Her research interests include the investigation of the molecular mechanisms underlying responses to interventions to treat complex conditions such as schizophrenia, depression and obesity. She has been working with Long Covid Support since summer 2020 and has contributed to resources supporting people with Long Covid including a booklet on management of fatigue symptoms that is used in Long Covid clinics. She is currently carrying out studies on symptom and activity tracking in Long Covid, alongside mechanistic studies that investigate the underlying biological causes of Long Covid symptoms.Advisor
Professor Brendan Delaney
Professor Brendan Delaney is a leading exponent internationally of the “Learning Health System’ (LHS) concept. His initial training in research was in health technology assessment, real-world (pragmatic) clinical trials and clinical research in Family Medicine. Since 2003 he has worked in the area of Clinical Informatics, being appointed to a Chair in Medical Informatics at Imperial in 2015 and elected one of the first 100 founding fellows of the new UK Faculty of Clinical Informatics in 2017. Prior to moving to Imperial, he was Wolfson Professor of General Practice at King’s College London. At Imperial, Brendan works in the Institute of Global Health Innovation, with research in Artificial Intelligence, cancer diagnosis and learning systems, eSource for clinical trials and global eHealth. He is a member of the Medical Research Council Data Science Strategic Advisory Group. Brendan’s interests lie at the intersection of health services research (how to deal with patient problems equitably and efficiently), the use of data in research and service development and ‘pressing’ clinical problems.Advisor
Professor Ziyad Al-Aly
Dr. Al-Aly a physician-scientist; he directs the Clinical Epidemiology Center and serves as the Chief of Research and Development Service at the VA Saint Louis Health Care System. He is a senior clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in Saint Louis. He is internationally recognized for his expertise in harnessing the power of big data to answer important public health questions.He led work which provided systematic characterization of the post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (also called Long Covid) and subsequently characterization of the increased risks of cardiovascular disease, neurologic disorders, diabetes, dyslipidemia, kidney disease, and gastrointestinal disorders following SARS-CoV-2 infection. His lab was the first to produce evidence characterizing the effects of vaccines on Long Covid, the health consequences of repeated infections with SARS-CoV-2, and the effect of antivirals on the short- and long-term outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Dr. Al-Aly co-chaired the Biden-Harris Administration committee that developed the National Research Action Plan for Long Covid and serves on the US Government Interagency Long Covid Coordination Council. He advised the Chief Science Advisor of Canada (Government of Justin Trudeau). He currently serves on a consensus committee at the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine looking at the long-term health effects stemming from COVID-19 and their implications for the Social Security Administration. Profile (describing upbringing and research journey): https://outlook.wustl.edu/real-world-reflections/
Advisor
Dr. Rae Duncan
Dr. Rae Duncan is a Consultant Cardiologist, Long Covid Physician, and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. She holds degrees in Medicine (MBChB), Medical Microbiology (BSc Hons), and Medical Research (MSc, MD), and leads a specialist NHS clinic treating patients with cardiovascular complications of Covid-19, Long Covid, POTS, and other post-viral syndromes. Nationally and internationally recognised for her work, she is part of the Long Covid Expert Advisory Team for the World Health Network (WHN) and holds a National Clinical Impact Award for her contributions to Long Covid care, research, and advocacy. Dr. Duncan is a member of the Long Covid international research collaboration (TeamClots,) and served on the Executive Committee of the Long Covid International Delphi Consensus, helping oversee 180 international experts from 28 countries develop of the first global expert guidance on assessment, management and research priorities in Long Covid. She is Co-Chief Investigator on two major research trials investigating the effects of Covid in children and has provided invited expert evidence to UK All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Long Covid. She continues to highlight that Covid is not over, not seasonal, and not benign—calling attention to its role in rising rates of chronic illness and disability, and the urgent need to break chains of transmission. Her work is focused on improving outcomes, protecting lives, and ensuring that those living with Long Covid receive the care and respect they deserve.
Dr. Ian Frayling
Advisor
Ian has lived experience of Long Covid and its after effects, and was a founding member of Long Covid Wales. He is an expert in hereditary cancer and retired from NHS Wales in 2019. He now holds an honorary appointment at St Mark’s Hospital, London, and is also the immediate past-President of the Association of Clinical Pathologists (ACP) and an Honorary Senior Clinical Research Fellow at Cardiff University. Ian has sat on many advisory committees to the Welsh and UK Governments, the Departments of Health in England and Wales and Council of the Royal College of Pathologists. He holds many other positions, including being on the WHO editorial board for the Classification of Tumours (‘Blue books’) series. Ian is an Honorary Life Member of the International Society for Gastrointestinal Hereditary Tumours (InSiGHT), and an Honorary Medical Advisor to Lynch Syndrome UK & Lynch Syndrome Ireland. He is a recipient of both the ACP’s Dyke Foundation Medal for his “eminence as a member of the pathology community” and the Pathological Society of Great Britain & Ireland’s Goudie Medal for his “seminal contribution to the science of pathology.” Ian helped establish NICE Diagnostics Guidance DG27 and later DG42, that bowel and endometrial cancers must be tested to see if they are due to Lynch syndrome., Suffering from Long Covid since April 2020 he has provided input as an informed expert patient into both NICE and WHO Long Covid guidance, as well as participating in numerous research studies.
Advisor
Helen Hughes
Helen Hughes is the Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning, a charity and independent voice for improving patient safety. The charity seeks to support safety improvement through policy, influencing and the development of ‘how to’ resources such as the hub, a free platform to share learning for patient safety. Helen’s passion to improve patient safety is informed by personal family insight into the impact of unsafe care and the ineffectiveness of organisational responses to learn from error. She has been a Director and CEO at several healthcare, social justice and equality organisations, including the National Patient Safety Agency and the WHO.
Advisor
Dr. Tim Nicholson
Dr Tim Nicholson is a Reader in Neuropsychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London. He is also an Honorary Consultant Neuropsychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where he currently works in a Long COVID clinic focusing on neurological and psychiatric complications. He co-leads the NIHR funded Post COVID-19 Condition Core Outcome Set (PC-COS) study in collaboration with the WHO and many other national and international groups, including key input from Long COVID Support. This study aims to arrive at international consensus on how to measure Long COVID in both research studies and clinical settings which is key to optimising and accelerating understanding of Long COVID and the development of evidence based treatments. He leads research into immune and genetic biomarkers of cognitive and pain symptoms in Long COVID as well as the physiology and role of interoception and cognition in respiratory symptoms. He is also involved in a neuroimaging study of fatigue and leads the neuropsychiatry working group of the COVID-CNS study, a UKRI funded national study of acute neurological and psychiatric COVID complications. During the early stages of the pandemic he set up and led the neuropsychiatry complications ‘early warning’ surveillance system and an international team that published a ‘Neuropsych COVID’ blog to disseminate the rapidly emerging data which also published several key early ‘meta-analysis’ reviews that pooled together this key early data.