Health Agenda Day In Partnership with Simon Jersey

The Health Agenda Day:

From the lab to Westminster, the most pressing challenges in modern health demand bold thinking and urgent action. Nevill Holt Festival’s Health Agenda Day convenes some of the leading experts across medicine, science and policy to discuss what’s coming and how they are shaping what’s possible. This is your chance to hear first-hand from some of the UK’s most eminent doctors, surgeons, scientists and advocates on the groundbreaking work they are doing in some of our most challenging illnesses and diseases.

We are delighted to welcome the following experts:

Professor Fiona Gilbert
Dept of Radiology, University of Cambridge

Fiona Gilbert is a leading clinician in breast cancer and oncology imaging. She has evaluated various imaging techniques including digital breast tomosynthesis, MRI, Whole Breast Ultrasound and Contrast Enhanced Mammography and Artificial Intelligence to better understand cancer growth and novel treatments. Her extensive career includes being Chair of British Society of Breast Radiology, President of the European Society of Breast Imaging and Head of the Department of Radiology at Cambridge University. Professor Gilbert is currently the lead advisor for AI in radiology for the Royal College of Radiologists

Professor Matt Brookes OBE
St Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, University of Nottingham

Matt Brookes is one of the UK’s leading experts in the development and application of human brain imaging, particularly the measurement of electrical brain function. Over the last 20 years, his group has made significant contributions to the development of novel scanner hardware (based on quantum technologies) the measurement of communication between separate brain regions, and clinical applications of brain imaging and a variety of disorders. Matt will talk about his pioneering work on new generation brain scanners, how they work by exploiting the bizarre quantum physics of atoms, and how, when combined with AI, they are transforming our understanding of brain health
and disease.

Professor Nigel Mongan
Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Nottingham

Nigel Mongan is a leading expert in endocrine signalling pathways and how these contribute to prostate, breast and ovarian cancers. His work has deciphered key molecular pathways involving androgens, estrogens and retinoids in urological and endocrine cancers which is paving the way to develop novel genetic screens for cancer susceptibility, new biomarkers for early diagnostics and to identify new therapeutic targets for improved treatment responses. Professor Mongan contributes teaching in endocrinology, breast and prostate cancer treatments and precision medicine for the University’s Center for Cancer Sciences,

Dr Mairi Houlgreave
Tourette Research N3 Centre, University of Nottingham

Mairi Houlgreave is a neuroscience researcher at the University of Nottingham. She uses neuroimaging to explore differences in brain activity in individuals with movement disorders and investigates whether non-invasive brain stimulation can help improve symptoms. Current treatments for Tourette’s syndrome include medications with unpleasant side effects and behavioural therapies which can be hard to access. In this talk, Mairi will discuss how a new, non-invasive treatment has shown promise in reducing tics as well as how median nerve stimulation works and whether it holds promise for the treatment of other disorders.

Professor Stephen Westaby
Can we replace the human heart with a machine?

Stephen Westaby is a world renowned former heart surgeon who pioneered the use of life long artificial hearts as an alternative to donor transplants. His operation on a terminally ill man in 2000, where he transplanted a permanent artificial heart instead of a donor heart, was the first of its kind. With over 11,000 operations to his name, two best selling memoirs about his career and a recent appearance on Desert Island Discs, Stephen is one of the UK’s most eminent and revered surgical voices, In this keynote talk for the festival, he’ll give insights into his fascinating career whilst offering thoughts on the future of heart health and surgery.

Professor Jonathan Van Tam

Jonathan Van-Tam was thrust onto the public stage in 2020 as England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer during the Covid-19 pandemic. He quickly became well known for his ability to explain complex science and medicine to the public. In this evening’s lecture he will draw on his 30 plus years of experience as an expert on respiratory viruses to lead us through some of history of human pandemics, what happened in 2020-2022 and most importantly what it could mean for future pandemics, which he is adamant are a “racing certainty”. He will touch science, medicine, politics and the importance of great communication.

David Cameron: My Mission in Medical Innovation – In conversation with John Micklethwait

In the decade since he left office as Prime Minister, David Cameron has devoted much of his time to advancing scientific and medical innovation, most notably serving as President of Alzheimer’s Research UK and chairing the Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre’s Advisory Council, a translational collaboration building on the groundbreaking 100,000 Genomes Project, which he launched while in No. 10. In this exclusive event, David Cameron will discuss why these are causes very personal to him and his family, since the loss of his son, Ivan, to Ohtahara Syndrome, a rare neurological condition, and of his mother to dementia. He will explain why the breakthrough of genomics is becoming revolutionary in terms of personalised medicine; how the UK became a genuine world leader; and how, through the power of genomics, patients and families are now getting the answers they crave.

Please note that, for this event only, 25% of your ticket price will be donated to the Alzheimer’s UK charity. Book Your Tickets Here.