OUR COMMITTEE
Co-Senior Lead
Kenneth McLean
I’m a clinical research fellow based in Edinburgh. My specific interest is in general surgery, and particularly anything to do with data / epidemiology in that area. A lot of my focus within STARSurg has been on the data side of things, including trying to build tools to make running collaborative research projects quicker / easier. I was recently elected as the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) representative for the National Research Collaborative (NRC) – the association of all trainee research collaboratives in the UK.
Co-Senior Lead
Sivesh Kamarajah
I am an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. I am currently a steering committee member for the International, multicentre prospective cohort study, Oesophagogastric Anastomosis Audit (OGAA), the ESCP Safe-anastomosis Programme in Colorectal Surgery (EAGLE), and the Roux Group. I have published >50 PubMed articles and delivered at over >70 national and international meetings. In 2018 I was awarded an “Excellence in Research Award in Hepatobilliary and Pancreas” by the American College of Surgeons.
Student Lead
Victoria Murray
I’m a final year medical student at the University of Leeds. My interests are in general surgery and collaborative research. I’ve been involved in STARSurg for four years, having begun as a regional lead for the imagine project and then joined the committee the following year. Joining STARSurg has allowed me to develop skills in several roles within such a supportive team, from organising national events, to writing papers, developing educational material, and this year coming I’m excited to take on the role of student lead.
Co-Network Lead
Daniel Baker
I’m Danny, an Academic Foundation Trainee at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. I have a strong interest in emergency general and colorectal surgery and undertake mixed-methods research in colorectal surgery which stems from my intercalated degree in 2016. I’m also part of the ASiT executive council as social media officer. Within STARSurg I’ve held a couple of roles – firstly as regional lead co-ordinator, and more recently as network lead where I led the ‘network’ team. Feel free to get in touch for any STARSurg or general surgical queries!
Co-Network Lead
Emily Mills
I’m an academic foundation doctor based in Cambridge, and will be carrying out research in the area of Surgical Oncology. I joined STARSurg as a Regional Lead and progressed onto the Steering Committee in 2016, having been the outgoing student lead for this year. My research interests involve collaborative research and general surgery (breast/ colorectal). I aim to strengthen my research profile in my foundation years and pursue a joint clinical/academic pathway.
Education Lead
Rachel Khaw
I’m Rachel, an Academic Foundation Trainee at Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust. I have an interest in academic general surgery and am currently working in the Northern Oesophagogastric Unit. OAKS-2 was my first STARSurg collaborative study, and I joined the steering committee shortly after, getting the opportunity to further work on exciting collaborative projects! I currently lead the Education team in organising GRANULE courses, research skills courses and developing elearning modules.
Co-Data Lead
Omar Kouli
I am an Academic Foundation Trainee at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow . I started my involvement with STARSurg as a collaborator for the OAKS2 study back in second year. I am now part of the data team in the steering committee. I have particular interests in global surgery, data science, and neurosurgery.
Co-Data Lead
Waheed Ahmed
I’m an Aziz-Wolfson Foundation and NIHR BRC-funded MSc Scholar at the University of Oxford and final-year medical student at the University of Exeter. I am passionate about statistical genetics and big-data, and have spent the past few years delineating novel putative genes implicated in common elastopathies. I am recipient of >40 academic awards/prizes, notably Exeter University Student Leader of the Year and the BAPRAS John Barron Prize.
Melika Akhbari
I am an Academic Foundation Trainee with the Clinical Academic Training Office, University of Cambridge. I previously studied at the GKT School of Medical Education, King’s College London and completed an intercalated Masters in Clinical Neuroscience at The IoPPN. I am an advocate for student involvement in academic medicine and highly recommend engaging with STARSurg Collaborative initiatives for invaluable research experiences in the undergraduate setting.
Samuel Brown
I’m currently undertaking an iMRes at the University of Leicester between the 3rd and 4th years of my medical degree. This year my focus has been supporting our group of regional leads throughout the study periods to ensure the greatest success. I’ve been involved with STARSurg since 2nd year as a data collector in IMAGINE and joined the committee last year. My interests are in surgical training, education and research.
Sanchita Bhatia
I am a final year medical student at Cardiff University. I have been involved with STARSurg since 2017 as a collaborator for IMAGINE, regional lead for RECON and now on steering committee for COMPASS . As part of the data team, my role involves data management, protocol and paper development and measuring impact of STARSurg activities. I have a particular interest in academic surgery, data science and healthcare technology.
William Cambridge
I am currently a fifth-year medical student at The University of Edinburgh. I first became involved with STARSurg as a RECON collaborator in 2018 and was grateful to be given a place on the Steering Committee last year. Since then I’ve enjoyed taking an active role in both STARSurg project management and development, as well as developing new educational material. I have a particular interest in hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery, surgical oncology & transplantation.
Daoud Chaudhry
I’ve just finished my second year of clinical medicine at the University of Birmingham and will be starting my intercalation in clinical sciences in the upcoming academic year. I’ve been involved with COVIDSurg over the past few months as part of the operations committee and this has really helped me realise the power of collaborative research. I have a particular interests in global surgery, spinal surgery, and data science.
Rohan Gujjuri
I’m a 4th year medical student at the University of Birmingham and will be intercalating at Imperial College in Surgical Design and Technology in the upcoming academic year. I first became involved with STARSurg as a RECON collaborator and have built on that experience through the EuroSurg and COVIDSurg Collaboratives. I am passionate about academic general surgery, research and education with hopes of strengthening the important work achieved by STARSurg in recent years.
Viktorija Kaminskaite
Having completed four years of BMBS at the University of Exeter, I will be intercalating in MSc Genomic Medicine next academic year with a project on thyroid cancer. I am passionate about collaborative research and have a keen interest in the surgical specialities (plastic surgery and breast surgery in particular). I got involved with STARSurg as a collaborator for RECON, progressed to being a Regional Lead for COMPASS and this year joined the Steering Committee.
Michal Kawka
I’m a 4th-year medical student at Imperial College London, intercalating in Surgical Design, Technology and Innovation this year. I am interested in HPB, minimally invasive surgical techniques, technology-enhanced surgical education and global surgery. I am a firm believer in collaborative research and having taken part in COMPASS study last year, I have joined StarSurg Steering Committee hoping to share my passion with other medical students and promote collaboration in surgery.
Aya Riad
I am a fourth-year medical student at Edinburgh and have been involved in STARSurg as a Regional Lead for COMPASS. I have interests in academic surgery, medical informatics and global health and have just completed an intercalated degree in Surgical Sciences. I’m very excited to be joining the STARSurg steering committee and hope to continue empowering students to contribute to collaborative research!
Shiraz Shafi
I am a 4th year medical student at the University of Dundee. I became involved with STARSurg as a data collector in the RECON and COMPASS projects giving me insight to the mechanics of collaborative research. I have interests in data science, medical education and academic surgery. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a steering committee member and hope to further develop my data analysis and programming skills over the coming years.
Isobel Trout
I’m currently intercalating in Health Data Science at LSHTM after my fourth year at Birmingham. I first got involved with STARSurg as a data collector for RECON and joined the Steering Committee in 2019. This year I have been working with the network team and have designed our new website. I am particularly interested in global surgery, womens’ health and medical education, focussing on increasing student participation in research.