President

Prof Matt Phillips

Matt is a GUM consultant in Cumbria and an honorary professor of GUM & Ethics at UCLan.  Originally from Birmingham, his medical degree is from Manchester, his masters from Keele and his MD from Trinity College Dublin.  Throughout his career he has focussed on ethics in particular its applications to sexual health and HIV.  He sits on the BMJ Ethics committee and is a regional advisor for the Royal College of Physicians.

CEO

Kat Smithson

Kat is the incoming CEO of BASHH. Kat has over 10 years’ experience in sexual health and HIV. She joins BASHH from National AIDS Trust, the HIV rights organisation, as Director of their policy and communications functions. She has led multiple cross-organisational research and advocacy programmes was an NGO representative on the Fast Track Cities London Leadership Group for five years.

Immediate Past President

Dr Claire Dewsnap

Dr Claire Dewsnap is a Consultant Physician in Genitourinary Medicine at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and immediate past president of the British Association of Sexual health and HIV.

As BASHH president Claire represented the specialty at national and international monkeypox events, has spoken at numerous national and international conferences on STIs and HIV, new media items and select committees. Claire represented the specialty at Royal college of Physicians’ events and national co-ordination of recommendations on speciality needs and actions. Claire #lovesGUM.

Vice President

Dr David Phillips

David is a consultant in Sexual Health & HIV in Croydon, South London for Croydon Health Services NHS Trust. He graduated from Cambridge University Medical School in 2002. He trained in general medicine in East Anglia before specialist training in GUM at St George's Hospital London; 2005-2009.  He was appointed as consultant at Croydon in 2009.

David is particularly interested in services for young people and vulnerable groups, as well as innovations in technology to enhance efficiency whilst delivering high quality services. He has been BASHH Chair of the Joint BASHH-FSRH Information Group from 2015-2023 and has been involved in numerous consultations, and joint projects with UKHSA. He is a co-author of the 2019 edition of the Standards for the Management of Sexually Transmitted Infections. He was BASHH General Secretary from 2020 to 2024.

Treasurer

Dr Anne Oliver

Anne qualified from Leicester University Medical School in 2000, and went on to train with the West Yorkshire Vocational Training Scheme. She has worked in Sexual Health as a Specialty Doctor since 2006 and has been a BASHH member for over ten years. Her career as an SAS doctor has given her the opportunity to work clinically whilst developing interests in medical education and staff wellbeing.

She joined the BASHH SAS Executive Committee in 2018 and now serves as a regional representative. She is also the current Chair of the SAS Conference Organising Committee and a member of the Spring Conference Organising Committee.

General Secretary

Dr Cara Saxon

Cara is a consultant in Genitourinary and HIV medicine at Sandyford Sexual Health Services and The Brownlee Centre in Glasgow. Cara trained in Genitourinary Medicine in the North West of England and worked as a Consultant the Greater Manchester area for 9 years before relocating to Scotland in February 2023. Cara has a clinical interest in recurrent vulvovaginitis and is lead author of the BASHH guidelines on the management of vulvovaginal candidiasis. Cara has been a member of the BASHH Clinical Effectiveness Group since 2018 and is editor of the BASHH patient information leaflets as part of the CEG group

Assistant General Secretary

Dr Clare Wood

Clare Wood has been a Consultant in Genitourinary Medicine since 2021 and works at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. She studied in Sheffield and undertook her specialist training in Greater Manchester. 

She has an interest in medical education and recurrent vulvovaginitis

Education Committee Chair

Prof Matthew Grundy-Bowers

Consultant Nurse/Visiting Professor (HIV/Integrated Sexual Health)

Matthew has worked in HIV/Integrated Sexual Health since 1994 and in advanced practice roles since 1997. He became a consultant nurse (HIV/Sexual Health) at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in 2005, Trust Lead for Advancing Practice in 2018. He was one of the first tranche of the National Institute for Health Research doctoral clinical fellows in 2010, his PhD research explored sexual risk-taking among HIV negative gay men. Matthew is Visiting Professor of HIV and Integrated Sexual Health at University of Greenwich, and is on the editorial board of the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections. He is the new chair of the Education Committee and Officer to the board of the British Association of Sexual Health & HIV. He is a former STI Foundation chair and executive member of the National HIV Nurses Association. In 2020, he was awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the RCN for his contribution to HIV/Sexual Health, advanced clinical practice, and interdisciplinary education.

Conference and Communications Secretary

Dr Chris Ward

Chris is a consultant in Sexual Health and HIV at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. He has an MSc in Public health and a PGCert in postgraduate medical education.

He has a special interest in Chemsex and PrEP and leads for both for Manchester. He also has an interest in the development of services for young people, chairing safeguarding MDTs and has contributed nationally to Child Sexual Exploitation developments, particularly in boys.

He is a Diploma of HIV examiner, is part of the BHIVA external relations subcommittee and has been the BASHH conference and communication secretary for the last 2 years.

CGC Chair

Dr Rona MacDonald

Rona MacDonald (FRCP, MFSRH, MPH) is a Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV based in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Ayrshire and Arran. She was previously a Consultant and Clinical Director of Sexual Health Services in Gloucestershire. She was the Chair of the Sexual Health Standards for Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

In addition to the CGC Rona also sits on the STIF Committee and the BASHH/ FSRH Information Group

Fellow To The Board

Prof Claudia Estcort

Claudia is Professor of Sexual Health & HIV at Glasgow Caledonian University, Honorary Professor at University College London and a consultant physician in Glasgow, UK. Her research addresses three major public health priorities:

1). Self-managed, digital healthcare, focussing on development and evaluation of complex online clinical care pathways within sexual health & HIV medicine (SEQUENCEdigital),

 2). Preventing transmission of STIs and reducing undiagnosed HIV by increasing effectiveness of partner notification strategies by developing tailored interventions for those at highest risk (lustrum.org.uk), 3) HIV PrEP public health programmes, implementation, clinical service development, evaluation and monitoring.

Fellow To The Board

Dr Katia Prime

Katia has been a consultant in Genitourinary Medicine at St George's Hospital, London, since 2005. She has a strong interest in medical education, is the S Thames GUM Training Programme Director and the GUM SAC curriculum lead. Her research interests focus on adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV and she is a member of the BASHH adolescent SIG. She has also co-chaired the writing of the first BASHH standards for the management of sexual health in UK Prisons and is a member of the BASHH prison SIG. She is passionate about advocating for a career in Genitourinary medicine and promoting the specialty to both undergraduates and postgraduates through her work with STASHH, BASHH and the SAC

Fellow To The Board

Dr John Evans-Jones

John is a Consultant in Genitourinary Medicine for Cheshire West and Chester Sexual Health Services and service Clinical Lead. He also works for NHS England as Clinical Lead for eHIV-STI, part of Electronic Learning for Health. He is chair of the BMA Local Negotiating Committee (LNC) for his employer HRCG Care Group Ltd and an educational supervisor member of Health Education England North West`s GUM specialty training committee

Fellow To The Board

Mr Hasan Mohammed

Hasan has been working as a HIV and sexual health pharmacist since 2016. He is the lead pharmacist for GUM at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Trust, home to one the busiest sexual health services in the UK. Hasan is passionate about developing the pharmacist workforce and raising their profile within the specialty. He pioneered the first Pharmacist Practitioner post in HIV for which he was shortlisted for a Clinical Pharmacy excellence award.

Hasan was appointed as a pharmacist representative to BASHH in 2019 and served two terms on the Clinical Governance Committee. He is also part of the British HIV Association (BHIVA) conference subcommittee and has contributed to national guideline writing groups

Fellow To The Board

Dr Sophie Brady

Sophie’s been the clinical lead in Bradford since 2006 and more recently across Kirklees too, working for Locala, an alternative provider of NHS care in West Yorkshire. Previously Sophie has been the Yorkshire representative and secretary on the BASHH Clinical Governance committee. Sophie updated the BASHH Guidance on the Retention and Disposal of Clinical records and sought BASHH approval for a national list of accepted abbreviations for clinical use. Sophie previously acted as clinical advisor to commissioners in tenders for sexual health services.

Sophie is a passionate advocate for sexual health- from recruitment to the specialty, medical school education, to working with our most marginalised populations and ensuring to deliver quality care across our services.

Sophie greatly value the multidisciplinary team within sexual health and have supported the development of new posts in service- for example advanced clinical practitioners, nurse associates and F3 clinical fellow doctor posts.

Fellow To The Board

Dr Michael Rayment

Mike has been a consultant in Sexual Health and HIV at 10 Hammersmith Broadway, part of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, since 2014. He is also an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College London. His clinical interests include sexual function in men, bacterial STIs, prison care, viral hepatitis, and HIV prevention. He is an active clinical researcher. Mike has been a member of the BASHH Clinical Effectiveness Group since 2015, and of the reformed Prison SIG since 2020. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of STD and AIDS

Lay Trustee

Mr Joshua Anderson

Joshua is a HIV activist and volunteer who has been providing peer support to people living with HIV in London and the South West of England for the last eight years.  

In 2015 he took part in Through Positive Eyes, an international photography project that got people living with HIV to document their lives through photography. In the same year he started working with Positively UK as a volunteer, then mentor, and has facilitated the gay men’s group as well as delivering newly diagnosed workshops.

From 2020 to 2022 he worked as an HIV Peer Support Worker at Swindon’s Great Western Hospital, supporting people living with HIV, as well as connecting them with other services that they may need.

In 2021 he was a steering committee member at Imperial College on a study to assess the impact of COVID-19 on people living with HIV. 

Joshua is passionate about good sexual health and HIV care throughout the UK

Doctors in Training Rep

Dr Lindsay Henderson

Lindsay is a Specialist Registrar in Genitourinary and General Internal Medicine in Glasgow, Scotland. She gained her MBChB at the University of Aberdeen in 2013 and completed her FY and CMT training in the North and West of Scotland before starting Specialist Training in 2019. She was the Scottish BASHH trainee representative before taking up the position of Doctors in Training representative and also sits on the Clinical Governance Committee. Her main areas of interest are PrEP, online access to sexual health care and working with vulnerable populations.

HA Rep

Mr Hu Clarke

Hu Clarke has worked in the sexual health field for over 30 years (he managed and trained volunteers in a day centre for people affected by HIV & AIDS)

Currently he is a part-time Health Advisor (HA) and Psychosexual Therapist with Homerton Hospital, he also provides Clinical Supervision in Brighton for the Health Advisers, Sexual Health Counselling Project and Outreach Nurses

Hu has been a qualified therapist for over 26 years, he covers a range of issues which include: Psychosexual & relationships, work with people with disabilities, racially minoritised communities, Sex workers, Drug users and LGBTQ+.  He has also been a secondary school teacher, college lecturer and freelance trainer for almost 35 years. He is currently involved in training Motivational Interviewing for the Society of Sexual Health Advisers (SSHA).

Hu has a private psychotherapy/counselling practice in East London/Essex. Hu is currently in his second term on BASHH Board representing HA’s, he also sits on BASHH CGC here he is the Secretary and also sits on BASHH SIG for Sexual Function & Wellbeing.  Hu is also a member of SSHA’s, Operational Professionals Committee which is the group he represents at BASHH.

SAS Rep

Dr Kajal Verma

Dr Kajal Verma is a Specialty Doctor at LNWUH NHS Trust. Kajal is Secretary of BASHH SAS Committee. She has been a member of  the Committee since 2012 and has represented SAS on various BASHH Groups including Clinical Governance Committee and National Audit Group. Kajal has been the Programme co-ordinator of BASHH Annual National Conference for SAS Doctors for over 5 years and has actively contributed to the organization and success of the conference. Kajal, is passionate about progression and development of SAS doctors and is currently appointed as SAS Advocate for LNWUH NHS Trust.

Nurse Rep

Ms Jodie Crossman

Jodie qualified as a nurse in 2004 and worked in an inpatient HIV unit, developing an immediate interest in sexual health. She has worked in clinics around the country as both a nurse and health adviser, currently working as a specialist nurse at Brighton SHAC.

She was the inaugural chair of the BASHH Sexual Health Adviser and Nurses specialist interest group, and still actively participates in this group. She is currently co-chair of the STI Foundation.

Her key areas of interest are supporting and developing staff within the sexual and reproductive health specialty, and trying to reduce inequalities in access to sexual health care

SSHA Rep

Ms Ceri Evans

Ceri Evans has been a Sexual Health Adviser since 1991 and is currently the Senior Health Adviser at 10 Hammersmith Broadway Clinic in London (part of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Foundation Trust).

Ceri has been involved in BASHH for many years and has previously held positions on the Clinical Governance Group.  She is currently on the STIF Competency Steering Group/STIF Foundation Course, Education Committe and BASHH Clinical Standards Unit. She has also been a member of BASHH Conference Scientific/Abstracts Committee since 2012.

Ceri is the President of the Society of Sexual Health Advisers (SSHA www.ssha.info) and represents SSHA on BASHH Board. Ceri is also involved in the BASHH SHAN (Sexual Health And Nurses) SIG.

Her particular interests include Partner Notification, Criminalisation of STI transmission, Young people and pornography and people with learning disabilities.

Patient/Public Group Chair

Dr Laura Waters

Laura Waters is a HIV & Sexual Health consultant and HIV lead at The Mortimer Market Centre, CNWL, London and an Honorary Associate Professor at the Institute of Global Health, University College London. She is the National Specialty Advisor for HIV, chairing the group that advises NHS England on HIV treatment and the immediate past chair of the British HIV Association (BHIVA). Laura is a previous BASHH Board member and was appointed chair of the BASHH Patient & Public Voice Panel on May 2023.

Laura has published & presented widely, led or co-authored several national guidelines and founded the People First Charter. She is a trustee for The Food Chain and previously for the Terrence Higgins Trust. She teaches regularly at local, regional and national level, including on HIV courses for University College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

GUM SAC Rep

Dr Andy Williams

Dr Andy Williams is a sexual health and HIV consultant at Barts Health NHS Trust and is clinical lead for Sexual Health services across the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest. He is the training programme director for registrars training in genitourinary medicine in north central and east London, co-chair of the London GUM STC and co-chair of the GUM specialist advisory committee for the Royal College of Physicians.  

His clinical work focuses on the sexual health of men and he runs multiple specialist services including male sexual wellbeing work jointly with clinical psychology, a dedicated clinic for men who have experienced historical sexual abuse, a complex male genitourinary problem service and a weekly general HIV clinic.

GUM SAC Rep

Dr Sarah Schoeman

Dr. Sarah Schoeman is a GUM Consultant in Leeds based at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust.

Sarah was born and brought up in Southern Africa and from a young age directly observed the impact of the HIV pandemic in resource poor settings. Sarah graduated from Newcastle University Medical School in 2000 and started her specialist GUM training in Leeds in December 2004.

Sarah was appointed as a GUM consultant at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust in 2010 and became Clinical Lead for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust HIV service in 2015. Sarah’s areas of special interest include education and training, HIV and genital dermatology. She is currently co-Chair of the GUM SAC alongside Dr. Andy Williams and together they represent the GUM SAC on the BASHH board. In addition Sarah is a current clinical member of the HIV CRG, Clinical Lead for the West Yorkshire HIV Network, Clinical Lead for the Leeds Fast Tack Cities project, a BASHH Sexual Health Dermatology SIG member and BSSVD council member.