Speakers and presenters
Below you will find all details of our keynote speakers, session speakers, workshop presenters and Video+Poster presenters, click on each to learn about their backgrounds.
Keynotes
Andrew Boozary MD
Executive director, University Health Network (UHN), Canada
Dr Andrew Boozary is a primary care physician, policy practitioner, researcher, and founding executive director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine at the University Health Network. As the driving force behind Dunn House, Canada’s first social medicine housing initiative, he has been a leader in integrating health care and housing to address the social determinants of health. His work focuses on advancing health equity and improving outcomes for underserved populations.
Dr Boozary completed his medical training at the University of Toronto and health policy training at Princeton and Harvard. He has served in senior advisory roles for policymakers at various levels of government, shaping public policy on primary care reform and pharmacare. He is also the founding editor-in-chief of the Harvard Public Health Review and holds the Dalla Lana Professorship in Policy Innovation at the University of Toronto.
Recognised for his impact in health equity and social justice, Dr Boozary is a Clarkson Laureate for Public Service and recipient of the Louise Lemieux-Charles Health System Leadership Award. His writing and analysis appear in high-impact academic journals and major media outlets. In 2025, he was appointed clinical lead, population health at Ontario Health, where he continues to drive innovation at the intersection of health systems and social policy.
Lord Victor Adebowale CBE
Chair, NHS Confederation; Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR); Portakabin; Social Enterprise UK, UK
Victor is chair of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Portakabin, Social Enterprise UK, and the NHS Confederation. He is also a non-executive director of Collaborate CIC, chair and co-Founder of Visionable, and founder of Leadership in Mind.
Victor recently stepped down as chief executive of Turning Point, a social enterprise providing health and social care interventions for approximately 100,000 people per year. Victor also served as a non-executive director on the board of NHS England. He has chaired a number of commission reports into: policing; employment; mental health; housing; and fairness, for the London Fairness Commission; the Metropolitan Police; and for central and local government. He was awarded a CBE for services to the unemployed and homeless people, and became a crossbench peer in 2001.
Victor is a visiting professor and chancellor at the University of Lincoln; an honorary member of the Institute of Psychiatry; president of the International Association of Philosophy and Psychiatry, and a governor at the London School of Economics. Victor has an MA in Advanced Organisational Consulting from Tavistock Institute and City University.
Nigel Edwards
Chair, advisory group, PPL; Expert advisor, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, UK
Simon Corben
Director and head of profession, NHS Estates, NHS England and NHS Improvement, UK
After some 16 years in the private sector, advising the NHS and successfully growing and managing a team of property, clinical planning consultants and analysts, Simon returned to the public sector in 2017 to lead the Estates and Facilities function across the NHS, which now includes both the secondary and primary care sectors. The role at NHS England is one he relishes, building on the Carter Implementation Programme and Naylor Review. Following initial success delivering the Model Hospital and efficiency savings, he is taking forward and broadening out the NHS Estates agenda. This includes the primary care estate, the ProCure23 construction framework, and delivery of the Health Infrastructure Programmes announced by the prime minister in 2019. Most recently, he led the NHS Estates response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the delivery of seven Nightingale hospitals alongside improved clinical infrastructure resilience across the existing estate.
Since joining the NHS in May 2017, Simon has recruited a team aligned to the seven core initiatives of: commercial acumen; policy; workforce; sustainability; operational efficiency; standardisation, strategy and capital; and operational delivery.
In doing so, Simon and the team have:
• delivered both additional capital funding and investment into the NHS;
• reinstated the NHS estates Standards and Guidance programme;
• improved assurance of NHS estates safety, effectiveness and governance through the updating and mandatory implementation of the NHS Premises Assurance Model (NHS PAM); and
• reconfigured and expanded the NHS Estates Division to cover primary care and regional teams;
An accredited Gateway reviewer and project director, Simon understands the need for commercial, innovative and deliverable solutions. In his role at NHS England, he is using his skills and experiences to bring fresh ideas and drive to improve the quality and efficiency of estates and facilities management across the NHS.
Session speakers and workshop presenters
Sara Madbouli
Senior architect, Hopkins Architects, UK
Sara joined Hopkins Architects ten years ago during her studies at the University of Bath, first working in the practice’s Dubai studio and now based in its London head office, led by principal Simon Fraser.
She has worked on a variety of projects with Hopkins, including the World Expo 2020 Dubai Thematic Districts, and the Buhais Geological Museum, helping to develop concept proposals through to construction.
During her time at the practice, Sara has been involved in a number of hospital projects, including the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute, leading the co-ordination of the medical planning with the architectural design. The project has a highly complex brief, combining several different outpatient, inpatient and imaging facilities. She has also, most recently, been involved with the masterplan and concept design for the National Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Sultan Haitham City, Oman.
Ab Rogers
Creative Director, Ab Rogers Design , United Kingdom
Ab Rogers is a designer and founder of Ab Rogers Design (ARD), a design and architecture studio he established in 2004 and now runs with co-director Ernesto Bartolini.
With specific focus on caring spaces, sustainability and inside-out design, the studio now works internationally across health, culture, hospitality and residential sectors, designing active, supportive, engaging environments that inject narrative and purpose into the everyday.
In 2021 the studio won the Wolfson Economics Prize with its design for the hospital of the future. Following this, Ab co-founded the DRU+, a design research unit that explores the interrelationship between design, culture and neuroscience, using scientific rigour to deliver the art of care.
He has taught all over the world, creating and leading the Interior Design MA Programme at the RCA from 2012 – 2015, and has delivered projects for clients such as Maggie’s, 180 the Strand, Tate Modern and Selfridges.
Selected Link: www.abrogers.com
Adam Bradshaw
Technical director, AECOM, United Kingdom
Adam Hope
Associate director of estates and facilities, Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
Adam Hope is associate director of estates, facilities and capital development at Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. He leads strategic estate planning, capital programme oversight and sustainability across complex acute healthcare environments.
Joining the Women’s and Children’s Hospital programme during the delivery phase, Adam provided executive leadership and assurance to secure NHS Net Zero Building Standard Certification and ensure sustainability targets were realised in practice. His work centres on strengthening governance, aligning infrastructure with clinical need, and driving long-term environmental performance across healthcare estates.
Aileen Igoe
Lean and Systems Re-design Lead, Mater Hospital, Ireland
Aileen Igoe is Lean and Systems Redesign Lead in Mater Transformation at the Mater Hospital Dublin, a unit embedded within the hospital that works with frontline staff to understand complex problems and co-design high-impact, sustainable solutions.
Originally trained as an architect, she entered the healthcare sector in 2011 while working on a major hospital development at the Mater Hospital, where her interest in the relationship between spatial design and work systems emerged. She holds advanced qualifications in Lean Six Sigma Process Engineering and a Master’s in Innovation and Leadership in Healthcare, and has over a decade of experience redesigning and healthcare systems and services.
An Adjunct Associate Professor at UCD Health Systems, Aileen lectures and mentors on the Mater Lean Academy Process Improvement Programmes, applying systems thinking and design expertise to deliver user-centred, workable change
Akilah O’Brien
Disaster recovery specialist, VI Department of Human Services, United States
Akilah O’Brien is a disaster recovery specialist at the VI Department of Human Services, St Croix, USA.
Albert Vitaller
Founding partner, architect, Vitaller Arquitectura, Spain
Albert Vitalle is the founding partner of Vitaller Arquitectura. An architect who studied at ETSAB-UPC, he has a Master's in Large-Scale Architecture from UPC.
Vitaller Arquitectura has developed projects in all phases, from the creation of master and functional plans to overseeing the construction. It has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare and social care architecture. It has worked on the design of several medical care facilities, developing and creating proposals that foster human scale, as well as the comfort and wellbeing of users.
Alejandro Iriarte
Health planning principal, HDR, United Kingdom
In his more than 28 years of experience, Alejandro has designed/planned/built more than 2.6 million square feet of healthcare-related facilities, including renovations and greenfield hospitals. His experience includes several years of facilities’ evaluation and strategic/conceptual planning for leading hospital campus organisations across the globe.
Alex Senciuc
Associate director, Archus, United Kingdom
An experienced healthcare planner and architect, Alex has led the development and delivery of major healthcare infrastructure and transformation programmes across the UK, Europe, Africa, and North America. With over 11 years in the healthcare sector and a PhD in strategic healthcare planning, Alex specialises in system-wide transformation through data-driven, collaborative approaches that align clinical, workforce, infrastructure, and financial strategies.
With a portfolio of more than 63 projects totalling over £6bn, Alex brings a blend of design thinking, system data modelling, and stakeholder leadership. Through his PhD at UCL, he pioneered the use of simulation modelling in integrated care system (ICS) planning, enabling health systems to make evidence-based decisions across organisational boundaries. A skilled facilitator and project leader, Alex is valued for the ability to unite diverse stakeholder groups around shared goals and deliver innovation at scale.
Alexie Telan
Senior consultant, digital advisory and transformation, Lexica, member of WSP, UK
Andrea Buckley
Technical director, Lexica, now WSP, United Kingdom
Andrea Buckley is a technical director at Lexica (member of WSP) with over 15 years of experience in public/private-sector partnerships in the UK construction and development industry, with a focus on corporate social responsibility policy. Andrea led the strategic development of the Demand and Capacity Climate Impact Model development for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, a model that forecasts benchmark climate-related spells in the future, mapping flooding, overheating, air pollution and health deprivation. She has successfully led high-impact projects across the public sector, including net-zero strategy for the General Medical Council, heat decarbonisation across NHS trusts in the South East and Midlands, and secured funding through LCSF, PSDS and local funding schemes. Her previous roles in development funding and social value with organisations, including Morgan Sindall Investments and GB Partnerships, have given Andrea expertise in finance structuring, public private partnerships, PFI, ESG and stakeholder engagement.
Andrew Ardill
Director, Hopkins Architects, United Kingdom
Andrew joined Hopkins Architects in 2000 and became a director in 2015. He studied Architecture at Queen’s University Belfast, where he was awarded the RSUA Silver Medal for his final-year thesis.
He has significant international experience on major Hopkins Architects projects, including a mixed-use skyscraper in Tokyo, the Dubai World Trade Centre One Central district, and the World Expo 2020 Dubai Thematic Districts, a highly complex development comprising more than 87 pavilion buildings and an extensive public realm.
Working alongside Hopkins’ principal, Simon Fraser, Andrew has co-led several major healthcare buildings, including the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute, now under construction, and the masterplan and concept design for the National Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Sultan Haitham City, Oman. The latter features an innovative courtyard-based approach that creates a strong sense of community for each patient group.
Andrew Boozary MD
Executive director, University Health Network (UHN), Canada
Dr Andrew Boozary is a primary care physician, policy practitioner, researcher, and founding executive director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine at the University Health Network. As the driving force behind Dunn House, Canada’s first social medicine housing initiative, he has been a leader in integrating health care and housing to address the social determinants of health. His work focuses on advancing health equity and improving outcomes for underserved populations.
Dr Boozary completed his medical training at the University of Toronto and health policy training at Princeton and Harvard. He has served in senior advisory roles for policymakers at various levels of government, shaping public policy on primary care reform and pharmacare. He is also the founding editor-in-chief of the Harvard Public Health Review and holds the Dalla Lana Professorship in Policy Innovation at the University of Toronto.
Recognised for his impact in health equity and social justice, Dr Boozary is a Clarkson Laureate for Public Service and recipient of the Louise Lemieux-Charles Health System Leadership Award. His writing and analysis appear in high-impact academic journals and major media outlets. In 2025, he was appointed clinical lead, population health at Ontario Health, where he continues to drive innovation at the intersection of health systems and social policy.
Andrew Castle
Director, Currie & Brown, UK
Andrew Castle is a director in Currie & Brown’s Healthcare Advisory team, with a background in healthcare strategy and operations.
He has over 20 years of international experience across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Andrew specialises in designing and delivering complex strategic change programmes. He has particular expertise in healthcare planning, facility development, and clinical strategy across primary, secondary, tertiary, and mental health settings.
He has held senior roles, including programme manager at Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar. Andrew has also held consulting roles with the NHS and the Health Holding Company in Saudi Arabia. In addition to his professional work, he is a published author on Lean in healthcare and a former Health Service Journal columnist.
Andrew Hall
Head of impact and evaluation, CW+, United Kingdom
Andy is the head of impact and evaluation for CW+, the charity for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. In this role, he oversees the charity’s strategy for evaluating the impact of its work, working closely with the trust and key partners to measure and articulate the effect of its programmes within the hospital community. Andy originally joined CW+ in 2016 as a musician in residence, building on his background in both music and research to lead projects investigating the effects of arts participation on patients, families and staff. His work has led to publications and conference presentations across the country, including at the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, and the Manchester Science Festival.
Andrew Jackson
Environmental sustainability manager, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, UK
Andrew Jackson is the environmental sustainability manager at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, focusing on climate change adaptation, greenspace and the sustainability of our food within healthcare. Andrew has spent more than 12 years working within public and private organisations to improve environmental performance. His focus currently is to make climate resilience tangible to key decision makers within the Trust. GSTT has partnered with Lexica (member of WSP) to develop an innovative approach to healthcare planning to help understand the impact of climate change on patient demand at GSTT’s sites to plan for the future.
Andrew Simpson
Director, Andrew Simpson Planning Ltd, United Kingdom
Andrew trained in medicine but in the late eighties was diverted into work as a campaigner for better mental health services as a director of Mind the mental health charity. This led to his work in planning improved services for the NHS and thus to a wider role in urban planning.
Andrew focusses on the importance of well-being and sustainability in urban planning. As Director of Estates and Regeneration for South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust, he secured planning permission with a delivery model for the largest regeneration scheme on an NHS site in England at Springfield Hospital, based on a vision of integrated health and social care provision at the heart of a new community. Springfield Village is now substantially complete, representing the largest new neighbourhood in London since the Olympic Village as well as the largest new mental health facility built in the capital in recent times.
Since then, Andrew has been engaged on a number of regeneration projects, aimed at creating new communities that respond to the housing, climate and ecological emergencies and are great places to live, work and play. He was a founder director of Lewes Phoenix Rising, a community development company that successfully promoted the genuinely sustainable regeneration of the last large industrial site in the centre of Lewes, East Sussex. This project is now being taken forward by Lewes District Council.
Andrew lives and works in Lewes, East Sussex
Anna-Johanna Klasander
Architect SAR/MSA, PhD, White Arkitekter, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Anna Johanna Klasander took her MSc in Architecture at Chalmers in 1997, and finished her PhD here in 2004 with the thesis 'Suburban navigation. Structural coherence and visual appearance in urban design'. After almost ten years as a practitioner she came back to the division of Urban Design and Planning in 2014; since then, she has split her time between Chalmers and White Arkitekter.
Her main professional interest is urban design and human settlements (of any size) as form and phenomenon, issues that she has addressed at Chalmers, as well as at Gothenburg City Planning Office, where she worked for three years, and at White Arkitekter, where she is director of R&D.
Anne Guri Grimsby
Senior creative leader, Arkitema, Norway
Anne Guri Grimsby is an experienced Norwegian architect and senior leader with deep expertise in the planning and execution of large, complex hospital developments. She has directed multidisciplinary architectural teams on major projects in Norway and Sweden, including the New Østfold Hospital (89,000 m²), Södertälje Hospital (40,000 m²), and Nye UNN Narvik (34,000 m²), serving as the primary liaison to client organisations across all phases.
Anne Guri is currently part of the core team developing Oslo University Hospital’s New Aker Hospital (210,000 m²), where she focuses on functional planning and structured user involvement in collaboration with the client, and being the architect’s representative in the art commission for the project.
A former partner at Arkitema and a healthcare sector leader since 2006, she brings strategic competence in user engagement, functional design, cost-controlled planning, sustainability, and project governance. Her work consistently supports the delivery of efficient, integrated, and patient-centred healthcare environments.
Annette Dörr
Interior architect, heinlewischer, Germany
Annette Doerr is an interior architect and project manager with more than 30 years of experience at heinlewischer. Throughout her career, she has led the conceptual and interior design of numerous projects in Germany and abroad, contributing significantly to the firm’s healthcare and workplace portfolio. Her expertise extends beyond practice to academia and professional discourse; she has taught seminars at the universities of Palermo and Napoli and has presented internationally on topics ranging from interior design principles to the planning and organisation of healthcare facilities.
Annette served as the project manager for the surgical suite expansion at the Dortmund Hospital, North Clinical Center.
Austin Ferguson
Architect, heinlewischer, Germany
Austin Ferguson is an American architect based in heinlewischer’s Berlin office, specialising in the design and planning of healthcare facilities. With professional experience in both the United States and Germany, he brings a valuable understanding of the healthcare systems, regulatory frameworks, and design standards in both contexts. His cross-cultural expertise strengthens the firm’s local and international healthcare projects.
Beyond his core work in healthcare design, Austin led the expedited planning and implementation of mass vaccination centres for the State of Berlin during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also played a key role in developing a refugee reception centre in Berlin for Ukrainians fleeing the war, contributing urgently needed expertise during a time of crisis.
Aysegul Ozlem Bayraktar Sari
PhD candidate / researcher, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Aysegul Ozlem Bayraktar Sari is a PhD candidate at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University. Her research focuses on computational Building Information Modelling (BIM) based methods for spatial analysis in healthcare environments. She develops graph-based and visibility-driven workflows integrating Revit, Dynamo, and Python to evaluate accessibility, integration, privacy, and movement patterns in emergency department layouts.
Her work aims to embed spatial performance analysis directly within the BIM environment to support evidence-based design decision-making in complex healthcare settings. She has presented her research at international conferences and has published in peer-reviewed journals. Her broader interests include computational design, graph-based analysis, digital twins, and data- and learning-driven approaches in architecture, particularly in relation to healthcare design and performance-oriented environments.
Azadeh Kazeranizadeh
Architect, Billard Leece Partnership, Australia
Azadeh is a registered architect at Billard Leece Partnership, having joined the firm in 2021. Azadeh has worked with government agencies, local health districts, developers and consultants on complex public projects. Her work engages not only with building design but with the broader systems that shape healthcare and community environments. She advocates for holistic approaches to health design, spaces that support wellbeing clinically, spatially, culturally and emotionally. For Azadeh, healthcare architecture should be restorative, dignified and meaningfully connected to the communities it serves.
Azadeh approaches architecture as both a technical discipline and a social project. Born and educated in Iran, she completed a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering where she developed an early understanding that the built environment must respond to how people live, heal, gather and belong. She moved to Australia in 2017 to pursue a Master of Architecture at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 2019.
Azrin Jamaluddin
Researcher, Architectural Cognition in Practice, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, Singapore
Azrin is a researcher in the Architectural Cognition in Practice group. He holds an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from UCL and a BSc in Psychology & Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Nottingham. He has experience working with behavioural, survey, eye-tracking, and neural data. His current research in the group involves evaluating the usability and effectiveness of a pedestrian wayfinding system using various methodologies such as deep dive interviews, user shadowing, and behavioural experiments using mobile eye-tracking.
Barbara Linowiecka
Assistant professor, Poznan University of Technology, Poland
Dr Barbara Linowiecka is an interior architect, researcher and assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Poznań University of Technology. She specialises in healthcare interior architecture, evidence-based design, universal and ecological design, and place identity. In her research and practice, she applies methods such as eye-tracking, user behaviour analysis and participatory design to translate scientific evidence into practical design solutions.
Her current work focuses on model patient rooms and hospital inpatient areas that enhance patient wellbeing, family comfort and staff efficiency. She has authored numerous scientific publications on interior design, sustainability and inclusive spaces for diverse users.
Dr Linowiecka has completed more than 60 interior projects, ranging from private apartments and public buildings to healthcare facilities. She combines academic research and teaching with collaboration with industry partners, physicians and engineers, enabling her to implement and test design solutions in real-world settings.
Barbara Miszkiel
Health director, Canada East and vice-president, HDR Architecture Associates, Canada
As director of HDR’s Canada East health practice and a leading voice in mental health design, Barbara is internationally recognised for creating therapeutic environments that balance safety, dignity, and joy. Her work advances a model of care that supports freedom of movement while ensuring the highest standards of protection and clinical excellence. She brings deep expertise from award-winning projects, including CAMH, Lutherwood Mental Health Centre, Sunnybrook’s Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre, and the Hillsborough Acute Mental Health and Life Skills Centre with its Transitional Housing Pavilion. Barbara’s influence extends beyond project delivery: she is a sought-after global speaker, a contributor to the Design in Mental Health Network, and is cited in Stephen Verderber’s recent book 'Innovations in Behavioral Health Architecture'. Her leadership continues to shape the future of mental health environments across Canada and internationally.
Ben Raybould
Digital lead, New Hospital Programme, UK
Bill Saul
Principal architect, SableARC Studios, Canada
Bill Saul is a Principal Architect and LEED® Accredited Professional at SableARC Studios in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Bill has more than 25 years of experience designing mental health, civic, post-secondary, residential, education, healthcare, and urban design projects across Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His international portfolio has shaped a thoughtful, human-centred approach to mental health design, grounded in safety, dignity, and therapeutic engagement. Bill is also recognized as a leader in net-zero-ready, future-focused architecture, advancing sustainable strategies that balance environmental responsibility with exceptional patient care. His work brings forward new standards and best practices – from enhancing patient experience to supporting long-term greenhouse gas reduction targets – positioning him as a key voice in the evolution of resilient, sustainable healthcare environments.
Bissan Chalich
Senior medical planner, Dar Al-Handasah, Jordan
Bissan Chalich is a senior medical planner at Dar Al-Handasah in Amman, Jordan, with 28 years of experience in the design and delivery of complex projects. Fourteen of those years have been dedicated to healthcare, with a strong focus on planning and designing care environments across a broad spectrum of services.
Drawing on this experience, Bissan applies an evidence-based, user-centred approach to create healthcare spaces that support clinical operations, enhance patient and staff experience, and adapt to evolving models of care. She is particularly interested in how architecture can contribute to better health outcomes by delivering environments that are efficient, resilient, and genuinely responsive to the people who use them.
Cameron C. Brown
Associate professor, Texas Tech University, United States
Dr Brown is a licensed marriage and family therapist with more than ten years of clinical experience. He is an associate professor in the Couple, Marriage, and Family Therapy programme at Texas Tech University, where his work focuses on the systemic intersections of behavioural, social, and physical health. His research includes areas such as health, attachment, ethics, power, and relational processes. In addition to his academic role, he is co-owner of Desert Sky Family Therapy, where he provides clinical services and supervises emerging mental health professionals.
Carlos Acuña
Site engineering manager, Sacyr UK, United Kingdom
Carlos is an accomplished architect with extensive experience managing a diverse portfolio of projects across the commercial, residential, hospitality, and healthcare sectors. His core expertise lies in the latter two, where he has developed a strong reputation for delivering complex, high-value developments to the highest standards.
Carlos has successfully led teams across both private and public sectors, working on the client and delivery sides. His leadership spans projects of varying scale, from smaller bespoke developments to large-scale initiatives. Notably, he played a key role in stakeholder engagement and delivery of multiple healthcare facilities, ensuring seamless handovers and stakeholder alignment.
Carlos is quality-driven and highly detail-oriented, consistently focused on delivering exceptional outcomes and exceeding client expectations. His blend of technical expertise and strong operational leadership makes him a valuable asset to any project team.
Catherine Junda
Health sector technology practice leader, Stantec Architecture, United States
Cathy Junda is the health sector digital technology practice leader at Stantec, where she leads global digital health visioning, ecosystem design, and technology-enabled care models across acute, ambulatory, cancer, mental health, and community care environments. With a background spanning healthcare architecture, engineering, and enterprise technology, her work focuses on aligning clinical operations, digital infrastructure, and physical environments to support resilient, future-ready health systems.
Cathy has led digital strategy and design for major healthcare projects across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia, including regional command centres, hybrid nursing models, smart hospitals, and digitally enabled community care networks. Her work emphasises equity of access, workforce sustainability, and the use of regional and virtual models to extend specialist expertise beyond hospital walls.
She is a frequent speaker on digital health ecosystems, ambient intelligence, and healthcare system resilience, and actively contributes to industry forums focused on innovation, health design, and system transformation.
Cathy Walker
Manager clinical planning, Trillium Health Partners, Canada
Cathy Walker is a Registered Nurse and Manager of Clinical Planning for Trillium Health Partners overseeing the clinical planning and design of what will be the largest hospital in Canada, The Peter Gilgan and Shah Family Hospital for Women and Children in Mississauga. Cathy has had a variety of front line and leadership roles within the Women’s and Children’s program at Trillium Health Partners. Prior to moving into management in 2014 Cathy spent approximately 20 years working in the Quality and Risk Management Department where she provided leadership in an array of quality initiatives in Women’s and Children’s Health, Emergency Department and Mental Health Programs. Cathy led the work for Trillium Health Partners in their successful designation as a Baby Friendly Organization in 2017. Cathy is passionate about quality improvement, and the implementation of evidence based best practices to improve the quality of care, and patient safety. Embracing a learning environment Cathy has a deep commitment to providing the best experience for patients, staff and the community.
Chai Jayachandran
Healthcare architect, Jacobs, United States
Chai Jayachandran, AIA, ACHA is a healthcare architect with 23 years of experience specialising in planning and design of complex healthcare spaces across the care continuum. Chai plays an integral role in client business development, thought leadership, staff mentoring and project leadership.
Charlie Prats
Architect and medical planner, Page/Stantec, United States
Charlie Prats, RA, LEED AP BD+C, LEAN BB IISE, is a senior project architect and medical planner at Page Southerland Page/Stantec, USA.
Chen Cohen
Partner, DIALOG, Canada
Cohen (who goes by her last name) is an award-winning designer recognised for her expertise in large-scale, complex institutional projects. With a background in both interior design and architecture, she brings a holistic perspective to her work, shaping buildings from the inside out. Her projects are defined by a refined interplay of light, thoughtful material selection, strategic use of colour, and carefully curated furnishings that work in harmony to elevate the overall spatial experience.
Known for her methodical, hands-on, and highly collaborative approach from early concept through completion, Cohen translates clients’ visions and aspirations into elevated, enduring design solutions that are both timeless and beautiful. Her commitment to equitable and universal design is integral to her process. She leads explorations around cultural, physical, and gender sensitivities, ensuring that each project meaningfully supports and enhances the user experience.
Chris Bonnett
General manager – strategic projects & government growth initiatives, GE HealthCare, United Kingdom
Chris is general manager of strategic projects and government growth initiatives at GE HealthCare.
He is a globally experienced healthcare leader with over 20 years’ experience in international markets. Chris specialises in healthcare projects, funding, and development. He has led government affairs, partnerships, and implementation programmes across complex environments.
Chris works with public- and private-sector organisations to deliver large-scale transformative healthcare programmes for ministries of health and government bodies.
Chris Richardson
Architect, principal and technical lead – health, Jacobs, Australia
Chris Richardson is an architect and principal in Jacobs’ Health Architecture studio in Brisbane, Australia, with almost 30 years’ experience designing and delivering buildings for public- and private-sector clients. His work spans the full project lifecycle, from briefing and masterplanning through to technical design, delivery, commissioning and handover.
Health architecture has always been a part of Chris’s career and has become his primary focus for the past decade, particularly within Queensland and the broader ANZ region. He currently leads the Jacobs Health Architecture team for the New Toowoomba Hospital, an 80,000 sqm acute services development for Darling Downs Health, designed to expand clinical capacity and strengthen regional healthcare resilience, scheduled for completion in Q4 2028.
Chris is driven by complex briefs and multifaceted design challenges. He is committed to creating human‑centred, inclusive environments that welcome diverse patient cohorts and support improved health outcomes for the whole community.
Christian Wrede
Postdoctoral researcher, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Dr Christian Wrede works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Interaction Design group of the University of Twente, Netherlands. As a psychologist and digital health specialist, he is interested in innovative solutions to support ageing in place, informal care, and community nursing. His doctoral research focused on the design and implementation of remote monitoring solutions to support home-based dementia care.
Christine Chadwick
Managing director, Archus Canada, Canada
Christine Chadwick is the Managing Director of Archus Canada with 30+ years of experience in healthcare, including many executive and leadership roles. Christine brings system-wide expertise and skills including strategy/visioning, equipment planning, health services planning, masterplanning/programming, functional programming, lean thinking, digi-physical visioning, stakeholder engagement at all levels and input into healthcare planning. She has led major hospital and long-term care projects across Canada and internationally, with a focus on ensure that the clients receive price certainty and value for money whilst maintaining the highest level of patient care and staff safety. Christine is Co-Chair of the CSA Z8005 Digital Infrastructure & digital technologies in healthcare facilities. She also sits as a Voting Member of the CSA Health Care Facilities Technical Committee (Z257 TC). Alongside her technical expertise, Christine is a passionate advocate for developing the next generation of healthcare leaders. She is a Mentor in Residence and sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine & Innovation, a mentor for the Women’s Infrastructure Network and Founding President of the Canadian Women’s Circle of Healthcare (CWCH) (which is a national non-profit organization).
Christoph Hoelscher
Chair, Cognitive Science, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, Switzerland
Prof Christoph Hoelscher has been a full professor of cognitive science at ETH Zurich since 2013, with an emphasis on applied spatial cognition research in built environments. Since 2016, he has been a principal investigator at the Singapore ETH Center (SEC) Future Cities Laboratory, heading a research group on ‘Cognition, Perception and Behaviour in Urban Environments’ and now on ‘Architectural Cognition in Practice’, with a more translational focus. He holds a PhD in Psychology from University of Freiburg, and he served as honorary senior research fellow at UCL, Bartlett School of Architecture, and as a visiting professor at the Faculty of Architecture at Northumbria University Newcastle.
Claire O’Donnell
Principal, Parkin Architects, Canada
Claire is a healthcare planner and project manager with over a decade of experience delivering complex health infrastructure projects. She brings deep expertise in specialized medical environments, including behavioural health and cardiac care, with a strong focus on operational planning, clinical workflows, and patient experience. Claire leads comprehensive user engagement processes, facilitating workshops, interviews, and working sessions that meaningfully involve patients, clinicians, and administrators in shaping project outcomes.
Her background in architecture and project management enables her to translate clinical requirements into clear functional programs and efficient spatial solutions. Claire is known for building trust with stakeholders, creating environments where diverse voices are heard and aligned around shared goals. Through structured planning, clear communication, and collaborative decision-making, she ensures projects are grounded in evidence-based design and operational realities. Claire is committed to human-centered healthcare environments that support wellness, dignity, and high-quality care delivery.
Corey Horowitz
Associate, senior urban planner, DIALOG, Canada
Corey is a registered urban planner based in Toronto, bringing over 12 years of diverse experience spanning multiple practice areas including mixed-use, institutional and healthcare-specific planning. He has led the development approvals process for multiple hospital projects in the Greater Toronto Area. His expertise extends to land use strategies, master plans, policy development and affordable housing. Through a collaborative spirit and design sensibility – shaped through years of working closely with urban designers, architects and technical disciplines – Corey’s perspective drives his impact at a wide range of scales and project stages. Whether crafting compelling visions and conceptual development or at more detailed design phases, at a site-specific level or through a broader strategic planning lens, Corey values a holistic, contextual approach.
Cristiana Caira
Architect, White Arkitekter, Sweden
Cristiana Caira MArch, is partner and board director at White Arkitekter, artistic professor of healthcare architecture at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, member of the Board at the European Health Property Network, and member of the programme committee for the European Healthcare Design Congress. Cristiana has 25 years of experience in planning complex healthcare environments in Scandinavia and internationally. Focused on increasing collaboration between practice, research and education, Cristiana has led major White Arkitekter healthcare projects, including the award-winning Södra Älvsborg Hospital Psychiatric Clinic, the Queen Silvia Children Hospital in Gothenburg, and a large-scale extension of Karlstad Hospital. Her latest international project is the award-winning extension for the Panzi Hospital in Congo, in collaboration with the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Denis Mukwege. Cristiana is currently healthcare design lead architect within the expert international team appointed to design Cambridge Children’s Hospital.
D. Kirk Hamilton
Professor emeritus, Texas A&M University, United States
Hamilton is a board-certified healthcare architect who had 30 years of active practice in hospital and ambulatory center design before adding a master's degree in organization theory and joining Texas A&M where he researches the relationship between evidence-based design and measurable organisational performance. He earned a PhD in Nursing and Healthcare Innovation at Arizona State University in 2017. He taught evidence-based design for health in the Texas A&M graduate programme and co-edits the peer-reviewed HERD journal. He is a widely published author and frequent national and international speaker. He retired after 18 years at Texas A&M in September 2022 to become professor emeritus.
Dara Rasoal
Senior researcher, Dalarna University, Sweden
Dr Dara Rasoal is a senior researcher at the School of Health and Welfare, Dalarna University. His primary research interests include clinical ethics within the healthcare sector and medical decision-making processes. Dr Rasoal has completed and published numerous research projects both in Sweden and internationally, exploring topics such as predictors and consequences of paid employment after retirement, moral distress among nursing personnel, and women's health and medical rights within healthcare. Additionally, his research addresses critical ethical issues related to women's health during the Covid-19 pandemic, elderly care, and caregiving ethics.
David Allison
Alumni distinguished professor and director, Clemson University, United States
David Allison FAIA, FACHA is an alumni distinguished professor and has served as the director of graduate studies in architecture + health [A+H] at Clemson University since 1990. His teaching, research and scholarship involve the study of relationships between health, healthcare and the built environment. The A+H programme at Clemson is nationally recognised for its focused curriculum and emphasis on design excellence within the discipline of healthcare architecture. It is committed to the integration of innovative design with academic scholarship and research in healthcare environments and healthy community planning and design, and it has won numerous national and international programme and student awards for its work under Professor Allison’s direction.
Professor Allison is also a licensed architect in South and North Carolina. He is a board certified, founding member and fellow of the American College of Healthcare Architects [ACHA], currently serves as 2025 president on the ACHA Board of Regents, and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. He was selected in 2007 as one of “Twenty making a difference” nationally by Healthcare Design Magazine and identified again in 2009, 2010 and 2012 by a national poll conducted by the magazine as “one of the most influential people in healthcare design.” Design Intelligence Magazine named him one of the nation's 30 most admired design educators in 2013-14 and again in 2019. He was also recently recognised as the Center for Health Design 2019 Changemaker.
David Nicholson
Managing director, UK, MENA, Tektology, United Kingdom
David Nicholson is the managing director of Tektology in the UK, Middle East, and North America – a consultancy focused on health system design, digital innovation, smart hospitals, new facilities, and transformation. With more than 20 years of senior executive experience at the highest levels, his career spans Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, and the UK, where he has worked on complex healthcare and public-sector challenges across diverse settings.
His work spans major programmes with NHS trusts and NHS England’s New Hospital Programme, where he serves as a member of the Independent Technical Review Panel, chair of the NHP Independent Digital Group, and a digital advisor. He also works closely with NHS Wales organisations and national bodies to support system-wide digital transformation. Internationally, his experience extends across Australia and New Zealand, contributing to strategic digital transformation and patient-centred care pathways, and across Canada and India, supporting large-scale health improvement programmes that align policy, technology and outcomes.
At Tektology, David has been instrumental in developing innovative methodologies that help organisations incubate, evaluate, and scale new technologies rapidly. His work focuses on practical solutions to complex challenges, integrating strategic policy, digital tools, and operational redesign to enhance healthcare delivery and outcomes.
David Powell
New Velindre Cancer Centre project director, Velindre University NHS Trust, United Kingdom
David is project director at Velindre University NHS Trust responsible for the new Velindre Cancer Centre. He joined Velindre in May 2020 to develop the new Velindre Cancer Centre. David is also combining this with a role at the Alder Hey Health Campus for Alder Hey CNHSFT. David joined the Alder Hey Board as development director in December 2012 and has more than 30 years’ experience working in the NHS. Prior to his role at Alder Hey, David held development director posts in Bristol and London overseeing new hospital programmes.
Debajyoti Pati
Professor and Rockwell Endowment Chair, Texas Tech University, United States
Dr Debajyoti Pati is a professor and Rockwell Endowment Chair in the Department of Design, Texas Tech University. He has published widely in the areas of health and healthcare design. He has been listed on the Stanford/Elsevier Top 2 per cent Scientists List and twice voted among the 25 most influential people in healthcare design in the US. He is currently serving on the editorial board of HERD journal, and on the International Advisory Board of the Swiss Center for Design and Health, among others. He is a fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects.
Debbie So
Senior innovation manager, Imperial College Healthcare Partners, United Kingdom
Debbie So is a healthcare innovation and strategy leader. Her current role is senior innovation manager at Imperial College Healthcare Partners, with a background in strategy consultancy and partnerships from Deloitte. Debbie is passionate about taking innovations from concept to practice across large-scale public and private organisations to deliver user-centred care, including obesity pathway redesign for NW London, Covid-19 testing pathways, and the Vodafone Centre for Health. Her work was awarded Innovation, Growth & New Business Models Gold by the Financial Times and British Media Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Top 100.
Debbie graduated with an MSc in Healthcare Design from Imperial College of London and an MRes from the Royal College of Arts London. Her thesis was on the redesign of a NW London-based trauma emergency department to support effective, efficient and safe patient flow.
Deborah Wingler
Global practice director, applied research, HKS, United States
As partner and global practice director for applied research at HKS, Dr Deborah Wingler collaborates across sectors to develop and implement applied research services that drive innovation and achieve measurable impact across the firm and health practice, globally. She also serves as the executive director for the Center for Advanced Research and Evaluation (CADRE) and holds an appointment as adjunct faculty in the School of Architecture at Clemson University. Deborah’s research focuses on improving the user experience by eliciting insight into users’ affective responses to high-stress healthcare environments. Through her research, she has worked with some of the most forward-thinking Fortune 500 companies, healthcare organisations and manufacturers, to reimagine primary, specialty, acute, and home healthcare. She is a well-known passionate patient and family advocate for healthcare design, researcher, speaker, and published author. She holds a PhD from Clemson University in Healthcare Architecture and earned a M.S.D. in Healthcare Innovation from the Herberger Institute of Design at Arizona State University. Deborah holds several industry and academic awards. She was recently awarded HCD 10 researcher of the year for 2022 by Healthcare Design Magazine.
Deirdre Moreley
Clinical lead, National High Level Isolation Unit, Consultant Infectious Disease and Intensive Care Medicine, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Ireland
Deirdre is clinical lead for the National High Level Isolation Unit at the mater Miseriordiae University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. She is a consultant in infectious disease and intensive care medicine. She completed FJFICMI and EDIC examinations and is on the specialty register of Intensive Care Medicine since 2020. She completed Higher Specialist Training in Infectious Disease in 2017.
Diana Anderson
Healthcare architect and physician, Jacobs, United States
Dr Diana Anderson is a triple-boarded professional – healthcare architect (ACHA-American College of Healthcare Architects), internist, and a geriatrician. As a “dochitect,” she pioneered a collaborative, evidence-based model for approaching healthcare from the medicine and architecture fields simultaneously. She has worked on hospital design projects globally and is widely published in both architectural and medical journals, books and the popular press, including The New York Times, The Lancet, Metropolis, etc. She is a past fellow of the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics, which launched her current exploration of the ethics of built space. She is currently an assistant professor of neurology at Boston University and undertakes research in health design. She is a healthcare principal at Jacobs, contributing her thought leadership at the intersection of design and health, and was elevated to the Council of Fellows within the ACHA for her contributions to the profession.
Diego Morettin
Partner, DIALOG, Canada
Diego is an accomplished architect, driven by a strong belief in the transformative power of design to enhance community wellbeing. He specialises in large, complex institutional and healthcare environments, guiding multidisciplinary teams and diverse stakeholder groups towards clear, balanced, and human-centred solutions. His work reflects a deep commitment to addressing complex organisational challenges while delivering meaningful social impact.
A collaborative and team-oriented leader, Diego is dedicated to mentoring emerging architects and fostering a culture of shared learning and design excellence. Grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the architectural process, from early visioning through delivery, he integrates diverse perspectives into cohesive, purposeful outcomes. His inclusive leadership style and strategic clarity have earned industry-wide respect and resulted in a body of work that leaves a lasting impact on both communities and the profession.
Domenica Landin
Associate lecturer, University of the Arts London, Australia
Domenica is a a design researcher, consultant, and educator working between Bristol and London. Her research focuses on addressing the nature–culture divide and supporting people to close the sustainability value–action gap. She works across writing, spatial interventions, and consultancy, using collaborative and participatory approaches.
She has contributed to funded research projects for the University of the Arts London and the Royal College of Art, exploring socio-environmental transitions, including shifts from extractive to regenerative practices in higher education. Her work prioritises relational methods and collective knowledge-making. Domenica's design strategies centre ecosystems and biocultural diversity, recognising the interdependence of nature, culture, and language. She advocates for perspectives that have been historically marginalised, including non-human voices, and seek to embed these into design and decision-making processes.
As a freelance consultant with the Place Bureau, Domenica provides research-led insights to support placemaking for city planners and stakeholders, including futures-oriented participatory workshops. As an educator, she takes a facilitative leadership approach, supporting interdisciplinary collaboration and diverse learning methods, including non-human pedagogies.
Dorsa Jalalian
Associate, senior urban designer, DIALOG, Canada
As an associate and senior urban designer at DIALOG, Dorsa brings over ten years of experience shaping vibrant, inclusive, and people-centred urban environments. With a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and a Master’s in Urban Design, her work spans masterplans, city-wide planning studies, design guidelines, public realm improvements, and large-scale campus projects across North America.
Her practice focuses on creating places that feel lively, bustling, and welcoming to all. In recent years, Dorsa has also led and co-led major healthcare campus planning and healthcare visioning initiatives, supporting hospitals and health systems in imagining the future of care. Her work integrates community insight, placemaking, and long-term campus frameworks to enhance the experience of patients, staff, and visitors, while supporting the evolving operational and service-delivery needs of healthcare organisations.
Eamonn Gorman
Head of clinical informatics, New Hospital Programme, NHS England, UK
Eduard Boonstra
Sector director, healthcare, Deerns, The Netherlands
Eduard has extensive experience in design, project management, and strategic consulting within the healthcare sector. His focus is on delivering added value for the client, understanding the diverse needs of customers and stakeholders, and fostering connections between project partners. In his role as project director, he is strongly motivated to deliver successful projects for clients and involved partners, while introducing new, innovative ideas and insights. In addition to his project work as a strategic advisor, Eduard serves as international sector director within the Deerns Group and is actively engaged in innovations related to sustainability and smart hospital building.
Edzard Schultz
Architect / Partner, heinlewischer, Germany
Edzard Schultz is a principal architect and partner of heinlewischer and spokesman for the entire office. He studied architecture at the TU Berlin. To this day, he is also involved in teaching and research, for example, at Clemson University South Carolina (USA) Architecture + Health. He is a member of the “AKG – Architekten für Krankenhausbau und Gesundheitswesen” and is active in the DIN committee.
His work covers the broad spectrum of complex building tasks, primarily buildings for health, with a holistic approach from masterplanning through competitions and realisations to evaluation. He is especially interested in the structural and communicative synthesis in the architect's work.
Elaine Turner-Lyn
Deputy director of workforce, NHS England – New Hospital Programme, United Kingdom
Elaine Turner-Lyn
Deputy director of workforce, NHS England – New Hospital Programme, United Kingdom
Elaine Turner is the deputy director of workforce for the New Hospital Programme at NHS England, leading national workforce transformation across hospitals impacting more than 200,000 staff. She works with trusts to assess future workforce needs, develop sustainable skills, and maximise the benefits of Hospital 2.0 to improve operational efficiency and patient care. Elaine also leads work on Staff Welfare Spaces Standards, workforce planning and modelling capability, and the synthesis of evidence around delivering care in 100-per-cent single bedroom hospitals.
With over two decades of NHS experience, she led major initiatives, including training London’s Covid-19 vaccinators and co-ordinating the Nightingale London volunteer workforce. Prior to NHS England, Elaine worked at Health Education England on nursing associate and apprenticeship programmes and began her career in market research, specialising in culture transformation across the hospitality and airline sectors.
Elika Herischi
Project planner, CannonDesign, Canada
Elika is a senior healthcare architect who works on planning, design and co-ordination of various scales of healthcare projects. She has progressive and innovative experience in all aspects of healthcare planning and design, masterplanning, design development and construction. Elika understands strategic solutions, operational plans and business cases, and she can translate planning concepts into clear terms for client and team members. She has particular experience and expertise in Canadian healthcare projects and their design, planning and construction.
Elisa Cecilli
Strategic Foresight Lead , Perkins&Will and Portland Design, United Kingdom
Elisa Cecilli is a Strategic Foresight strategist at Perkins&Will and Portland Design with over 15 years of experience decoding socio-cultural change and its implications for business. With a background in economics, she distills complex trends into actionable strategic recommendations for the built environment.
Her client portfolio includes the UK Government, Chatham House, Moody's, CNN, Samsung, Diageo, LinkedIn, and Transport for London. She leads international research and discovery programmes, applying futures thinking and design methodologies to unlock growth opportunities and help companies respond strategically to emerging shifts in technology, culture, and end user behaviours.
Elizabeth van den Brink
Principal, ZGF Architects, United States
With over 27 years of experience designing, planning, and programming healthcare facilities across the US and internationally, Elizabeth sees architecture and design as a way to leave a positive and lasting impact and to breathe life into projects that might otherwise strive to simply be functional or efficient. As a lead healthcare planner with a certified Lean Green Belt, Elizabeth integrates functionality and operational efficiencies with her proficient knowledge of project delivery, BIM, and Lean workflow. As a leader of the clinical team, she incorporates the latest trends and technology to provide for future generations of healthcare users. Elizabeth has built a reputation around quality project delivery and a focus on clients’ goals and objectives by providing innovative care delivery methods, adaptability, and design excellence. Her project experience ranges from initial stages in developing functional briefs, programming, masterplanning, stakeholder engagement, concept design, clinical planning, end-user engagement, detail, and technical design, as well as project management.
Elke Reitmayer
Senior research and lecturer, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Austria
Elke Reitmayer is an architect and senior researcher/lecturer specialising in architectural psychology and neuroarchitecture. She studied Architecture at Graz University of Technology and holds a MAS in Neuroscience Applied to Architectural Design from IUAV Venice. She has contributed to research projects in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, including participatory design of acute psychiatric wards and dementia-friendly hospital environments, integrating psychological and neuroscientific insights into evidence-based design.
She teaches in Switzerland and Austria and is establishing a PSN-based Architecture research field at Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, combining psychology, sociology and neuroscience to better understand how people perceive and experience space. Her work focuses on architecture’s impact on health, behaviour and wellbeing and on participatory design approaches. She is also co-founder of the Hamburg-based company raumDNA, which developed “Architectural Profiling,” a method that analyses conscious and unconscious user needs and translates them into evidence-based spatial strategies that emotionally, socially and cognitively support users.
Ellen Gedopt
Architect director, Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects, Netherlands
Ellen graduated as an architect at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA and achieved her master’s degree in ‘Urban Design & Housing’ at the McGill University in Montréal, CA. She’s a creative thinker and is passionate about working on projects that embrace issues of care; both the care of people, as well as the care of the planet. She likes complex projects and get really energised from working on projects with a positive social impact.
With over 15 years of experience in Europe and Canada, Ellen joined our firm in 2019 and has been architect director since 2025. She has worked on healthcare, education, and housing projects, bringing an open-minded perspective from having lived in five countries and the ability to communicate her ideas in three languages. She has worked on projects such as Hospital Oost Limburg in Genk, Hospital Maas and Kempen in Maaseik, the logistics platform for University Hospital Leuven, Zorgsaam Terneuzen, and Youth Institution De Kempen – Campus De Hutten in Mol.
Emily Leonard
Healthcare planner, Mott MacDonald, United Kingdom
Emily is a healthcare planning consultant with a scientific background in biomedical sciences and an MSc in Public Health. Emily has contributed to a number of large-scale healthcare planning projects across the UK and internationally, including four years working with the UK New Hospital Programme and supporting the development of a paediatric healthcare facility in Canada. Emily is experienced in developing schedules of accommodation, clinical briefs, standardised room designs, and facilitating clinically led hospital departmental design workshops. She also holds a Certificate of Professional Development in the TAHPI Health Facility Planning Course (CPD and IHEEM certified).
Passionate about embedding best practice and clinical expertise into the future design of healthcare facilities, Emily focuses on optimising efficiency, productivity, and the experience for both patients and staff. With a strong commitment to resilience and flexibility, she strives to build towards future-ready facilities that deliver long-term value and adapt to evolving healthcare needs.
Emma Geoghegan
Head of Architecture , Technological University Dublin, Ireland
Emma Geoghegan is Head of Architecture in the School of Architecture, Building and Environment, TU Dublin leading on the undergraduate, postgraduate and professional suite of architecture programmes. A registered architect she has over twenty years experience in professional practice working on healthcare, community and social care building projects. She is also in the final stages of a PhD researching care, disability and the built environment with TU Dublin Centre for Socially Engaged Practice & Research.
Emma Whigham
Alliance operations director, New Hospital Programme, UK
Evangelia Chrysikou
Associate professor, programme director MSc, healthcare facilities, University College London (UCL), United Kingdom
Dr Evangelia Chrysikou is associate professor at BSSC UCL and founder/programme director of the MSc Healthcare Facilities. A multi-awarded RIBA architect and healthcare planner, she has published widely and won several prestigious grants and fellowships, including Horizon 2020, UKRI, Wellcome, British Academy, Royal Society of New Zealand, and Sasakawa Foundation.
He research interests span the disciplines of built environment, health, digital technologies and social science. A key author and committee member of ISO 25553 (BS), she is also a member of the National Accessibility Authority, Hellenic Republic by invitation from the Greek Prime Minister, and led the working group on access and accessibility in healthcare. Former co-ordinator of the Environment Section of the EIP on AHA, EU, she has worked as a consultant for international government bodies, such as the Japanese MOFA, Peru Reconstruction Mechanism, and the British Government for projects related to healthcare planning and architecture. She is also a former vice-president of the Urban Public Health Section at the EUPHA, and was invited as a leadership committee member of the ULI Life Sciences and Healthcare.
Ewan Graham
Partner, Health & Science lead, Hawkins\Brown, United Kingdom
Ewan Graham is an architect and the Health and Science lead at Hawkins\Brown Architects. His work crosses traditional sector boundaries and regardless of geographic location focuses on developing healthy and sustainable places that concentrate on improving access to health and reducing health inequalities. He has led some of the most ambitious projects in London that combine health, research and education and speaks openly about the potential for good design and architecture to positively influence health outcomes. His aspiration is to raise awareness of and improve the way designers, contractors, building commissioners and policy-makers consider the impacts of the built environment on population health.
Farzane Omidi
Assistant teaching professor, Iowa State University, United States
Farzane Omidi is an assistant teaching professor in the Interior Design programme at Iowa State University. She earned her PhD in Interior and Environmental Design from Texas Tech University and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Architecture, along with a Master’s degree in Environmental Design with a focus on healthcare design. Her research examines how built environments influence human wellbeing, with particular emphasis on evidence-based design, sustainability, and the role of environmental factors in care delivery. She holds EDAC and LEED Green Associate credentials. With more than a decade of professional experience in architecture and engineering firms, she has contributed to a wide range of building design projects, integrating research-informed strategies into practice.
Femke Feenstra
(Interior) architect-director, partner, Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects, Netherlands
Femke Feenstra is an (interior) architect-director and one of the three partners at Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects. The firm bridges the gap between innovation and tradition, combining decades of expertise with fresh ideas. It is also specialised in conducting research and development.
She graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague and the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture. She believes it is important as a designer to look beyond her own discipline. How can a designer contribute to the future of healthcare, wellbeing, and the built environment? What makes a house a home? Remaining part of society is essential.
Femke is currently working on various research projects, including the Reactivating Hospital and MAYA. Her design projects include Rijnstate Hospital in Elst, Residential care centre Allévo in Zierikzee, Marijke Hiem in Heerenveen, and Health Hub Ipse de Bruggen, Youth Care Institution Campus de Hutten and OCMW Halle.
Fiona Daly
National deputy director of estates, and director of estate sustainability and workforce, NHS England, UK
As the national deputy director of estates for NHS England, Fiona is tasked with leading the strategies, policies and national programmes to decarbonise the NHS estate, improve operational resilience and patient experience, and develop the 100,000 strong estates and facilities workforce; driving innovation, engagement and delivery, and providing healthcare organisations with the critical support they need to implement their plans.
Fiona has 17 years’ experience of working in estates and facilities management and is passionate about reducing health and social inequalities, establishing an estate that supports the transition to sustainable models of care throughout the NHS. She is focused on driving the delivery of a healthy, resilient healthcare estate; tackling organisational leadership, investment in the built environment, and developing the skills and capacity of the current and future NHS workforce. In 2018, she was made an honorary professor at University College London (UCL) for her contribution in supporting the development of students in her field.
Fiona Lennon
Deputy clinical director, NHS England, United Kingdom
Fiona Lennon is deputy clinical director in the NHS New Hospital Programme (NHP). An experienced NHS senior manager and registered nurse with a career spanning over 30 years leading complex NHS teams in major acute and specialist trusts. She has worked in strategic health roles at both a regional and national level. Throughout her career she has been involved in various design and build projects, including as a project clinician on the first-ever tripartite private finance initiative (PFI) hospital scheme. Her background gives her an understanding of healthcare management and operational leadership to support the NHP deliver hospitals that are safe, flexible, and efficient for the future.
Fiona Parker
Associate, health advisory team, Currie & Brown, UK
Fiona is an associate in Currie & Brown’s healthcare advisory team with over a decade of NHS clinical and healthcare project experience. Her experience spans service transformation, operations, and infrastructure projects across complex healthcare environments. She is passionate about innovation, improving health outcomes, and ensuring equitable access to healthcare services. Fiona brings strong clinical expertise and a deep understanding of hospital operations, patient flow, and care pathways. She has gained global health experience across Europe, Ireland, Australia, and the Middle East. Fiona is particularly focused on workforce transformation and designing digitally enabled hospitals that redefine future healthcare delivery.
Fiona Smith
Arts in health curator, Children’s Health Ireland, Ireland
Fiona Smith is the arts in health curator with Children’s Health Ireland (CHI). She has over 15 years’ experience in delivering large‑scale participatory arts projects across Ireland and the UK in a range of multifaceted settings. In her current role with CHI, she works in acute healthcare and across multi‑stakeholder partnerships with artists, children, young people, families and clinicians to design and deliver meaningful, creative and impactful arts in health projects in these complex settings.
She champions ambitious artistic practice with the highest quality provision for those taking part and has a particular commitment to how creativity and curiosity amplify the voices of children and young people. Providing strategic leadership across both artwork commissioning for healthcare spaces and participatory and collaborative programmes, she advocates for the arts as a powerful and transformative influence on the delivery of excellent, patient-centred care in these settings.
Francine de Stoppelaar
Specialist advisor – medicines optimisation, Health Delivery Partnership, United Kingdom
Francine de Stoppelaar PharmD, MSc, CertBA is an honorary associate professor and digital health and AI innovator.
Francine is a seasoned healthcare executive with over 25 years of leadership experience across British, American, Dutch, and UAE health systems. Her career is defined by operational excellence, healthcare innovation, and strategic technology implementation, including AI-driven transformation.
With expertise in both internal and consultancy roles, Francine has successfully led large cross-functional teams in delivering hospital activations, greenfield capital projects, and advanced clinical improvement programs. Her initiatives consistently enhance patient outcomes, safety, and medicines optimisation. A pioneer in digital health, Francine has led on the hospital-wide operational activation of Cleveland Clinic London, as well as spearheaded the implementation of the UK’s first Closed Loop Medicines Optimization model at Cleveland Clinic London, now fully operational and nationally recognised. Under her leadership, the initiative earned multiple accolades, including the Cleveland Clinic CEO Team Award and two consecutive nominations for the Laing Buisson Innovation Awards (2022, 2023).
Her innovative contributions to healthcare earned her recognition as one of Intelligent Health Top 50 Innovators of 2023. She frequently presents at international conferences and serves on expert panels focusing on digital transformation and AI in medicine. As co-founder of the Asclepius Project, Francine is leading a pan-European initiative to automate and digitally transform hospital medicines optimisation using AI and intelligent automation technologies.
She is an honorary associate professor at the University of Leicester and an associate at Deloitte UK. Her academic foundation includes a Doctor of Pharmacy and MSc from Utrecht and Maastricht Universities, a Certificate in Business Administration from Warwick Business School, and executive education in Digital Transformation Leadership from Harvard Medical School.
Gareth Banks
Head of healthcare and director, AHR, United Kingdom
Head of healthcare and director at AHR, Gareth Banks is an experienced architect having designed and delivered a number of innovative healthcare projects, which have transformed communities – including the ‘Hospitals Transformation Programme’ in Shrewsbury, and the large, state-of-the-art Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. He is currently working on the NHP programme.
As head of healthcare, he is dedicated to delivering intelligent, future-proof healthcare spaces, which prioritise the health and wellbeing of patients and staff and are built to last. An example of this is the UK’s first building approved under the NHS Net Zero Building Standard, the Countess of Chester Hospital Women and Children’s Building.
With experience both in the UK and internationally, Gareth is an advocate for sharing knowledge to advance patient care and is also secretary of Architects for Health.
Giulia Scialpi
arch. Partner, archipelago architects | UC Louvain, Belgium
Giulia Scialpi is an Italian architect based in Brussels. She holds a postgraduate master’s from CRAterre-ENSAG laboratory, a centre of excellence that manages the UNESCO Chair “Earthen architecture, construction cultures and sustainable development” in Grenoble’s School of Architecture. She is currently working in Belgium for archipelago architects and its R&I team, supporting many research projects with her expertise in circular design. She also works as a researcher and PhD candidate in the Urban Metabolism Lab at the Louvain research institute for Landscape, Architecture, Built environment (LAB) and as teaching assistant at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Studies (LOCI) of UCLouvain.
Günther Niemeck
Director, BDO Austria, Austria
Trained originally as a medical doctor at the Medical University of Vienna, he later changed focus to healthcare consulting and now leads the organizational management team at BDO Austria’s Health Care and Life Science Advisory division in his role as Director. During his more than five years of experience within the company, he has been able to consult on a multitude of different projects, from completely new and modern hospital builds to reuse and extension of existing buildings. His main area of projects involves process development and organizational optimizations in hospitals and similar healthcare facilities. His main driver is the sustainable and future-centric optimization of the healthcare industry in Austria, through building structures that last from a construction and process point of view. He has been an active voluntary contributor to the Red Cross in Austria for over 25 years and currently acts as a Head of District Office.
Hamed Yekita
Assistant professor, Iowa State University, United States
Hamed Yekita is an assistant professor in the Department of Interior Design at Iowa State University. He holds a PhD in Interior and Environmental Design from Texas Tech University, where his dissertation examined the association between spatial awareness and situation awareness among ICU nurses. He also holds master’s degrees in Environmental Design and Healthcare Architecture.
Hamed’s research focuses on how environmental design influences clinical cognition, decision-making, and patient safety in critical care settings. His work has been published in HERD: Health Environments Research and Design Journal and presented at major international conferences on healthcare design.
With prior academic appointments in the United States and Iran, along with professional experience as an architectural designer, he integrates evidence-based design, sustainability, and systems thinking into both research and teaching. His scholarship advances resilient healthcare environments that better support frontline clinicians and improve care outcomes.
Harriet Brisley
Associate director, Morris+Company, United Kingdom
Harriet Brisley leads Morris+Company’s health and community sectors, bringing over a decade of experience across public and private healthcare, specialist housing and education projects. She is a committed advocate of the role architecture plays in delivering positive social and environmental impacts, championing wellbeing-driven design, maximising positive ESG outcomes, and promoting collaborative and inclusive stakeholder engagement.
Harriet led the £20m Harold Moody Centre and Early Years Nursery, an exemplary integrated care hub at the heart of the Aylesbury Estate regeneration. Her wider portfolio includes senior living, care home and neighbourhood health centre projects.
She is an active voice in the health design community, recently contributing to the NHS Property Roundtable for the Healthier NHS Developments Framework and presenting on primary care-led neighbourhood design at the Healthcare Estates Conference. Harriet also leads Morris+Company’s social value outreach programmes and POE process development.
Henry Darch
Client engagement manager, SmartCo Future Health, United Kingdom
Henry Darch is a client engagement manager at SCFH, working at the forefront of collaboration between healthcare organisations, industry partners and delivery teams to support the development of smarter, digitally enabled hospitals. He specialises in building trusted partnerships that help translate strategic ambition into co-ordinated action across complex health systems.
Henry works closely with NHS leaders and stakeholders to align innovation, service transformation and organisational priorities, ensuring that programmes are shaped around real operational and clinical needs. His work focuses on enabling meaningful engagement between technology, infrastructure and people, supporting the successful adoption of intelligent design principles within healthcare environments.
With a strong focus on collaboration and outcomes, Henry helps organisations navigate change with clarity and confidence, contributing to the delivery of future-ready healthcare spaces that improve experience, efficiency and long-term system resilience.
Hieronimus Nickl
CEO, Nickl & Partner, Germany
Hieronimus Nickl studied architecture at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, graduating in 2003. In 2008, he completed an MBA in International Hospital and Healthcare Management at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.
He joined Nickl & Partner Architects in 2003 and, by 2005, was leading projects and teams, with a focus on international assignments. Since 2015, he has been the managing director of the Beijing office, and in 2019, he became a member of the Board of Directors at Nickl & Partner Architects. He additionally holds the role of managing director of Nickl & Partner Architects Germany and Nickl & Partners Holdings.
Ignacio Higueras Hare
Ambassador of Peru to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru, Peru
Iván Paul Martín Jefremovas
Architect | Lead advisor for healthcare infrastructure projects, Valencian Regional Department of Health, Spain
Ivan is an architect with a Master’s Degree in Hospital Engineering and Architecture, He is also a civil servant in the Spanish regional administration, with over ten years of experience in public social infrastructure, co-ordinating the planning and supervision of complex facility projects.
Since 2021, he has specialised in healthcare infrastructure projects at the Valencian Regional Department of Health, contributing to flagship projects such as the implementation of a proton therapy unit at La Fe University Hospital in Valencia and the new Campus for the Clinic University Hospital in Valencia, as well as providing cross-cutting support for the Infrastructure Service’s broader portfolio.
In the field of research and dissemination, he is an active member of the Spanish and Valencian Associations of Hospital Engineering and specialises in surgical block design.
Jacob Glazer
Professor of Economics, Tel Aviv University and University of Warwick (UK), Israel
Jacob (Kobi) Glazer is Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick (UK) and Emeritus at Tel Aviv University’s Coller School of Management. Kobi earned his PhD from Northwestern University in 1986. Since then, he has held several academic positions at Tel Aviv University, such as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Management, Head of the Kovens Institute for Health Systems Management, or the Issachar Haimovich Chair for Strategic Management. Kobi’s main research areas are health economics, industrial organization and game theory. He has led major research projects funded by, among others, the NIH, NIA, VA, the British Academy, and several Israeli research institutes. Kobi has also been a consultant for numerous healthcare organizations and startups in Israel and beyond.
Jacqueline Foy
Global health director, HDR, USA
Jacqueline is a healthcare architect with more than 23 years of experience designing environments that advance healing, equity and well-being. Known for her empathetic leadership style and collaborative approach, Jacqueline brings deep expertise in paediatric design as well as research and translational health sciences facilities. Across her career, she has built a reputation for championing design excellence while aligning architectural solutions with the missions of healthcare organisations and the communities they serve.
Jacqueline serves as the global health director for architecture, leading HDR's worldwide healthcare design practice. Based in its Kansas City, Missouri, architecture studio, she collaborates closely with health architecture directors and leaders across design, operations, marketing and business development to strengthen HDR's integrated, multidisciplinary approach to healthcare design. Her focus includes advancing quality and innovation, fostering high‑performance teams and supporting clients as they plan and deliver resilient, people‑centred healthcare environments around the globe.
Certified by the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA), Jacqueline is an active member of the Center for Health Design Pediatric Environment Network and a respected thought leader within the healthcare design community. She is deeply committed to mentorship, talent development and creating collaborative cultures that enable teams and the people they serve to thrive.
James Gordon
Associate director, P+HS Architects, United Kingdom
James is associate director and healthcare lead at P+HS Architects with over 20 years’ experience in healthcare design and delivery. He has led complex acute and diagnostic projects across multiple NHS trusts, including critical care expansions, hybrid theatres, emergency departments and cancer facilities . His work draws on lessons learned across live hospital programmes, with a focus on patient flow, infection control, technical compliance, and ensuring the built environment actively supports safe, efficient clinical operations.
Jane Ho
Regional practice director, HKS, United Kingdom
Jane Ho is a partner and regional practice director, health, at HKS. She works in the firm’s London office focused on developing the integration of concept and functionality and how people experience healthcare facilities. Jane designs with sensitivity for flexibility and adaptability, developing better buildings for a holistic user experience.
Jason Pearson
Director of healthcare and science architecture, AECOM, United Kingdom
Jason is passionate about delivering inspirational healthcare architecture that provides the very best therapeutic environments to enhance patient, visitor and staff experiences. He has over 16 years of sector experience working collaboratively with key stakeholders on major healthcare schemes, from masterplanning and concept design to identifying complex healthcare solutions to deliver high-quality and innovative clinical facilities.
He has led AECOM’s UK & Ireland healthcare architecture team since 2017, working across the region on a wide range of facilities, including community health centres, acute hospitals, critical care centres, mental health facilities, children’s hospitals, and specialist maternity schemes.
Jason led the design team that delivered the overarching estate masterplan vision for Oxford University Hospital; led the winning scheme for the new Moorfields and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology RIBA competition; led a new ambulatory diagnostic centre for Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust; and has provided peer review support on the new Belfast Maternity and Children’s Royal Victoria Hospital in Northern Ireland.
Jens Axelsson
Architect, White Arkitekter, Sweden
Jens Axelsson is an architect and employed at White Arkitekter in Gothenburg since 2015. Jens works with healthcare projects from early stages to project planning, in Sweden and abroad. He is responsible for White's internal network for healthcare architecture and a board member of the Swedish organization Forum Vårdbyggnad (Swedish Healthcare Facilities Network). Jens teaches at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, dept. of architecture, as a guest teacher, at master's and bachelor's level.
Jente Pauwels
Architect, Jente Pauwels Architectuur, Belgium
Jente Pauwels is a Belgian architect with a Master's in Architecture and a specialisation in Neuroscience Applied to Architectural Design. Her work explores the relationship between architecture, cognition, and behaviour, focusing on environments that support mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.
She works on care and trauma-informed environments for people in vulnerable situations, translating psychological and therapeutic principles into spatial conditions aligned with how the brain and nervous system adapt, regulate stress, and heal. Her research-informed approach examines how sensory stimuli and stress shape emotional regulation, autonomy, and behaviour, and how architecture reinforces or counterbalances these.
After witnessing the cognitive and emotional decline of two women close to her during prolonged isolated hospitalisation, she became driven to investigate how design can protect autonomy, identity, and resilience through balanced sensory environments that prevent both overstimulation and deprivation.
The built environment is never neutral: it can undermine health or actively safeguard it.
Jeremy Cox
Partner, Strategic Healthcare Planning, United Kingdom
Jeremy is a seasoned expert in healthcare infrastructure development, with decades of experience delivering transformative hospital solutions in the UK and across the globe. Specialising in public-private partnerships (PPP), Jeremy has a proven ability to integrate design, construction, facilities management, and finance into cohesive, successful projects. His expertise in bridging public- and private-sector collaboration has been instrumental in addressing strategic planning, phased construction logistics, and long-term operational challenges.
Jeremy has played a key role in numerous high-profile hospital projects, including Bart’s & The Royal, Derby General, and the Karolinska Solna Hospital in Stockholm. Internationally, he has worked with Ministries of Health in Oman, Turkey, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Singapore, and Thailand, contributing to the development of cutting-edge healthcare facilities. His notable achievements include leading the feasibility study for Medical City in Oman, advising on hospital developments in Salalah and Khasab, and supporting Turkey’s development of 22 acute and mental health hospitals.
With a track record of delivering projects worth billions, Jeremy is recognised for his ability to manage complex developments, foster collaboration, and navigate challenging environments. His leadership, strategic insight, and commitment to excellence have made him a trusted partner in creating world-class healthcare infrastructure that meets the needs of diverse communities.
Jodi Sturge
Assistant professor, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Dr Jodi Sturge is an assistant professor with the Interaction Design (IxD) group in the Department of Design, Production and Management in the Faculty of Engineering Technology at the University of Twente. As a health geographer and design researcher, her research is both human-centred and spatially informed to design healthcare environments and systems that support positive health outcomes for a variety of populations.
John Naylor
Senior researcher, Ryder Architecture, United Kingdom
John joined Ryder in 2024. He gained his diploma at the Architectural Association in 2013, winning the Foster + Partners' Prize for Sustainable Infrastructure. He has experience on complex projects in the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Haiti, such as the Qingdao Eden Project. His interest lies in developing wider use of bio-based materials in construction in lower- and middle-income countries. In 2014, he set up the bamboo Visiting School programme at the Architectural Association, which he now co leads as the AA-ITB BambooLab. He is studying a PhD in Engineering at Newcastle University, and in 2022, he was named one of the RIBA Rising Stars.
Jonathan Hasson
Project architect, HDR, United Kingdom
Jonathan is a project architect with significant UK healthcare experience for both public and private clients. Jonathan is highly experienced in leading the complex design and delivery of healthcare projects; in particular, his project architect roles on NHP Hospital 2.0, Airedale District General Hospital, and Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital.
He is proficient at working on BIM Level 2 projects and has an in-depth understanding of the co-ordination of construction information across multidisciplinary teams with a focus on compliance, fire safety, emerging technologies, and user experience.
Jordan Chow
Senior assistant manager, National University Health System, Singapore
Jordan is working in the NUHS Corporate Infrastructure Office under the engineering team, where he focuses on integrating diverse building systems and elevating them through advanced digital technologies, such as data analytics, machine learning, preventive maintenance, digital twins, and AI applications. The aim is to improve operational efficiency and system reliability, and better inform decision-making across healthcare facilities.
Recently, Jordan piloted the implementation of the integrated data platform at NUH Medical Centre, Levels 18 & 19. This project involves integrating multiple building systems into a unified environment, enabling real-time monitoring and deeper insights, and improving system efficiency. This pilot helps pave the way and sets the foundation for expansion and new hospitals in future.
Jorge Anaya
Principal, health architecture, Jacobs, New Zealand
Jorge Anaya is a health architect with more than 20 years of experience, based in New Zealand, specialising in the planning and design of healthcare infrastructure across New Zealand and Australia. Working within a multidisciplinary team of architects and health planners, he focuses on programme-based approaches to hospital delivery and the integration of standardised design methodologies. Jorge is currently involved in the development and implementation of Health New Zealand’s Building Hospitals Better programme and its national Kit of Parts across multiple hospital campuses.
Joshua Igbineweka
Clinical fellow and pharmacy SME, NHS England, United Kingdom
Joshua Igbineweka MPharm (Hons), PGDip, IP, is an experienced pharmacist and senior healthcare advisor specialising in strategy, design, and transformation. As clinical fellow in the NHS New Hospital Programme, he is chair of the programme’s patient safety working group. Joshua’s work also centres around harnessing innovation at scale, redesigning the hospital medicines management ecosystem for the future and advancing medicines optimisation in modern healthcare environments, which integrates digital automation, robotics, and new ways of practice.
Joshua has spent most of his clinical practice working as a specialist pharmacist in haematology and oncology at a major London teaching hospital, where he acquired his independent prescribing qualification.
Juan Manuel Herranz Molina
Co-founder architect, Virai Arquitectura, Spain
Juan Manuel Herranz is an architect from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, specialising in sustainability, bio-construction, and innovation applied to healthcare and social architecture. He is co-founder and co-director of Virai Arquitectura, leading projects recognised for their focus on natural materials, low environmental impact, and user quality of life. A prominent member of the Straw Bale Building Network, he has authored pioneering projects, such as the Public Care Center for Dependent Older Adults in Meliana (Valencia), widely awarded for its design using wood, straw and cork. Holding a Master’s in Heritage Conservation, he develops his professional practice through solutions that integrate traditional construction, sustainability and social commitment. He participates as a guest lecturer in various postgraduate programmes, contributing a vision of architecture as a driver of ecological transformation.
Juan Portuese
Partner, DIALOG, Canada
Juan Carlos is an award-winning architect with extensive experience delivering complex institutional projects across healthcare, civic, academic, and community sectors in Canada, the United States, and internationally. Juan’s work is grounded in a deep understanding of architecture as both a technical and cultural discipline. He has led and contributed to projects of significant scale and complexity, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to deliver environments that perform under real operational, regulatory, and social demands.
His work focuses on projects where architecture carries real consequence, shaping how care is delivered, how institutions earn trust, and how communities experience clarity, dignity, and belonging. Juan Carlos balances rigour, accountability, and high-performance design with a strong commitment to environmental stewardship, pursuing architecture that endures, responds to climate, and supports a low-carbon future. Known as a collaborative leader, he unites clients, consultants, constructors, and communities around shared goals, creating distinct, context-specific solutions that advance both design excellence and architectural thinking.
Jude Stone
Programme director, Sheffield Children’s Hospital NHS, United Kingdom
Jude leads the team of people who are bringing the National Centre to life. He has been part of the NHS for 15 years, and more than ten of those have been working at Sheffield Children’s.
Throughout his career, Jude has led on lots of exciting projects, often with a focus on transformation and innovation. He’s motivated by how to make things better and has helped to improve the way things are done in the NHS by using quality improvement methods to build on systems and processes, often through a greater use of technology.
Juliane Stiegele
Artist, Designer, Utopia Toolbox International Art Collective, Germany, Germany
Juliane Stiegele is an artist, designer and founder of the international art collective UTOPIA TOOLBOX, creative people from various professions who share their interest in designing our future life on the globe.
The collective works on the basis of an open notion of art which includes many fields of society researching in theory and practice how art can become a natural resource for social design processes. Society is our studio.
The project is based in Germany and runs satellites in Detroit/USA and Taipei/TW.
Juliane has been Professor at University of Bolzano/IT and Visiting professor at the National Taipei University of the Arts/TW, as well as lecturer at Aalto University Helsinki/FIN. Among her exhibitions: Sculpture Center New York, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai/CN, Go Eun Museum, Pusan/KOR. Among her awards/grants: Annual grant of Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York, KUNSTFONDS Germany, Red Dot awards in different fields of design.
Publications: UTOPIA TOOLBOX volume 1–3.
Karl-Robert Gloeck
Chief architect, Western Cape Department of Infrastructure, South Africa
Karl-Robert Gloeck is a chief architect in the Chief Directorate Health Infrastructure of the Western Cape Government Department of Infrastructure, with a focus on implementing resilient, sustainable, and socially responsive public healthcare facilities in a South African context. His current role as project leader sees him manage healthcare projects of varying complexity from satellite clinics along the rural West Coast Winelands areas to a large regional hospital in the Cape Town Metropol.
As a Green Building Council of South Africa Accredited Professional (new builds, existing building performance and net zero), he also led a small internal team to certify existing buildings in the Department’s portfolio, including the first ever four-star rated public building on the Existing Building Performance tool. His work aims to support long-term public-sector transformation by delivering facilities that balance environmental performance, operational practicality, and user-centred design. He lives in Cape Town.
Kathryn Foskett
Head of partnerships and solutions, Northern Europe, GE HealthCare, UK
Kathryn is head of partnerships and solutions, Northern Europe, for GE HealthCare. She has led strategic partnerships, government engagement, and large-scale transformation across the NHS, the UK, Ireland, and Northern Europe. Kathryn provides leadership at the intersection of policy, clinical pathways, and technology. She focuses on delivering sustainable system change, modernised diagnostics, and improved operational performance.
She is recognised for shaping high-value alliances and accelerating early intervention models across complex health systems. Kathryn delivers board-level insight, cross-sector co-ordination, and forward-looking strategies.
Her work improves patient outcomes, enhances efficiency, and strengthens the resilience of health systems.
Kathy Skelly
Director of Women’s and Children’s Program, Trillium Health Partners, Canada
Kathy Skelly is the director of the Women’s and Children’s Program at Trillium Health Partners, bringing more than 25 years of experience in healthcare focused on advancing the wellbeing of women, children and youth. Throughout her distinguished career, she has developed extensive expertise across paediatrics, neonatal intensive care, birthing services, women’s reproductive health, oncology, and emergency care. Her leadership is rooted in values-based principles and a deep commitment to fostering strategic partnerships that drive meaningful, system-wide improvements while championing integrated, patient-centred approaches that address the diverse needs of women and children.
Katie Wood
Director, Archus, United Kingdom
An experienced programme manager, project director and technical advisor, Katie has successfully led the development of strategy, business cases, planning and delivery for a wide variety of programmes and projects across the UK, Australia, Canada, Peru, Africa and Central Asia through her 34-year career. She is recognised as a leader in international healthcare infrastructure development.
Katie brings together technical, people and process expertise and combines local capability with global best practice.
Her project experience includes:
• business cases, planning, design and implementation for large, complex healthcare facility developments;
• international Public Private Partnership (PPP) and design-build delivery routes;
• establishing and successfully implementing national healthcare programmes;
• transformational change covering organisations, people, processes and digital systems; and
• technical guidance leadership, including World Bank IFC as well as UK Health Building Notes and Health Technical Memoranda.
Kerri Culver
Chief Planning Officer, University Health Network (UHN), Canada
Kerri Culver serves as the Chief Planning Officer at the University Health Network (UHN), where she oversees the planning and development of 8 million square feet of healthcare space with a project portfolio valued at $3 billion. In this role, Kerri leads transformative initiatives that shape the future of healthcare delivery in Canada.
Among Kerri’s flagship projects is the Aspire project, a 15-story surgical tower in the heart of Toronto that will introduce 20 state-of-the-art operating rooms, significantly expanding UHN’s surgical capacity. Kerri is also spearheading the planning for a Proton Particle Therapy Center, which will be a ground-breaking advancement in cancer treatment that will transform patient care and outcomes.
With a professional background in architecture, Kerri brings a unique blend of design expertise and strategic vision to healthcare infrastructure planning and development. Her leadership ensures that every project aligns with UHN’s mission to deliver world-class patient care while fostering innovation and sustainability. Kerri is working with Dr. Andrew Boozary, to further his vision for housing as a social determinant of health.
Kevin Bates
Director, Scott Tallon Walker Architects, Ireland
Kevin is a director of Scott Tallon Walker Architects (STW), with 25 years’ national and international experience, and is a recipient of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland Triennial Gold Medal Award, which is the highest honour in Irish Architecture.
Kevin specialises in the design of complex, innovative healthcare, science, and research buildings and he leads the healthcare sector across the practice. He has played a key role in the design and delivery of award-winning projects, such as the University College London Hospital Grafton Way Building, the National Forensics Mental Health Service in Dublin, and the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, recognised as Europe’s leading research centre in integrated Information and Communications Technology.
Kevin established and managed STW’s Middle East office from 2010 to 2014 and was design director in our London practice from 2014 to 2021, securing STW’s place on the University of Oxford’s Framework for large-scale projects.
He is passionate about supporting and guiding the next generation of architects and has been a visiting tutor in Schools of Architecture in Cork and Waterford and King Saud University in Riyadh. He has also chaired the RIAI Scott Tallon Walker Student Excellence Award, and in 2016, he was a UCD Alumni guest speaker, celebrating the contribution UCD architecture graduates have made in London.
Kevin Higgins
VP, product management, Austco Healthcare, United States
Kevin wears many hats within healthcare technology. Among them, he works with clinical teams to uncover needs and opportunities, and with the engineering team to bring products to life. He is a regular speaker and global product evangelist.
Kevin Sureshkumar
Technical director, digital advisory and transformation , Lexic, member of WSP, UK
Kevin Sureshkumar
Technical director, digital advisory and transformation , Lexic, member of WSP, UK
Kevin is a digital design and transition specialist focused on designing the end-to-end services from the user’s point of view, within the context of new healthcare facilities. He has led digital workstream and digital enterprise architecture activities across a number of new hospital projects where Lexica’s work often involves bridging the gap between technical solutions and practical healthcare delivery, ensuring that technology serves to enhance, rather than complicate, the patient experience.
In recent years, Kevin has led engagement work with architects, health planners, clinical and operational stakeholders, local health and social care partners and patient groups to build cases for digital, outlining the necessity for innovation and transformation.
Kiara Corso
Research assistant, Monash University, Australia
Kiara Corso is a health and design researcher with an interdisciplinary background in psychology, physiology and participatory design. She recently completed a Master's in Global Collaborative Design Practice at the University of the Arts London and Kyoto Institute of Technology, where her work explored the use of co-design tools to improve pain communication in clinical contexts.
Kiara currently works as a research assistant in neurorehabilitation and neurodisability, contributing to projects in traumatic brain injury, chronic pain and health education. Her work employs mixed-method approaches, including participatory and creative workshops, qualitative interviews and systematic reviews, with a strong emphasis on collaboration with patients, caregivers, clinicians and multidisciplinary teams.
Kiara’s research is nestled between healthcare, design and communication, with particular focus on patient-centred care, inclusive research methods and the translation of research into practice. She is predominately interested in developing interventions that enhance healthcare experiences, particularly for vulnerable and underserved populations.
Kirsten Reite
Principal, Kirsten Reite Architecture, Canada
Kirsten Reite is an Architect and Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC), with over 30 years of experience shaping the built environment across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. As the founder and Principal in Charge of Kirsten Reite Architecture (KRA), a Vancouver-based firm specializing in healthcare, institutional, and community-focused projects, Kirsten has led the delivery of more than 150 projects, ranging in scale of up to $4 billion in construction value.
Kirsten is widely recognized for her expertise in alternative procurement models and her ability to deliver complex projects through innovative design, thoughtful planning, and meticulous project management. Her leadership on major healthcare projects includes the $898M Victoria Hospital Redevelopment in Prince Albert, SK, the estimated $3.9B New Edmonton Hospital (Compliance) in Edmonton, AB, and the Haida Gwaii Hospital and Health Centre in Daajing Giids, BC.
Kirstie Irwin
Principal, BVN, Australia
BVN principal, Kirstie Irwin has over 20 years’ experience delivering technically complex healthcare projects in Australia and the UK. She is a strong conceptual thinker who has played critical roles in developing designs for many notable health projects. Kirstie has successfully led clinical and architectural teams to deliver projects with clarity and attention to detail.
Kirstie's expertise spans master planning, health, aged care, mixed-use residential, and commercial schemes. She brings local and international perspectives to a project's clinical planning and design, meeting key objectives whilst reflecting evidence-based design principles and best global practice.
Every health project becomes an opportunity to enable collective thinking and embody a regenerative approach. Her goal is to achieve high-quality design initiatives that improve user experiences while enhancing the physical environment.
Kit Knowles
Sustainability consultant, Ecospheric, United Kingdom
Kit Knowles is director of Ecospheric, an award-winning Passivhaus design and low-energy consultancy specialising in complex net-zero projects. He served as NHS net-zero carbon co-ordinator for the Countess of Chester Women & Children’s Building, the first hospital in England to achieve the NHS Net Zero Building Standard. In this role, Kit led sustainability strategy and compliance, co-ordinating the design team to meet rigorous targets for embodied carbon, operational energy, and whole-life carbon. The project achieved a 220MWh reduction in energy demand, delivered 25-per-cent lower upfront carbon than required, and is fully gas-free, powered by heat pumps and renewable electricity.
Kit’s work bridges energy consultancy, academic research, and sustainable property development to deliver evidence-based decarbonisation strategies. He has co-authored research on heritage retrofit with the University of Liverpool and holds leadership roles as chair and acting executive of the Association for Environment Conscious Building and Trustee of the Passivhaus Trust.
Kyle Basilius
Principal, Parkin Architects, Canada
Kyle is a principal and dual-licensed architect (Canada and Us), as well as a board-certified healthcare architect. With nearly 20 years of experience, he collaborates closely with clinicians and clients, specialising in the programming and masterplanning of healthcare facilities across the United States, Denmark, and Canada.
Kyle is deeply engaged in the global healthcare design community. He serves on the Board of Regents of the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA); is helping to launch the North American chapter of the UK-based Design in Mental Health Network (DiMHN); and sits on the board of Rum for Æstetik, a Copenhagen art gallery that advances equitable access to experimental art for people of all ages and backgrounds.
He has contributed as the volunteer technical architect for the International Federation of Healthcare Engineering (IFHE) on the WHO and WFP-led INITIATE² Infectious Disease Treatment Module (IDTM) project, which creates a patient-centred design approach for rapidly deployable emergency modules; serves on the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Health Care Facilities Standards Working Group; and has guest lectured at Texas A&M University on cultural and ethical considerations in global architectural practice.
Laia Isern
Partner, architect, Vitaller Arquitectura, Spain
Laia Isern joined Vitaller Arquitectura in 2006 and is currently a partner. An architect who studied at ETSAB-UPC, she has a Master's in Architecture, Organisation and Management of Hospital Infrastructures from the Universidad CEU San Pablo.
Vitaller Arquitectura has developed projects in all phases, from the creation of master and functional plans to overseeing the construction. It has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare and social care architecture. It has worked on the design of several medical care facilities, developing and creating proposals that foster human scale, as well as the comfort and wellbeing of users.
Laney Hyland
Research assistant, Maynooth University, Ireland
Laney Hyland is a research assistant on the HIVE project within the Design innovation Department at Maynooth University. With a foundation in Product Design and Innovation from her undergraduate studies, and a master’s in Design Innovation, she brings a rigorous, design-led approach to research. Her academic work has been recognised through several awards, including the Project of the Year award within Maynooth Universities Design Innovation Department, the Spark Innovation Programme Student Scholarships, IDI awards in the Medical Device Design Category, and the Frank Devitt awards for academic achievement during her master’s programme. These accolades reflect commitment to excellence in design research and innovation. Her research interests centre on healthcare design, with a particular focus on patient experience and service design. She is passionate about applying human-centred design methodologies to address complex challenges within healthcare systems. Through her role on the HIVE project, she continues to explore the intersection of design innovation and healthcare, contributing to research that seeks to demonstrate how design thinking and human-centred design methodologies can transform healthcare delivery, ultimately creating more responsive and effective systems of care.
Lara Gregorians
Postdoctoral researcher, Architectural Cognition in Practice, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, Singapore
Lara is a postdoctoral researcher and module co-ordinator in the Architectural Cognition in Practice group. She holds a PhD from UCL, in which she sought to bridge the worlds of spatial cognition and neuroarchitecture by exploring architectural experience as a combination of spatial, aesthetic and affective processing. Lara is experienced in analysing subjective, physiological and neural responses to spaces, having run real-world behavioural studies and fMRI-neuroimaging studies on architectural experience. As part of the ACP group, Lara will be carrying out empirical research exploring person-environment interactions, as well as collaborating with industry partners to work on translating architectural cognition research into practice.
Lara Kaiser
Healthcare design leader and principal, Perkins&Will, Brazil
An architect and urban planner with over 25 years of experience in healthcare architecture, Lara is a principal and chief operating officer at Perkins&Will’s São Paulo studio. She holds a Master’s in Building Design for Health (London South Bank University) and a post-graduate degree in Project Management (Poli-USP). She spent ten years working in the United Kingdom and taught in the post-graduate programme at Faculdade Albert Einstein. Co-author of the book 'Healthcare Buildings' and certified as a LEED GA by GBC Brasil, she is a frequent speaker at specialised events in the US, Latin America, and Europe. Lara has led multidisciplinary teams in major, internationally recognised projects, including the Albert Einstein Teaching and Research Center, Prevent Senior Morumbi, Albert Einstein Vila Mariana General Hospital, and Sabará Children’s Hospital.
Laura Bradshaw
Arts programme manager, CW+, United Kingdom
Laura joined CW+ as arts programme manager in November 2023. She works across the arts programme, with responsibilities including managing collection activity and delivering art commissioning within the capital projects portfolio. Laura recently completed the MASc in Creative Health from UCL and her arts in health career began as the first NHS arts apprentice in 2019. Laura is especially passionate about the role of creativity for improving healthcare staff wellbeing. Prior to joining CW+, Laura worked as assistant arts curator at UCLH NHS Foundation Trust and brings her experience of hospital arts programming to the role.
Laura Sen
Partner, architect, Vitaller Arquitectura, Spain
Laura Sen joined Vitaller Arquitectura in 2012 and is currently a partner. An architect having studied at ETSAB-UPC, she is also a BIM expert.
Vitaller Arquitectura has developed projects in all phases, from the creation of master and functional plans to overseeing the construction. It has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare and social care architecture. It has worked on the design of several medical care facilities, developing and creating proposals that foster human scale, as well as the comfort and wellbeing of users.
Laurent Grisay
ir. arch. Chairman, archipelago architects, Belgium
Laurent Grisay is an architect and civil engineer with more than a decade of experience in healthcare design, covering all project phases from the strategic vision or masterplan to the monitoring of the construction site. He is chairman of the board at archipelago Brussels and is responsible for some of the largest projects in the company’s broad healthcare portfolio, such as the CHU Helora network, the new Tarbes-Lourdes hospital, the new CHR Centre-Sud (Vivalia), the extension of CHwapi in Tournai, the circular reconstruction of IZZ Bracops, etc.
He obtained in 2014 an Executive Master in Management of Large Construction Projects and cultivates his interest for innovation by regularly participating and sharing his experience in healthcare congresses.
Lee Boon Woei
Director, National University Health System, Singapore
He is a director of NUHS Infrastructure Office and leads improvement and strengthening of engineering resilience, formulating solutions that enhance the resilience of services and optimise efficiencies. He is also deputy chief sustainability officer of NUHS Office of Sustainability. He is tasked to steer the NUHS Green Plan to meet the evolving development in sustainability, and roll-out sustainability initiatives so that healthcare facilities can transit towards a low-carbon economy.
Having worked in building consultancy for over three decades and witnessed the evolution of green, digital technologies and increased awareness of sustainability in the industry, he understands the importance of adopting innovation in health facilities to capitalise on technological advancement to improve building operational efficiency and decarbonise healthcare operations. IDP is a pilot project where digital solutions are adopted in building operation to develop machine learning operating algorithms that identify operating patterns, detect operational abnormalities, and predict potential failures of equipment and systems.
Leonel Aguilar
Lecturer at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, Singapore
Leonel Aguilar is a lecturer and senior researcher at the Cognitive Science group (COG) and the Data Science, Systems and Services laboratory (DS3), ETH Zürich. Previously, he has held postdoctoral appointments at the Computational Social Science group (COSS), ETH Zurich, and the Research Center for Large-scale Earthquake, Tsunami and Disaster (LsETD, now CESERI) at the Earthquake Research Institute of the University of Tokyo, Japan. Leonel pursued his PhD at the Computational Science and High-Performance Computing Laboratory at the University of Tokyo.
Previously, Leonel held a principal lecturer appointment at del Valle University, Guatemala in both the Mathematics and the Civil Engineering departments. His research focuses on modelling and simulating social phenomena. In the context of an emergency evacuation, he has studied the interaction between different modes of transportation (i.e. pedestrians and vehicles), created models based on these interactions, and developed and optimised software to quantify large scale human mobility using high-performance computing infrastructure, such as K computer, Oakleaf/bridge, and Euler. Recently, in order to create more accurate behavioural models and simulations, he has explored the evolutionary properties of abstract agents driven by deep and shallow reinforcement learning.
Additionally, he has performed VR experiments to contrast the behaviour of humans with that of AI-driven agents. His current aim is to bridge the techniques and experiences from the engineering of pedestrian dynamics models and simulations, the high-performance computing techniques used to compute these models efficiently, the data science and machine learning techniques used to perform knowledge extraction and create data-driven models and the experimental design and knowledge gathered in cognitive science about human behaviour and decision-making.
Lianne Knotts
Director, Medical Architecture, United Kingdom
Lianne is a director of Medical Architecture and a senior healthcare architect with 18 years of experience shaping complex clinical environments. She brings deep sector knowledge across stakeholder engagement, health planning, feasibility studies, and full design-to-construction delivery. A specialist in mental health facility design, Lianne serves as a trustee of the Design in Mental Health Network, contributing to global thought leadership in therapeutic environments. Her strength in user consultation has led her to collaborate closely with local architects and clinical teams internationally, including recent work in Toronto and Prince Edward Island. Lianne’s portfolio spans award-winning projects recognised by RIBA, Building Better Healthcare, the Design in Mental Health Network, and the International Academy for Design & Health, reflecting her commitment to creating safe, dignified, and healing spaces for patients and care teams.
Lilian Leistad
Hospital planner, Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency), Norway
Lilian has been working in Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency) since 2017. The job covers early planning of hospitals (including estimating future hospital activity and capacity needs) and pre- and post-evaluation of hospitals and monitoring through the phases of a project. Additionally, the job includes developing evaluation tools and guidelines, in co-operation with internal and external actors, including health authorities and other relevant institutions.
Previous work has been related to research within molecular medicine and epidemiology, including health registries and health studies, as well as biological material and contribution to public reports (e.g. National health and hospital plan). She has a Master's degree in Cell Biology and holds a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. Her thesis was about the role of inflammatory mediators in rheumatic diseases.
Linda Ryan
Assistant professor, Maynooth University, Ireland
Dr Linzi Ryan is an assistant professor in Design Innovation and the PhD director for the Department of Design Innovation at Maynooth University. Her academic focus is on the implementation of design methodologies to address complex societal and organisational challenges, particularly in public-sector reform and healthcare. Dr Ryan's award-winning doctorate research progressed the study of product service systems (PSS), examining the cultural and structural transitions required for organisations to move from product to service-orientated models. She has applied her expertise to significant projects, including leading an INTERREG project that resulted in a permanent change to dementia services in the North West of Ireland, and training more than 170 public-sector staff in service design, leading to direct improvements in service delivery. Her recent projects include co-leading evaluation work for the national HSE Spark Innovation Programme and the development of a cooling sole for people with EBS. She continues to consult and collaborate with public bodies, leveraging design thinking to improve internal processes and service innovation.
Lucia Devitt
Consultant, BDO Austria, Austria
Trained originally as a biochemical researcher with a PhD in molecular medicine, she now applies her training to healthcare consulting. During her time in consulting, she has gained experience in a variety of projects, focusing on the complex interplay of the different avenues for optimization. Her main area of projects involves strategy development for the public healthcare sector in Austria as well as workforce planning and staffing requirement calculations. Her goal is to foster a deep understanding for the needs that arise in the healthcare industry from both the employee, patient and systems side, to help shape a sustainable healthcare future. Due to her training background, her interest also lies in the scientific exchange and monitoring of these change processes to create a reliable base of best-practice cases and applicable guidelines for improvement pipelines.
Luis Esteban Alberdi
Architectural head, Sacyr, Spain
Luis is the architectural head of Sacyr and ARB Membership, with a vast professional experience in design, construction, maintenance, repair of large-scale developments across the hospitality, commercial, residential and healthcare sectors.
He joined Sacyr more than 25 years ago and has always been responsible for the complete management of project construction works on some of Sacyr’s largest and most complex and challenging projects. Luis has built more than 6m sq ft as design manager on site, and has also led relevant healthcare international bidding competitions of design and build with Sacyr, many of which also included the O&M scope, in Spain, Portugal, Italy, UK, Chile and Canada. That’s why he has become one of the most experienced specialists in healthcare and singular buildings construction within the company.
His core expertise lies in shaping complex projects from early strategic definition through to full delivery, commissioning and operational readiness. He is recognised for strong analytical thinking, decisive problem-solving and the ability to align diverse stakeholders around clear, achievable outcomes.
Luke Le
Principal, NORR Architects and Engineers, Canada
Since joining NORR in 2005, Luke has been instrumental in developing the Health Sciences Studio in Toronto, ON. His commitment to building strong relationships with his clients and understanding their vision and goals has produced creative solutions. Luke is a hands-on Principal with diverse proven leadership experience as a Project Manager and Studio Manager and has led multiple projects across a multitude of healthcare facilities. He has worked to perfect the design process and protocols in partnership with project representatives and clinical leaders to solve operational and clinical challenges.
Luke brings a deep understanding of healthcare practices combined with technical knowledge and business acumen, and champions positive transformational change and continuous quality improvement through project execution. Luke is passionate about helping others and reimagining how healthcare design services are executed and delivered.
Magda Matuszewska
Assistant professor, Poznan University of Technology, Poland
Dr Magda Matuszewska is an architect, researcher, and assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Poznań University of Technology, specialising in healthcare architecture. She leads the interdisciplinary postgraduate programme “Investments and Design in Healthcare”, developed in collaboration with Poznań University of Medical Sciences, integrating design, clinical, and investment perspectives.
Her doctoral research developed methodological frameworks for evaluating hospital environments, contributing to the advancement of evidence-based assessment in healthcare design. The work was recognised with a prize from the Polish Ministry of Development and Technology for excellence in architecture-related doctoral research. She holds degrees from the Royal College of Art in London, Poznań University of Technology, and SWPS University.
Her work integrates design, research, and emerging technologies to advance therapeutic, inclusive, and participatory healthcare environments. She develops original methodologies incorporating AI to support the evaluation and transformation of healthcare settings. Her research is presented and published internationally, strengthening evidence-informed approaches to the design of healthcare environments.
Majd Ebwini
Principal medical planner and head of healthcare planning, Dar (a Sidara Company), Jordan
Majd is a senior architect, healthcare planner, and PMP-certified professional with 30 years of experience, including 24 years specialising in clinical, operational, and facility planning. She has led the design and planning of more than 60 healthcare facilities across the Middle East, including Jordan, the GCC, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and African countries, including Angola, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. Applying evidence-based design to create efficient, patient-centred environments, she brings a refined design vision reinforced by deep technical expertise, with project experience spanning nearly all clinical disciplines. Her scope of work includes developing comprehensive space programmes in accordance with international and local guidelines and standards, as well as leading concept design, estate planning, and masterplanning activities.
Manuel Schmid
Physician, University Hospital Augsburg, Germany
Dr Manuel Schmid is a physician and healthcare design researcher working at the intersection of clinical medicine and the design of healthcare environments. He holds an MD PhD, with research on congenital cardiomyopathies conducted at the Technical University Munich and Harvard Medical School. After graduating from TUM, he held a research position at the University of Oxford from 2020 to 2023. He completed an MSc in Healthcare and Design at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art in 2024, where his work explored the role of play in paediatric palliative care.
From 2025, he is a resident in cardiology at University Hospital Augsburg. Alongside his clinical training, he engages in research-based design practice focusing on participatory and co-design processes in healthcare architecture. His work includes the development of a paediatric day-care hospice in Augsburg, which received a High Recommendation in Design-Research-for-Healthcare-Design at EHD 2025. He contributes to the design of care environments for the new Hauner-Children’s-Hospital in Munich.
Margo Kyle
Group manager, National Health Facility Planning, Health New Zealand, New Zealand
With over 25 years of experience in the health sector and more than a decade dedicated to health infrastructure, Margo is a passionate and purpose-driven strategic health planner committed to creating sustainable, efficient, and patient-centred healthcare environments. Margo's work is guided by a deep understanding of clinical needs, operational realities, and long-term community outcomes transforming health services through strategic planning and thoughtful infrastructure development. Her focus is on ensuring health infrastructure is standardised, resilient, and future-ready.
Margo brings specialist expertise in interpreting and evaluating health services and data to inform strategic briefing and physical planning processes. She excels at aligning clinical requirements with functional design outcomes, ensuring a seamless integration of operational needs into the built environment.
Maria Paz Godoy Casas
Project design manager, Sacyr, Spain
Paz Godoy is an architect with extensive professional experience in the design and construction of healthcare facilities. She joined Sacyr in 2005 and has extensive knowledge of international healthcare planning, design and construction, acquired throughout her professional career. For more than 14 years, she has led the planning, design and management of large hospital projects as part of the teams that built some of Sacyr's largest hospitals.
Paz has directed the design of more than 600,000m² of hospital facilities that Sacyr has developed in Chile under a design and construction model.
Her personal and professional background allows her to bring a wide variety of solutions and resources to any project which, together with her professionalism, represent great added value. She has become one of the most experienced specialists in the design of healthcare and unique buildings within the company.
Mark Healey
Director, Bates Smart, Australia
Mark joined Bates Smart in 2003, spending his early years in the company working abroad on large-scale hospitality projects in the UK and Asia. On his return to the Melbourne studio, he became the lead interior designer on the award-winning Royal Children’s Hospital – a world-leading paediatric hospital – and has since gone on to lead several high-quality healthcare projects, such as Tweed Valley Hospital, Bendigo Hospital and the new Peninsula University Hospital.
As well as healthcare, Mark has significant multi-residential, civic and commercial experience, and consistently demonstrates his ability to deliver high-quality and coherent design solutions to complex briefs. Mark is an open and intuitive designer who seeks to distil a client’s vision into a reductive, minimal aesthetic, imbued with a strong sense of materiality. He believes in using the positive qualities of nature, in particular natural light, to enliven his work and create empathetic human-centric spaces we want to inhabit.
Mark Walker
Director, Healthcare, Stantec, United Kingdom
An experienced and accomplished chartered building services engineer, Mark brings over 40 years of experience in the construction industry to his role—22 years of which were dedicated to leadership and design in healthcare engineering.
Known to be adaptable and flexible, Mark takes a dynamic approach to design through risk-based design. He holds integrity, ethics, and honesty in high regard and retains a methodical and logical approach to problem-solving and achieving goals.
With the urgent shift towards climate adaptation, Mark has increasingly concentrated on change management and implementing strategies in pursuit of decarbonisation targets. He has a keen interest in the digital estates for smart hospital operation and maintenance as well as reducing energy and carbon emissions.
Mark is a registered authorising engineer for medical gases for the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estates Management (IHEEM) and is the current chair of the Institution of Building Services Engineering (CIBSE) specialist healthcare group. He’s also a CIBSE board member and trustee.
Marsha Spencer
Vice-president, CannonDesign, Canada
Marsha Spencer’s approach to architecture extends far beyond the basics of building functionality. She emphasises the importance of considering the psychology of space, believing that when a building is conceived through the lens of human experience, it becomes more personal, functional, and rooted in its community.
With more than 25 years of experience, Marsha leads the CannonDesign Toronto team through a wide range of projects, including consultations, renovations, expansions, and new multi-million-dollar constructions. Her expertise as a registered architect and project manager allows her to seamlessly integrate architectural vision with effective project management. Marsha is recognised for her ability to make clients feel comfortable and confident, expertly facilitating the design process, accommodating evolving conditions, and partnering with clients from a project’s inception to its successful completion.
Marta Czachorowska
architect, m.plus.design Marta Czachorowska, Poland
Marta Czachorowska is an architect who dedicates her professional and academic pursuits to the design of caring environments, encompassing medical facilities, therapeutic settings, as well as spa and wellness centers. She holds a firm conviction in the restorative influence of well-crafted design.
She belives in the healing power of good design. Marta advocates for the notion that thoughtfully planned urban areas and architectural structures can contribute significantly to the physical and emotional well-being of those who dwell within them. Her exceptional work in designing a maternity ward for a gynecological hospital was honored with the prestigious Red Dot Design Award in 2023, and she also received acclaim by winning the "Designed for People" award from Gazeta Wyborcza's contest. Her insights on medical design have been featured in esteemed publications like RZUT, Miej Miejsce, and Architektura Murator, and she is a familiar presence at design festivals, such as the Łódź Design Festival, where she champions the concept of health-promoting design. Marta leads the creative team at m+design office. Visit mplusdesign.eu to explore more of her work.
Marta Parra Casado
Co-founder, architect, Virai Arquitectura, Spain
Marta Parra is an architect and an international reference in the humanisation of hospitals and spaces for older adults, pioneering the application of person-centred design, neuroarchitecture, and sustainability in highly vulnerable contexts. She is co-founder and co-director of Virai Arquitectura and has developed award-winning projects such as the ALS Day Care Center in Madrid and the maternity area at Hospital Nuevo Belén. Recognised as Architect of the Year 2018 by the Spanish Council of Architects (CSCAE), she was appointed global community professor at the University of Monterrey (UDEM) in 2024. A specialist in universal accessibility, Marta combines professional practice with teaching in universities and master’s programmes, and with her advocacy work on architecture as a tool for care. She is co-founder and architecture co-ordinator of the Master’s in Hospital Engineering and Architecture at the University of Cádiz. Her latest book, 'Arquitectura de Maternidades', reflects her research as co-author on the design of spaces for childbirth and birth.
Matthew Blair
Principal, BVN, United Kingdom
Matthew is an architect, technologist and Principal at BVN, acknowledged for his cross-sector expertise and his ability to apply current and novel technologies and future of work knowledge to redefine spaces across industries such as health, education, and science. With a career spanning Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, North America, and the UK, Matthew now leads BVN’s UK Studio, bringing a global perspective to his work. Passionate about driving change, Matthew also steers many of BVN’s transformational and innovation initiatives, collaborating with universities, start-ups, and other architectural practices to expand the boundaries of what architecture can achieve. His work reflects a deep understanding of how insights from workplace design can inform and enhance other sectors, from healthcare to life sciences, creating environments that foster collaboration, adaptability, and human connection.
Matthew Custance
Partner, Burrum River Advisory, United Kingdom
Matt is the founder of Burrum River Advisory, a specialist firm advising on the financing, structuring, and delivery of major healthcare infrastructure. He has over 30 years’ experience in hospital business cases, private finance, and commercial strategy, working with both public- and private-sector clients on complex capital programmes.
His work includes the new Royal Papworth Hospital and the proton-beam therapy centres in London and Manchester. He has advised on numerous PFI and privately financed schemes, as well as wider healthcare portfolio and corporate structures.
Before founding Burrum, Matt was a partner at Grant Thornton and KPMG, where he led advisory teams on large-scale healthcare and infrastructure projects across the UK.
Matthew Palmer
Director, building structures, WSP, United Kingdom
Matthew Palmer is a fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers and a passionate multidiscipline project director. Over his 25-year career, he has designed and led the engineering of a number of landmark regional, national and international healthcare schemes.
His passion for holistic design has led Matthew to adopt WSP’s award-winning early-stage optimisation platform, Daisy, and elevate its healthcare specific capability to create a step change in the performance led design of healthcare buildings and estate optimisation.
Maya Kylén
Associate professor, Lund University, Sweden
Dr Maya Kylén is an associate professor in health science. Her research in environmental gerontology examines how the physical environment impacts ageing in place and wellbeing. She explores how indoor and outdoor spaces can be designed to support independence in older age. Her work also investigates economic and policy-related factors that incentivise or discourage relocation among older adults, providing insights that inform both urban planning and policy.
Meera Ruparelia
Senior manager pharmacy subject matter expert, Health Delivery Partnership, United Kingdom
Meera is a registered pharmacist with over a decade of hands-on clinical experience, seamlessly integrated with seven years dedicated to driving digital transformation initiatives. This dual expertise provides a comprehensive understanding of both healthcare operations and technological innovation, enabling the development and implementation of strategic digital solutions that enhance efficiency, optimise patient care, and streamline complex healthcare operations.
Megan Angus
Senior vice-president, strategy and digital services, H.H. Angus & Associates, Canada
Megan Angus, RN, MBA, Lean, EDA is a registered nurse, healthcare strategist, and digital innovation leader whose work bridges clinical practice, technology, and capital redevelopment. As vice-president of strategy and digital services at Angus Connect, she brings close to 25 years of experience guiding hospitals through digital transformation, IMIT strategy, and the planning of next-generation care environments.
Grounded in clinical insight and systems thinking, Megan specialises in translating emerging technologies – AI, virtual care, digital twins, and real-time sensing – into practical, compassionate, and sustainable models of care. She has led digital strategy and operational readiness planning for major acute, paediatric, mental health, and oncology projects across Canada, helping organisations design smart hospitals that anticipate patient needs and support frontline teams.
With a background in Lean methodology and a strong foundation in evidence-based design principles, Megan is a sought-after speaker on AI-readiness, smart hospital planning, and the digital infrastructure required for resilient healthcare systems. She is deeply committed to shaping care environments that are agile, equitable, and profoundly human.
Megan Phelps
PhD student, University of Sydney, Australia
Megan is a specialist paediatrician and educator from Sydney undertaking a PhD in the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney. She has worked mostly in Sydney, Australia, and Paris, France. Her experience in workplace learning and clinical education has intersected with an interest in the built environment to inspire her doctoral work.
Melanie Robson
Associate, Okana Global, United Kingdom
Melanie specialises in digital information management and leads Okana’s strategic advisory service. Driven by the need for cultural change throughout the built environment, she works closely with clients to unlock operational efficiencies within their organisation and achieve transformative outcomes across their estate. Melanie is an award winning thought leader and regional lead for Women in Building Information Modelling (BIM).
Michael Street
Senior principal, HDR, United States
With over 25 years of experience, Michael has been instrumental in the design of numerous healthcare facilities. His healthcare experience encompasses a broad spectrum of domestic and international projects in both the ambulatory and acute care environments, as well as comprehensive facility masterplanning.
He also has extensive experience using contemporary computer technology to communicate design ideas, which simplifies decision-making, expedites project development, and provides continuous visual quality assurance throughout the project.
With a focus on designing surgical, interventional, imaging and other procedural centres, Michael has developed an interest in how architecture can enhance infection control measures and how, in health facility design, form follows flow.
Michael Toner
Regional director, AECOM, United Kingdom
TBC
Michael Weinbren
Consultant medical microbiologist; Infection control doctor, UK
Michael is a consultant medical microbiologist and infection control doctor with over 40 years’ experience in the NHS. Currently working as specialist advisor for microbiology to the New Hospital Programme, his key areas of interest include water and wastewater systems, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and occupant safety. His publications include membership of national guidance groups, including the NHS England technical bulletin on Mycobacterium abscessus, and he is author of 'Safe Water in Healthcare'.
Michael Woodford
Partner and Director, White Arkitekter, United Kingdom
Michael is an Architect, Partner and Director of White Arkitekter’s London Studio. He brings over 20 years of design leadership to the team. Having designed, delivered and led multi-award-winning buildings in the UK and the Netherlands, Michael has a broad and thorough understanding of the architectural, cultural, and commercial contexts of architectural practice. Michael is responsible for White’s UK healthcare portfolio which includes the new Velindre Cancer Centre. Under Michael’s leadership, White’s London Studio is leading the way with low carbon design and the implementation of regenerative and biobased materials.
Michelle Draper
Director of mental health and addictions, Trillium Health Partners, Canada
Michelle Draper is the director of the Mental Health and Addictions Program, bringing more than seven years of dedicated experience in mental health, alongside a distinguished 25-year career in healthcare leadership. Her journey has spanned acute care and long-term care settings, with previous leadership roles including director of flow and director of the emergency department.
Michelle is a progressive and compassionate leader, deeply committed to enhancing patient care through meaningful engagement with individuals who have lived experience. She champions evidence-based practices and fosters environments that prioritise recovery, dignity, and holistic support for both patients and their families.
Michelle leads with empathy, innovation, and a relentless focus on designing therapeutic spaces and experiences that promote healing.
Michelle Howard
Clinical design and innovation lead, HSE, Ireland
Dr Michelle Howard is the clinical design and innovation lead at the HSE Spark Innovation Programme. Michelle holds a doctorate in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology. With over 14 years' clinical experience working as a psychologist and further post-graduate qualifications in Healthcare Innovation and Service Design, Michelle has developed a specific perspective on the challenges in the healthcare system, focusing on how psychological insights can drive meaningful change.
Michelle’s work traverses clinical practice, innovation and research, with a particular focus on using human-centred design (HCD) to create impactful, scalable solutions that address the real-world challenges of healthcare delivery. As clinical design and innovation lead, Michelle is dedicated to exploring and understanding new ways of applying design to improve patient care, enhance healthcare outcomes, and streamline processes within the system.
With her expertise in psychology, design, innovation and clinical research, Michelle brings a holistic and data-driven approach, supporting healthcare professionals to develop capability within the system and work collaboratively to achieve sustainable results. Her commitment to advancing healthcare innovation reflects her ongoing drive to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients and healthcare providers.
Mohammed Ul Haq
Associate, healthcare, HLM Architects, United Kingdom
Mohammed joined HLM in 2016 and leads its healthcare sector. He has a wealth of experience in the design and delivery of healthcare buildings, both nationally and internationally. Mohammed’s recent experience includes the delivery of a 25,000m2 rehabilitation hospital in Abu Dhabi and the multi-phased redevelopment of a live acute hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
Overseeing a team of accomplished and experienced healthcare architects, designers and technicians, Mohammed champions excellence and innovation in clinical design and healthcare architecture, promoting the need for a holistic approach to healthcare design and understanding how the built environment and good healthcare design can positively contribute to prevention as well as cure.
Mohammed is also responsible for developing HLM’s elderly care sector. Approaching the sector with a healthcare-led design ethos combined with HLM’s expertise in residential placemaking, Mohammed looks to encourage ageing in place sooner and flexibility for occupants through the years.
Monika Purschke
Architect, Albert Wimmer ZT, Austria
Monika Purschke pursued her studies in architecture at the Technical University of Vienna and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As a partner at AWZT and holding the position of CEO at Health Team Vienna, she brings a wealth of expertise to the realm of innovative hospital projects. Monika is highly regarded for her proficiency in steering the development of cutting-edge healthcare facilities. Beyond her professional roles, she actively contributes to the academic sphere by conducting research and delivering insightful teachings on healthcare design at various institutions. Moreover, she is frequently called upon to lend her discerning perspective to numerous juries. Monika's specialisation extends to the seamless integration of technical specialist planning into building construction, particularly in the context of historical structures.
Neil Whatford
Director, Gilling Dod Architects, United Kingdom
Neil is an award winning designer of health, well-being and science facilities, with a strong track record over the last 20 years of delivering high quality patient focussed environments in the NHS, Private Healthcare, Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences sectors.
Experienced in engagement at all levels and across all scales of projects, Neil is a strong communicator, keen collaborator and a passionate advocate for considered people centric design.
Neil has been involved in a wide range of notable projects during the last twenty years, principal among these being the new Surgical Neonatal Unit at Alder Children’s Hospital, CityLabs 2.0 at the Royal Manchester Infirmary and Stratford Ambulatory Hospital in South Warwickshire.
As a Director and senior leader within Gilling Dod, Neil’s is passionate about sharing his strong belief in the ability of architecture to positively change the way we deliver improvements in health and social care, enabling people to take control of their own health and wellbeing.
Nick Baker
National clinical lead for health service delivery planning, Te Whatu Ora, New Zealand
Dr Nick Baker is chief medical officer for Nelson Marlborough and a community and general paediatrician. He has held leadership roles, including president of the Paediatric Society of New Zealand, chair of the Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee, and interim national chief medical officer. His interests include health system design, clinical leadership, child health policy, and advocacy. Nick is currently on a secondment into the role of National Clinical Lead for Health Service Delivery Planning.
Nicole Pope
Implementation support lead, Monash University, Australia
Dr Nicky Pope is an experienced researcher, accredited Implementation support practitioner, and implementation support lead at the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI). With a background in paediatric nursing, she brings strong expertise in clinical practice, research, and systems thinking.
At MCHRI, Nicky leads initiatives focused on translating evidence into action to improve health outcomes, equity, and system performance. Her work spans co-design, capacity building, and the application of implementation science frameworks, supporting organisations to embed sustainable change through training, coaching, and strategic guidance.
Her expertise includes child and family health, paediatric pain and chronic conditions, caregiver engagement, and digital health innovation. She has led national and international research projects, contributed to policy and programme development, and lectures in implementation science.
As chair of the Pain in Child Health (PICH) Australia network, Nicky is dedicated to bridging research, policy, and practice to ensure evidence leads to meaningful system and life-level impact.
Nigel Edwards
Chair, advisory group, PPL; Expert advisor, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, UK
Nirit Pilosof
Head of research in innovation and transformation, Sheba Medical Center; Faculty member, Tel Aviv University, Israel; Associate, Cambridge Judd Business School, UK
Nirit Pilosof, PhD, is an architect and researcher exploring the intersection of healthcare, technology and architecture. She is a Faculty member at the Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University, and an Associate of Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS) at the University of Cambridge in the UK. She is also Head of research in healthcare transformation at Sheba Medical Center, a Fellow of Cambridge Digital Innovation (CDI) at the University of Cambridge, and the Executive Member of Israel at the International Union of Architects (UIA) Public Health Group.
Dr Pilosof holds a PhD from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, a Post-Professional MArch from McGill University, and an Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC) from the Center for Health Design in the USA. She gained experience in the design process of major medical facilities as a project manager at leading architecture firms in Israel and Canada and won international awards, including the prestigious American Institute of Architects (AIA) Academy of Architects for Health Award, the American Hospital Association (AHA) graduate fellowship, the McGill graduate fellowship and the Azrieli Foundation fellowship.
Panos Mavros
Assistant professor in ergonomics, design and digital, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, Singapore
Panos Mavros is assistant professor in ergonomics, design and digital in the INTERACT team (Interaction, Technology, Activity) of the Economics and Social Sciences department. He studied Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece and Digital Media at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He completed his PhD at the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at University College London, where he specialised in the perception and experience of urban spaces, focusing on spatial cognition research and the use of psychophysiological methods, such as mobile EEG, as way to understand the interaction between people and the environment. Subsequently, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher for several years at the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) of the Singapore-ETH Centre, conducting research on the topic of Cognition Perception and Behaviour in Urban Environments. He now also serves as Co-I on the module, Architectural Cognition in Practice at FCL.
Paul Barach
Professor, Thomas Jefferson University; Imperial College London, United States
Professor Barach is an internationally recognised clinician-scientist and leader in patient safety, healthcare quality, human factors and high-reliability design. A featured speaker at the European Healthcare Design Congress, he brings decades of global experience advancing safer, more resilient healthcare systems through evidence-based design and systems thinking. He is a practising clinician and former hospital chief medical officer and chief quality officer, grounding his research and policy work in frontline care delivery. He has played a pivotal role in shaping hospital design standards internationally and advised on the design of ten hospitals. He has collaborated with the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) in the United States and previously served as head of research for the Center for Health Design, strengthening the scientific foundation of healthcare facility design. He teaches healthcare design and safety at Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI).
His leadership extends to disaster preparedness and public health systems resilience through the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER). As head of public health accreditation at the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA) and a former board member of the International Academy for Design and Health, he bridges public health policy and the built environment. Funded with over USD 100 million in federal European, British and American research support, he has authored more than 350 publications, cited over 17,000 times. At the 2026 Congress, he will present “Redefining what healthcare architecture research can do for society,” demonstrating how research-driven design advances disaster readiness, equity, and system-wide performance worldwide.
Paul Bell
Principal, Ryder Architecture, United Kingdom
Paul completed his architectural education at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow in 1992 and has led several high-profile urban design, health and infrastructure projects. In 2006, he established Ryder’s Glasgow office and led the early development of the Hong Kong office. Prior to joining Ryder, he worked with Terry Farrell for 11 years in London and Hong Kong.
Paul has spoken around the world on sustainable healthcare design and blurring the boundaries of healthcare to address health equity. Paul brings his expertise of leading integrated project teams to successfully deliver major healthcare projects. His passion for delivering design of the highest quality is recognised by excellent client testimonials and project award nominations.
Paul Grotens
Programme manager – construction projects, Project Office at Radboudumc, Radboud UMC, The Netherlands
As programme manager for construction projects at Radboudumc, Paul played a crucial role in the design and delivery of the Radboud project.
He is also Deerns’ main contact for discussing data and lessons learned from the design now operating in reality. Paul will be presenting with us, and we aim to involve other parties who contributed to the design and construction of Radboudumc.
Paul Yeomans
Director, Medical Architecture, United Kingdom
Paul has over 19 years of experience in healthcare design. He has substantial knowledge of the sector in areas of strategy, planning, design and construction and a proven track record of delivery. He has led the design of numerous healthcare buildings with a project portfolio receiving awards from the RIBA, Building Better Healthcare, Design in Mental Health and European Healthcare Design.
Paul is a director, leading Medical Architecture's Newcastle Studio alongside Lianne Knotts. He is a design ambassador for the Design in Mental Health Network and member of its advisory group and design awards jury. Through this role, he contributes to best practice guidance in mental health facility design to raise standards across the sector and improve the experience of patients and staff across the UK and internationally. In 2022, he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts for his leadership in healthcare design. Paul is a regular speaker at conferences and uses this platform to promote good quality healthcare design. He is currently leading the design of a new regional hospital in Moldova and a major new women and children’s hospital.
Peter Ball
Head of business development, Austco Healthcare UK, United Kingdom
Peter has over 40 years’ experience working with client teams throughout Europe, Middle East, Far East and the UK in the design and delivery of advanced hospital communications systems for acute hospitals.
Peter Dodd
Project director, Integrated Health Projects, United Kingdom
Peter Dodd is a highly respected IHP project director with over 25 years’ industry experience. Peter is a chartered civil engineer who specialises in complex healthcare projects. He is known for how he delivers as much as what he delivers, building genuine, trusting relationships with trust directors, clinical users, supply chain partners, and neighbouring communities to support collaboration and strong outcomes.
Peter played a leading role in the Countess of Chester Women & Children’s Hospital, the first completed NHS Net Zero Building in England. His relationship-driven leadership guided a fast-paced programme and aligned clinicians, estates teams and partners with clarity. Under his direction, the project achieved significant carbon reductions and created a fully electric, future-ready clinical environment enabled through airtightness, high-performance heat recovery and low-carbon materials. He also brings insight from delivering the Christie Paterson Redevelopment, one of the most complex research facilities in the country.
Peter Hall
Reader, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom
Dr Peter A. Hall is reader in Graphic Design at Camberwell College of Arts and Chelsea College of Arts. His research focuses on mapping and data visualisation as critical and participatory design practices. He is currently co-writing a critical guide to data visualisation with Bloomsbury Academic.
He is the UAL lead for Plastic Justice, a pan-European collaboration involving five art and design institutions that investigates microplastics pollution and the role of design in communicating new knowledge, awareness, and responses to the issue.
Previously, Dr Hall has held academic leadership and teaching roles internationally, including course leader of BA Graphic Communication Design at Central Saint Martins; programme director of BA Design and Design Futures at Griffith University Queensland College of Art; senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin; and lecturer in Graphic Design at Yale School of Art.
He is co-founder of DesignInquiry, a non-profit organisation dedicated to researching design through intensive, team-based educational gatherings. His writing appears in leading design publications, and his books include 'Else/Where: Mapping – New Cartographies of Networks and Territories' and Sagmeister: 'Made You Look'.
Peter-Willem Vermeersch
ir. arch. Partner, archipelago architects | KU Leuven, Belgium
Peter-Willem Vermeersch is engineer-architect partner at archipelago architects, Belgium in the Research & Innovation Circle, and visiting professor at KU Leuven in the Research[x]Design group. He obtained his MSc and PhD degrees in Engineering: Architecture from KU Leuven. His research focuses on how the lived experience of (disabled) people can inform architectural design practice, via ethnographic research methods, co-design and post-occupancy evaluation. He investigates how to connect lived experience and wellbeing with sustainability frameworks of sufficiency and performance-based design to lower the environmental impact.
Pollie Boyle
Senior healthcare planner, Mott MacDonald, United Kingdom
Pollie is a qualified doctor and a consultant working for the healthcare planning team at Mott MacDonald. She has more than 25 years of healthcare strategy and planning consultancy experience. She fuses this knowledge and her clinical background to deliver solutions and improve pathways for both patients and staff on a number of high-profile projects, including two years working with the UK New Hospital Programme.
Pollie’s areas of expertise include stakeholder engagement, demand and capacity modelling, clinical briefing, decant planning, estates strategies, evidence-based clinical pathway redesign, and the development of schedules of accommodation. Pollie has a particular interest in data analysis and will use her clinical expertise to interpret trust data intelligently.
Rachelle McDade
Director of healthcare planning, Currie & Brown, UK
Rachelle is a Director in the Healthcare Advisory Team at Currie & Brown, with 30 years of experience delivering major healthcare projects in the UK and internationally. She specialises in large‑scale master planning, reconfiguration programmes and the redesign of healthcare pathways, driving improvement through extensive stakeholder collaboration. Rachelle leads complex healthcare estate programmes to successful, timely and cost‑effective completion. Rachelle is part of the BEIPI committee, committed to raising awareness of infection control within the built environment.
Raluca Șoaita
Founder Architect of the TESSERACT Architecture, TESSERACT Architecture, Romania
Arh. Raluca Șoaita is the founder of TESSERACT ARCHITECTURE, the only architecture studio in Romania specialized in the medical sector. Together with her team, she has signed off on over 1 million square meters of hospitals and medical clinics, including some of the most significant recent large hospital projects in Romania.
Raluca consistently promotes topics such as the humanization of medical spaces, the optimization of healthcare processes, and sustainable hospital design solutions in the public sphere. In fact, the entire approach of TESSERACT ARCHITECTURE is based on innovation, long-term vision, and a multidisciplinary approach throughout the entire hospital design process for the future of healthcare in Romania.
Raluca has been part of the technical expert team involved in a large-scale World Bank project in Romania, "Healthcare Sector Reform – Improving the Quality of the Medical System in Romania." In addition to her collaboration with the World Bank, she has also provided consultancy and expertise to other major international institutions, including the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), contributing to the development and modernization of healthcare infrastructure across the region.
Richard Mann
Head of Social Infrastructure, AECOM, United Kingdom
Richard has 25 years experience gained while working for client organisations, contractors and design consultants. During this time he has worked in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US, delivering a number of high profile projects across a variety of sectors. He is passionate about good building design. Richard brings the knowledge from the diverse projects he has delivered to ensure process improvement; quality and value driven efficiency in design are at the core of the projects he supports.
Richard McAuley
National specification manager, Brandon Medical Co, United Kingdom
Richard McAuley is a highly experienced professional with a comprehensive background in technology, IT and audio-visual systems. His healthcare portfolio includes cutting-edge projects, such as surgical skills labs, integrated operating theatres, MDT facilities, endoscopy suites, and mortuaries across the UK. Notable collaborations include WMSTC, Newcastle Freeman Hospital, Keele University, and Leeds St James’s Hospital. At Brandon Medical, Richard authors master specifications that seamlessly integrate advanced technologies with the needs of healthcare professionals, estate owners, and end users, ensuring optimal outcomes for modern healthcare design.
Rick Lennard
Executive commercial director, New Hospital Programme, UK
Robin Snell
Director, Parkin Architects, Canada
As a Director with Parkin, Robin is an experienced healthcare architect who has worked on a wide range of projects across Canada for more than 30 years. He is passionate about healthcare and uses his leadership skills to guide complex projects to successful outcomes. Robin is an enthusiastic advocate for evidence-based design and is an EDAC and LEED accredited professional, leading recent healthcare projects in Ontario, Atlantic Canada and British Columbia.
Recently nominated as a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Robin’s expertise is recognised on a national level where he serves as the Vice-chair of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Technical Committee for Health Care Facilities. He is also an active member of several CSA healthcare design subcommittees, including Z-8000 for Canadian healthcare facility design and other standards including wayfinding, area measurement, and design studies and post-occupancy evaluation.
Roelof Gortemaker
Architect, director, Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects, Netherlands
Roelof is an architect-director and one of the three partners at Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects. He has been working as an architect for over 35 years, delivering a wide range of projects, including hospitals, psychiatric facilities, healthcare buildings, offices, and educational facilities. Roelof has been the project lead on dozens of projects, both new-build and redevelopment, in the Netherlands and abroad. Notable examples include St Antonius Hospital (NL), Máxima Medical Center (NL), Institut Roi Albert II (BE), Institut de Psychiatrie Intégré (BE), Centre Hospitalier Emile Mayrisch (CHEM) Südspidol (LUX), and Centre Hospitalier d'Antibes (FR).
Rosi Pachilova
Senior Workplace Consultant, Foster + Partners, United Kingdom
Rosi Pachilova works as a senior workplace consultant at Foster + Partners, where she leads the strategic design of healthcare and office buildings. She completed her PhD in Architecture and Social Sciences at University College London in 2020, where she investigated how hospital wards influence the work processes and communication patterns of healthcare staff and how this affects the quality of care provided to patients. Together with her PhD supervisor, Kerstin Sailer, Rosi won the RIBA President’s Award for Research in 2019 under the annual theme “Building in Quality.” Her recent contributions include a chapter for the book The Covert Life of Hospital Architecture, edited by Julie Zook and Kerstin Sailer.
Rutali Joshi
Research lead, HKS, United States
Dr Rutali Joshi is the research lead for health at HKS, driven by a passion for evidence-based, data-driven design and dedicated to translating research into impactful, actionable insights for the design industry. Rutali specialises in creating design solutions that prioritise safety and elevate human experiences across healthcare environments. Rutali has been actively involved in research conducted in a variety of settings ranging from domestic violence shelter homes and homes for the ageing population to emergency departments, operating rooms, and ambulatory surgery centres. She is extremely passionate about developing visual means to translate complex research concepts and findings to recommendations that can be implemented by designers easily.
Ryan Browne
Senior associate, Architectus, Australia
Ryan is passionate about creating better, healthier and happier places for communities.
An enthusiastic and active member of the team, Ryan has gained significant professional experience across health, civic and cultural disciplines. He applies a vast range of skills and an eagerness for continuous learning to deliver high-quality projects, along with striving to change the way we make architecture for people. He challenges ways of thinking, working, and making architecture.
Ryan’s recent roles on health projects has seen him adopt an ever-growing understanding of health planning, design, documentation, and data management. Alongside this, Ryan rigorously questions design approaches, believing there’s always opportunity to learn from and improve buildings throughout the project.
Through his studies, Ryan formed a strong design methodology and understanding of building technologies. A faculty scholar (Birrell Scholars Program, 2016), New Colombo Plan and Endeavour Mobility Grant recipient, Ryan has participated in international masterclasses and study tours in the Asia Pacific and India, working alongside local craftsman, students and architects on civic and masterplanning concepts.
Upon graduating his Master of Architecture, Ryan was awarded the R. Martin Wilson Memorial Prize in Architecture for integrating future technologies into design projects. He won the Philip Y. Bisset Travelling Scholarship with a research topic on how hospital flexibility impacts their interaction with the communities and cities to which they belong. His itinerary will see him attend health design conferences, new and old hospitals, and meet with industry and academic leaders.
Sannah McColl
Principal, Architectus, Australia
As a principal at Architectus, Sannah brings more than 25 years' experience in designing and delivering major hospitals across Australia. She is a strategic thinker and meticulous planner who is focused on both the practical and the beautiful in all her projects to drive innovation and best practice outcomes.
Savina Taouki
Smart building advisor, Deerns, The Netherlands
Savina Taouki is a smart building advisor at Deerns in The Hague, specialising in digital strategies for hospitals to create sustainable, future-proof facilities. Originally from Greece, she holds a Master’s in Architecture from the National Technical University of Athens and a Master’s in Building Technology from TU Delft. With a strong background in architecture and building technology, Savina helps healthcare organisations navigate the complexity of digitalisation. She facilitates interactive workshops with hospital stakeholders to define smart ambitions and co-create solutions, and she is involved in projects through the full lifecycle, from strategic planning and functional design to implementation and delivery.
Sebastian Crutch
Professor of neuropsychology, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, United Kingdom
Sebastian Crutch PhD CPsychol is professor of neuropsychology at the Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and director of the Rare Dementia Support service (www.raredementiasupport.org), which aims to empower, guide and inform people living with a rare dementia diagnosis and those who care for and about them. His research focuses on rare and young onset dementias, especially posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), the so-called ‘visual variant’ of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The work has led to improved understanding of dementia-related visual impairment and the causes and consequences of atypical AD more generally.
He has developed several interdisciplinary research themes collaborating with experts in social science, environmental engineering, occupational health and ophthalmology (to ameliorate the effects of vision loss in dementia), computational statistics, virtual environments and human-computer interaction (to enhance cognitive assessment), neurorehabilitation (designing an app to facilitate reading), neurophysiology, engineering and neuro-otology (to understand balance problems in AD), and artists, scientists and people with dementia (directing the Created Out of Mind residency at the Hub, Wellcome Collection). Seb was awarded the 2015 Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Research Leader Award and 2012 British Neuropsychological Society 10th Elizabeth Warrington Prize.
Sebastian Klawiter
Architect, Studio Sebastian Klawiter, Germany
Sebastian Klawiter is an architect, interior architect, master carpenter, and researcher working across architecture, craftsmanship, urban design, art, and cultural practice. He co-founded the award-winning collective Stadtlücken, collaborated internationally, and was a fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude. His career includes work at Asif Khan Studio and numerous built, curatorial, and research projects. Since 2022, he collaborates with Fanti Baum and has been appointed interim professor of design at Stuttgart State Academy.
Semir Zubcevic
Architect, Albert Wimmer ZT, Austria
Semir Zubcevic pursued his education at the University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Architecture, and furthered his studies at the University of Venice. He has been a dedicated member of the Sarajevo Architects Association since 1985. Since 2003, he has played a pivotal role as a partner at AWZT. Semir is a member of the board of Health Team Vienna and brings a wealth of expertise to the field, particularly in healthcare and hospital planning. His professional focus includes the conceptualisation and strategic planning of innovative future developments.
In addition to his expertise in healthcare, Semir is recognised for his specialisation in masterplanning and urban design. His work includes the development of forward-thinking urban design projects, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, future resilience, and the creation of healthy cities.
Sharon Cook
Architect and healthcare lead, P+HS Architects, United Kingdom
A senior architect at P+HS and one of the practice's healthcare leads, Sharon has over 12 years' experience of working on projects in the healthcare sector. Sharon’s expertise covers a wide range working for a cross-section of NHS trusts and private clients, leading on projects ranging in scale from small refurbishments through to larger new build schemes. Equipped with a broad range of skills Sharon has a passion for stakeholder engagement and also holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Construction Project Management.
Recent experience includes pathology labs, endoscopy departments, and urgent treatment centres, as well as a new-build health and care academy encompassing a primary care centre, nursing school, training and conference facility, She is also currently working on a new clinical trials unit for cancer research.
Simon Corben
Director and head of profession, NHS Estates, NHS England and NHS Improvement, UK
After some 16 years in the private sector, advising the NHS and successfully growing and managing a team of property, clinical planning consultants and analysts, Simon returned to the public sector in 2017 to lead the Estates and Facilities function across the NHS, which now includes both the secondary and primary care sectors. The role at NHS England is one he relishes, building on the Carter Implementation Programme and Naylor Review. Following initial success delivering the Model Hospital and efficiency savings, he is taking forward and broadening out the NHS Estates agenda. This includes the primary care estate, the ProCure23 construction framework, and delivery of the Health Infrastructure Programmes announced by the prime minister in 2019. Most recently, he led the NHS Estates response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the delivery of seven Nightingale hospitals alongside improved clinical infrastructure resilience across the existing estate.
Since joining the NHS in May 2017, Simon has recruited a team aligned to the seven core initiatives of: commercial acumen; policy; workforce; sustainability; operational efficiency; standardisation, strategy and capital; and operational delivery.
In doing so, Simon and the team have:
• delivered both additional capital funding and investment into the NHS;
• reinstated the NHS estates Standards and Guidance programme;
• improved assurance of NHS estates safety, effectiveness and governance through the updating and mandatory implementation of the NHS Premises Assurance Model (NHS PAM); and
• reconfigured and expanded the NHS Estates Division to cover primary care and regional teams;
An accredited Gateway reviewer and project director, Simon understands the need for commercial, innovative and deliverable solutions. In his role at NHS England, he is using his skills and experiences to bring fresh ideas and drive to improve the quality and efficiency of estates and facilities management across the NHS.
Simon Fraser
Principal, Hopkins Architects, United Kingdom
Simon joined Hopkins Architects in 1990 and is one of the four design principals leading the practice. His early work included pioneering sustainable projects, such as Inland Revenue and the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus.
In the early 2000s, he initiated the practice’s international work, beginning with GEK’s headquarters in Athens and later establishing Hopkins Architects’ Dubai studio in 2004. He has since overseen several major projects across the Middle East, Asia and, more recently, the USA.
His portfolio spans a wide range of building types, including a large residential development in Zekeriyakoy, Istanbul; an office tower complex in central Tokyo; the Buhais Geological Museum; the World Expo 2020 Dubai Thematic Districts Masterplan; and architectural projects for Highgate Cemetery.
Simon is currently leading several major healthcare commissions, such as Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute in Ohio, USA. The 1m sq ft facility will house 210 beds, 18 operating theatres, and 15 outpatient clinics.
Simon Trotter
Project director, Health NZ, New Zealand
Simon Trotter is a project director in Health New Zealand’s Infrastructure and Investment Group, leading major hospital redevelopment projects across the country. He plays a key role in shaping national procurement and delivery strategies under the Building Hospitals Better framework, with a focus on standardisation, staged delivery, and building long-term strategic partnerships. Simon’s background spans complex capital projects, commercial strategy, and governance. Outside of Health NZ, he serves as deputy chair of the Council for Volunteer Service Abroad, bringing a strong commitment to service and community impact.
Smeya Shirley Deborah Prince Jawahar
Designer 1, Perkins&Will, United States
Smeya Shirley Deborah is a Healthcare Fellow and Designer at Perkins&Will. She holds a Master of Science in Architecture with a focus on Health and Design from Georgia Tech and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from India, where she is also a licensed architect. Shirley specialises in designing healthcare spaces, particularly at the intersection of design and behavioural health. Her research examines how architecture influences behavioral psychology and user experience in built environments.
Previously, she was a Graduate Research Assistant at Georgia Tech’s SimTigrate Design Lab, collaborating with Emory Brain Health’s Cognitive Empowerment Program. In this role, she researched the effects of light on alertness and circadian rhythms in individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment. Currently at Perkins&Will, Shirley investigates how architectural elements can serve as wayfinding anchors in healthcare settings, aiming to enhance patient navigation and reduce wayfinding anxiety through thoughtful design.
Sophia Hami
Advisory leader – EMEA, HKS, United Kingdom
Sophia Hami is a health advisory leader at HKS. As a leader for the EMEA region, she has experience working across several clinical specialties in both NHS and private healthcare in the UK. Her goal is to support healthcare clients to provide high-quality, safe and sustainable services for their patients.
Sophie Noll
Manager, BDO Austria, Austria
Trained originally as a licensed physiotherapist with a Master’s degree in Healthcare Management and Digital Health she collaborates on the organisational management team at BDO Austria’s Health Care and Life Science Advisory division. Throughout her more than three years with the company she has worked on projects both within Austria and internationally. Her main area of projects involves process development and organisational optimisation in hospitals, physical rehabilitation centers and similar healthcare facilities as well as staffing requirement calculations and workforce planning. Her goal is to foster a better understanding for the collaboration needs during the planning, building and running of healthcare facilities of all focuses. This has the chance to improve both the employee and patient experience, leading to an overall improvement in the healthcare system. Her interest in the field extends to the current need for digitalisation regarding prevention, patient journey and overall healthcare system streamlining.
Stacey Mearns
Director, primary healthcare, Resolve to Save Lives, United Kingdom
Dr Stacey Mearns is a public health physician with 17 years of experience across global health, including more than a decade working in humanitarian emergencies and outbreak response. She has led and supported major emergency health operations in over 20 countries, delivering both clinical care and large‑scale public health programmes in some of the world’s most challenging environments. Her experience spans senior roles with international NGOs, the World Health Organization, and the UK Government, where she has contributed to strengthening health systems, improving preparedness, and advancing equitable access to essential health services.
Dr Mearns’ work focuses on translating evidence into operational practice, building resilient health responses, and supporting communities affected by conflict, instability, and disease outbreaks. In 2021, she was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to humanitarian assistance. She continues to shape global health policy and practice through her leadership, technical expertise, and commitment to improving outcomes for vulnerable populations.
Stephanie Costelloe
Principal, BVN, Australia
Stephanie is a Principal at BVN, working at the intersection of architecture, health planning, and complex systems design across Australia, Asia, and the UK. She is passionate about exploring how large -scale healthcare environments can move beyond institut ional models to become more adaptable, legible, and responsive to human behaviours and sensory experience. Stephanie approaches hospitals not simply as buildings of function, but as evolving networks of people, processes, and technologies. She focuses on s implifying complexity, enhancing clinical workflows, and creating spaces that are intuitive and supportive for both staff and patients. She values stakeholder engagement as an active design tool - challenging assumptions, surfacing insights , and exploring opportunities to create healthcare environments that are resilient, flexible, future -ready, and bring joy to those who inhabit them.
Stephen Herbert
Regional director of healthcare architecture, AECOM, United Kingdom
As the regional director of healthcare architecture at AECOM, Stephen leads a team of talented architects and designers who deliver innovative and sustainable solutions for a diverse range of healthcare projects in the UK, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. He has over 25 years of architectural experience, with a focus on healthcare for more than 15 years.
Stuart Elgie
Partner, DIALOG, Canada
Stuart Elgie is an Architect and Partner at DIALOG. Stuart’s experience as a client-side design advocate and design-build team leader enables him to identify opportunities and mitigate short- and long-term risks. Ultimately, what drives him is the pursuit of great design and the iterative actions leading up to its realisation. Stuart believes design begins by listening to the client before identifying the possibilities and working within a team to find the best answer. For him, this is the fun part of being an architect. Stuart has been project architect responsible for design, design development and contract documentation on many large, complex projects throughout his career, primarily in the institutional and healthcare sectors. Stuart is the Partner-in-charge for DIALOG’s design team for the $1.1 billion Toronto Western Hospital – New Surgical and Patient Tower site for University Health Network, scheduled to open in 2028. Stuart also serves as a member of the DIALOG Governing Council, an elected body within the Partnership, responsible for the stewardship of the long-term interests and wellbeing of the organisation.
Sue Peleg
CEO, Modus Health, Israel
Sue Peleg is a service and systems designer and founder of a health design consultancy advancing new operating models for patient activation within complex healthcare settings. Working at the intersection of strategic design, behavioural insight, and change management, she partners with hospitals to transform inpatient and rehabilitation services from passive, clinician-led care into structured, self-directed recovery ecosystems.
With 20 years of experience in qualitative research, innovation development, and strategic consulting, Sue has spent the past three years leading system-level transformation initiatives across rehabilitation inpatient settings. Using co-design methods, she integrates spatial interventions, structured family training programmes for care partners, and workflow redesign into cohesive operating models.
Sue holds an MDes in Design and Innovation Management from Bezalel Academy of Arts and an MA in History from Tel Aviv University.
At European Healthcare Design, she will present a framework for embedding self-rehabilitation into routine care, demonstrating how design-led strategy improves patient engagement, staff connectivity, and system efficiency.
Sumandeep Singh
Vice-president, senior medical planner, Studio practice leader – health, HKS, Singapore
Sumandeep is vice-president and senior medical planner at HKS, with over 18 years of experience in planning and delivering large and complex architectural projects over a wide variety of typologies, especially healthcare. He has worked across various geographies, such as India, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and China. He is extremely flexible to changing cultural environments that affect healthcare settings, and he is driven by the meaningful service to the community by designing efficient and well-functioning hospitals. He gains trust with clinical users, which has resulted in repeat clients over the years. He is effective in engaging clinical users and translating their vision into thoughtful design. He holds accreditation as an EDAC professional from the Centre for Health Design, California. His expertise extends to winning international hospital design competitions, such as the Shenzhen Children’s Hospital in China, which was widely acclaimed globally. He has recently been certified in 'AI for Healthcare' from the National University of Singapore, and he works at an intersection of planning, BIM, AI, automation, and technology in healthcare design. Suman is currently based in HKS's Singapore Studio.
His recent notable projects as senior medical planner include:
1. Parkway Gleneagles hospital in Hong Kong (500 beds, 550,000 sq. ft) ;
2. Parkway Gleneagles hospital Shanghai (450 beds, 600,000 sq. ft);
3. Parkway Gleneagles hospital Chengdu (400 beds, 450,000 sq. ft);
4. Eastern General Hospital in Singapore (1500 beds, 3,000,000 sq. ft, USD 2 billion);
5. Grantham Hospital and HKU Research Labs in Hong Kong (500 beds, 1,500,000 sq. ft, USD 2.2 billion) ;
6. Macau Island Health Services Complex and Laboratory complex (1000 beds, 1,800,000 sq. ft); and
7. National University Hospital Redevelopment, Singapore, (1500 beds 3,000,000 sq. ft).
Susanna Nordin
Senior lecturer, Dalarna University, Sweden
Dr Susanna Nordin is a registered nurse and senior lecturer at Dalarna University. She holds a PhD in medical science from Karolinska Institutet. Her main research interests involve the relationship between the design of the physical environment in healthcare settings and the wellbeing of older adults with frail health. Dr Nordin is also engaged in research focusing on contact with nature and outdoor stays for the older population.
Taja Quigley
Partner, SmartCo Future Health, United Kingdom
Taja Quigley is a partner at SCFH and a recognised leader in shaping the next generation of digitally enabled health systems. She works with healthcare organisations and public-sector leaders across the UK and Europe to design hospitals that are technologically advanced and fundamentally reimagined around data, connectivity and human experience.
Her work focuses on the intelligent integration of infrastructure, digital platforms and clinical pathways, creating environments where technology strengthens decision-making, improves productivity, and enhances patient outcomes at scale. She is particularly interested in how smart design can enable resilience, sustainability and workforce transformation within increasingly complex health systems.
Bridging strategy and implementation, Taja supports leaders to move beyond incremental change towards future-ready models of care. She is known for her systems thinking and her ability to unite policy, clinical and digital perspectives to shape hospitals fit for the decades ahead.
Tal Amalia Sicsic
Product and service designer, Modus Health, Israel
Tal Amalia Sicsic is a product and service designer and an architect, specialising in the development of assistive technologies and environments for individuals with disabilities and war-related injuries. She works as a rehabilitative designer in hospitals on patient challenges, in close collaboration with multidisciplinary clinical teams.
She develops and leads user-centred, inclusive and empathic design processes grounded in co-design methodologies and a holistic perspective. Her main focus is translating patients' needs and wishes, as experts on their own lives, into tailored physical and environmental solutions. Her leading approaches considers objective medical criteria as equivalent to “soft” and emotional criteria that promote independence and participation.
Tal has a BArch degree in Architecture and City Planning and a MDes degree in industrial design, in the design and innovation management track, from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem.
Tara McGinty
Consultant In Infectious Diseases | Inclusion Health, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Ireland
Dr Tara McGinty graduated in medicine from University College Dublin, Ireland and completed her subsequent specialist training in infectious diseases and was awarded a PhD in 2021, her research spanning HIV immunology, immunopathogenesis of co-morbidity and bone disease, investigator-led clinical trial management and cohort methodology. In 2019, she set up and is the clinical lead for the Inclusion health service at the Mater Hospital. This service aims to tackle health inequalities experienced by marginalised and socially excluded groups by delivering patient centred, integrated health and social care. Including and engaging marginalised voices who are under-represented in research is an area of particular interest and Tara is an active researcher within the National ID CTN and All Ireland ID cohort and collaborates with many National and international researchers in the areas of inclusion health, social determinants of health and integrated healthcare delivery alongside her involvement in HIV clinical trials and research
Tara Veldman
Managing director and principal health lead, Billard Leece Partnership, Australia
Tara is the managing director and health sector leader instrumental in the expansion of BLP. She brings 25 years of experience and a dedication to designing a healthy world in a cross-section of spaces, including hospitals, health hubs, education precincts, high-tech research labs, and residential communities.
Combining her interests in psychology, art, and architecture, Tara is fascinated by how buildings and spaces make people feel. Her passion for sustainable architecture is inspired by her time living in Australia, the Netherlands, Frankfurt, and the Middle East. These life experiences have driven her to create designed environments and places that work and complement their urban setting while using and integrating nature and the natural landscape where possible.
Underpinning projects with evidence-based design, Tara's work exemplifies innovation, strategic thinking, and best practice. She is a regular contributor to health design conferences and seminars, presenting alongside some of the world's most respected thought leaders in the sector both at home and abroad.
Grounded in research and insight, Tara's human-centred design approach and active stakeholder engagement allow the voices of those who will occupy the spaces to be heard. Design outcomes are considered and impactful and exceed both her clients' and the end users' expectations.
In 2025, Tara was honoured with the inaugural Australian Health Design Council Gold Medal in recognition of her visionary leadership, a commitment to excellence, and her significant contribution to the healthcare design industry.
Teva Hesse
Design director, 4D Studio Architects, United Kingdom
Teva Hesse is a London-based architect who has designed major extensions to the Natural History Museum, the National Maritime Museum and a range of award-winning cultural, residential and healthcare projects. Over the past 15 years, his focus has shifted to redefining mental health architecture in the UK, culminating in his design and delivery of the new Springfield University Hospital, completed in 2023.
He has consistently advocated for environments that reduce stigma and support therapeutic recovery. His approach emphasises: abundant natural daylight; quiet, well-controlled acoustics; free access to landscaped gardens; fresh air; natural materials; and varied spaces for self-directed, meaningful activity. This philosophy underpins his work on modern NHS mental health facilities, where he aims to create safer, calmer, and more humane environments for patients and staff.
Teva currently serves as design director at 4D Studio Architects, where he leads a portfolio of acute and mental health projects for NHS trusts.
Thomas Hardin
Senior associate, Perkins&Will, United Kingdom
Thomas is a senior designer at Perkins&Will with over 20 years’ experience across the US and UK. His expertise spans large-scale placemaking, adaptive reuse, healthcare, life-science and education projects, working across scales from masterplans to interiors. Thomas brings a collaborative, global perspective and values open dialogue across cultures and disciplines. He has a passion for finding innovative solutions to complex problems, working across scales and project stages. He balances respect for the past with confidence in innovation, maintaining the belief that thoughtful design strengthens communities and creates lasting value.
Threase Finnegan-Kessie
Assistant professor, Maynooth University, Ireland
Dr Threase Finnegan-Kessie is assistant professor in the Department of Design Innovation at Maynooth University and programme director of its Masters Programmes. She earned her PhD in Anthropology and subsequently conducted post-doctoral research on user-centred design for connected health technologies at University College Dublin. Threase applies human-centred design and ethnographic methods across sectors, including healthcare, higher education, and restorative justice, to address complex social challenges. Her recent projects include co-leading evaluation work for the national HSE Spark Innovation Programme and co-creating the 2025–2028 strategic plan for Restorative Justice Services in Ireland. Through publications and workshops, Threase explores how human-centred design and interdisciplinary methods can lead to innovation and organisational change.
Tim Hoffman
Director – redevelopment, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Australia
Tim Hoffmann is a director – redevelopment at the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, based in Westmead, New South Wales. He has extensive experience in both clinical nursing and operational management positions within NSW Health. Over the last 13 years, he has transitioned into planning, redesign, and redevelopment-focused roles. Tim has qualifications in nursing, health management, and public administration, and is passionate about transforming the healthcare system. He joined the Network in 2011, leading clinical planning and later redesign and integrated care portfolios. In 2016, he was appointed as director of planning and has since been working as an executive team member leading planning and redevelopment. His role involves leading the planning and redevelopment programme across the Network, utilising the programme to deliver new models of care and facilities that enable research-led care, education, and excellence.
Ting Wang
Senior manager, National University Health System, Singapore
Wang Ting is a senior manager in the engineering division of the NUHS Corporate Infrastructure office, specialising in smart and digital healthcare with a focus on building operational smart applications that translate innovative technology into daily hospital operation and maintenance practice. With her background as a mechanical engineer by training, she integrates and turns data into actionable insights with AI/ML, designing applications that streamline workflows to solve real-world challenges in space and resource allocation, hospital operation optimisation, and predictive maintenance. She piloted an integrated data platform (IDP) for NUH Medical Centre L18&19 in 2025 and saw big opportunities in scaling up to other hospital functions and operations in future infrastructure development.
Todd Accardi
Director of Medical Planning, Perkins & Will, United States
Todd Accardi is the Director of medical planning at Perkins&Will, Chicago. His 25 years in this industry has taught him that it is through our own personal experiences that we learn how the design of a space can be a powerful force in the journey of one’s health, healing, and well-being.
What Todd embraces most about his planner role in the healthcare architecture space is being the bridge between designers and industry subject matter experts. Solving these complex problems means being a master at facilitating conversations with a wide variety of leaders, their constituents, and ultimately, the end users. Todd believes that these authentic connections translate into stronger and more profound design solutions for both his local and international clients.
Whether it is at work or home, Todd believes life is an endless journey to gain knowledge and achieve balance. That philosophy is embedded in his designs and relationships with clients.
Tom Potter
Associate director and healthcare lead, P+HS Architects, UK
With over 20 years of architectural experience, Tom is an associate director and healthcare lead for P+HS Architects. An enthusiastic and conscientious architect, Tom has led an extensive portfolio of projects, focusing on sustainable primary and acute healthcare developments.
Recently having worked on some of the practice’s largest acute schemes, Tom has led the architectural delivery of several new urgent and emergency care schemes across the country, while other projects have included paediatric assessment, surgical departments, major trauma wards, and endoscopy services. Alongside acute schemes, Tom has worked on many primary care schemes across the country, working with developers and GPs to adapt existing buildings or provide sustainable, new-build premises.
As part of the cross-office team of healthcare leads, Tom is passionate about the sector, promoting exemplary design and emerging trends, sharing best practice and specialist knowledge across the industry.
Tracy Lord
Principal | Health lead, Billard Leece Partnership, Australia
Tracy Lord is a principal and health lead at Billard Leece Partnership (BLP), one of Australia’s leading architecture firms and global experts in social infrastructure design. An award-winning multidisciplinary practice, BLP designs for a healthy world by delivering people-based solutions that translate evidence-based research.
With a career spanning 25 years in health design, Tracy has established her credentials in delivering health projects across multiple scales in Australia and New Zealand. Tracy is the Region IV director of the UIA Public Health Group.
In addition to working across architecture and project management, Tracy has a particular interest in contributing to thought leadership in the architecture community. She is passionate about inclusive design, as well as creating healthier built spaces that improve people's lives – whether that be through designing hospitals, looking at the inclusion of healthcare within mixed-use precincts or using biophilic principles to improve commercial and urban environments.
Úna Cunningham
Head of transformation and executive lead, strategic projects, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Ireland
Úna is head of transformation and strategic projects at one of Ireland’s largest academic teaching hospitals. Together with her team, she promotes a culture of inter-professional collaborative practice and collective leadership, adopting a lean, person-centred philosophy and design principles.
In 2021, Úna completed her PhD as part of the Co-Lead programme (https://www.ucd.ie/collectiveleadership/). Through application of her research findings to practice, she continuously demonstrates how interventions to improve quality and safety of care can be made more effective when conditions are created for interdisciplinary teams to flourish.
Úna lectures on transformational systems-level change and team interventions at University College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She is also a leadership mentor with the Irish Management Institute. Her work has been published in BMC Health Services Research, BMC Medical Research Methodology, BMC Medical Education, BMJ Open and the International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health.
Unni Dahl
Hospital planner, Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency), Norway
Unni has been working in Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency) since 2015. The job covers early planning of hospitals, pre- and post-evaluation of hospitals and monitoring through the phases of a project. Additionally, the job includes developing evaluation tools and guidelines.
Previous work includes collaboration between hospital and primary health care services, developing specialist healthcare services for patients with chronic diseases, patient education programmes and patient participation.
Unni has a background as a nurse and has a Master’s degree in Pedagogics, for which her thesis was a study of the doctor – patient communication. She also holds a PhD in Medicine, for which her thesis was about co-ordination of healthcare services and follow-up among elderly and chronically ill patients after hospital discharge.
Valentina Chisci
Senior associate architect, healthcare project lead, Perkins&Will UK, United Kingdom
Valentina Chisci is a senior Associate at Perkins&Will with more than 20 years of international experience in healthcare architecture spanning the UK, Italy, and Chile. Her work is driven by a commitment to establishing strong design foundations from the earliest stages of a project, ensuring that clinical needs, patient experience, and operational efficiencies are embedded from the start. Valentina collaborates closely with clinicians, healthcare organisations, and multidisciplinary teams to create environments that genuinely support healing, enhance staff wellbeing, and enable high‑quality care delivery.
Specialising in early‑stage strategic planning and concept design, she helps clients articulate clear project visions and transform them into spaces that are functional, future‑ready, and rooted in evidence‑based design principles. Valentina brings a thoughtful, analytical, and human‑centred approach to every project, ensuring that design solutions respond intelligently to context, complexity, and the evolving demands of modern healthcare.
Vittoria Falchini
Neuroarchitectural Psychologist, Foster+Partners, United Kingdom
Vittoria Falchini is a neuroarchitectural psychologist and she works as a consultant at Foster + Partners. With a background in clinical and environmental psychology, she holds a master’s in Neuroscience Applied to Architectural Design at IUAV in Venice. She focuses her work on how our brain functions and processes information, how this affects human behaviour, cognition and experience, and how it is possible to attune humans with the built environment. Within the practice, she works on healthcare projects, integrating research in neuroscience and environmental psychology into the design process.
Wassim Jabi
Professor and chair of computational methods in architecture, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Professor Wassim Jabi is course director of the MSc Computational Methods in Architecture at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, UK. He received his MArch and PhD from the University of Michigan and taught at several universities in the United States before moving to the UK in 2008. While in the US, he secured a $250,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant as principal investigator.
He has published extensively on parametric and generative design, spatial representation, the role of light in architecture, and building performance simulation. He is the author of Parametric Design for Architecture (Laurence King Publishing, London). In 2013, he obtained £70,000 in internal competitive funding to acquire a six-axis high-accuracy industrial robot for research into digital fabrication processes.
More recently, he led a £300,000 Leverhulme Trust–funded project investigating spatial topology in Building Information Modelling (BIM), resulting in the development of the Topologic software library.
Wayne Walker
Executive director, mental health and addictions capital planning, Government of the Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada
As executive director, capital planning, mental health & addictions for the Government of Prince Edward Island, Department of Health and Wellness, Wayne offers over 30 years of healthcare expertise in driving strategic planning frameworks, building government relationships, and delivering top stakeholder satisfaction. With SickKids Hospital for 23 years, and previously as the COO at the Confederation Centre of the Arts and director of capital & facilities planning at Grand River Hospital, he demonstrated exemplary leadership in strategic operational planning, budget management, and stakeholder engagement. His experience as both a development lead for mental health facilities and his past work with patients with lived experience brings a fully-rounded perspective to his approach for a recovery model of care.
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Adam Hope
Associate director of estates and facilities, Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
Adam Hope is associate director of estates, facilities and capital development at Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. He leads strategic estate planning, capital programme oversight and sustainability across complex acute healthcare environments.
Joining the Women’s and Children’s Hospital programme during the delivery phase, Adam provided executive leadership and assurance to secure NHS Net Zero Building Standard Certification and ensure sustainability targets were realised in practice. His work centres on strengthening governance, aligning infrastructure with clinical need, and driving long-term environmental performance across healthcare estates.
Ainoa Abella Garcia
Researcher, Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering (UVic-UCC), Spain
Ainoa Abella Garcia
Researcher, Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering (UVic-UCC), Spain
Ainoa holds a PhD in Statistics and Operations Research from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and a degree in Industrial Design Engineering from Elisava (2015). In 2015, she studied a Master’s degree in Teacher Training for Compulsory Secondary Education and Vocational Training – specialising in Technology at Blanquerna (URL). She is currently a lecturer and scientific researcher within the Decoding Well-being research line at Elisava Research, where she participates in academic and private research projects with companies; and collaborates with both national and international institutions. Her work and publications focus on the parameterisation of emotions, wellbeing and perception of materials, through Kansei engineering and the application of statistics and data visualisation in design. She is currently responsible for the Simultaneous and Consecutive Studies Programme.
Alessandro Grecchi
Consultant psychiatrist, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, Italy
Born in Milan on 24 August, 1975, he graduated in Medicine in 2001 and specialised in Psychiatry in 2005, beginning to work in psychiatric rehabilitation with clinical and co-ordination responsibilities in collaboration with community mental health centres.
He continued his training with a Doctorate in Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology, contributing to scientific publications and participating in courses and conferences. From 2008 to 2016, he worked at the San Carlo Borromeo Hospital in Milan in community mental health centres, joining the hospital's psychiatric unit in 2016.
Since 2022, he has been director of the departmental psychiatric rehabilitation centre of the ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo in Milan, a 51-bed facility offering various levels of rehabilitation. He is active in the Italian Psychiatric Association, a member of the Lombardy executive committee, author of national and international publications, and from 2013 to 2018, he was regional co-ordinator of young psychiatrists and a member of the national section council.
Alice Anderson
Programme manager – hospice-friendly hospitals, Irish Hospice Foundation, Ireland
Alice graduated in Sociology and Social Policy from Trinity College, Dublin in 2009 and gained an MSc in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam in 2013 with a First. Since then, Alice has worked in the European Commission and overseas in international aid and development before joining Irish Hospice Foundation in 2017. Now, as programme manager for hospice-friendly hospitals, an initiative of the Irish Hospice Foundation, run in partnership with the Health Service Executive, Alice specialises in delivering a multifaceted national programme, which works to improve end-of-life care in Irish hospitals. This programme is delivered in partnership using a quality improvement approach.
Aliko Ahmed
Regional director of public health, NHSE / OHID – East of England, United Kingdom
Prof Aliko Ahmed is the regional director of public health for East of England (NHS and OHID) and was previously the director of public health for Staffordshire NHS and County Council.
He has three decades of working experience as a frontline hospital clinician, academician, and public health practitioner. His clinical speciality is in infectious and communicable diseases. He qualified in medicine in 1992 and received higher specialist trainings at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Cambridge, and East of England Deanery.
He is passionate about health equity for all of society and works through collaborative partnerships to facilitate, co-ordinate, optimise support and delivery of population health outcomes. His key ambition is for the people in the East of England to have longer, healthier, and more prosperous lives.
He has interest in global health policy and research especially the translation of evidence into relevant and appropriate health policies for low-income countries. He founded and convened the Public Health Policy Forum at Chatham House and hold fellowships of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) and the Faculty of Public (FFPH). He is board member of the Cambridge Institute of Public Health and a fellow at Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge.
Amr Aboul Nasr El Yafi
Senior digital strategy consultant, Dar (a Sidara Company), United Kingdom
Amr is a results-driven professional with a solid foundation in mechanical engineering and a Master’s degree in Management. He demonstrates exceptional analytical ability in transforming complex data into actionable insights and efficient operational models that drive organisational value. He is experienced in leading technical projects, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and delivering impactful consulting solutions across diverse industries. And he has proven expertise in market analysis, process optimisation, and strategic advisory.
Anahita Sal Moslehian
Postdoctoral researcher, Deakin University, Australia
Dr Anahita Sal Moslehian is a postdoctoral research fellow with the HOME Research Centre at Deakin University. She holds academic qualifications in Architecture and collaborates with multidisciplinary teams to design, deliver, and translate research into impactful design policies and practices. Her work aims to generate knowledge that informs built environment design strategies that not only mitigate harm but also restore and build capacities – promoting healthier lifestyles, enhancing quality of life, and delivering environmental and social value. Anahita focuses on the concept of health promotion in healthcare and housing environments, utilising practice-informed and systems-based research approaches. Her work draws on the lived experiences of diverse end-users, including healthcare patients, aged care residents, individuals experiencing homelessness, apartment-dwelling families, and office workers. She has wide experience in multi-method and mixed-method research and has contributed to several multi-stakeholder projects, resulting in peer-reviewed publications and reports for government and partner organisations.
Andrea Vannucci
Medical director, Italian Foundation of Lenitherapy; adjunct professor, University of Siena, Italy
Andrea Vannucci is a physician specialising in hygiene and preventive medicine and currently serves as medical director of the Italian Foundation of Lenitherapy (FILE). He is adjunct professor of healthcare planning, organisation and management at the University of Siena.
He is a member of the executive board and the CME Scientific Committee of the National Academy of Medicine, a member of the Scientific and Technical Committee of ASIQUAS, and of the Equal Opportunities Committee of the Florence Medical Council. He also works as a consultant in healthcare planning and design for national and international architectural and engineering firms.
He previously held senior leadership positions as medical director in public and private hospitals, co-ordinator and later director of the Tuscany Regional Health Agency, and regional representative on the National Outcomes Programme Committee (AGENAS). He has served quality and safety commissions, independent evaluation bodies and ethics committees, and is also an ISO 9001 quality management systems auditor.
His work includes teaching, research and advisory activities in quality of care, performance improvement, accreditation and workforce development. He has contributed to institutional working groups of the Ministry of Health, AGENAS and the Tuscany Region, and has participated in numerous national and international conferences and publications.
Andrew Baillie
Assistant Director, Infrastructure Planning and Delivery, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, United Kingdom
Andrew J Baillie is an experienced Construction and Project Manager with over 20 years in the industry. Currently serving as the Assistant Director of Infrastructure Planning and Delivery at NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Andrew brings a wealth of expertise in managing large-scale capital projects across acute, primary, community, and mental health planning programs. His role involves ensuring projects align with the Strategic Capital Plan and meet the requirements set by various governing committees.
Anita Wang Børseth
Hospital planner and special adviser in infection prevention and control, Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency), Norway
Anita Wang Børseth is a hospital planner and special advisor in infection prevention and control (IPC) for the Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency), where she has been working since 2024.
The job covers advice and guidance in infection prevention and control for various projects, and hospital planning. The task consists of development of a platform for knowledge and guidelines; planning and implementation of training and skills development within infection control; co-operation with external actors, including health authorities and other relevant institutions; and assistance in investigations, case management, and decision support in infection prevention and control.
She has more than 20 years' experience as an infection prevention and control practitioner in hospitals, first at local level and later in regional level. The work has included services as expert assistance to other health institutions in Central Norway Regional Health Authority, including infection control advice; monitoring, education and training of personnel; developing e-learning for health peroneal; and participating in different project and improvement work, research and investigation of outbreaks. She also has three years’ experience from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health as senior adviser with task during the pandemic, with advice, surveillance and developing guidelines for the Norwegian healthcare.
She has a Master's degree in Public Health, with the title of her thesis: 'Single-occupancy rooms: An infectious disease prevention measure in hospitals'.
Anna Maria Del Corral Gonzales
Associate professor, Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering (UVic-UCC), Spain
Anna del Corral holds a PhD in Computer Science from UPC and a degree in Industrial Design Engineering from Elisava. She spent over 13 years as a researcher in UPC’s Computer Architecture Department, publishing internationally on innovative hardware for vector processors. She previously worked at PUIG, developing primary packaging for major fragrance brands.
Currently, she is academic area co-ordinator for the Industrial Design Engineering degree at Elisava and leads the school’s Well-Being Research Area, teaching across technology and design subjects. She has directed numerous industry–academia R&D projects on futures, mobility, interaction, and healthcare, including a patented sensory stimulation system for premature babies developed with Hospital Sant Joan de Déu.
Anna Nowacki
Emergency physician, assistant professor, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Canada
Dr Nowacki is an emergency physician at the University Health Network and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto whose work sits at the intersection of clinical care, system design, and the built environment. With subspecialty training in Global Health and Tropical Medicine and a Master’s in Design for Health from OCAD University, she brings a multidisciplinary lens to improving healthcare delivery.
Her recent work focuses on how spatial, service, and systems design can enhance patient and staff experience in emergency care settings. She has led design initiatives within local hospitals, consulted on emergency department redesign projects, and facilitated international workshops on systems thinking and rapid improvement methods. Dr Nowacki is particularly interested in how thoughtfully designed spaces and processes can transform the way healthcare is delivered and experienced.
Anni Feng
Associate director, Hoare Lea, United Kingdom
Anni is a chartered engineer in the UK with a background in computer and communication systems engineering. She has diverse telecommunications and digital design and advisory experience in various sectors, including healthcare, technology and transportation. She has worked on projects in America, Africa, Middle East, South Asia and across Europe.
Anni first gained her healthcare experience while on a long-term assignment with Arup Canada. She has had the privilege to be involved in many healthcare projects of different scales and complexities since. Some examples include being the lead digital engineering advisor in the health workstream for the Peru Reconstruction programme, leading the digital workstream in a cancer centre design competition in Wales, and being the digital advisor for a major hospital replacement project in Scotland.
Anya Shah
Senior consultant, Turner & Townsend, United Kingdom
Anya Shah is a healthcare advisory consultant with extensive experience delivering strategic and operational solutions across diverse projects in the UK and internationally. She specialises in helping healthcare organisations navigate complex challenges, improve performance and drive sustainable transformation. Anya’s work spans areas such as healthcare delivery redesign, service integration and organisational strategy, combining analytics with a collaborative approach to achieve impactful outcomes. Her international exposure has equipped her with a deep understanding of varied healthcare systems and the ability to tailor solutions to local contexts.
Asma Alyami
Student – expected graduation: Summer 2026, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
Asma Alyami, a student in Imama Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Saudi Arabia, believes that design is a transformative power that shapes perception, emotions and human interaction rather than just filling a space. She always adapts approaches that exceed aesthetics and functionality, as she is passionate about creating environments that stimulate contemplation, sparks creativity, and the way people interact with the world around them. Being an ambitious leader, Asma aspires to design sustainable and environmentally smart responsive spaces that overshadow how people perceive and experience their own journey. With research as a strategic tool for innovation, Asma efficiently uses it to challenge conventional design approaches and redefine spatial experiences. She values new opportunities and is always looking for chances to gain new experiences and except demanding challenges.
Avery Fletcher
Healthcare planner, University College London, United Kingdom
Healthcare Facilities MSc, University College London. Recipient, 2025 Ann Noble Award.
Azrin Jamaluddin
Researcher, Architectural Cognition in Practice, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, Singapore
Azrin is a researcher in the Architectural Cognition in Practice group. He holds an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from UCL and a BSc in Psychology & Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Nottingham. He has experience working with behavioural, survey, eye-tracking, and neural data. His current research in the group involves evaluating the usability and effectiveness of a pedestrian wayfinding system using various methodologies such as deep dive interviews, user shadowing, and behavioural experiments using mobile eye-tracking.
Ben Riddle
Technical Director, Ecospheric, United Kingdom
Ben Riddle,
Technical Director,
Ecospheric
Birgit Dietz
Architect, TU Munich, Germany
Dr. Birgit Dietz, born in Munich, is an architect and gerontologist based in Bamberg. Since completing her PhD at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 1994, her work has focused on healthcare architecture and the impact of demographic change on the built environment, particularly for people with cognitive impairments.
In 2012 she founded the Bavarian Institute for Age- and Dementia-Sensitive Architecture (BIfadA), which develops guidelines for dementia-sensitive planning in hospitals, care facilities and housing. The institute also conducts research, product development and professional training, and contributes to the development of appropriate building regulations.
Prof. Dr. Dietz teaches on the planning and development of hospitals and healthcare facilities at the TUM School of Medicine and the TUM School of Engineering and Design and is involved in interdisciplinary research projects. In 2025 she was appointed Honorary Professor at the Technical University of Munich.
In 2020 she received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for her commitment to architecture for an ageing society.
Bob Wills
Director, Medical Architecture, United Kingdom
Bob is a director of Medical Architecture with over 35 years’ experience as an architect with more than 30 years in healthcare design. He has played a key role in the delivery of various large-scale mental health and acute health projects, including Clock View Hospital in Liverpool, which combines architecture and landscape to create a therapeutic environment for recovery. The building received the coveted Design for Sustainable Development Award at the 2023 European Healthcare Design Awards.
Recently, Bob oversaw the design of Kimmeridge Court, a specialist eating disorders unit at St Ann’s Hospital in Dorset, a building that received the Clinician‘s Choice Award at the 2023 Building Better Healthcare Awards, and the Seastone CAMHS Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit, also in Dorset.
Bruce Crook
Principal, Architectus Australia Pty Ltd, Australia
Bruce Crook brings over 30 years of dedicated expertise to healthcare architecture, marrying an in-depth understanding of emerging trends with a steadfast commitment to creating safe, healing environments. His career spans Australia, the Asia Pacific, Middle East, India, North America, and beyond, where he has held senior roles across the entire project lifecycle—from business case development and master planning to detailed design, delivery, and commissioning. This breadth of experience allows Bruce to translate complex clinical requirements into architectural solutions that balance form, function, and patient wellbeing.
His portfolio features some of the world’s most innovative health facilities. In Canada, he contributed to St. Catharine’s Hospital and the Toronto Western Hospital Innovation Project, as well as the Halton Hospital PPP bid. In Singapore, he led design efforts for the Outram Community Hospital at Singapore General Campus and a major nursing home research and construction project. His work in India includes the Gorakhpur All India Institute of Medical Sciences precinct and the Asian Heart Institute Hospital in Mumbai. Across Southeast Asia, Bruce has shaped facilities like Gleneagles Medini in Malaysia and multiple RSPI hospitals in Indonesia. He also guided the transformation of New Zealand’s Wellington and Kenepuru Hospitals, demonstrating his adaptability to diverse healthcare systems and cultural contexts.
A sought-after speaker at national and international conferences, Bruce has shared his insights on topics such as virtual care, hospital “control towers,” sustainable and flexible healthcare environments, and salutogenic design. Highlights include presentations at the Fifth Estate Tomorrowland Conference in Sydney, the Design & Health World Congress in Canada, and design review panels for NSW Health and Copenhagen University. Through
these engagements, he champions evidence-based design and innovation to improve patient, family, and staff experiences.
Bruce’s approach centres on partnering closely with clients, clinicians, and communities to deliver resilient, adaptive facilities that anticipate future needs. He believes that architecture can be a powerful tool for health promotion—not just treating illness but fostering overall wellness. By integrating technology, biophilic principles, and operational intelligence, Bruce continues to redefine what healing environments can achieve for individuals and the broader community.
Carmel Woolmington
Technician and installation lead, Vital Arts, Barts Health NHS Trust, United Kingdom
Carmel is the technician and installation lead for Vital Arts, and is responsible for managing the Trust’s extensive art collection, including maintenance, conservation, auditing and inventory. She also works with commissioned artists on all technical aspects, such as installation and fabrication. Carmel brings over five years experience as a producer, strategy manager and technician in hospital arts, delivering complex public art commissions and Creative Health programmes. Carmel produced the art strategy for Bethlem Gallery, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and was creative producer for two new mental health facilities, New Douglas Bennet House and Pears Maudsley Centre. She was the arts manager for Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust, during which she produced and curated a Creative Health exhibition for Saatchi Gallery. Prior to this, she worked as an independent creative producer and fabricator for clients such as Bestival, Camille Walala, the Nightingale Project, Collage Works, and Lord Whitney.
Cate Mentink
Consultant, healthcare strategy + planning, Lexica, member of WSP, United Kingdom
Hailing from a public health background, Cate brings considerable research and insights experience, having worked in indigenous health and social research for over six years. Cate’s experience also spans social impact and innovation, with significant experience working on developing and embedding innovative health strategies and programmes in communities across New Zealand. In healthcare planning, Cate has a broad range of experience, including the development of clinical and functional briefs, estate strategies, schedules of accommodation, workforce planning, and data analysis and modelling.
Cecile H Flottorp
Functional planner, Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency), Norway
Cecilie H. Flottorp has a Master's degree from NTNU in Political Science, specialising in the implementation and evaluation of public policy.
She has extensive experience with project management and participation processes in regional planning, local plans, organisational development, and construction projects. As a project manager in the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), she was responsible for motivating municipalities to get involved in sustainable development through the "local Agenda 21" project and the UN's sustainability act Agenda 21. She has also had responsibility for investigations, quality improvement processes, ICT projects, and implementation of new functions within the health sector, when she worked at St Olav's hospital. In recent years, she has worked on construction projects in everything from being responsible for user involvement from the client's side to leading remodelling projects and the construction of new buildings at St Olav's hospital. In her current position at Sykehusbygg HF, she mainly works with functional planning and participation processes in large construction projects. She is also a Board member in the European Health Property Network.
Cecilia Spannel
Senior architect, healthcare, LINK Arkitektur, Sweden
Cecilia Spannel is a senior architect at LINK with 20 years of experience in healthcare design. She has worked and lead a wide range of projects – from strategic masterplanning of hospital sites, hospital dimensioning and early-stage stakeholder engagement, to detailed design in various types of hospital facilities, operating rooms, intensive care, wards, outpatient clinics, psychiatry, etc. Cecilia is also specialised in wayfinding and has good knowledge and experience of logisitics flows around and within the hospital complex.
Cheney Chen
Senior regenerative design advisor, Perkins and Will (a Sidara Company), Canada
Dr Yu (Cheney) Chen is a senior engineer and senior associate at Perkins+Will’s Vancouver office, as well as co-director of the P&W Energy Lab. With expertise in architecture and building science, Cheney specialises in building performance modelling, Passive House, and sustainable design, contributing to projects in Canada, the US, Europe, and Asia. His work combines over a decade of industry experience with advanced research in green building and energy efficiency.
Cheney is a professional engineer (P.Eng.) with Engineers and Geoscientists BC and holds certifications including ASHRAE BEMP, CPHD, RESET AP, and LEED AP BD+C. He actively contributes to energy- and carbon-focused building code development and serves on various committees at regional and international levels.
Cheryl Riotto
Deputy clinical director, New Hospital Programme, NHS England, United Kingdom
Cheryl is a cardio-thoracic specialised trained registered general nurse (RGN) with extensive clinical and operational experience, having worked in a variety of roles since starting her nursing career in the 1980s. Continuously working in the NHS she has been privileged to have managed a diverse portfolio over her career, including critical care theatres; palliative care; surgical wards; transplant services; day ward services; cardiac rehab; outpatient services; and the teams that work within these settings.
Since completing a Master's in Healthcare Leadership has only increased her resilience and motivation to continue to work in the NHS.
Cheryl joined the New Hospital Programme in September 2021, as her first role away from front-facing, operational and clinical roles. She has led the Programme's work on patient, public and professional engagement and co-creation, and has been central to the work on looking at new standards for clinical areas, such as the move to single bedrooms.
Chris Lawer
CEO, Umio, United Kingdom
Chris Lawer is a pioneering thinker and practitioner in experience-centred design and value creation. For over three decades, he has challenged orthodoxies in strategy, innovation, and health, advancing new approaches that move beyond metrics and abstractions to the depth of real lived experience.
He is the CEO-founder of Umio (since 2014), through which he has shaped cutting-edge work on co-creation, ecosystems, and experiential value in health, medtech, and beyond. Also, he is the CEO of Ooex – the platform for real lived experience (RLX) in motion, and the creator of the Bergson.ai RLX platform.
Previously managing director of Strategyn UK, Chris spearheaded the adoption of jobs-to-be-done innovation management practices across leading global enterprises in pharmaceuticals, medtech including wound care, manufacturing and for government bodies. His work has attracted international investment into diagnostic technologies, including advances in the early detection of diabetic foot ulcer infections, and has guided EU Horizon programmes and SME consortia to secure funding from breakthrough health and care propositions and technologies.
Chris is the author of 'Health Ecosystem Value Design' (2017), 'Interactional Creation of Health' (2021), and, with Nicki Sutton, 'Real Lived Experience: A Radical New Design Philosophy for Health and Care' (2025). Across these works, he has challenged dominant logics and opened new possibilities for more meaningful transformation in health and care. He is also completing a PhD at the University of Bristol, researching the Real Lived Experience (RLX) of chronic pain and marginalised lives.
Chris has also taught internationally, serving as a visiting fellow and adjunct lecturer at the New York Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Design, where he introduces Master’s students to the Umio experience model and its application to the design of inclusive and equitable urban environments.
Across all his roles, Chris’s work carries a consistent thread: the pursuit of more just, humane, and resonant forms of innovation grounded in the realities of lived experience.
Christoph Hoelscher
Chair, Cognitive Science, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, Switzerland
Prof Christoph Hoelscher has been a full professor of cognitive science at ETH Zurich since 2013, with an emphasis on applied spatial cognition research in built environments. Since 2016, he has been a principal investigator at the Singapore ETH Center (SEC) Future Cities Laboratory, heading a research group on ‘Cognition, Perception and Behaviour in Urban Environments’ and now on ‘Architectural Cognition in Practice’, with a more translational focus. He holds a PhD in Psychology from University of Freiburg, and he served as honorary senior research fellow at UCL, Bartlett School of Architecture, and as a visiting professor at the Faculty of Architecture at Northumbria University Newcastle.
Conor Ellis
Director, health planning, Health Planning and Delivery, Ireland
Conor’s global experience brings transferable best practice from many years of consultancy in 32 countries, including complex system change covering projects with a value of some €30+billion. Conor worked for several years in operational and strategic management healthcare roles. His projects have included many of Europe’s largest and complex, including Karolinska Sweden, UCLH, St James Dublin, UHB, Manchester Hospitals, Newcastle Hospitals and projects in Canada, Australia, Germany and the Middle East. Conor has completed many projects from start to finish, such as UHNM and Hamad Medical Qatar, and has worked on NHP, HSE, Far East and Middle East government projects.
He has contributed to national toolkits, including detailed design reviews on major projects. He advised the UK Government Property Unit on improving health efficiency and has delivered lectures and articles on the subject worldwide. He is the lead author of several reports on improving healthcare outcomes with significant international media coverage. He has led the work on several award-winning hospital projects, with his team twice winning technical advisor of the year and best designed healthcare facility.
Craig Booth
Regional director, AECOM, United Kingdom
Cristiana Caira
Architect, White Arkitekter, Sweden
Cristiana Caira MArch, is partner and board director at White Arkitekter, artistic professor of healthcare architecture at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, member of the Board at the European Health Property Network, and member of the programme committee for the European Healthcare Design Congress. Cristiana has 25 years of experience in planning complex healthcare environments in Scandinavia and internationally. Focused on increasing collaboration between practice, research and education, Cristiana has led major White Arkitekter healthcare projects, including the award-winning Södra Älvsborg Hospital Psychiatric Clinic, the Queen Silvia Children Hospital in Gothenburg, and a large-scale extension of Karlstad Hospital. Her latest international project is the award-winning extension for the Panzi Hospital in Congo, in collaboration with the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Denis Mukwege. Cristiana is currently healthcare design lead architect within the expert international team appointed to design Cambridge Children’s Hospital.
Cynthia Damar-Schnobb
Founder, Artellix, Canada
Cynthia Damar-Schnobb is an experiential design consultant and strategist with 25 years of experience. Throughout her career, she has led numerous award-winning projects in wayfinding, place branding, and experiential graphic design.
In 2023, Cynthia founded Artellix, a Canadian design agency specialising in creating impactful spatial experiences. As a design leader and mentor, Cynthia serves as co-chair of the Professional Advisory Council for Sheridan College’s Honours Bachelor of Experiential Design programme. Her extensive leadership history includes serving as president of the Association of Chartered Industrial Designers of Ontario; Board Member at the Association of Canadian Industrial Designers; and Chapter Chair for the Society for Experiential Graphic Design where she received the Achievement Award in 2019.
In 2025, her influence expanded internationally as a jury member for the Grands Prix du Design as featured in INT Architecture & Design magazine. Cynthia holds a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
David Sewell
Digital practice manager, associate principal, Perkins&Will, United Kingdom
Dave believes the best digital workflows are the ones you hardly notice – tools that quietly make collaboration easier, decisions clearer, and outcomes stronger. Starting out as a civil and structural engineering apprentice, Dave first discovered digital’s transformative potential when he automated a tedious task that became standard practice. This simple fix unlocked efficiency, sparking his passion for using digital tools to transform the way we work, and to leading our digital practice in the London studio.
Dave’s perspective on how people, processes, and technology intersect, empowers and inspires our designers to explore new possibilities. Now an associate principal, Dave leads London’s digital practice group, connecting client and project teams and championing practical innovation to turn complexity into opportunity. For Dave, digital success happens when clients, designers, constructors, and end users embrace the tools and workflows he champions – delivering better buildings for the communities we serve today and into the future.
Digi Dave (a nickname first coined by London’s marketing team – and now – across the studio), is a curry enthusiast and a frustrated but loyal West Ham supporter. He’s happiest by the coast with his family and always smiles at dogs with their heads out of car windows.
Deborah Wingler
Global practice director, applied research, HKS, United States
As partner and global practice director for applied research at HKS, Dr Deborah Wingler collaborates across sectors to develop and implement applied research services that drive innovation and achieve measurable impact across the firm and health practice, globally. She also serves as the executive director for the Center for Advanced Research and Evaluation (CADRE) and holds an appointment as adjunct faculty in the School of Architecture at Clemson University. Deborah’s research focuses on improving the user experience by eliciting insight into users’ affective responses to high-stress healthcare environments. Through her research, she has worked with some of the most forward-thinking Fortune 500 companies, healthcare organisations and manufacturers, to reimagine primary, specialty, acute, and home healthcare. She is a well-known passionate patient and family advocate for healthcare design, researcher, speaker, and published author. She holds a PhD from Clemson University in Healthcare Architecture and earned a M.S.D. in Healthcare Innovation from the Herberger Institute of Design at Arizona State University. Deborah holds several industry and academic awards. She was recently awarded HCD 10 researcher of the year for 2022 by Healthcare Design Magazine.
Deirdre Casella
Lecturer and research supervisor, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Deirdre Casella is a lecturer and research supervisor at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Following her Master of Arts in Development Studies and Demography at Erasmus International Institute of Social Studies (1999), she worked as an educator, researcher and advisor in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene services in universities and policy and applied research institutions in Europe, South and East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
In 2021, she defended her PhD dissertation (Delft University of Technology) on the role of social learning in sustainable water services delivery from a socio-technical systems perspective. Her research drew on more than 15 years of field experience and action research into the contribution of multi-stakeholder learning initiatives to achieving sustainable public services in urban and rural contexts. Deirdre is a faculty member of the Real Estate BSc programme at the Institute of the Built Environment. Here, she co-coordinates the Erasmus MC-Hogeschool Rotterdam Urban Lab, where students work collaboratively on graduation research projects related to the strategic campus development projects of Erasmus MC.
Dev Gakhar
Doctor, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Eli Moriarty
Project manager, Health Care Relocations, United Kingdom
Eli is an articulate, detail-oriented project manager with proven expertise in project management for healthcare facilities in transition. Since joining Health Care Relocations in 2012, Eli has played a crucial role in the design, implementation and execution of the safe transfer of several hospitals and thousands of patients, including the decommissioning and consolidation of a number of full-scale hospitals. Eli has proven himself to clients through his performance at a high level during stressful circumstances, going above and beyond to ensure all HCR projects are a complete success.
Elika Herischi
Project planner, CannonDesign, Canada
Elika is a senior healthcare architect who works on planning, design and co-ordination of various scales of healthcare projects. She has progressive and innovative experience in all aspects of healthcare planning and design, masterplanning, design development and construction. Elika understands strategic solutions, operational plans and business cases, and she can translate planning concepts into clear terms for client and team members. She has particular experience and expertise in Canadian healthcare projects and their design, planning and construction.
Emma Ingham
Co-founder, Loxie, United Kingdom
What happens when a literature graduate and lifelong storyteller takes on NHS estates?
Emma is a visionary pragmatist, creator, and co-founder of Loxie – a strategic design and health innovation agency shaping the future of healthy infrastructure. Curious, irreverent, and relentlessly solution-focused, she uses her background in literature and the arts to uncover patterns, stories, and connections hidden within complex infrastructure systems.
Not your typical estates professional, Emma brings 15+ years of NHS and commercial experience in healthcare – re-imagining physical, digital, and social infrastructures to rethink not just how we build but how we live, connect, and stay well.
Evan Rutherford
Project manager, Health Care Relocations, Canada
Evan joined HCR in April of 2019. He has quickly transitioned into managing his own projects including the Lead Project Manager/Transition Advisor role for Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus, Ontario and the Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital in Vaughan, Ontario. Evan has also acted as an Alternate Project Manager on projects, such as Waypoint Community Health Hub where he managed the relocation of high value equipment. Evan is currently planning the relocation of assets and patient transfer at the Aalborg University Hospital in Aalborg, Denmark.
Evangelia Chrysikou
Associate professor, programme director MSc, healthcare facilities, University College London (UCL), United Kingdom
Dr Evangelia Chrysikou is associate professor at BSSC UCL and founder/programme director of the MSc Healthcare Facilities. A multi-awarded RIBA architect and healthcare planner, she has published widely and won several prestigious grants and fellowships, including Horizon 2020, UKRI, Wellcome, British Academy, Royal Society of New Zealand, and Sasakawa Foundation.
He research interests span the disciplines of built environment, health, digital technologies and social science. A key author and committee member of ISO 25553 (BS), she is also a member of the National Accessibility Authority, Hellenic Republic by invitation from the Greek Prime Minister, and led the working group on access and accessibility in healthcare. Former co-ordinator of the Environment Section of the EIP on AHA, EU, she has worked as a consultant for international government bodies, such as the Japanese MOFA, Peru Reconstruction Mechanism, and the British Government for projects related to healthcare planning and architecture. She is also a former vice-president of the Urban Public Health Section at the EUPHA, and was invited as a leadership committee member of the ULI Life Sciences and Healthcare.
Fatemeh Tohidifar
Student, University of Tehran, Iran
I hold an MA in Industrial Design from the University of Tehran. I am a university lecturer and researcher at the Department of Industrial Design, University of Tehran, specialising in design for emotion, healthcare, and wellbeing. Previously, I worked as an industrial designer at Vala Design Studio, focusing on experience-driven and healthcare product design.
Fatimah Almarhoon
Student – expected graduation: Summer 2026, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
A graduate of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU) in Saudi Arabia, she approaches interior design with a focus on clarity, contemporary aesthetics, and meticulous technical documentation. Her work reflects a strong engagement with modern design methodologies, thoughtfully integrating cultural narratives into interior environments while reinterpreting regional architectural forms through a refined contemporary lens. She is attentive to proportion, spatial sequencing, and material expression, ensuring that each element contributes to a coherent overall concept. She has a particular interest in furniture and graphic design, alongside the development of comprehensive technical drawings that support cohesive and well-articulated spatial solutions. Her practice explores the dynamic relationship between interior elements, materials, and their integration within diverse project contexts, always considering function, atmosphere, and user experience. Beyond spatial design, she values visual communication as a strategic tool that strengthens and clarifies interior concepts. She is committed to developing projects that seamlessly integrate detailed documentation, graphic language, and cultural identity, aspiring to contribute to design initiatives that balance innovation with contextual depth.
Francine de Stoppelaar
Specialist advisor – medicines optimisation, Health Delivery Partnership, United Kingdom
Francine de Stoppelaar PharmD, MSc, CertBA is an honorary associate professor and digital health and AI innovator.
Francine is a seasoned healthcare executive with over 25 years of leadership experience across British, American, Dutch, and UAE health systems. Her career is defined by operational excellence, healthcare innovation, and strategic technology implementation, including AI-driven transformation.
With expertise in both internal and consultancy roles, Francine has successfully led large cross-functional teams in delivering hospital activations, greenfield capital projects, and advanced clinical improvement programs. Her initiatives consistently enhance patient outcomes, safety, and medicines optimisation. A pioneer in digital health, Francine has led on the hospital-wide operational activation of Cleveland Clinic London, as well as spearheaded the implementation of the UK’s first Closed Loop Medicines Optimization model at Cleveland Clinic London, now fully operational and nationally recognised. Under her leadership, the initiative earned multiple accolades, including the Cleveland Clinic CEO Team Award and two consecutive nominations for the Laing Buisson Innovation Awards (2022, 2023).
Her innovative contributions to healthcare earned her recognition as one of Intelligent Health Top 50 Innovators of 2023. She frequently presents at international conferences and serves on expert panels focusing on digital transformation and AI in medicine. As co-founder of the Asclepius Project, Francine is leading a pan-European initiative to automate and digitally transform hospital medicines optimisation using AI and intelligent automation technologies.
She is an honorary associate professor at the University of Leicester and an associate at Deloitte UK. Her academic foundation includes a Doctor of Pharmacy and MSc from Utrecht and Maastricht Universities, a Certificate in Business Administration from Warwick Business School, and executive education in Digital Transformation Leadership from Harvard Medical School.
Francois du Plessis
Architect, EHH Architects, South Africa
Francois du Plessis is a South African professional architect and associate at EHH Architects in Cape Town, specialising in healthcare architecture across the public and private sectors. He graduated with a Master’s of Architecture (Professional) from the University of the Free State in 2010 and completed a II Level Master’s Degree in Architecture for Health at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 2013.
Since returning to South Africa, Francois has worked extensively on complex healthcare projects, with a particular focus on additions and alterations to live hospital environments. His experience includes diagnostic imaging, oncology, emergency care and specialised clinical facilities. Key projects include the Groote Schuur Hospital Linear Accelerator Facility; CUBIC MRI and PET-CT; the University of Cape Town Clinical Neuroscience Centre; the Groote Schuur Hospital Emergency Centre; Mediclinic Milnerton and Mediclinic Cape Town additions and alterations; and the new Belhar Regional Hospital, where he serves as a key medical planner within a joint venture team.
His work emphasises collaboration, adaptability and continuity of care in operational healthcare settings.
Gabriel Franca
Director, Lifecycle Consulting Services, Australia
Gabriel França holds a BSc in Manufacturing Engineering and is certified in Lean, Six Sigma, and Project Management. With over 16 years of experience, he specialises in operations design and performance improvement, delivering expertise in business analytics, process simulation and automation, layout design, and logistics.
The first half of his career focused on the automotive supply chain, while the past ten years have been dedicated to advancing pathology diagnostics across the UK, Europe, and the Americas.
Gaelle Mouaykel
Architect and researcher, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Belgium
Gaelle is an architect and researcher investigating how spatial strategies can support psychological comfort, autonomy, and user agency in care environments. Her current work examines gradient-based spatial logics in non-clinical therapeutic settings, with a particular focus on Maggie’s Centres as models of spatial resilience and emotional adaptability.
Gareth Banks
Head of healthcare and director, AHR, United Kingdom
Head of healthcare and director at AHR, Gareth Banks is an experienced architect having designed and delivered a number of innovative healthcare projects, which have transformed communities – including the ‘Hospitals Transformation Programme’ in Shrewsbury, and the large, state-of-the-art Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. He is currently working on the NHP programme.
As head of healthcare, he is dedicated to delivering intelligent, future-proof healthcare spaces, which prioritise the health and wellbeing of patients and staff and are built to last. An example of this is the UK’s first building approved under the NHS Net Zero Building Standard, the Countess of Chester Hospital Women and Children’s Building.
With experience both in the UK and internationally, Gareth is an advocate for sharing knowledge to advance patient care and is also secretary of Architects for Health.
Ghaydaa Hemaidah
Assisstant professor, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
Dr Ghaydaa Hemaidah is a graduate of the PhD programme in Architecture at the University of Manchester. With a passion for enhancing health and wellbeing through design of the built environment, Dr Hemaidah's research focuses on the role of healthcare facilities in promoting psychosocial wellbeing. Her work during her doctoral studies led to the development of a novel evaluation tool to assess the level by which the hospital environment impacts patients' psychosocial wellbeing. This tool has the potential to significantly influence renovation plans and inform stakeholders in healthcare design. Now, as an academic at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, she brings her expertise to the Interior Design Department. Her dedication to the field and commitment to improving healthcare environments inspire her students to prioritise human-centric design approaches. With her perspective bridging architecture and psychology, Dr Hemaidah is poised to make meaningful contributions to the field of design for health and wellbeing.
Gina Mulholland
Bachelor thesis researcher, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Gina Mulholland is a fourth-year real estate management student at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Throughout her studies, she developed a strong interest in how the built environment can influence user experience. This interest deepened during her Urban Placemaking minor in 2024, where she explored how spaces can be transformed into meaningful places shaped by the people who use them.
Building on this foundation, Gina chose to focus her graduation research on user-centred design. For the Directorate of Real Estate at Erasmus MC, she is investigating how the experiences and needs of parents and family members can be translated into user-centred design guidelines for the family room of the medium care unit in the new build Sophia Children’s Hospital. The aim of this research is to contribute to design criteria that support the wellbeing of families during their child’s hospital stay.
Through this work, Gina aims to contribute to the development of healthcare environments that are not only functional but also emotionally supportive and responsive to their users. By combining her passion for urban placemaking and real estate, she strives to connect user insight with design practice to create spaces that truly matter in moments of vulnerability.
Giulia Teverini
PhD student, University of Siena, Italy
Giulia Teverini is a PhD candidate in "Design for Made in Italy: Identity, Innovation & Sustainability" at the University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli". She conducts her research at the Santa Chiara Fab Lab of the University of Siena, where she focuses on design-driven innovation in healthcare and wellbeing. She currently collaborates with the Care and Wellbeing research group at Elisava – Barcelona School of Design and Engineering. Her research interests include the design of technologies that enable valuable individual and collective care experiences.
Giulio Ceppi
Architect and designer, Total Tool, Italy
Giulio Ceppi, architect and designer, studied Visual Design at the Scuola Politecnica di Milano and took a PhD at the Milan Polytechnic, where he's professor since 1995.
His activities and creative strategies are focused on sensorial design, development of new materials, and inclusive design.
Among the founders of the Master in Business Design at Domus Academy and Schola Italica, he’s professor at the Faculty of Architecture of Genova and Rome, at Turin Polytechnic, Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, Università Cattolica in Milan.
Until 1998, he was co-ordinator of the Domus Academy Research Center and then senior design consultant at Philips Design.
Since 1999 with TotalTool, a design network (Milan and Buenos Aires), he has developed new business ideas worldwide for corporations and public entities.
He has participated in conferences and workshops in more than 30 countries worldwide and his contributions have been displayed at Venice Biennale, Milan Triennale and many other museums.
He lives in Milan and Como Lake, where he was born in 1965.
Giulio Felli
Director, architect, CSPE, Italy
Giulio is an Italian architect and the legal representative, technical director, and managing principal of CSPE. With 30 years of experience, he has managed complex healthcare projects across Italy, including major hospitals in Padua, Naples, Milan, and Florence. His expertise spans from conceptual design to construction, with a focus on energy efficiency, functional layouts, and multidisciplinary co-ordination. He has worked alongside renowned UK and US firms, bringing innovative solutions to healthcare planning and design.
Gonzalo Vargas
Health practice lead – associate principal, Perkins&Will, United Kingdom
Gonzalo’s passion lies in healthcare architecture, where complexity and functionality intersect with the human experience. Over his 20-year international career, he has successfully led creative projects across the UK and Europe through a client-focused approach. From inception to completion, he delivers excellent design outcomes – creating spaces that optimise patient care, streamline workflows, and promote healing through thoughtful layouts, consideration of operational and maintenance factors, and innovative, sustainable solutions.
Graeme Flint
Associate director, Arup, United Kingdom
Habban Ali
Associate architect, Reddy Architecture and Urbanism, Ireland
Habban Ali is a chartered architect (MRIAI) with a focus on the healthcare sector and education sector. Based in Ireland, he is an associate architect at Reddy Architecture + Urbanism, contributing to complex public-sector projects, including acute healthcare and mental health facilities. He has experience across planning, technical design and multidisciplinary co-ordination within highly regulated clinical environments.
Habban holds post-graduate qualifications, including an Executive MSc in Healthcare Facilities from the Bartlett, UCL. His research examined cybernetic field hospitals and adaptive digital infrastructures for post-crisis acute care, developing system-level frameworks for resilient and scalable emergency response.
His work bridges practice and research, advancing healthcare resilience through modular construction, digital integration and long-term adaptability under climate and crisis pressures
Hannah Brewster
Director + healthcare sector lead, ADP Architecture, United Kingdom
Hannah is an experienced specialist healthcare architect and is director and healthcare sector lead at ADP.
She has a focused drive and passion to enhance and improve healthcare and strives to support the creation of healthy communities and places to ensure a sustainable healthcare of the future.
Hannah has wide-ranging experience in delivering new-build and extensive remodelling and retrofit healthcare projects across the country, and through these she has developed a thorough knowledge of complex healthcare brief gathering, particularly with multi-stakeholder clients.
Her expertise has been instrumental in the success of a number of highly complex schemes across all areas of adult, children, inpatient, outpatient, emergency and critical care services, and clinical education and training facilities.
She is currently leading the team on the new Principal Treatment Centre for children’s cancer, as well as new kidney and heart facilities at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, having completed the latest new-build on the site – the Children’s Day Treatment Centre.
Hannah has been featured in the Architectural Journal, Architecture Today, Building Design, and Property Week, and has been part of high-profile panellists and roundtables at UKREiiF, LREF and Footprint+. She is a co-opted executive member of Architects for Health and has supported in the annual Student Design Awards over the last three years.
Hassan Sadeghi Naeini
Associate professor, Iran University of Science and Technology, Iran
Associate Professor Hassan Sadeghi Naeini is a faculty member in the Department of Industrial Design at Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), specializing in ergonomic design and sustainability. With over two decades of academic and industrial experience, he leads research and consultancy projects that integrate human-centered design with sustainable innovation. He is the head of the Advanced Ergonomics Laboratory at IUST and the founder of the Sustainable User Centered Design Institute (TAAM Group). His research and teaching activities focus primarily on ergonomics in design, product development, and sustainable design approaches. He has published journal articles, books, and book chapters, and regularly presents his work at international conferences, sometimes as an invited or keynote speaker. In addition, he serves as a reviewer for several international journals and has been involved as a jury member in national industrial design competitions and exhibitions. He has also taught at several international universities, including KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi), and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
Hedyeh Gamini
Research fellow, TU Delft, Australia
Dr Hedyeh Gamini is a research fellow at Delft University of Technology and a specialist in healthcare and socio-spatial design. She earned her PhD from Deakin University, Australia, where her research focused on designing therapeutic environments for children with cancer, culminating in the Young Maggie Centre project. This work explored how architectural design can foster healing, resilience, and emotional wellbeing, emphasising the social responsibility of health and the role of built environments in supporting patients, families, and communities.
Hedyeh’s design philosophy centres on creating spaces that promote resilience, renewal, and regeneration. Her research demonstrates how thoughtfully designed healthcare spaces can transform the experience of illness into one of comfort, hope, and social connection, bridging the gap between architectural innovation and psychosocial support.
Currently, Hedyeh applies her expertise in the Convergence: Climate Risk Management (CRM) project, enhancing urban flood disaster preparedness and resilience in Dutch cities. Her interdisciplinary approach integrates participatory methods, co-design, and evidence-based frameworks, reflecting her belief that health – whether in a hospital or urban context – is a societal responsibility, and that design can play a pivotal role in fostering safety, inclusion, and wellbeing.
Helen Gilpin
Subject matter expert – mental health and neurodiversity, New Hospital Programme, NHS England, United Kingdom
Helen is a clinical psychologist with extensive experience working across various mental and physical health settings. She particularly specialises in supporting people living with chronic pain and complex long-term physical health conditions. She is passionate about tackling health inequity and transforming healthcare to deliver better, more integrated and tailored support for every individual.
Helen completed her doctoral clinical training at the Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, King’s College London. Throughout her NHS career she has worked across various clinical settings and has held roles in strategic leadership, commissioning, and clinically relevant research. Within NHS England, she has led and delivered on a number of regional transformation programmes that have achieved measurable improvements in critical care provision, specialist respiratory and obesity pathways, and wider public health and prevention initiatives. For the past two years, she has been working as the subject matter expert for mental health and neurodiversity in the New Hospital Programme.
Helen Green
Consultant in public health – Population Health and Quality, NHS England – East of England, United Kingdom
Helen is a consultant in public health with NHS England East of England’s Public Health Directorate, working on population health management and quality. She additionally works in East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust as clinical associate director for health inequalities and has previously worked to support East of England integrated care systems with developing their population health management capacity and capability. Helen is an epidemiologist by background, working in public health surveillance for Public Health England, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, before completing her public health training in the West Midlands.
Hieronimus Nickl
CEO, Nickl & Partner, Germany
Hieronimus Nickl studied architecture at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, graduating in 2003. In 2008, he completed an MBA in International Hospital and Healthcare Management at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.
He joined Nickl & Partner Architects in 2003 and, by 2005, was leading projects and teams, with a focus on international assignments. Since 2015, he has been the managing director of the Beijing office, and in 2019, he became a member of the Board of Directors at Nickl & Partner Architects. He additionally holds the role of managing director of Nickl & Partner Architects Germany and Nickl & Partners Holdings.
Isabella Villegas
Executive director, MGAC, Canada
Isabella Villegas, executive director at MGAC, is an owner’s advocate and trusted advisor based in our Toronto office with over 20 years of experience in project and programme management. Isabella is dedicated to safeguarding the owner’s interests and vision throughout every stage of a project. She brings a passion for community-building initiatives, ensuring that each project contributes meaningfully to the people it serves.
Her approach to project management is rooted in integrating scope, schedule, and cost to collectively mitigate risk and provide a clear, comprehensive view of project performance. With a proven track record, Isabella has successfully led major real estate programmes and large-scale projects across Canada, delivering results that align with strategic objectives while maintaining transparency and accountability.
Isabella is a certified project management professional (PMP). She received both a Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo and the Project Management Professional Designation from the University of Toronto.
Jack Sardeson
Associate, Perkins&Will, United Kingdom
Jack Sardeson is an Associate Architect at Perkins&Will in London, where he co-leads research and works predominantly on complex healthcare and higher-education projects. His professional work focuses on the design and delivery of hospitals, life-science environments, and integrated care facilities, exploring how architecture can improve health outcomes, support multidisciplinary collaboration, and respond to the needs of ageing populations.
Previously, Jack contributed to the design and delivery of a fast-track programme of fifteen hospitals across northern Peru, working closely with multidisciplinary teams and local health authorities. His published research on healthcare environments and ageing societies has been supported both through a Churchill Fellowship and Arup University, focusing on dementia-responsive design and integrated care models.
Jack obtained his fellowship University of Cambridge and has been an Honorary Research Fellow at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. He is also co-author of the illustrated children’s book Talisman and the Dove, which explores themes of care, resilience, and healing in children’s hospital settings.
Jacob Robinson
Doctor, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Foundation Year 3 Doctor
MBBS, iBSc
James Taylor
Design manager, Integrated Health Projects, United Kingdom
James Taylor is design manager at Integrated Health Projects.
Jan Kroman
Partner, DIALOG, Canada
Jan Kroman is a Registered Architect and Partner at DIALOG, based in Edmonton, Canada, with international and Canadian experience spanning acclaimed design practices in the Netherlands, Japan, Toronto, and Calgary. His work focuses on the design of complex healthcare environments, where he integrates clinical flow, stakeholder engagement, and architectural meaning to create high‑performing, human‑centred spaces. Jan is highly committed to maintaining design intent while rigorously addressing scheduling, operational, and fiscal constraints across all phases of project delivery.
Jan’s ability to balance technical rigour and expressive design is grounded in his interdisciplinary education. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Calgary and a Master of Architecture from the University of Toronto, where his academic work explored the relationship between infrastructure, environment, and place. At the Congress, Jan presents Designing for Flow and Meaning, examining narrative‑driven healthcare design through the Misericordia Community Hospital Emergency Department redevelopment.
Jane Ho
Regional practice director, HKS, United Kingdom
Jane Ho is a partner and regional practice director, health, at HKS. She works in the firm’s London office focused on developing the integration of concept and functionality and how people experience healthcare facilities. Jane designs with sensitivity for flexibility and adaptability, developing better buildings for a holistic user experience.
Jason Mitchell
Vice-president, global operations, Health Care Relocations, Canada
Jay is an articulate, highly motivated individual with proven expertise in project management for healthcare facilities in transition. Since joining Health Care Relocations in 2011, Jay has worked in numerous diverse areas of the business, including the design, implementation and execution of the safe transfer of several hospitals and thousands of patients around the world. Jay has proven himself to clients through his performance at a high level within incredibly stressful circumstances. Jay is an adept motivator and communicator, who routinely presents to large audiences of medical staff.
Jaspreet Sethi
Architect, OCADU, Canada
Jaspreet Sethi is a multidisciplinary professional with a background in architecture, research, and design. With experience spanning healthcare environments and community-driven initiatives, she brings a thoughtful, systems-oriented approach to problem-solving. Jaspreet is particularly interested in sustainable development, innovation in health systems, and the integration of biobased materials and future-focused solutions into real-world applications. Her work explores the intersection of built environments, wellbeing, and social impact, with a focus on designing spaces that are resilient, inclusive, and environmentally responsible.
Jenni Bronock
Senior associate – healthcare project lead, Perkins&Will, United Kingdom
With 18 years’ experience specialising in the design of healthcare facilities, Jenni is a qualified architect dedicated to creating environments that support the healing process. Her passion lies in designing buildings that enhance the wellbeing of patients, staff, and families alike, fostering spaces that promote comfort, functionality, and healing.
By working closely with the building’s users, Jenni develops designs that not only create a healing and supportive environment but also incorporate the technical expertise necessary to bring these concepts to life. Jenni has a keen interest in exploring how design can be improved and adapted, considering the entire life of a building and focusing on the journey of those who inhabit it.
The patient journey begins before entering the building and continues after they have left, making it essential to understand how the building and environment contribute to and impact the user experience.
Jo Knox
Patient participation manager, Vital Arts, Barts Health NHS Trust, United Kingdom
Jo is the participation manager for Vital Arts, focusing on developing ambitious partnerships with local arts institutions and delivering projects centred on engagement and accessibility for the wider hospital community. She sits on the Steering Group for the City of London Culture Mile Bid, and she is a member of the Insight and Patient Experience group for Barts Health NHS Trust.
Jo has over eight years' experience working in museum and gallery engagement and access teams, designing and managing impactful programmes for local, national and international audiences of all ages. In her previous roles, Jo has developed and delivered complex partnerships with schools and community groups and large-scale festivals celebrating arts and culture.
Jo has produced work for Royal Museums Greenwich, the RA and the V&A, and holds an MA in Museums and Galleries in Education from UCL.
Jo Morrison
Director of digital innovation and research, Calvium, United Kingdom
Enhancing people’s experience of places in novel ways has been at the heart of Jo’s work for 20+ years. By embracing inclusive participatory practices, such as co-design and community engagement, she hopes to create healthier neighbourhoods for all.
Project partners in the UK have included the NHS, National Trust, City of Edinburgh Council, University of Plymouth and the Arts Council England.
Her credential highlights include:
* co-founder and co-CEO of the Association of Collaborative Design
* fellow of Royal Society for Arts;
* fellow of Institute of Place Management;
* fellow of Higher Education Academy;
* industry champion, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre; and
* trustee, League of Friends of South Petherton Hospital.
Joan Fernando
Project manager in patient experience and health innovation, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Spain
Joan Fernando is part of the patient experience programme at Hospital Clínic, where he manages and develops competitive projects aimed at measuring and improving patient experience and public participation in high-value care. He also collaborates with ISGlobal, overseeing international EIT-Health projects, such as CALMA, an education programme for people with dyspnoea, and CRISH, a co-creation course for healthcare stakeholders. Previously, he worked in medical communication at BCNscience and contributed to the design of clinical protocols and study documentation at Syntax for Science (CRO). He holds a degree in Biology (UB), a Post-graduate Diploma in Health Economics (UPF), and a Master’s and PhD in Biomedicine (UB).
Joanna Tolputt
Business development manager, Dräger Medical, United Kingdom
Joanna Tolputt joined Dräger in 2003 after completing a degree in Biochemistry and Physiology, and working in the NHS as a clinical technologist in cardiothoracic critical care and theatres. As business development manager for Dräger UK and Ireland, she supports the Dräger Medical mission in the development of its future offering and the transformation into the digital age. In addition, she initiates and drives collaboration with industry partners and healthcare providers to promote and implement medical device interoperability and data-driven clinical applications based on the new ISO/IEEE 11073 SDC standard.
John Bodley-Scott
Senior Design Manager, Sisk, United Kingdom
John has more than 30 years’ experience working as an architect and design manager in the healthcare, commercial and residential sectors. He has worked for both small and large architectural practices on a variety of projects ranging from minor healthcare refurbishments to large new build hospital projects and has also run his own architect’s practice completing several mental healthcare projects. John continues to work in design management for design and build construction companies and is currently a senior design manager at Sisk. Passionate about healthcare design, he has a keen interest in modern methods of construction, IPC, BIM and sustainability in the design and construction of modern healthcare facilities.
Jonathan Brett
Photographer, ERGO, United Kingdom
Jonathan is a research photographer at the Oxford Eye Hospital where he has been based since 2004. He’s been lead author on many publications and his images have featured throughout the 9th and 10th editions of Kanski’s Clinical Ophthalmology, where he worked as picture editor. He has also been recognised for the quality of his work with over 30 imaging awards both nationally and internationally. His most recent project involved researching retinal painters for a paper on the life and works of Terence Tarrant. Painting Unknown Worlds was published in Eye and the paper was presented as part of the 2023 Cambridge Ophthalmology Symposium. Jonathan is currently working on improving the hospital by introducing a new wayfinding system.
Jonathan Grice
Head of building services, Integrated Health Projects, United Kingdom
Jonathan Grice is head of building services at Integrated Health Projects. He has more than 20 years of experience in the building services industry, having worked in both principal contractor and subcontractor capacities, in a variety of roles. He has a keen focus on sustainable practices through design and delivery of the works.
Josefin Franzén
Architect, LINK Arkitektur, Sweden
Josefin Franzén is educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Architecture and is one of LINK’s leading healthcare/life science architects in Southern Sweden. Josefin has worked in many early-phase processes with stakeholder involvement, in the role as process leader. She is also often part of the programming phase, as well as following through the ideas and project goals throughout all phases to completion. Her expertise in rights of the child and design based on children’s perspective is a great asset to our office.
Joseph Tigani
National manager – health, Schiavello International, Australia
Joseph Tigani has over 20 years’ experience with the Schiavello Group, including the past 15 in the Health and Federal Government portfolios.
With a broad background in engineering, physical and built environmental systems, and ITC, Joseph brings to the Group over 42 years’ experience in project management, technical consulting and sales, and key account management. Joseph’s exposure to continuous-operations industries has instilled in him an engaging, collaborative approach and strong appreciation for time-critical project delivery and post-sales support.
In his current role, Joseph is responsible for Schiavello’s Wellness Portfolio, covering the health, aged care and life sciences sectors. Further, he has been extensively involved with the Commonwealth Indigenous Procurement Policy since its legislation in 2015/16 and has been instrumental in the establishment of Schiavello’s Indigenous programme and Bunin.
Joseph is chartered with ensuring the highest-level service and support for Schiavello’s health-sector clients, including social procurement obligations; and engaging and collaborating across the whole Schiavello Group and strategic partners to ensure optimum solutions are developed and delivered to these essential services clients.
Hi credentials include:
B.Eng (Mech.Tech)
Grad Cert (Innovation & Environment) Cisco CCNA
Exec. Cert. Healthcare Facilities Planning & Design (Cornell) member of Engineers Australia
Member of Hospital Engineering Australia
Joshua Igbineweka
Clinical fellow and pharmacy SME, NHS England, United Kingdom
Joshua Igbineweka MPharm (Hons), PGDip, IP, is an experienced pharmacist and senior healthcare advisor specialising in strategy, design, and transformation. As clinical fellow in the NHS New Hospital Programme, he is chair of the programme’s patient safety working group. Joshua’s work also centres around harnessing innovation at scale, redesigning the hospital medicines management ecosystem for the future and advancing medicines optimisation in modern healthcare environments, which integrates digital automation, robotics, and new ways of practice.
Joshua has spent most of his clinical practice working as a specialist pharmacist in haematology and oncology at a major London teaching hospital, where he acquired his independent prescribing qualification.
Julia Beckingsale
Former design director, New Footscray Hospital, Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority, Australia
Julia Davies
Healthcare director, NBBJ, United Kingdom
Julia is an experienced healthcare architect with over 14 years at NBBJ, she has led major projects for NHS trusts, including Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital, and Cambridge University Hospitals. Passionate about creating spaces that support advanced medical research and care delivery, Julia combines technical expertise with a collaborative approach, guiding stakeholders through complex design challenges to achieve outcomes that are both functional and inspiring. As project leader for the Histopathology Laboratory, she worked in close partnership with the Trust and multidisciplinary user groups to deliver a cutting-edge facility that transformed this essential diagnostic service.
Kim Brewer
Head of marketing, Dräger Medical, United Kingdom
Kim Brewer joined Dräger in 2025 with extensive experience in marketing management. As head of marketing for Dräger UK and Ireland, she supports the Dräger Medical mission in the development of its future offering and the transformation into the digital age. In addition, she initiates and drives collaboration with industry partners and healthcare providers to promote and implement medical device interoperability and data-driven clinical applications based on the new ISO/IEEE 11073 SDC standard.
Kim Holden
Architect, doula, educator, maternal health advocate, Doula x Design; Yale University, United States
Kim Holden, AIA, is an architect, birth and postpartum doula, and maternal health advocate whose work bridges design and care. As founder of Doula x Design and a founding principal of SHoP Architects in New York City, she brings architectural expertise to addressing the U.S. maternal health crisis. Her work examines how the built environment shapes birth experiences, clinical outcomes, trauma, and racial disparities—advancing design as a critical tool for improving maternal care.
Kim was the 2023–2024 William Henry Bishop Visiting Professor at Yale School of Architecture, where she developed and co-taught a graduate studio on spaces of birth with Emily Abruzzo. She has lectured and served as a juror at leading institutions across North America. Kim serves on the boards of New York based The Birthing Place Foundation and Madame Architect and is a founding member of the Mobilize Maternal Health Coalition. She is Shaw Innovation Fellowship advisor on maternal health design at the University of New England.
Kit Knowles
Sustainability consultant, Ecospheric, United Kingdom
Kit Knowles is director of Ecospheric, an award-winning Passivhaus design and low-energy consultancy specialising in complex net-zero projects. He served as NHS net-zero carbon co-ordinator for the Countess of Chester Women & Children’s Building, the first hospital in England to achieve the NHS Net Zero Building Standard. In this role, Kit led sustainability strategy and compliance, co-ordinating the design team to meet rigorous targets for embodied carbon, operational energy, and whole-life carbon. The project achieved a 220MWh reduction in energy demand, delivered 25-per-cent lower upfront carbon than required, and is fully gas-free, powered by heat pumps and renewable electricity.
Kit’s work bridges energy consultancy, academic research, and sustainable property development to deliver evidence-based decarbonisation strategies. He has co-authored research on heritage retrofit with the University of Liverpool and holds leadership roles as chair and acting executive of the Association for Environment Conscious Building and Trustee of the Passivhaus Trust.
Kristina Richter Adamson
Architect, researcher, Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic
Ing. arch. Kristina Richter Adamson, MSc (b. 1985) is a British-Czech architect registered with the Czech Chamber of Architects and RIBA UK. She is a practising architect, university lecturer, and doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Architecture, Brno University of Technology, where she also completed her architectural studies. She holds a Master's degree in Healthcare Building Planning from London South Bank University.
Her work focuses on hospital and healthcare architecture, exploring how evolving models of care reshape their urban and architectural form. Her doctoral research investigates how virtual care transforms healthcare buildings, with attention to the hospital bedspace, not only as an architectural element but also as an ethical and spatial device through which relations of dependency, control, and responsibility are organised within broader infrastructures of healthcare.
Lara Gregorians
Postdoctoral researcher, Architectural Cognition in Practice, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, Singapore
Lara is a postdoctoral researcher and module co-ordinator in the Architectural Cognition in Practice group. She holds a PhD from UCL, in which she sought to bridge the worlds of spatial cognition and neuroarchitecture by exploring architectural experience as a combination of spatial, aesthetic and affective processing. Lara is experienced in analysing subjective, physiological and neural responses to spaces, having run real-world behavioural studies and fMRI-neuroimaging studies on architectural experience. As part of the ACP group, Lara will be carrying out empirical research exploring person-environment interactions, as well as collaborating with industry partners to work on translating architectural cognition research into practice.
Laurence Cobo
End-to-end medicines optimisation support, Health Delivery Partnership, United Kingdom
Laurence Cobo
End-to-end medicines optimisation support, Health Delivery Partnership, United Kingdom
Laurence is a Canadian registered nurse and a senior consultant within the Health Delivery Partnership with over ten years of industry and healthcare consulting experience in Canada and the United Kingdom. Laurence has extensive experience in various health advisory initiatives, including strategic planning, clinical service planning and visioning, service design and tech-enabled transformation.
Additionally, Laurence has an expertise in neuro-critical care, and prior to joining the Health Delivery Partnership, she held various roles in the nursing leadership team at a tertiary healthcare organisation, specialising in quality improvement, as well as procurement and supply chain.
Leanne Guy
Principal and health sector leader, Hassell, Australia
As Hassell’s health sector Lead, Leanne brings strategic leadership and insight through a background in nursing and design with over 25 years of experience with public and private healthcare clients in Australia and the United Kingdom.
She’s worked on many complex developments, including the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, and recently, the New Mount Barker Hospital in South Australia. Her extensive portfolio and experience as a healthcare professional have deepened her understanding of the clinical and operational needs of complex health facilities – and that insight translates into innovative and highly efficient design solutions.
Actively involved in Hassell’s health research, Leanne is passionate about ensuring that design outcomes meet the evolving needs of clients and communities, improving not just the quality of space but ultimately people’s wellbeing.
Lianne Knotts
Director, Medical Architecture, United Kingdom
Lianne is a director of Medical Architecture and a senior healthcare architect with 18 years of experience shaping complex clinical environments. She brings deep sector knowledge across stakeholder engagement, health planning, feasibility studies, and full design-to-construction delivery. A specialist in mental health facility design, Lianne serves as a trustee of the Design in Mental Health Network, contributing to global thought leadership in therapeutic environments. Her strength in user consultation has led her to collaborate closely with local architects and clinical teams internationally, including recent work in Toronto and Prince Edward Island. Lianne’s portfolio spans award-winning projects recognised by RIBA, Building Better Healthcare, the Design in Mental Health Network, and the International Academy for Design & Health, reflecting her commitment to creating safe, dignified, and healing spaces for patients and care teams.
Lienelle Geldenhuys
Associate director, White Arkitekter, United Kingdom
Lienelle Geldenhuys is an associate director at White Arkitekter’s London studio, where she leads the practice’s healthcare portfolio across the UK and Ireland. With 20 years’ experience designing healthcare environments in the UK and Europe, she specialises in creating inclusive, sustainable settings that respond to the evolving needs of patients, families, and healthcare professionals.
Her approach is grounded in evidence-based design and shaped through meaningful engagement with clinicians, patients, and staff. She is committed to ensuring hospital environments meet operational and clinical requirements while also supporting dignity, comfort and wellbeing.
Lienelle is the architecture lead for the new Women and Children’s Hospital for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, a major project that will transform maternity, paediatric, and gynaecology services for the region.
She was previously co-design lead for the new Cambridge Children’s Hospital, shaping a new integrated model that brings physical and mental healthcare together with research in a purpose-built therapeutic environment.
Her wider portfolio includes the New Children’s Hospital in Dublin and the Oak Cancer Centre at the Royal Marsden. Across all her work, she brings a clear focus on clinical excellence, sustainability, and collaborative design to deliver healthcare environments that are future-ready and rooted in human experience.
Liesbeth van Heel
Advisor and researcher, Erasmus University Medical Center, The Netherlands
Liesbeth van Heel studied Facility Management and Business Economics. Healthcare and complex organisations always had her interest. She worked in the FM department, was an administrator at the department of Paediatric Surgery, and supported the Executive Board of Erasmus MC as the junior Board secretary, before joining the project management team developing a newly built hospital in 2001. She combined the role of project secretary for this 20-year endeavour with leading a small expertise team (PMO) within the Real Estate directorate.
In 2014, she left this management position to direct her focus to the co-ordinating effort to align the various strategic programmes within Erasmus MC towards the preparations for a safe relocation to the newly built hospital building, with fitting work processes, logistics and IT-support, as the programme secretary for the Our New Erasmus MC (ONE) programme organisation.
Liesbeth’s special attention has always been directed towards patients’ needs, stakeholder engagement and creating a "healing environment", using (inter)nationally acquired evidence and experience-based design knowledge. She propagates knowledge sharing and network building for 'informed clients' in the Netherlands and beyond. In April 2026, she will defend her PhD thesis on stakeholder engagement in the transformative process for a newly built hospital.
Since 2020, she is a Board member of the European Health Property Network (EuHPN). In 2022, she chaired the Organizing Committee of the 5th Architecture, Research, Care & Health (ARCH) conference in Delft and Rotterdam. Since 2023, she has co-ordinated a ‘living lab’ for bachelor students of the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences within the Real Estate directorate. In June 2025, she received the Susan Francis Design Champion award at the European Healthcare Design conference in London. In 2025-2026, she is also working as a visiting research fellow with the “Next Generation HealthScapes” theme at the Pufendorf Institute of Lund University, Sweden.
Lilian Leistad
Hospital planner, Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency), Norway
Lilian has been working in Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency) since 2017. The job covers early planning of hospitals (including estimating future hospital activity and capacity needs) and pre- and post-evaluation of hospitals and monitoring through the phases of a project. Additionally, the job includes developing evaluation tools and guidelines, in co-operation with internal and external actors, including health authorities and other relevant institutions.
Previous work has been related to research within molecular medicine and epidemiology, including health registries and health studies, as well as biological material and contribution to public reports (e.g. National health and hospital plan). She has a Master's degree in Cell Biology and holds a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. Her thesis was about the role of inflammatory mediators in rheumatic diseases.
Lorraine Calcott
Director, researcher and principal designer, it does Lighting, United Kingdom
Louisa Williams
Founder and director, Art in Site, United Kingdom
Louisa is an art consultant with over 20 years of experience working across commercial and public sectors, including retail, airports, and healthcare. She founded Art in Site in 2003 after recognising the need for more strategically minded art schemes for hospitals. Since then, Art in Site has produced work that connects with the emotional needs of patients, visitors, staff; helps services to become more functionally efficient; and provides meaningful outcomes around which shared culture can grow.
Louisa has worked on projects for the Evelina London Children’s hospital since its opening in 2005. Together with co-director Martin Jones, Louisa developed the Evelina London friends, a group of children of different ages drawn by celebrated manga artist Kiriko Kubo. The children were originally invented to show the way around the hospital and provide a welcome, but their role quickly extended into messages of community and encouragement. Working with psychologists, families and mental health experts, Art in Site has integrated the illustrations into interior design interventions aimed at supporting staff and patients – helping to improve outcomes and to deliver better care.
Lucy Andrews
Development officer – hospice-friendly hospitals, Irish Hospice Foundation, Ireland
Lucy has been working in the non-profit sector since 2015, for national organisations both in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. After working within the mental health field, Lucy joined the Irish Hospice Foundation as development officer for hospice-friendly hospitals in 2023, where she currently works on multiple quality improvement programmes, including Design & Dignity. In addition to supporting the management of national hospital projects, she delivers and co-ordinates small grants funding across Ireland. Lucy is passionate about improving the quality of care at end-of-life and is currently completing her thesis within this field. Lucy is due to graduate with a BA Honours in Social Science from Dublin Business School in 2026.
Lusi Morhayim
Professor, University College London, United Kingdom
Lusi Morhayim is a lecturer in social sciences of the built environment at Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London. Her research interest covers topics including urban sustainability; the right to "sustainable and livable" cities; spatial justice; ethnographic and user-centred design methods in architecture; and post-occupancy evaluations in multiple building types. Lusi Morhayim earned her PhD in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Environment and Behaviour, Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, International Journal of Architectural Research, Journal of Urban Design, Antipode, Facilities and Spatial Justice.
Lynne Wilson Orr
Principal, Parkin Architects, Canada
A principal at Parkin, Lynne Wilson Orr is an architect and interior designer with a particular interest and expertise in the design and delivery of health facilities. She is an accomplished medical facilities planner and designer who focuses on conceptual planning, space programming and design.
Lynne was a chapter author of the Health Canada Family-Centred Maternity and Newborn Care Guidelines and is a member of the USA Consensus Committee for the Recommended Standards for Newborn ICU Design. She was also the team leader for the Maternal Newborn Services and Accessibility and Wayfinding Focus Groups of the Generic Output Specifications, developed for Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. She is a member of the CSA Strategic Steering Committee on Healthcare and wellbeing, and the Public Health Agency of Canada Committee to revise the Family Centred Maternal Newborn Care Guidelines of Canada.
Maggie Duplantis MHA, BSN, RN
Director of clinical planning and design, Houston Methodist, United States
Maggie Duplantis currently serves as the director of clinical planning and design at Houston Methodist, where she oversees all aspects of the clinical design process, activation, and transition planning for system capital construction projects. With over 20 years of operational management experience and 17 years in design and construction, she brings a blend of clinical, operational, and administrative expertise to her role. As a bridging liaison between clinical practitioners and facility planners, Maggie ensures that clinical needs are fully integrated into the design and construction of healthcare environments. She has worked at Houston Methodist for more than 37 years, holding various nursing leadership positions prior to her current role. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Stephen F. Austin State University and her Master of Healthcare Administration from Texas Woman’s University. She is a member of the Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design (NIHD) and currently serves on the Advisory Board for Women in Healthcare, Houston Chapter.
Majd Ebwini
Principal medical planner and head of healthcare planning, Dar (a Sidara Company), Jordan
Majd is a senior architect, healthcare planner, and PMP-certified professional with 30 years of experience, including 24 years specialising in clinical, operational, and facility planning. She has led the design and planning of more than 60 healthcare facilities across the Middle East, including Jordan, the GCC, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and African countries, including Angola, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. Applying evidence-based design to create efficient, patient-centred environments, she brings a refined design vision reinforced by deep technical expertise, with project experience spanning nearly all clinical disciplines. Her scope of work includes developing comprehensive space programmes in accordance with international and local guidelines and standards, as well as leading concept design, estate planning, and masterplanning activities.
Manar Albahrani
Student – expected graduation: Summer 2026, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
Manar Albahrani, an undergraduate interior design student at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (IAU) in Saudi Arabia, demonstrates a design-thinking approach that focuses on user experience, spatial perception, and human-centred innovation across diverse project typologies. Driven by a strong intellectual curiosity about how human behaviours and emotions shape the environments people inhabit, she approaches design as an interactive system where space, technology, and human behaviours converge to create meaningful experiences. With interests in architectural and graphic design, creativity, and sustainability, serve as integral drivers of practice. Valuing continuous exploration and experimentation, ideas are generated through an iterative, research-driven process. Motivated by a desire for new opportunities, Manar constantly seeks to enhance her skills and extend the limits of knowledge. Active engagement in challenges and collaborative innovation platforms strengthens the ability to think systemically, adapt quickly, and deliver solutions that enhance human experiences.
Manjula Meda
Consultant Clincial Microbiologist and Infection Control Doctor, NHS, United Kingdom
"Dr Meda completed microbiology specialist registrar training from KSS deanery St. George's Hospital and Frimley Park hospital where she was the first microbiology registrar to train, London, following several years in training in Paediatrics . She transitioned into Infection Prevention role in the NHS in 2009. She is currently employed at Frimley Health NHS Foundation, a large Trust in the Southeast of England, as a consultant microbiologist and ICD. Manjula’s special interest lies in the built environment especially around water and wastewater safety in healthcare. She has introduced water free concepts in patient care in the U.K . She currently holds the position of Chair of the Healthcare Infection Society (HIS). She is actively involved in research and been part of many national clinical trials and working collaboratively with other organizations. In this role she has led the development of a HIS water and wastewater safety course and the formation of BEIPI (Built Environment Infection Prevention Initiative) bringing together all those involved in building hospitals from architects to IPC teams together with the aim to build safer hospitals. She is passionate about bringing innovation and transformation required in current and future healthcare buildings to reduce risk of AMR transmission from the built environment."
Margo Kyle
Group manager, National Health Facility Planning, Health New Zealand, New Zealand
With over 25 years of experience in the health sector and more than a decade dedicated to health infrastructure, Margo is a passionate and purpose-driven strategic health planner committed to creating sustainable, efficient, and patient-centred healthcare environments. Margo's work is guided by a deep understanding of clinical needs, operational realities, and long-term community outcomes transforming health services through strategic planning and thoughtful infrastructure development. Her focus is on ensuring health infrastructure is standardised, resilient, and future-ready.
Margo brings specialist expertise in interpreting and evaluating health services and data to inform strategic briefing and physical planning processes. She excels at aligning clinical requirements with functional design outcomes, ensuring a seamless integration of operational needs into the built environment.
Mark Mitchell
Principal / health sector lead, Billard Leece Partnership, Australia
Mark has been instrumental in the growth, expansion, and specialisation of the healthcare sector at BLP. As both a principal of the practice and health sector leader, Mark is a thought-leader who enthusiastically shares his expert knowledge with the team and his peers locally and internationally. Mark has successfully led large-scale healthcare projects in Australia, Hong Kong, China and New Zealand. As director-in-charge of the new Footscray Hospital in Melbourne, Mark drove the team towards a ‘big picture’ collective vision to create a landmark design outcome for Western Health and Footscray Hospital, and a sustainable health and education precinct.
Mark Nugent
Director, Medical Architecture, United Kingdom
Mark is an associate director of Medical Architecture with over 25 years of experience in healthcare design. He is an experienced architect and masterplanner who has delivered a wide range of schemes, including community health, acute health, and mental health projects. He has a comprehensive understanding of the healthcare sector, with previous experience working within an NHS trust in the West Midlands.
Mark is a fellow of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (IHEEM), and by invitation, sits on the panel of its Strategic Estates Management Advisory Platform. He recently led the design of two new integrated community healthcare hubs for Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and a sustainable community diagnostic centre in Hereford. He also oversaw the development of our Estates Register Tool for strategic estate planning.
Martha Harvey
Senior director, operational readiness, University Health Network, Canada
Martha Harvey is a senior healthcare executive with over 30 years of experience across acute, rehabilitation, and ambulatory care. A registered nurse with a master’s degree in healthcare quality, she specializes in leading complex hospital redevelopment initiatives including strategic clinical planning and comprehensive operational readiness. As Senior Director of Operational Readiness at University Health Network, she leads clinical and operational planning for major capital projects, including a $1B patient and surgical tower. She previously helped lead the successful opening of West Park’s Healthcare Centre’s $1.2B hospital. Martha also contributes to national healthcare advancement through research on healthcare environments and her work with the Canadian Standards Association.
Matthew Groome
Regional associate director, CCL Solutions, United Kingdom
Matthew Groome is regional associate director at CCL Solutions.
Matthew Hickey
Principal, Two Row Architect, Canada
Matthew Hickey, Mohawk from the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve, holds a Master's of Architecture from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor of Design from the Ontario College of Art and Design. His Mohawk background profoundly influences his work. At Two Row Architect for 18 years, Matthew oversees design and development with a focus on Indigenous architecture, creating buildings, landscapes, and installations across Turtle Island. His sustainability approach emphasises regenerative and restorative design, incorporating ecological, cultural, and economic principles, and advancing universal inclusivity through landscapes, food equity, water importance, and place-keeping. Matthew’s research includes Indigenous architectural history in Northern and Middle America and aligning Western ideologies with sustainable technologies for modern North America. As a tenure-track professor at OCADU, he lectures widely, including at the University of Lethbridge. He is also a member of the Waterfront Toronto Design Review Panel, a mentor at Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag, and recently joined the Urban Land Institute’s Advisory Committee.
Maureen McGinn
Digital lead, NHS Lanarkshire, United Kingdom
Maureen is the digital lead for the Monklands Replacement Project. She has worked in a range of roles across NHS Lanarkshire. Her project management and digital experience spans property and support services (PSSD), where she was involved in delivering complex facilities management projects for both hard and soft services and e-health where her focus was predominately digital systems that support service change and new ways of working.
Replacement of University Hospital Monklands presents NHS Lanarkshire with an opportunity to build in digital from the outset, both within the fabric of the building and to enable delivery of new models of care.
Meera Ruparelia
Senior manager pharmacy subject matter expert, Health Delivery Partnership, United Kingdom
Meera is a registered pharmacist with over a decade of hands-on clinical experience, seamlessly integrated with seven years dedicated to driving digital transformation initiatives. This dual expertise provides a comprehensive understanding of both healthcare operations and technological innovation, enabling the development and implementation of strategic digital solutions that enhance efficiency, optimise patient care, and streamline complex healthcare operations.
Melanie Relf
Author, architect, healthcare planner, independent, United Kingdom
Melanie Relf is an architect and healthcare strategy consultant with more than two decades of experience working across the NHS and international health systems. Her work brings together design thinking, empathy and systems insight to help organisations strengthen alignment, clarify purpose and deliver sustainable change. A committed advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion, she has contributed to industry initiatives supporting belonging and representation across the built environment and healthcare sectors. Melanie’s approach is grounded in curiosity, clarity and courage – principles that underpin her consulting practice and the thinking behind 'The Art of Reframing'.
Michael Moxam
Vice-president – architecture, Stantec Architecture, Canada
As vice-president and practice lead for design culture in Stantec Architecture, Michael is committed to excellence in all aspects of the design process. His experience in the design and development of complex project types is characterised by a commitment to design excellence; an emphasis on a collaborative, integrated design process; and a desire to redefine established typologies. His approach focuses on research and analysis of factors such as community context, history, site, landscape, topography, and environmental context. Michael's goal is the creation of environments that inspire and enhance community connectivity and city building.
Michael Wilkening
Vice-president, strategy and business development, Dräger Medical, Germany
Michael Wilkening joined Dräger in 1994 after completing degrees in communications engineering and biomedical engineering. He has many years of experience in medical device innovation and portfolio management. As vice-president, strategy and business development, he supports the Dräger Medical teams in the development of their future offering and the transformation into the digital age. In addition, he initiates and drives collaboration with industry partners and healthcare providers to promote and implement medical device interoperability and data-driven clinical applications based on the new ISO/IEEE 11073 SDC standard.
Michelle Jutt
Global practice director, advisory, HKS, United States
Michelle enjoys using evidence-based measures to translate safety and efficiency for people and processes. To her, this is one of the most important roles for an operational planner. Michelle is a registered nurse that brings 19 years of hospital experience ranging from bedside, human resources, quality, safety, education and administration. As an operational planner, she strategises with our clients and architecture teams on national and international healthcare projects providing strategy, Lean operations and space programming. Her extensive experience in operations has spanned myriad-sized facilities and settings.
Mike Dunne
Technical director, buildings, Stantec, United Kingdom
Mike has been a building services engineer for more than 20 years, the last 16 of which he has spent focusing on healthcare environments. He is an expert in delivering projects that involve ultra clean ventilation (UCV) operating theatres and the management of critical ventilation systems across a global healthcare estate.
One of Mike’s most memorable experiences involved leading and delivering a research project into the capability of the NHS estate to achieve its net-zero ambitions. The project focused on improving heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and inefficiently designed building management system controls.
Mike is a registered authorising engineer for ventilation with the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estates Management (IHEEM). He is also a fellow with IHEEM and supports applications for the Engineering Council. Additionally, he is registered with the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineering (CIBSE), the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), and the Specialist Ventilation in Healthcare Society (SVHSoc).
Mina Sadat Tabatabaee
Researcher, Iran University of Science and Technology, Iran
Mina Sadat Tabatabaee is an industrial designer and researcher in health oriented design. She holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Design from Iran University of Science and Technology, where she completed her graduate studies under the supervision of Associate Professor Hassan Sadeghi Naeini and contributed to research activities at the university’s Ergonomics Laboratory. Her professional and research work focuses on the intersection of product design, human health, and quality of life. Her research interests include design for physical and mental wellbeing, improving sleep quality, and exploring the role of design in supporting circadian rhythm regulation. Through her work, she investigates how thoughtful and human centered design can enhance user wellbeing, support healthier lifestyles, and improve everyday performance and productivity. She is particularly interested in the role of quality sleep as a fundamental factor in health, wellbeing, and optimal daily functioning.
Montgomery Jackson
PhD researcher, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Monty Jackson is a PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge’s Energy Efficient Cities Initiative and a member of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment (FIBE2 CDT). His research focuses on the energy performance and decarbonisation of NHS hospital estates, with particular attention to the infrastructure, operational, and organisational challenges that shape energy use in complex healthcare environments.
His work combines multiple research methods, including large-scale data analysis, semi-structured interviews with NHS estates professionals, and building energy modelling to understand how hospitals consume energy and where decarbonisation interventions are most feasible. Through this mixed-methods approach, Monty aims to identify practical retrofit pathways that align with clinical operations, infrastructure constraints, and long-term asset planning.
Alongside his PhD, he contributes to national work on data analytics within NHS estates and facilities management, supporting efforts to improve decision-making and strategic planning across the healthcare estate.
Nabia Majeed
Senior clinical functional programmer, Archus, Canada
Nabia has over ten years of experience in space, capital, and masterplanning of clinical and non-clinical infrastructure projects at more than 17 hospitals in five provinces across Canada. She is experienced in space planning, functional programming, business case development, needs assessments, feasibility studies and option analyses, leading user groups, and best practice standards and guidelines working on healthcare infrastructure projects with University Health Network, the Ministry of Health in Ontario, Alberta Infrastructure, Interior Health Authority, and Saskatchewan Health Authority, among others. Nabia has an academic background in Architecture & Philosophy and is a senior clinical functional programmer with Archus. Her focus and interests lie in the philosophical, architectonic, technological, ecological, and human-centred future of medical architecture design and planning.
Nathan Shelley
Associate director, sustainability and decarbonisation, AECOM, United Kingdom
Nathan has an academic background in environmental science and professional experience in low-energy, carbon and environmental impact refurbishments and developments. Nathan is an expert in net-zero design strategies for healthcare projects and he has championed the NHS Net Zero Building Standard for the first wave of pioneer net-zero hospitals in the UK, including Hillingdon Hospital, Airedale General Hospital and Calderdale Royal Hospital.
Neil Hitchen
Associate director, Arup, United Kingdom
Nekisha McGill
Senior sustainable analyst, HDR, United States
Nekisha is an accomplished sustainability leader with more than two decades of experience in climate resilience planning and sustainable design for the Department of Defense. She has a strong background in sustainable strategy development, federal asset management, project management, and energy programme management. Since joining HDR, Nekisha has served as the energy and sustainability manager for the Marine Force Reserves, where she oversaw the implementation of mission-aligned initiatives that consistently exceeded resilience and efficiency goals. She now serves as the federal sustainable compliance lead, leading company-wide strategy and ensuring our design teams are resourced to interpret and filter policies and guidelines for high-performance buildings.
Nicole Czapek
Studio practice leader, health interiors, HKS, United States
Nicole is a healthcare interior designer with over 13 years of experience at HKS, specialising in creating welcoming, easy-to-navigate spaces. She focuses on integrating biophilic design elements, inspired by her deep interest in art, architecture, and the impact of natural surroundings on the wellbeing of all users. With experience on both domestic and international projects, Nicole understands that clear communication with clients is essential for successful design. Skilled in graphic design, furniture/materials research, rendering, and construction administration, she brings passion, enthusiasm, and a strong work ethic to every project, contributing to HKS's commitment to responsibly designed environments
Nika Wolswijk
Bachelor thesis researcher, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Nika Wolswijk is a final-year student of Real Estate Management at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. She is fascinated by the built environment and the way spaces influence people’s wellbeing and daily experiences. This interest, combined with her personal experiences with various family members and friends who are or have been seriously ill, motivates her to contribute to more supportive and people-centred care environments. She has seen first-hand how significant the influence of a hospital environment can be, not only on patients but also on their loved ones.
For her graduation research, Nika focuses on the integration of patient- and family-centred care (PFCC) in adult hospital care. She investigates which family facilities, both spatial and functional, are meaningful, feasible and future-proof, with the aim of strengthening the role of families as essential partners in the care process. Her goal is to understand how hospital environments can better support families, increase their involvement and ultimately improve patient experiences and outcomes.
In collaboration with stakeholders in healthcare and the built environment, she wants to bridge the gap between property development and PFCC-principles. Her ambition is to help shape supportive hospital environments for patients and their loved ones.
Orly Atzmon
PhD candidate, Monash University, Australia
Orly is a clinical psychology PhD candidate with a strong passion for improving wellbeing through evidence-based practice. This passion has guided her research focus on insomnia in the perinatal period, with particular interest in the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT I) and the barriers and facilitators to implementing this treatment within perinatal care settings.
Throughout her training, Orly has gained broad clinical experience through diverse clinical rotations, working with youth and young adults, assessing individuals for neurodevelopmental disorders, and contributing to rehabilitation work within a geriatric inpatient service. These varied experiences have strengthened her commitment to delivering compassionate, research informed care across the lifespan.
Orly hopes to pursue a career as a clinical psychologist while continuing her research to help bridge the gap between scientific evidence and real-world psychological practice.
Panos Mavros
Assistant professor in ergonomics, design and digital, ETH – Zurich, Future Cities Lab, Singapore
Panos Mavros is assistant professor in ergonomics, design and digital in the INTERACT team (Interaction, Technology, Activity) of the Economics and Social Sciences department. He studied Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece and Digital Media at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He completed his PhD at the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at University College London, where he specialised in the perception and experience of urban spaces, focusing on spatial cognition research and the use of psychophysiological methods, such as mobile EEG, as way to understand the interaction between people and the environment. Subsequently, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher for several years at the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) of the Singapore-ETH Centre, conducting research on the topic of Cognition Perception and Behaviour in Urban Environments. He now also serves as Co-I on the module, Architectural Cognition in Practice at FCL.
Paul Curry
Director, Cox Architecture, Australia
Paul Niblett
Senior architectural technologist, HKS Architects, United Kingdom
Paul believes that the transition from architectural ideas to built reality is comprised of countless decisions that are made amid a landscape of ever-changing circumstances. He strives to deeply understand each project’s goals and objectives, allowing the team to make informed decisions that optimise the design’s potential. Continually fostering open communications, his goal is to understand and align the owner’s expectations to promote client satisfaction.
Paul has proven himself successful in managing the technical information of projects while working to tight deadlines. He prides himself on delivering his projects to the best possible standard. He is skilled in both AutoCAD and Revit and has held the role of BIM co-ordinator on many projects. Paul also takes the time to mentor others by helping to implementing BIM modelling standards throughout the office.
Peter Dodd
Project director, Integrated Health Projects, United Kingdom
Peter Dodd is a highly respected IHP project director with over 25 years’ industry experience. Peter is a chartered civil engineer who specialises in complex healthcare projects. He is known for how he delivers as much as what he delivers, building genuine, trusting relationships with trust directors, clinical users, supply chain partners, and neighbouring communities to support collaboration and strong outcomes.
Peter played a leading role in the Countess of Chester Women & Children’s Hospital, the first completed NHS Net Zero Building in England. His relationship-driven leadership guided a fast-paced programme and aligned clinicians, estates teams and partners with clarity. Under his direction, the project achieved significant carbon reductions and created a fully electric, future-ready clinical environment enabled through airtightness, high-performance heat recovery and low-carbon materials. He also brings insight from delivering the Christie Paterson Redevelopment, one of the most complex research facilities in the country.
Philippa Dent
Public health specialty trainee, NHS England – East of England, United Kingdom
Philippa is an ST4 specialty registrar in public health based in the East of England, currently working within NHS England’s regional health equity team. Her recent work has centred on developing the Healthy Hospitals enhanced framework and implementation toolkit to improve population health on behalf of the national Healthy Hospital Advisory Group.
With a background in public health intelligence, previous experience has included leading the Population Health Intelligence Unit for Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICS, hosted by Bedford Borough Council, as well as spending time training at the UK Health Security Agency Regional Health Protection Team, and at Central Bedfordshire Council.
Prior to specialty training, Philippa worked as the health intelligence lead at Oxfordshire County Council, and led analysis for the county’s Covid-19 Surveillance Unit during the pandemic. Philippa holds an MPhil in Population Health Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a BSc in Biomedical Sciences from Newcastle University.
Pippa Scott-Heale
Divisional director, planned care, Countess of Chester Hospital, United Kingdom
Pranav Viswanathan
Doctor, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Rachael Newbury
Associate, Parkin Architects, Canada
Rachael Newbury is a clinical planner at Parkin with five years of experience in healthcare design. She integrates planning, research, and design to deliver functional, resilient clinical environments to support all project phases. Known for her collaborative and solutions-driven approach, Rachael excels in navigating complex project demands and guiding teams towards cohesive design outcomes.
Rachael’s focus on evidence-informed and user-centred planning drives her commitment to creating spaces that enhance experience, wellbeing, and workflow. Rachael is EDAC certified and the chair of Parkin’s in-house Evidence Based Design Committee, responsible for managing monthly and quarterly blogs, seminars and the distribution of evidence-based design material to the 350+ members of the firm. She is a member of Parkin’s Master Plan Committee, and currently pursuing an additional design-related degree to expand her knowledge in the architectural field. Passionate about healthcare design, Rachael is dedicated to shaping environments that elevate both patient and care-provider experiences.
Regina Kennedy
Director, healthcare strategy + planning, Lexica, member of WSP, United Kingdom
Regina is a strategic healthcare planner with a background in architecture and urbanism. Her previous career in academia focused on evidence-based design for health, including biophilia considerations, and its implications for health facility and estate planning and design. Having worked both within health systems and as a consultant, Regina has led healthcare planning and design from initiation to delivery, from small projects to large new hospitals and site masterplans, to national-level multi-site strategies. She has also led development of national and provider-specific guidelines for health facility planning and design.
Regina and her team offer strategic planning for clinical services and capital projects, clinical and operating model development, innovation, resilience and future readiness. Regina collaborates extensively with our clinical, data analytics, digital and sustainability colleagues to co-create transformative solutions for our clients and their communities.
Richard Mann
Head of Social Infrastructure, AECOM, United Kingdom
Richard has 25 years experience gained while working for client organisations, contractors and design consultants. During this time he has worked in the UK, Europe, Asia and the US, delivering a number of high profile projects across a variety of sectors. He is passionate about good building design. Richard brings the knowledge from the diverse projects he has delivered to ensure process improvement; quality and value driven efficiency in design are at the core of the projects he supports.
Roelof Gortemaker
Architect, director, Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects, Netherlands
Roelof is an architect-director and one of the three partners at Gortemaker Algra Feenstra architects. He has been working as an architect for over 35 years, delivering a wide range of projects, including hospitals, psychiatric facilities, healthcare buildings, offices, and educational facilities. Roelof has been the project lead on dozens of projects, both new-build and redevelopment, in the Netherlands and abroad. Notable examples include St Antonius Hospital (NL), Máxima Medical Center (NL), Institut Roi Albert II (BE), Institut de Psychiatrie Intégré (BE), Centre Hospitalier Emile Mayrisch (CHEM) Südspidol (LUX), and Centre Hospitalier d'Antibes (FR).
Ruchi Choudhary
Professor of architectural engineering, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Ruchi Choudhary is professor of architectural engineering in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on simulation methods for predicting energy demand in the built environment, working at the interface of data science and physics-based modelling. At Cambridge, she leads the Energy Efficient Cities Initiative and is co-investigator of the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure & Construction.
Her work spans simulation-based approaches for building energy management, uncertainty quantification in building and urban-scale energy models, and the integration of technologies such as district energy networks, geothermal systems, and urban-integrated farming. From 2018 to 2022, she led UK research on digital twins of the built environment at the Alan Turing Institute.
Ruchi is a fellow of the International Building Performance & Simulation Association and served as chair of IBPSA-England from 2018 to 2023. She sits on several editorial boards and previously taught at Georgia Tech and the Architectural Association.
Ruth Plummer
Director, Sir Bobby Robson Institute, UK
Samuel Rose
Director, IMPOWER Consulting, United Kingdom
Samuel Rose is a healthcare strategy leader with extensive experience in designing and delivering complex transformation programmes across health and care systems. At IMPOWER, Samuel has spearheaded initiatives that align clinical models, estates strategies, and investment priorities to create integrated, place-based solutions.
His work includes developing the “blueprint approach” for system-wide planning, leading digital transformation strategies for health boards, and shaping engagement plans for national programmes and internationally recognised organisations. Samuel has advised on major capital programmes, including innovative models for children’s hospitals and strategies for embedding clinical and digital transformation in new hospital builds.
Passionate about improving outcomes and value, Samuel collaborates with NHS providers, local authorities, and VCSE partners to tackle the challenges of ageing populations, rising demand, and constrained resources. His insights draw on primary research and practical experience, helping systems deliver sustainable change that benefits patients and communities.
Sana Hashemi
Foundation Year 3 Doctor, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Anatomy demonstrator at King's College London
Completed foundation training at King's College Hospital
MBBS, iBSc (Hons)
Sanziana Maximeasa
Student, TUM, TU Munich, Germany
Sanziana Maximeasa studied architecture at the Technical University of Munich's School of Engineering and Design, earning her Bachelor's degree. Her particular interest lay in the impact of spaces on people, with a special focus on vulnerable user groups, including those in hospitals. She took several semesters of courses in hospital construction and participated in pilot projects. Currently, she is studying directing at the August Everding Bavarian Theatre Academy, where she made her acclaimed debut with "The End of Iflingen," based on a play by Wolfram Lotz.
Sharon Cook
Architect and healthcare lead, P+HS Architects, United Kingdom
A senior architect at P+HS and one of the practice's healthcare leads, Sharon has over 12 years' experience of working on projects in the healthcare sector. Sharon’s expertise covers a wide range working for a cross-section of NHS trusts and private clients, leading on projects ranging in scale from small refurbishments through to larger new build schemes. Equipped with a broad range of skills Sharon has a passion for stakeholder engagement and also holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Construction Project Management.
Recent experience includes pathology labs, endoscopy departments, and urgent treatment centres, as well as a new-build health and care academy encompassing a primary care centre, nursing school, training and conference facility, She is also currently working on a new clinical trials unit for cancer research.
Shimona Clington Fernando
Medical student, president of Management Society, Imperial Business School, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Shimona Clington Fernando is a fifth-year medical student at Imperial College London and holds a First-Class Honours degree in Management from Imperial College Business School. She currently serves as president of the Management Society, leading strategic planning, partnerships and large-scale academic and professional events. Her interests lie at the intersection of healthcare, management and innovation, particularly in how strategic commissioning and medtech can improve patient outcomes. She has previous experience in national and international internships in healthcare finance and management, and she is driven to integrate innovation and evidence-based leadership to strengthen healthcare systems globally.
Shivaahnee Raveenthiran
Doctor, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Foundation Year 3 Doctor
MBBS, iBSc
Shruti Venkatakrishnan
Doctor, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Foundation Year 3 Doctor
MBBS, iBSc
Sophie Hockin
Director , The Health and Place Project , United Kingdom
Sophie is a Chartered Town Planner, and in 2025 she was recognised as one of The Planner Magazine’s Women of Influence for exceptional contributions to health infrastructure planning and estates transformation. Sophie has set up the Health and Place Project to bring together her rare cross-sector expertise spanning the built environment, public health, strategy, sustainability and net zero to continue to shape hospital estates to ensure that they are fit for the future. Sophie recently completed an 18 month programme of work with the NHS North East London Integrated Care Board where she has led strategic initiatives to ensure healthcare infrastructure meets population needs. This has included influencing policy agendas, integrating public health priorities, and aligning projects with the NHS 10-Year Plan. Prior to her work with the NHS, Sophie worked in a range of public and private sector roles in planning and regeneration within Central, North and East London.
Stefan Mee
Principal, Architectus Australia, Australia
Stefan is a highly respected designer who approaches his work with creativity, curiosity, and generosity – qualities that contribute to an expansive sense of place. His portfolio includes some of Australia’s finest buildings across university campuses and health precincts, such as Victorian Heart Hospital. Focusing on patterns of use, the character of materials, and inventive details, Stefan works with clients to express their vision through architecture that captivates and delights the people who encounter it.
Sukesha Shekhar Ghosh
PhD scholar, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
I am a fourth-year PhD student at the Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India, working under the guidance of Prof. Swati Pal. My current research focuses on “Study of Age-Inclusive Residential Design in Supporting Independent Living in Urban India.” I am a recipient of the prestigious Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF Cycle-11) at IIT Bombay. My academic background includes a Bachelor's in Architecture from the University of Pune and a Master's in Urban Design from KRVIA, University of Mumbai. Prior to pursuing my PhD, I worked as an assistant professor at Pillai HOC Architecture Institutes and CTES College of Architecture, both affiliated with Mumbai University, from 2017 to 2022.
My research interest lies at the intersection of spatial and behavioural studies, where I investigate diverse user groups to develop and test innovative methodologies that improve healthcare, wellbeing, and quality of life. Having grown up in an urban environment, I am deeply invested in understanding design issues in urban areas and addressing the challenges posed by rapidly growing populations. I am particularly drawn to futuristic solutions that integrate Internet of Things (IoT) technology into smart homes, and I believe these approaches hold significant promise for enhancing quality of life. As an architect, I continually expand my expertise in integrating space, behaviour, healthcare, and technology, seeking to create environments that are not only functional but also responsive to the evolving needs of urban residents.
Suleyman Ekingen
Design director, Curtins, United Kingdom
Suleyman Ekingen is a chartered structural engineer and design director with over 20 years of experience in leading London-based engineering consultancies. He has delivered major projects across multiple sectors and is recognised for his ability to guide multidisciplinary teams through complex design and construction challenges.
His portfolio includes significant healthcare work, most notably the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, which directly relates to the paper submitted for this competition. Suleyman has extensive experience in modern methods of construction (MMC) and is highly skilled in early-stage design co-ordination to support Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA). He specialises in resolving complex structural problems and developing efficient, buildable and cost-effective solutions that respond to project constraints.
As a design director, Suleyman brings a strong client focus, collaborative leadership, and a practical approach that prioritises clarity, constructability, and technical excellence. He is passionate about structural engineering and is known for his problem-solving ability, attention to detail, and commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes.
Suleyman continues to champion innovative, efficient, and patient-centred approaches to healthcare design, drawing on his extensive experience to support the development of future-ready hospital environments.
Sumandeep Singh
Vice-president, senior medical planner, Studio practice leader – health, HKS, Singapore
Sumandeep is vice-president and senior medical planner at HKS, with over 18 years of experience in planning and delivering large and complex architectural projects over a wide variety of typologies, especially healthcare. He has worked across various geographies, such as India, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and China. He is extremely flexible to changing cultural environments that affect healthcare settings, and he is driven by the meaningful service to the community by designing efficient and well-functioning hospitals. He gains trust with clinical users, which has resulted in repeat clients over the years. He is effective in engaging clinical users and translating their vision into thoughtful design. He holds accreditation as an EDAC professional from the Centre for Health Design, California. His expertise extends to winning international hospital design competitions, such as the Shenzhen Children’s Hospital in China, which was widely acclaimed globally. He has recently been certified in 'AI for Healthcare' from the National University of Singapore, and he works at an intersection of planning, BIM, AI, automation, and technology in healthcare design. Suman is currently based in HKS's Singapore Studio.
His recent notable projects as senior medical planner include:
1. Parkway Gleneagles hospital in Hong Kong (500 beds, 550,000 sq. ft) ;
2. Parkway Gleneagles hospital Shanghai (450 beds, 600,000 sq. ft);
3. Parkway Gleneagles hospital Chengdu (400 beds, 450,000 sq. ft);
4. Eastern General Hospital in Singapore (1500 beds, 3,000,000 sq. ft, USD 2 billion);
5. Grantham Hospital and HKU Research Labs in Hong Kong (500 beds, 1,500,000 sq. ft, USD 2.2 billion) ;
6. Macau Island Health Services Complex and Laboratory complex (1000 beds, 1,800,000 sq. ft); and
7. National University Hospital Redevelopment, Singapore, (1500 beds 3,000,000 sq. ft).
Sumit Jadhav
Student, University College London, United Kingdom
Sumit Jadhav is an architecture-trained early-career researcher with a focus on healthcare facilities and infrastructure. He has recently completed an MSc in Healthcare Facilities, where his work examined the relationship between the built environment, healthcare systems, and service delivery across acute, community, and mental health settings. Alongside his studies, he has supported healthcare projects in a co-ordination role, contributing to technical documentation, stakeholder engagement, and delivery processes. His interests lie in healthcare planning, integrated care environments, and the design of patient-centred, sustainable healthcare infrastructure.
Susana Erpestad
Global director of federal architecture, HDR, United States
As an architect and business leader, Susana Andrade Erpestad MBA, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP BD+C, EDAC serves as HDR’s global director of federal architecture and senior vice-president. She has been influential in evolving HDR’s global architecture practice, from her design work on life-changing healthcare projects to her strategic efforts in growing the firm’s federal architecture practice. Based in HDR’s Arlington, VA office, Susana is responsible for the revenue capture and the delivery of services in this market while shaping and enabling teams, accounting for hundreds of professionals who provide innovative, environmentally responsible, sustainable, and equitable design solutions to dozens of US and foreign government agencies. Over her 20-year career, Susana has demonstrated her deep understanding of both the design and business aspects of architecture. Her ability to seamlessly integrate creativity, technical knowledge, and strategic thinking have contributed to making her a highly effective and successful female leader in the industry. Since joining HDR in 2010, she has grown with the company and has excelled at building and leading teams, fostering client engagement, delivering complex projects, mentoring staff, and increasing market share. Her strategic thinking and analytical skills are also key drivers of her success.
Tim Roberts
Associate, Arup, United Kingdom
Tim leads the healthcare business within Arup for the UK fire team and has nearly two decades of experience working on a wide range of healthcare projects, including site-based compartmentation audits, new-build design (including modular), and refurbishments / extensions to existing healthcare facilities and PFI hand backs. Tim’s interest lies in improving collaborative design and integration of architecture with engineering, to achieve the best overall design for healthcare buildings.
Tom Leake
Director, Curtins, United Kingdom
Tom Leake is a director at Curtins and a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE), bringing over 15 years of experience in delivering complex, high-profile projects. Throughout his career, Tom has played a pivotal role in shaping healthcare and life sciences infrastructure, including major hospital redevelopments and specialist facilities. Notably, he contributed to the Midland Metropolitan Hospital (MMH), providing strategic leadership and technical expertise to overcome challenging design and delivery requirements.
In addition to healthcare, Tom leads Curtins’ life sciences sector, driving innovation and excellence in projects that support cutting-edge research and development environments. His ability to manage multidisciplinary teams, navigate demanding programmes, and build strong relationships with clients and stakeholders has been central to his success.
Tom combines deep technical knowledge with a collaborative approach, ensuring projects meet the highest standards of quality and sustainability. Passionate about creating environments that enable scientific and medical advancement, he continues to champion design solutions that deliver long-term value. His commitment to client satisfaction and team development makes him a trusted advisor and an influential leader within the industry.
Trish Gray
Programme manager, Children's Cancer Programme, Evelina London Children's Hospital, United Kingdom
Trish is the programme manager and lead for patient and family involvement for the Children's Cancer: Principal Treatment Centre Programme at Evelina London (part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust).
She is extremely passionate about ensuring patients and families are included in every element of the work of the Children's Cancer Programme, and has worked with the Programme Team, ADP, and Art in Site to ensure they are represented at every level of the Programme governance, and have had every opportunity to shape the approach, design and artwork for the future services.
Trish is highly experienced in engaging and involving patients and families in the development of services and led on engagement work for the development of the Children’s Day Treatment Centre.
Tushar Gupta FAIA, NCARB
Vice president, sector leader, health, Stantec
Design has the power to transform health for entire communities – a responsibility always top of mind for Tushar. An inspirational leader and visionary designer, he champions environments that uplift lives and put people first. Raised in a home that valued critical thinking and social responsibility, Tushar brings those principles to every project – balancing innovation with compassion. Today, he leads Stantec’s health sector while mentoring a new generation of designers redefining spaces for health. A nationally recognised voice in the profession, Tushar has served as president of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health and earned elevation to the prestigious AIA College of Fellows for his contributions to architecture and society. Through initiatives like Health Forward, Tushar advances thought leadership that sparks dialogue and drives innovation in design for health .
Tyrone Marshall
Senior research lead, Perkins&Will (a Sidara Company), United States
A talented designer and innovative thinker with 17 years of experience across all project phases, from concept design to construction administration, Tyrone contributes creative input that strengthens design philosophy and consistently elevates project outcomes. He is skilled in developing inspiring, forward-thinking architectural solutions and communicating ideas through strong design and visualisation capabilities.
Highly proficient in digital design processes and digital fabrication for both public- and private-sector projects, Tyrone engages in research that advances innovative design and promotes the integration of technology to address complex challenges in dense, urban environments. He thrives in multidisciplinary settings and brings a strategic, design-driven approach to shaping built environments that enrich user experience and achieve long-term project value.
Unni Dahl
Hospital planner, Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency), Norway
Unni has been working in Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency) since 2015. The job covers early planning of hospitals, pre- and post-evaluation of hospitals and monitoring through the phases of a project. Additionally, the job includes developing evaluation tools and guidelines.
Previous work includes collaboration between hospital and primary health care services, developing specialist healthcare services for patients with chronic diseases, patient education programmes and patient participation.
Unni has a background as a nurse and has a Master’s degree in Pedagogics, for which her thesis was a study of the doctor – patient communication. She also holds a PhD in Medicine, for which her thesis was about co-ordination of healthcare services and follow-up among elderly and chronically ill patients after hospital discharge.
Victor Druciaki Dutra
Former student, PUCRS, Brazil
Victor Druciaki Dutra is a Brazilian LGBTQ+ designer and illustrator currently living in the city of Porto Alegre (Brazil).
Born in southern Brazil, he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in Design at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in 2025 and recently became a postgraduate student at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
He is an illustrator and storyteller who researches topics of design and sustainability and is also interested in healthcare, communication, designing for children, for diversity and inclusion.
Currently, Victor works as a creative analyst at Tecnopuc, PUCRS’ Science and Technology Park, an international innovation ecosystem.
Yvonne Parkes
Senior clinical operational manager, New Hospital Programme, NHS England, United Kingdom
Yvonne is a senior clinical operational manager at NHS England, currently working within the New Hospital Programme. With a clinical background that spans nursing, midwifery, and health visiting, Yvonne has dedicated the past decade to specialising in public health, holding roles across local, regional, and national teams to drive improvements in population health and address health inequalities. Her 21-year career in the NHS and wider public sector reflects a strong commitment to shifting healthcare from treatment to prevention by embedding public health principles into service design and delivery.
In her current role, Yvonne applies this expertise to the development of new hospitals in England, ensuring they are not only centres of treatment but also environments that actively promote health and wellbeing. She has drawn on her experience and knowledge to support the creation of the Healthy Hospitals Enhanced Framework and Toolkit, integrating population health into hospital design and operations.
Zahra Alali
Student – expected graduation: Summer 2026, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
An undergraduate interior design student at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (IAU), Zahra approaches interior design in creating thoughtful, functional, and visually compelling spaces. She brings a refined balance of creativity, technical skill, and human-centred design to every project. Her academic foundation equips her with strong analytical, conceptual, and research-driven design abilities. She has designed a wide range of residential, commercial, and hospitality environments, working on projects that span from intimate private spaces to large-scale developments. Her design approach prioritises the wellbeing of users, integrating both aesthetic sensitivity and evidence-based strategies to enhance comfort, functionality, and emotional connection within interior environments. with a focus on how interior environments influence human behaviour, leisure quality, and long-term wellness. She aims to contribute to the advancement of design practices that are not only visually impactful but also environmentally responsible.
Zahra Alomani
Student – expected graduation: Summer 2026, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
An undergraduate interior design student at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (IAU), Saudi Arabia, she believes that design is not merely about shaping spaces but about shaping experiences, behaviours, and human interaction. She regards interior design as a dynamic discipline that bridges creativity and functionality through research-informed and evidence-based approaches. Passionate about innovation, she examines how scientific research and analytical thinking can enhance spatial quality, user comfort and overall wellbeing. She is motivated by the conviction that thoughtfully designed environments can positively influence emotions and productivity. As she approaches graduation, she aspires to contribute to meaningful, user-centred projects that challenge conventional design methods and advance professional practice through purposeful, responsive and impactful spatial solutions.
Zeyad Tuffaha
Health associate, Jacobs, New Zealand
Zeyad is an architect who specialises in hospital planning and operations. After a decade of working on more than 40 health projects across the Middle East and North Africa region, Zeyad complemented his background by attaining his Master’s in Health Administration as a Fulbrighter and working at world-renowned hospitals in the United States, such as M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he gained operational and administrative experience.
Finally, Zeyad moved to New Zealand in early 2023 and is on his latest adventure to utilise his international experience while exploring and expanding the healthcare system in New Zealand and beyond. His international and diverse toolkit is guiding his latest work on health facilities assessments and masterplanning across key sites that will have a significant impact on the future of health infrastructure in New Zealand.
