Aaron Barber is a Principal Podiatrist and AHP Professional Lead for Podiatry serving the Barnsley region of South Yorkshire. A former Specialist Surgical Registrar under Mr Frank Webb in Buxton, Aaron has built a career focused on high-risk foot management, limb preservation, advanced clinical practice, and service leadership. A strong advocate for the advancement of podiatry, Aaron is passionate about the profession's place within Advanced Clinical Practice and the opportunities this creates for improved patient care, professional autonomy, and workforce development. He currently serves on the Royal College of Podiatry's Medical Device Committee, contributing to national work on governance, regulation, and quality assurance in podiatric practice. Aaron's professional interests include high-risk foot services, consultant and advanced practice roles, medical device governance, and the future development of integrated foot protection and limb preservation services.

Abid Hussain is a Consultant Podiatrist in Sports Medicine with over 30 years of experience in musculoskeletal podiatry, sports injury management and athlete welfare. He is Vice Chair of the Royal College of Podiatry Podiatric Sports Medicine Special Advisory Group and a Fellow of the Faculty of Podiatric Medicine, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Amy is a specialist musculoskeletal podiatrist and specialist in podiatric sports and exercise medicine at the Gait and Posture Centre, Harley Street. She holds a first-class honours degree in podiatry from the University of Southampton and a master's degree in podiatric sports and exercise medicine from Queen Mary University of London. Her clinical expertise includes lower limb musculoskeletal disorders, gait analysis, biomechanical dysfunction and the assessment and prescription of custom-made foot orthoses. She has undertaken postgraduate training in gait analysis, ultrasound scanning, injection therapy, sports and exercise medicine, shockwave therapy and MLS laser therapy. Amy is also a trained expert witness, having completed expert witness training through Cardiff University. She is developing her medico-legal practice, providing independent, evidence-based expert opinion in personal injury cases involving lower limb and biomechanical disorders.

Christopher Joyce currently works as an extended scope podiatrist in rheumatology at Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. He currently works in both community and acute within the rheumatology department dealing with a variety of musculoskeletal, dermatological, vascular, and wound care presentations in people with rheumatic/connective tissue conditions.

Dr David Lunn is a Senior Lecturer in Musculoskeletal Biomechanics at Leeds Beckett University, specialising in the assessment of human movement, gait and musculoskeletal function. His research combines 3D motion capture, force analysis and musculoskeletal modelling to understand how injury, disease and clinical interventions affect movement and loading. David has extensive experience working with patients following total hip replacement, and is currently examining how factors including obesity influence movement and joint loading in this population. David works with clinicians, engineers, industry and military partners on the development and evaluation of footwear and equipment for challenging environments, including cold-weather footwear designed to protect foot function and reduce injury risk. Research interests include lower-limb biomechanics, gait analysis, rehabilitation, and the development of technology to improve clinical assessment and patient outcomes.

Debbie has been working in the NHS as a podiatrist since 1987, specialising in diabetes for over 30 years. She was appointed as Consultant Podiatrist for Diabetes in Dorset in 2008. She is a Podiatry Independent Prescriber; prescribing since 2010. She was appointed as a Fellow of the Faculty of Podiatric Medicine, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Glasgow) in 2013 and a Fellow of the College of Podiatric Medicine in 2017. Additionally, she a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, International Wound Journal, and Diabetic Foot Journal. Her particular area of interest is in the management of diabetes foot infection. She has published widely, and presented nationally and internationally on the diabetes foot. In 2026 she was awarded the Royal College of Podiatry Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr Jennifer Andrews is a Podiatrist, Lecturer, and Research Fellow at the University of Salford. Her research interests include foot skin health changes associated with age and chronic disease, health technology assessment, and the lived experiences of individuals living with poor foot health. Jen is the Chair of the Manchester Branch of the Royal College of Podiatry and also a member of both the Research, Development and Innovation Committee, and the Dermatology Specialist Advisory Group.

NIHR Senior Clinical Research Awardee. Clinical Lead for research at Yorkshire and Humber Regional Research Delivery Network, Community Setting Lead

Dr Lindsey Cherry is a Clinical Academic Podiatrist and Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, where she leads research focused on improving personalised lower limb health for people living with long-term conditions. Alongside her academic role, Lindsey works clinically in primary care, maintaining a strong commitment to ensuring that research addresses priorities and realities of everyday practice. Lindsey co-leads the NIHR ARC Wessex Research Capacity Development programme and NIHR South Central INSIGHT programme, supporting development of the next generation of professionals across health and care sectors. Her research spans multiple long-term conditions, personalised care, and implementation science, with a particular interest in developing and evaluating interventions that improve outcomes and strengthen workforce capability. She is passionate about fostering multidisciplinary collaboration and creating opportunities for clinicians to engage with and lead research.

Podiatrist and Associate Professor of Clinical Trials at the University of Warwick

Elizabeth Wythes is an HCPC-registered Podiatrist with over 20 years' experience across NHS and private practice, with a particular interest in diabetic foot care, vascular assessment and limb preservation. Her experience of seeing delays in the recognition and escalation of deteriorating foot conditions led her to explore how digital tools could better support clinicians at the point of care. She is the creator of Clinical Safety Net, an evolving decision-support concept designed to help non-specialist and community clinicians recognise concerning clinical patterns, understand what to do next and navigate appropriate escalation pathways supporting the right patient to reach the right service at the right time.

Funmi Oke

Dr Jean Mooney, PhD, MA, BSc(Hons), FRCPodM, FRCPodS, FHEA, FFPM RCPS(Glas).

Mr Jonathan Barber is a highly regarded specialist in musculoskeletal (MSK) podiatry and podiatric sports medicine. He qualified from the University of Southampton in 2016 with first-class honours.

Mark Povey is a Clinical Lead Podiatrist in Kent, UK. He has worked in the NHS for 28 years specialising in diabetes and high-risk feet. In 2020 he stared a Qi project to improve confidence among podiatrists working with end-of-life care patients, especially regarding making appropriate decisions about wound debridement. This led to him designing the DECIDE tool and creating a training package which was delivered to podiatrists in Kent, and then in recent years, across the east of England, Dorset, Hertfordshire and Bradford. Mark facilitated a workshop on this topic at the Royal College of Podiatry annual conference in 2024 and then presented on the main stage at the 2025 conference. Mark says that it is always a pleasure and a privilege to attend the conference and to learn from a range of experts in their fields.

Michelle graduated in 1987, and has 30 years teaching experience at the University of Salford. Special interests include Vascular Medicine as well as Podiatric Dermatology. Michelle is a member of the RCPod Dermatology Special Advisory Group that developed the CUBED App designed to support podiatrists in the recognition, assessment and referral of suspicious lesions of the foot. Michelle is part of the research team contributing to the ongoing programme evaluating the CUBED App and disseminating results.

Michelle is a podiatrist in private practice with over 25 years in the profession. She owns a practice in Marple, Stockport and holds an MSc in Clinical Skin Integrity from the University of Hertfordshire. Michelle serves on the RCPod Special Advisory Group for Dermatology in Podiatry and has previously presented her work at professional meetings in the UK and overseas. She is a postgraduate researcher at Health Sciences University, Bournemouth, working towards a PhD, investigating the use dermoscopy in podiatric practice across the UK.

Dr Nick Howsam, forensic podologist and podiatrist

Keynote speaker

Dr Richard Collings is Head of Podiatry and Orthotics Services at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, leading a high-performing team focused on innovation, evidence-based practice, and service improvement. He is passionate about integrating clinical research into routine healthcare and advancing research across the allied health professions. Richard graduated from the University of Plymouth with a BSc (Hons) in Podiatry in 2007. Committed to lifelong learning, he completed an MSc in Clinical Podiatric Biomechanics in 2013 and was awarded a PhD by the University of Plymouth in 2022. Alongside his clinical leadership role, Richard serves as Chair of the Royal College of Podiatry's Research, Development and Innovation Committee. He is a strong advocate for translating research into practice and believes that the application of high-quality evidence is essential to improving patient outcomes, enhancing healthcare services, and advancing the podiatry profession.

Robert Field

Dr Sidd Muzumdar is a Consultant Sports & Musculoskeletal Radiologist at The Whittington Hospital. He also has a private practise at London Independent Hospital. He completed subspecialty musculoskeletal radiology training at the Royal Free Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, developing broad expertise in diagnostic and interventional MSK imaging. He specialises in diagnostic and interventional musculoskeletal ultrasound, with a particular focus on the assessment and image-guided treatment of sports injuries in elite athletes. His interventional practice spans advanced ultrasound-guided procedures including dry needling, autologous blood injection, high-volume injection and orthobiologic therapy. His academic interests include exercise medicine and regenerative medicine, and he is actively involved in training in musculoskeletal ultrasound.

Stephanie has been a podiatrist working within the NHS for over 35 years. She has held the position of Consultant Podiatrist in Podiatric Medicine for 8 years; whilst also being the clinical , professional, and operational lead for a team of community podiatrists on the Isle of Wight. Alongside this she has continued to develop her interest in diabetes: she is an English Diabetes Footcare Network representative, and co-chair of the The Foot in Diabetes (FDUK) executive committee. She chairs several regional Podiatry committees and publishes national articles, mainly on collaborative working, and diabetes. She is on the editorial board of The Diabetic Foot journal and has a special interest in collaborative working, care of the contralateral limb post-amputation, and the role of independent prescribing within Podiatry. She is a Fellow of the RCPod and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons(Glasgow)

Suzanne is a Specialist Podiatrist and Clinical Director of Hamilton Podiatry, with a specialist interest in podiatric sports medicine.

Tariq Khan

Victor is a Podiatrist with more than 17 years of experience across both NHS and private practice settings including sports medicine, biomechanics, and advanced foot and ankle care.

Alessandra Fasulo is a Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology at the University of Portsmouth. Her research focuses on communication and narrative discourse in different settings. She has published work on children, language socialisation, doctor-patient interaction and communicative competences in neurodivergent children and adults.

Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon