Providers

Professor Malcolm Mason is head of the Oncology and Palliative Medicine Section at the School of Medicine. Based at Velindre Hospital, he is also Director of the Wales Cancer Bank. Established in 2003, the Bank is recognised as one of the foremost of its kind worldwide, and has revolutionised opportunities for cancer research, collecting blood and tissue samples from thousands of people in Wales either suffering from cancer or with a potential cancer diagnosis. The Bank is a collaboration involving Cardiff University, the Welsh Assembly Government, the NHS and Cancer Research Wales.

Professor Mason’s own group has carried out a great deal of research into prostate cancer. Through studies which he has led via the MRC, it has been shown that survival rates in men with advanced prostate cancer improve when they are given drugs that preserve bone mass, and more recently that radiotherapy added to hormone therapy reduced deaths from prostate cancer by nearly half in patients with locally advanced disease.

Non-malignant prostate stem cells are known to exist. From their characteristics, it is expected that malignant prostate cancer stem cells will be resistant to hormone treatment and possibly also to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Professor Mason said: “We need to know more about prostate cancer stem cells. They could offer new ways to tackle prostate cancer or, at the very least, tell us more about what happens when present treatments fail. We are excited about the opportunities for us to work with the new European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute to improve our understanding in this particular field.”

Dr Papanikolaou is an Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine (Gastroenterology, Hepatogastroenterology Unit) at “Attikon” University General Hospital, University of Athens, Greece.

He has gained international experience by working and studying in many European countries and in the US.

His specialist interest is in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

The Center for Global Health is dedicated to excellence and innovation in patient care, teaching and research.

On Aug. 20, 1810, Drs. James Jackson and John Collins Warren penned a petition calling for the establishment of a general hospital in Boston. This petition -- known as the Circular Letter -- called for a new hospital to provide healthcare for the poor and disenfranchised. In 1811, the Massachusetts legislature granted a charter for the incorporation of the Massachusetts General Hospital, becoming just the third general hospital in the United States.

Now entering our third century, the founders' vision for Mass General remains embedded in the fabric of the institution and the whole world has become our neighbor. Founded in 2006, the Center for Global Health builds on the hospital’s rich history of leadership in clinical care, medical education and humanitarian aid while crafting innovative solutions to some of the most intractable challenges facing our global community.

Mr Syed Aftab is a Consultant Spinal Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Royal London (Barts Health NHS Trust). He studied medicine at Pembroke College, Cambridge University and Edinburgh University. He underwent higher surgical training in Orthopaedics and Spinal Surgery on the London NE Thames rotation at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore.

He also gained a Master of Science at University College London in Trauma and Orthopaedics during his training. Syed completed advanced fellowships in Spinal Surgery at the Royal London Hospital. Furthermore, he continues to broaden his experience with visitations to international centres of excellence for spinal surgery (Antwerp Belgium, Bordeaux France, Neustadt Germany and Orlando USA).

Syed has been pioneering the iMAS technique in the UK, using micro access techniques developed by Dr Robert Masson at Neurospine Institute, Orlando, USA (a Federally accredited Centre of Excellence).

Syed believes that the best outcomes for patients can only be achieved when decisions are carefully considered and works within the framework of a multidisciplinary team. He is the Clinical Effectiveness Lead for Orthopaedics at the Royal London and is actively involved in teaching other doctors, nurses and allied health professionals.

Syed is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He both teaches and organises the spinal teaching programme for postgraduates studying trauma and orthopaedics.

He has published widely in a number of peer-reviewed medical journals and is actively involved in research into spinal surgery. Syed has presented at national and international conferences.

Academic cardiology with an interest in the clinical science of cardiometabolic disease, cardiovascular risk and prevention, and drug development.

David Nott is a highly experienced General and Vascular Surgeon. He is an authority in laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery and was the first surgeon to combine laparoscopic and vascular surgery.

David was the first surgeon in the world to perform a totally laparoscopic distal arterial bypass (at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in 1999) and the first in Europe to carry out a laparoscopic abdominal aortic aneurism repair (Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, 1998).

David has written over 100 papers on various aspects of Vascular and General Surgery.

David has a keen interest in war surgery and works for Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and spends time each year providing assistance in war-torn countries such as Afganistan, Iraq and Sudan.

Specialties:General and Vascular Surgery, Laparoscopic Surgery, Keyhole Surgery

Dr Ahmed Hankir works as an Academic Clinical Fellow in General Adult Psychiatry at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in the UK.

He holds academic posts as Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Mental Health Research in association with Cambridge University and Academic Clinical Fellow in General Adult Psychiatry at King's College London. In recognition of his research and scholarly outputs and his services to public engagement and education (he has lectured to over 75,000 people in 19 countries on five continents worldwide) Dr Hankir was was appointed Visiting Professor of Academic Psychiatry at the Carrick Institute for Graduate Studies in Cape Canaveral, USA.

​Born in Belfast and raised in Dublin and England, he moved to Lebanon where he spent his formative years. When the country was ravaged by civil war, he was forced to leave his family behind at 17 years of age and returned to the UK where he started off as a janitor. He went on to graduate from Manchester University Medical School.

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Robin Coupland is a medical adviser in the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

He joined the ICRC in 1987 and worked as a field surgeon in Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Angola, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan. He has developed a health-oriented approach to a variety of issues relating to violence and the design and use of weapons.

A graduate of the Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine, UK, he trained as a surgeon at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and University College Hospital, London. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1985. He is the holder of a Graduate Diploma in International Law from the University of Melbourne in Australia.

As part of his current position he has focused on the effects of violence and weapons both conventional and non-conventional. He has developed a public health model of armed violence and its effects as a tool for policy-making, reporting and communication.

His current work has two tracks: first, the feasibility of an ICRC operational response in the event of use of nuclear, radiological, biological or chemical weapons; second, improving security of health care in armed conflicts. He has published medical textbooks about care of wounded people and many articles relating to the surgical management of war wounds, the effects of weapons and armed violence.

Henry works as a Doctor in Emergency Medicine, and as a National Lead for Health Informatics. He has served with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, mainly concentrated in Afghanistan where he worked alongside the Afghan Government in assisting the reconstruction of community medical provision. He is currently a Deployable Civilian Expert for the UK's Stabilisation Unit and an officer in the Royal Marines Reserves.