Committee
Ciara (she/her) is a junior doctor currently based in Belfast, with dreams of eventually working in both the clinical environment and in medical education. She has a particular interest in combating LGBTQ+ health inequalities and ways of improving the relationship between LGBTQ+ patients and the NHS. 2021 is her first year as Co-Chair after working on the GLADD committee for the past few years developing educational resources, teaching and organising socials. Over lockdown she started the very successful Women’s Group and Book Club.
She is also 5’4", rather hilarious and enjoys a good beer.
Laurence (he/him) is an anaesthetic & ICU trainee working in Liverpool who is new to GLADD. Previously, he has fundraised for the Albert Kennedy Trust and was involved in HIVE Liverpool, teaching secondary school students about HIV.
Personally, he has experience with chronic health issues in training and interests in student mentorship, ED&I education and health access inequalities. Outside of work, he is a proud cat dad of two beautiful ragdolls and soon-to-be husband after having proposed at London Pride. On occasion he is also known to bring homemade baked goods to share with theatre nurses.
ADVISORY GROUP
Katie (they/them) identifies as queer, trans & non-binary and is currently training in paediatrics in London. Prior to this they had a successful 10 year career in policy, public affairs and campaigning, working with a range of charities and other organisations including young people's cancer charity CLIC Sargent. They are also a trustee for trans youth charity Mermaids and are passionate about ensuring that trans young people have access to the support and advice they need to be their authentic selves. They are also interested in improving the medical school curriculum to better represent the needs of trans and non-binary patients. As a neurodivergent person, they are particularly interested in the interface between neurodiversity and LGBTQ+ issues.
Emily (she/her) is an F3 in general surgery working in West Yorkshire hoping to try and create a supportive environment for LGBTQ+ doctors, especially budding surgeons (given the historic lack of diversity in surgical specialties). In her non-medical life she plays guitar and occasionally rugby & football, but mostly just spectates with great enthusiasm. She aspires to one day get up early on a day off in order to go wild swimming.
Susan (she/her) is a retired obstetrician and sexual offences doctor, emeritus professor and keyboard warrior with special interests in evidence and abuse.
She has contributed to GLADD for many years, being a co-founder Chair in the last century.
Ian (he/him) is a GP who has had to retire on ill health grounds. He trained initially in Pharmacy and then completed his undergraduate training at UCH and Middlesex School of Medicine in 1995. As well as working as a GP Partner, he was a Clinical Tutor at Keele, examiner for the MRCGP and a GP Appraiser. His main strength was supporting patients, GPs and students with psychological difficulties.
Ian suffered his first stoke whilst at work and unfortunately went on to develop cognitive difficulties, becoming unfit to work. It has been a difficult journey dealing with ill health and enforced retirement, and Ian would like to represent and support members who are retired or in ill health.
Julia (she/they) is a graduate entry medical student at the University of Warwick. Prior to medicine, she studied music at the University of Oxford and trained as a singer & organist. She is particularly interested in improving LGBTQ+ representation within medical education, as well as the intersection between disabled & LGBTQ+ identities.
Ben (he/him) is a junior doctor in Edinburgh. Ben is a passionate about equality in healthcare with particular interests in medical ethics, law and the promotion of equality and diversity teaching within undergraduate medical education. In his spare time, Ben enjoys running and choral singing (but not at the same time).
Jane (she/her) is an anaesthetic trainee working in the Yorkshire and Humber region and a new member of the committee for 2021. She is interested in using education to tackle the inequalities faced by LGBTQ+ staff in their careers and by LGBTQ+ patients in healthcare. In her spare time you may find her mountain biking, Netflix binging and trying to perfect the espresso.
Duncan (he/him) is a junior doctor working in Greater Manchester. Duncan took what he describes as “the scenic route” into the medical profession, having undertaken a BSc in biology prior to entering medical training. Having worked with GLADD throughout medical school, Duncan stepped up as one of its Co-Chairs in 2019. His key aims and aspirations for this year are furthering GLADD’s educational influence in LGBTQ+ healthcare, improving recruitment and networking of members and to develop and refine GLADD’s democratic processes and constitution.
Outside of work, Duncan’s interests include the arts – having directed two musicals during medical school – alongside cooking, reading and bouldering. However, his greatest passion has always been music. You will rarely find his flat without some playing in the background may encounter him playing a little bit of his own on the piano.
Becky (she/her) is currently a junior doctor based in London. She is interested in LGBT+ healthcare, particularly in the context of sexual health. This is her first year as part of the GLADD committee and she's looking forward to organising both educational and social events in the next year (hopefully even some in person!).
In her spare time she enjoys hockey, very amature DIY and espresso martinis.
Kit (he/him) is a GP trainee in Bristol. He is particularly interested in medical education and working with GLADD on developing LGBTQ+ education resources and our mentoring scheme. He also continues to be involved with publicity and building community links through our regional networks. In his spare time Kit can be found rowing, baking and endlessly watering over 120 houseplants.
Graham (he/him) has supported GLADD for the past few years and in addition to his administrative role has a special interest in our academic and research activities.
For his day job, Graham works as a haematology registrar in the West Midlands and has an interest in haematological malignancies and translational research.
Andrew (he/him) is an anaesthetist, Clinical Governance Director and Freedom to Speak Up Guardian at Imperial College Healthcare, London. He is current President of the Anaesthetic Section of the Royal Society of Medicine, President of the Tri-Service Anaesthetic Society, Council Member of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists and Past President of the Association of Anaesthetists. He is particularly proud to be the current RAF Civilian Consultant Advisor in Anaesthesia, 20 years after being ordered to resign for being gay.
He is married, tweets, runs, likes holidays, chocolate & Airedales. @BletchleyBark (for the Airedale).
Bhushan is a longstanding member of GLADD who emigrated to Sydney and founded GLADD Australia in 2012. As a shadow member of the committee, Bhushan hopes to provide a voice and safe space for doctors and dentists in Australia, as well as a focal point for education, fun, discussion and activism. We are delighted to take part in this exciting collaboration and strengthen relationships with our friends & colleagues 'down under'.
Natchanon (he/him) is a third year medical student at Nottingham. He is interested in promoting healthcare equity and creating a safe space for LGBTQ+ medical students. He is originally from Thailand and will return there to complete his studies. While in the UK, he is keen to gain more experiences of LGBTQ+ healthcare organisations that will be useful when working back home. Outside of studying, he enjoys reading and watching Netflix.
