ORGANISING COMMITTEE
View the Scientific Meeting Organising Committee
Dr Victoria Wykes
Associate Clinical Professor of Neurosurgical Oncology at the University of Birmingham (UoB) and Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB).
Victoria’s aim is to leverage the operative environment to develop and deliver precision therapies in neuro-oncology care. She has developed a tissue pipeline to help better understand the metabolic and genomic heterogeneity in brain cancer evolution. Victoria has co-ordinated the introduction of Whole Genome Sequencing as NHS standard of care for brain cancer at QEHB, and is working to integrate more rapid diagnostics. She is CI/PI on several multi-centre studies including the Tessa Jowell Brain Matrix platform study and is Co-lead of the Birmingham Brain Tumour Network, and Co-lead of BERTI the Brain tumour Education and Research paTinet and public Involvement group-West Midlands. Victoria is passionate about teaching and is Co-director of the Intercalated Clinical Sciences MSci at UoB.
Dr Aimee Goel
Neurosurgical registrar at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
Aimee Goel is a Neurosurgical registrar at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. She completed her medical training at University College London, where she undertook a BSc in Neuroscience studying the neuronal regulation of sleep behaviour in zebrafish. She has been co-chair of the BNOS Students and Trainees subcommittee for the past 3 years, running educational workshops and webinars. She plans to specialise in Neurooncology.
.png)
Mr Thanos Zisakis
Consultant Neurosurgeon at University Hospital NHS Trust Birmingham
Athanasios Zisakis is Consultant Neurosurgeon at University Hospital NHS Trust Birmingham. He trained in Greece, Switzerland, and Birmingham. He also undertook a BSc in Biology and postgraduate studies (PhD and MD) in Neurooncology. He has special interest in neurophysiology and functional approach to tumour resections, integrating neuronavigation with new technologies (DTi/US). He is also trained in the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation for pre operative mapping of eloquent areas. Also, specialises in teenage and young adult neuro-oncology.
Further to that he is subspecialises into CSF diseases with special interest into Chiari malformation, Normal pressure hydrocephalus and Idiopathic intracranial Hypertension
Dr John Apps
Associate Clinical Professor and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Neuro-Oncology at University of Birmingham and Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Dr John Apps is Associate Clinical Professor and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Neuro-Oncology at University of Birmingham and Birmingham Children’s Hospital where he leads the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Team (www.cbtrt.bham.ac.uk) His research interest includes, Imaging Science and Data Integration, Craniopharyngioma and other rare tumours and is actively involved in several clinical trials.
.png)
Dr Kat Eales
Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Birmingham
Dr Kat Eales is a senior postdoctoral researcher within the Department of Metabolism and Systems Science. Her research over the last 12 years has focussed on identifying metabolic vulnerabilities in both adult and paediatric glioblastoma in the search for effective treatments. Her research also focusses on investigating the potential of interfering with glutamine addiction to better treat MYC-driven medulloblastoma- the most common malignant brain tumour in children. Dr Eales is also passionate about building inclusive research communities and committed to amplifying the voices of those with lived brain tumour experience to drive forward the future of brain tumour research.
.png)
Mr Vladimir Petrik
Consultant Neurosurgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
Mr Vladimir Petrik joined the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Neurosurgery team in 2010 with MD(Res) from St. George’s University, in serum proteomics of glioblastoma and Spinal Fellowship at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London. His scope of practice includes degenerative spine disorders, minimally invasive spinal surgery, brain neuro-oncology, spinal intra-dural and intra-medullary tumours and spinal CSF disorders, foramen magnum and cranio-cervical junction pathology.
Dr Smriti Bose
Neurologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
I completed my fellowship in epilepsy and neuroimmunology at QE. I am a member of the special interest group for neuro-oncology within the Association of British Neurologists.
As a Neurologist based in Queen Elizabeth Hospital I am involved in the management of complex Epilepsy patients including brain tumour with epilepsy, pregnant women with epilepsy and patients with genetic epilepsy syndromes.
Dr Vassili Crispi
NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurosurgery at the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham
Vassili Crispi is an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurosurgery at the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences at the University of Birmingham and neurosurgery trainee in the West Midlands. Their research is currently focused on fast diagnostic array diagnosis of gliomas and enhancing patient understanding and empowerment via immersive technology.
As an LGBTQ+ doctor, they also have an interest in equality, diversity and inclusion within the profession, holding positions as member of BMA UK Council and Board of Science, Research and Education Lead of the Royal College of Surgeons Pride in Surgery (PRiSM) Forum.
.png)
Dr Vinton Cheng
Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Birmingham
Dr Vinton Cheng is an Associate Clinical Professor and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology with a clinical focus on the holistic management of adult patients with primary and metastatic brain tumours, including through the delivery of systemic therapies. Dr Cheng's research interests are in developing systemic therapy trials for brain tumour patients and studying the progression of cancer in the brain. He also has a strong background in pre-clinical models of brain tumours, particularly using orthotopic and advanced brain metastasis syngeneic/xenograft models.