Agenda

Speakers

Dr Leila Frodsham is a Consultant Gynaecologist who leads the Psychosexual Service at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (since 2013). She started to train in Psychosexual Medicine as an Obstetrics & Gynaecology SHO in 1998 and subsequently went on to Chair the Institute of Psychosexual Medicine (2010-14). She continues to work as a Seminar Leader training others in Psychosexual Medicine. She has held a general O and G consultant post before and during her current post but now focuses on Psychosexual Medicine, complex gynaecology (largely intractable pain conditions), menopause and tokophobia clinically. She is part of the Klinefelter’s and Endometriosis team at GSTT. She has worked at regional levels in improving childbirth experience for the Strategic Health Authority in Kent and was the Clinical Maternity lead for the South East Coastal Strategic Clinical Network for NHS England.

She has several roles in medical education: Foundation Training Programme Director, GSTT, Module co Lead for Women’s Health, Transition to F1 Module Lead and Senior Educational Supervisor for GSTT site at King’s College London. In 2020 she co founded The Doctors Menopause café on Facebook which has been acknowledged for excellence in Menopause Education by awards from the BMS and the RCOG. There are over 7.3 thousand female doctors on the page. Her research was in Mother To Embryo Viral Transmission Risk in Assisted Conception for which she won the ESHRE 2004 Promising Young Clinician award. She is widely published in sexual difficulties and has several podcasts on sexual pain and menopause.

Speakers

Dr Mike Newson (BA (Oxon) D.Phil (Oxon) MB BS MRCPsych) is the Consultant Neuropsychiatrist for CASCAID, an NHS Mental Heath Service for people living with HIV in South-East London, based at the Maudsley Hospital. They provide expert assessment, liaison and support to people living with mental health conditions associated with HIV and acquired brain injury in the context of intracranial infections resulting in neurological and neuropsychiatric illness. Previously he has worked in both inpatient and outpatient Early Intervention in Psychosis EIP) services, and specialist outpatient services for Neuropsychiatry and Neurodevelopmental disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Current areas of special interest include LGBTQ+ mental health and substance misuse in the context of chemsex.

Case Presenters

Dr Ravipal Singh is a Junior Clinical Fellow in Genitourinary Medicine at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, where he manages complex inpatient HIV and sexual health presentations alongside significant general medical comorbidity. He previously worked as a Clinical Fellow in a Cardiac Intensive Therapy Unit, managing critically ill and ventilated patients, and completed a clinical attachment in general medicine and sexual health at King’s. GMC-registered in the UK and ALS-trained, with over four and a half years of acute and general medicine experience across the UK and India, he has a particular clinical interest in HIV, frailty, and healthy ageing.

Martin Hutcheson and Julie Ringsell – Terrence Higgins Trust

Martin – National HIV Service Manager
Julie – Ageing with HIV Lead

Working as part of the THT Living well team with over 20 years’ service between us. We are passionate about working with and supporting peers, creating an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive. We are particularly inspired by the opportunity to contribute to HIV awareness, support, and advocacy, helping to reduce stigma and promote understanding within communities. Seeing the resilience and strength of people affected by HIV motivates us to continually learn, collaborate, and make a positive difference. Through meaningful relationships, active listening, and shared experiences, we empower others while also being inspired by their journeys. Supporting peers and advancing HIV-related initiatives gives us a strong sense of purpose and fulfilment.

Live MDT

Geriatrician: Prof Julain Falutz

Pharmacist: Jacob Smiles

Nurse: Justine Mellor

HIV Physician: Prof Marta Boffito

Physiotherapist – Dr Natalie St Clair-Sullivan

Speakers

Dr Julian Falutz is an Associate Professor of Medicine at McGill University. He attended McGill University School of Medicine and completed postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. He is the Director of the Comprehensive HIV and Aging Initiative (CHAI) in the Chronic Viral Illness Service at the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) and senior attending physician in the Division of Geriatrics. He is a care provider for people living with HIV and a clinical researcher focussing on assessment and management of frailty, body composition and co-morbidities in older adults living with HIV. He is leading the development of a geriatric-surgical program at the MUHC providing care for frail elderly surgical patients. He was the co-principal investigator for the study of a novel growth hormone releasing factor analogue tesamorelin, approved for the treatment of HIV and therapy related abdominal obesity. He was an investigator and Canadian coordinator for the recently completed and published REPRIEVE Study (Randomized Trial to Prevent Vascular Events in HIV). He is a co-principal investigator for the Canadian Institutes of Health funded multi-center CHANGE-HIV Study investigating predictors of successful aging in older adults living with HIV.

Speakers

Dr Merle Henderson is an Academic Clinical Lecturer in HIV and Genitourinary Medicine at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, where she conducts research within the HIV Clinical Trials Unit at St Mary’s Hospital. Her work focuses on the long-term clinical outcomes of adults with perinatally acquired HIV. She also investigates non-infectious comorbidities in people living with HIV, particularly brain health, using biomarker-based approaches to better understand disease mechanisms and improve long-term clinical care.

James Cole is the Senior Policy, Research and Influencing Manager at the National AIDS Trust. James provides the secretariat for HIV Outcomes, a coalition of HIV experts working to secure changes to improve the quality of life for people living with HIV in the UK. James has more than a decade of experience in the HIV response, spanning policy, advocacy and community organising. His previous roles include Advocacy Manager at STOPAIDS, Coordinator of Youth Stop AIDS, trustee of STOPAIDS, and serving as the UK Government’s civil society delegate to the 2021 UN High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS

Marc Tweed is the Head of Terrence Higgins Trust South based in Brighton. He has over 30 years’ experience working within the HIV and LGBTQ+ community voluntary sector and is an HIV activist with lived experience of HIV.  He has expertise in a broad range of HIV prevention and HIV support interventions and models of delivery including national programmes. Marc has collaborated on multiple pieces of sector research covering socio-biology, epidemiology, infectious diseases, public health, quantitative and qualitative research, digital health care and co-production. He is currently a member of the editorial board for the International Journal of STD & AIDS.

Speakers

Alex Sparrowhawk, Director of Delivery and Impact, George House Trust. Alex has been working in HIV community organisations for over 11 years, with a background spanning service delivery, HIV prevention, ageing and strengthening strategic partnerships with professionals working in HIV and sexual health. Living with HIV for 17 years, Alex is passionate about meaningful involvement in HIV treatment and care and ensuring the voices of people living with HIV are heard, enabling them to thrive with HIV.