Our Speakers
Professor Karl Gaffney - MBBChBAO(Hons) FRCPI FRCP
Consultant Rheumatologist, Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital
Professor Karl Gaffney (MB, BCh, BAO Hons, FRCPI, FRCP) has been a Consultant Rheumatologist in Norwich since 1995 where he is service lead for axial
spondyloarthritis (including ankylosing spondylitis), adolescent rheumatology and osteoporosis. He is an Honorary Professor at Norwich Medical School, chair of the medical advisory board, National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (www.nass.co.uk), founder member, treasurer and chair-elect of BRITSpA www.britspa.co.uk), chair of the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) axial SpA Biologics Guidelines Committee, member of the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Project Working Group, vice-chair of the BSR Heberden Committee, co-director and founder of the East of England and London Spondyloarthritis Academy (www.spaacademy.org), and an invited member of the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society www.asas-group.org.
He has also represented the BSR and NASS at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) appraisal of biological therapies since 2007. He was Rheumatology Service Director from 2008 until 2016, Director of Postgraduate Education in Norwich between 1999 and 2005, and Director of Rheumatology Training, Eastern Deanery between 2001 and 2007.
With NASS he has co-developed primary and secondary care educational programmes for healthcare professionals. These initiatives have been awarded national and European awards for excellence in healthcare communication. He is leading the NASS National Gold Standard Delay to Diagnosis project, launched at the House of Commons in July 2020 www.nass.co.uk/get-involved/gold-standard. His current research interests include epidemiology, dose optimisation and extra-articular manifestations of axial SpA. He oversees a large clinical trials programme and collaborates with other national and international centres. He has published extensively and has been an invited speaker at national and international meetings.
Dr Deepak Jadon - MBBCh(Hons) MRCP(Rheum) PhD
Consultant Rheumatologist, Cambridge University Hospitals
Dr Deepak Jadon is a consultant rheumatologist, Director of the Rheumatology Research Unit, and lead for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.
Having grown up in Cardiff, he graduated from the University of Wales College of Medicine in 2003, and then undertook clinical training in rheumatology and general internal medicine in Bath and Bristol between 2007-2015. He completed his PhD thesis on ‘biomarkers of psoriatic arthritis phenotypes’ at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (Bath, UK) in 2015.
Deepak has particular expertise in the investigation and management of psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), spondyloarthritis (SpA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). He is qualified in the use of musculoskeletal ultrasound.
Deepak is Director of the Rheumatology Research Unit at Cambridge University Hospitals NHSFT (Addenbrooke’s Hospital), where he leads a team of 5 research nurses, 3 rheumatology fellows, and 2 administrators. They are currently performing >20 clinical trials / studies of novel cutting-edge medications for the treatment of arthritis and other rheumatological diseases.
He is an Associate Principal Investigator in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge. His research interests include genetic and serum biomarkers of PsA, AS and SpA, in particular those that predict prognosis.
Deepak is Theme Lead for E-learning at the University of Cambridge Clinical School, delivering high quality online learning to year 4-6 medical student.
Dr Alexander Bennett - PhD FRCP MFSEM
Defence Professor of Rheumotolagy & Rehabilitation
Dr Alexander Bennett is the Defence Professor of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, has been a Consultant in Rheumatology and Rehabilitation at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Stanford Hall since October 2008, the Head of the Academic Department of Military Rehabilitation since June 2011 and is the RAF Consultant Advisor in Rheumatology and Rehabilitation. He an honorary Clinical Professor at Loughborough University and an honorary senior lecturer at Imperial College, London.
He has a keen interest in research as well as clinical aspects of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation and particularly in axial Spondyloarthritis. He has published widely in Rheumatology, in particular in the fields of early diagnosis and prognosis in seronegative inflammatory arthritis/spondylitis. He has lectured on many occasions at national, European and American Rheumatology conferences.
He is a Fellow of Royal College of Physicians and a member of the British Society for Rheumatology, the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine and the International Society of Assessment in Ankylosing Spondylitis (ASAS), is a member of the ASAS MRI working group and is the secretary to the British Society of Spondyloarthritis.
He was appointed Defence Professor of Rheumatology & Rehabilitation in March 2017 and oversees all research at the Academic Department of Military Rehabilitation, which focuses on musculoskeletal injury and disease and trauma rehabilitation and outcomes.
Dr Scott McDonald - MA BM BCH MRCSEd FRCR
Dr Scott McDonald (MA BM BCH MRCSEd FRCR) is a Consultant Musculoskeletal Radiologist, based at Cambridge University Hospitals. He has a broad and busy clinical practice within diagnostic and interventional musculoskeletal radiology.
Following medical training at Oxford and basic surgical training predominantly within the southeast, Scott underwent specialist training in radiology at Cambridge, before selection for prestigious fellowships in musculoskeletal imaging at both the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford, and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. During his radiological training, Scott studied law at De Montford University, Leicester, leading to the award of a Graduate Diploma in Law in 2007.
Scott is a Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists, and a member of the British Society of Skeletal Radiologists and the European Society of Radiologists. Scott presents nationally on musculoskeletal imaging themes, contributes to the published literature on MSK topics and acts as a reviewer for Radiology, Orthopaedic and Rheumatology journals.
A consultant since 2011, Dr McDonald has been clinical lead for musculoskeletal imaging at Cambridge University Hospitals, served on the educational board of the highly regarded Cambridge training scheme for radiology and supported anatomy teaching for medical students at Christ’s College, Cambridge.
Dr Sandeep Bawa
Consultant Rheumatologist, Gartnavel General Hospital
Dr Sandeep Bawa graduated in 1997 from the University of Edinburgh, and completed his specialist training in both Rheumatology and General Medicine from Oxford. He has been a Consultant Rheumatologist at Nuffield Health Glasgow Hospital and Gartnavel General Hospital since 2008.
He was given the accolade of “Medical Professional of the Year 2017” at the Scottish Asian & Business Awards at the awards ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow in December 2017. This accolade was bestowed on him again in December 2019.
He is an Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Glasgow, and has also been on the board of examiners for the RCP MRCP Specialist Question Writing Group. He leads the AS service at GGH and is actively involved in developing ePROMS.
He has presented at both national and international conferences and has many publications in peer reviewed journals and has been a co-author in internationally renowned medical textbooks.
Sandeep also has a specialist interest in Sports Medicine, having completed his Masters at University College London. He was the medical team leader for the football matches at the London 2012 Olympic Games, and the Athletes Village Doctor for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.