Meet the Brunel Medical School Team (Medicine)

Professor Naomi Low-Beer
Brunel Medical School Dean

As Dean, Naomi provides academic and professional leadership, shaping and leading the development of Brunel’s undergraduate medical programme. Naomi brings to the School over 30 years of experience in clinical practice, research, education and leadership – most recently as Vice-Dean of Education and Professor of Medical Education at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) in Singapore, a partnership between Imperial College London and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Professor Michael Ferenczi
Director of Academic Affairs & Head of Admissions

Michael leads the admissions selection process for Brunel Medical School, and also recruits academic and clinician educators. He joined us in November 2020 when he returned to the UK after eight years in Singapore where he contributed to the development of the new Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University, in partnership with Imperial College London. Michael trained in physiology at University College London and developed a life-long interest in the study of the mechanism of muscle contraction.

Bridget Boylan
Director of Operations

Prior to joining the Medical School Bridget delivered high profile projects and change programmes at seven universities in London: Brunel, Imperial, UCL, University of London, University of Westminster and City University. Bridget has overall responsible for the smooth running of the non-academic side of the Medical School. This includes the buildings and spaces, business processes, digital systems, staff management and financial management including procurement.

Jas Dhillon
Senior Student Programmes Manager

Before taking up the post for Senior Student Programmes Manager, Jas was the Project Officer for the Medical School, coordinating the early stages of the GMC approvals process. Prior to this, Jas worked at St George’s University London, managing the central exams team within Registry, primarily focussed on their medical assessments. As Senior Student Programmes Manager, Jas manages the Taught Programmes Office, which will coordinate the Curriculum, Placements and Examinations and Assessments for the Medical School. This is a student facing role and the team will be the first point of contact for students in the school.

Professor Ian Goodman
Director of Primary Care Strategy

Ian qualified in Medicine (MBBChir) from Cambridge University. Following his training he became a GP Principal in Northwood Middlesex and has been a partner in this practice since 1986. He was an accredited GP trainer for 27 years. His clinical interests are the use of digital innovations in General Practice, effective management of practices, Internal medicine, care of the elderly and paediatrics. Currently he is the Borough Medical director for Hillingdon. Before that he was the Chair of Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group from 2012-2020. Ian holds several other leadership roles in the NW London health sector and has taken a major interest in healthcare computerisation and data management. In his role as Director of Primary Strategy at BMS he is building relationships between the Medical School and local General Practices and Primary care organisations to ensure students get high quality teaching in Primary Care.

Professor Peter Abrahams
Anatomy

Peter is a National Teaching Fellow and Life Fellow, Girton College, Cambridge. He is also Professor 'Emeritus' of Clinical Anatomy at Warwick Medical School and a visiting professor at LKC School of Medicine NTU Singapore. Peter's publication - Weir and Abrahams 'imaging Atlas of Human Anatomy, 6th edition' was the winner in basic and clinical research books at the BMA awards 2021. 900 medical texts were submitted for 14 different prizes in all aspects of medicine. At Brunel Medical School Peter is a visiting professor.

Shafeena Anas
Head of Team-based Learning and Educational Development

Shafeena has 16 years of experience in Higher Education in academia and professional services and is a Doctoral Researcher.

Dr Chinedu Agwu
Module Lead for Introduction to Medical Sciences (IMS 1) and Team-based Learning Facilitator (secondment from Biosciences)

Chinedu completed her PhD in Women’s health at Manchester University, investigating the acute and chronic effects of statins on vascular function in Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy, with a major focus on Pre-eclampsia. Following this, she spent some time working as an associate medical writer for a private healthcare communications company where she created oncology related scientific content for pharmaceutical companies such as MSD and Incyte. In 2021, Chinedu returned to academia and worked part-time as a Teaching Fellow in Biosciences and Admissions Tutor at the University of Hertfordshire and part-time as a Scientist TBL Educator creating curriculum content for the new medical school at Brunel University London. At Brunel Medical School, Chinedu is a Lecturer (Education) in Biosciences, Lead for the Data interpretation MMI station and a House tutor, she also teaches the "Introduction to Medical Sciences" and "Reproduction, Growth and Ageing" TBL Sessions.

Dr Sophie Billington
Lead for Clinical Communication

Sophie is a UK trained GP with over 25 years’ experience in clinical practice and education. She has worked in a variety of settings and specialities including the NHS, Royal Air Force, non-profit organisations and at the University of Cape Town Medical School as a facilitator in problem-based learning and lead for second year clinical skills. As lead for Clinical Communication at Brunel Medical School Sophie is responsible for supporting students in developing their communication and consulting skills across the 5-year curriculum, integrating medical knowledge with effective communication. Embedding the core professional values of kindness, empathy, compassionate curiosity, trustworthiness, respect and humility into the curriculum, Sophie hopes to shape the kind of doctors that Brunel medical students will ultimately become, whilst also ensuring students achieve the GMC professional skills outcomes by the time of their graduation.

Dr Ricardo Carnicer
Module Lead for Blood, Circulation and Respiration (BCR) and Team-Based Learning Facilitator

At Brunel Medical School, Ricardo works as facilitator, content expert for Introduction to medical sciences (IMS 1), module lead for Blood, Circulation and Respiration (BCR) and House Tutor. Ricardo is a Biochemist by training, and an Associated Professor at the University of Oxford currently researching the effects of diabetes on cardiac function. Ricardo is very interested in teaching students using flipped classroom and active learning approaches.

Dr Margaret Gatumu
Head of Anatomy and Module Lead for Limbs, Joints and Movement (LJM)

Prior to joining Brunel Medical School, Margaret was the inaugural Head of Anatomy at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) Medical School. At ARU Margaret led and taught anatomy and histology using full-body dissection of Thiel-embalmed cadaveric specimens and virtual microscopy. Before that, Margaret taught medical, dental and veterinary students anatomy, histology, oral biology and physiology at University of Bristol for a number of years. Margaret trained in dentistry, has a PhD in immunology and is a senior fellow of AdvanceHE. As Lead for Anatomy, Margaret has overall responsibility for anatomy, working with clinicians and scientists in the development and delivery of Brunel Medical School’s innovative curriculum.

Dr Dilshani Hunukumbure
Lead for Clinical Practice and Skills; & OSCE

Dilshani is a clinician and a medical educator and has worked in the NHS for nearly 20 years. Her previous roles involved teaching and overseeing the delivery of clinical skills and clinical examinations to medical students of Imperial College London during their clinical placements at Hillingdon Hospital. Dilshani also played a lead role in the development of multiple simulation courses and has conducted numerous medical educational research studies. As the Lead for Clinical Skills Dilshani has the overall responsibility for the delivery of clinical examination and procedural skills and ensuring students achieve the GMC outcomes by the time of their graduation.

Dr Senita Mountjoy
Head of Curriculum Development

Professor Roger Neighbour - OBE
Visiting Professor of Medical Education

Roger has had a long career as a general practitioner, GP trainer and Chief Examiner for the MRCGP. He was President of the Royal College of General Practitioners from 2003 to 2006. He has written a number of influential books on medical consultation theory and practice, including 'The Inner Consultation', 'The Inner Apprentice', 'The Inner Physician' and 'Consulting in a Nutshell'.

Mark Packer
Head of Digital Healthcare Education and Team Based Learning Facilitator

Prior to joining Brunel Medical School, Mark was the Information and Communications Technology Lead at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) before its opening in 2003, creating and developing the many innovative IT and AV systems throughout BSMS’ until 2021. Before that, Mark worked at Guy's, King's and St Thomas' Medical School at King’s College London from 1991. As Academic Head of Digital Education Mark has overall responsibility for the digital ecosystem of technologies and tools which underpin and enable the delivery of learning and teaching within Brunel Medical School’s innovative curriculum.

Dr Elizabeth Prabhakar
Head of Phase 1

Elizabeth is an experienced educator with lead roles at previous medical and dental schools, Barts and The London, Malta Campus and Plymouth University. She has co-edited and co-authored a textbook, Essentials of Physiology for Dental Students. Recently, she has collaborated with a fellow scientist to pioneer the use of simulation-based teaching in early years medical and science education. As Academic Head of Phase 1, Elizabeth has a student facing role with student engagement in teaching and learning at the heart of her interests. The integration of science and technology in advancing healthcare education is another aspect that she is involved in developing. Elizabeth’s research area focuses on evidence based medical education.

Dr Preman Rajalingam
Team-based Learning (TBL) Consultant

Preman in an educational scholar and expert in active, blended and collaborative approaches in higher education. As TBL consultant at Brunel Medical School, he will support the setup and faculty development for this pedagogical approach. He was previously assistant Dean for Educational Development at the Lee Kong Chian school of Medicine in Singapore, a partnership between Imperial College London and Nanyang Technological University. Here he was responsible for setting up TBL across the whole institution. Currently he is head of the Teaching, Learning and Pedagogy Division at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Dr Katherine Smith
Head of Student Support, Lead for Student Selected Component (SSCs)

Katherine completed her PhD in Respiratory Medicine, at University College Dublin (UCD), investigating the role of hypoxia and hypercapnia in the setting of chronic lung diseases such as COPD. Following a post-doctoral research fellow position, Katherine was appointed lecturer in Medicine, specialising in Cardiorespiratory Physiology. She became Head of Teaching and Learning and Director of the Physiology programme at the School of Medicine, UCD. At Brunel Medical School, Katherine is Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead for Student Support, adopting a pro-active approach to student support and well-being in the School. She is also Academic Lead for the SSC Module (Student Selected Components) and will be teaching Blood, Circulation and Respiratory TBL sessions.

Dr Pritti Vaghani
Head of Primary Care

As member of Brunel Medical School’s education leadership team, Pritti contributes to the educational strategy of the School. Pritti is responsible for leading the development and delivery of MBBS primary care curriculum; working closely with local GP practices to ensure MBBS students have primary care placements throughout the programme. Pritti is a Physician Associate, Lecturer at Brunel University London and responsible for teaching and placements. Pritti has provided clinical support and service improvements within her roles as a Portfolio GP, a Macmillan GP, Named GP Safeguarding Adults & Children, Training Hub Programme Manager, and Chair Safeguarding Children Partnership Board.

Professor Joanna Bridger
Lead for Ageing and Senescence

Joanna is an expert on how the genome is organised in its 3D environment, the cell nucleus in health, disease and normal and premature ageing. She is the Director of the Centre for Genome Engineering and Maintenance (cenGEM) and has been at Brunel University London for nearly 25 years.

Dr Ines Castro
Lead for Genetics and Genomics (secondment from Biosciences) and House Tutor

Ines has been a Lecturer in Genomics at Brunel Medical School since 2023. She is passionate about genes and how they switch ON/OFF in a spatially regulated manner. She left Portugal in 2007 to study gene expression regulation in yeast & flies in the Netherlands. Ines did her PhD at Imperial College London investigating the spatial location of chromosomes in Huntington’s Disease. During her two postdocs she looked at chromatin regulation during cell cycle (Brunel University London) and HIV-1 infection (Heidelberg University/EMBL).

Dr Manraj Gill
Senior Medical Education Fellow

Manraj’s previous experience is in medical school teaching and assessments. She currently works as a GP within the North West London area. At Brunel Medical School she is actively involved in planning, development and review of educational material throughout the MBBS course. She also works and liaises with the medical school team and facilitators.

Dr Anshuni Kaneria
Senior Medical Education Fellow and Deputy Head of Curriculum Development

Anshuni was previously a medical fellow at Imperial College London. Currently she is doing a Specialty Training Programme in Palliative Medicine in London NW Deanery. At Brunel Medical School Anshuni develops and builds the curriculum across all Years, integrates across the curriculum teams as well as embeds the School’s principles of interprofessional learning and equality, diversity and inclusion.

Dr Hameed Khan
Senior Medical Education Fellow

Hameed has previously worked as a Senior House Officer in various hospitals across London. He is currently working at Brunel as a Medical Education Fellow within the Curriculum Development Team and plans to pursue a clinical career with medical education alongside.

Dr Anish Puri
Senior Medical Education Fellow

Anish graduated with a medical degree in addition to a bachelor’s degree in physiology from King’s College London. Following this, he joined the NHS workforce during the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020. He went on to complete his foundation training at St Peter’s Hospital, where he worked under multiple specialties. At Brunel, Anish wishes to bring his experience of the NHS workforce to aid the development of students into compassionate and competent foundation doctors. His current roles within Brunel Medical School include working with the curriculum development team, creating clinical guides and delivering small group anatomy and clinical skills teaching.

Dr Sinthuja Neminathan-Patel
Senior Medical Education Fellow

Currently working as a GP alongside this role. Completed a medical education BSc during medical school (Barts and The London), which led me to present my dissertation at the AMEE conference in Milan (2014). I studied educational theories in depth, as well as assessments and feedback during my BSc year. Also working on a certificate programme with Harvard Medical School; 'Train to Teach in Medicine' Working closely with the primary care team at Brunel to design the curriculum and assessments. I am also involved in communication and clinical skills teaching.

Dr Daniel Johnson
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

Dan has taken on the DUE role for the Royal Berkshire Hospital, one of the Local Education Partners working with Brunel Medical School. He will oversee the creation and implementation of the hospital placements for years 3-5, helping to set up the infrastructure for both training and assessments at the Royal Berkshire Hospital site. Dan is a consultant in elderly care medicine at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, and has previously been the local tutor for medicine for Southampton Medical School, prior to taking on the Brunel Medical School DUE role. He enjoyed university so much he went there twice, completing a degree first in Mathematics, before putting off real life for a bit longer to undertake a degree in Medicine.

Dr Ruchit Patel
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL)

As DUE Ruchit is responsible for the organisation and management of the Year 3 clinical placement in Psychiatry at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Mostafa Shalaby
West London NHS Trust

Mostafa is a General Adult Consultant Psychiatrist in West London NHS Trust. He graduated from Egypt and has been working in the NHS for the last 10 years. His special interest is medical education. At Brunel Medical School Mostafa will be coordinating and supervising clinical placements for year 3 medical students at West London. "It is an exciting time for us at West London to become a part of a new medical school. We already provide excellent education and training to our students from Imperial College London. We look forward to developing a strong and lasting relationship with Brunel University and provide a high quality educational experience to students from BMS. We extend a very warm welcome to medical students from Brunel University London."

Dr Maslah Amin
Module Lead for Health Systems, Technologies and Population Health

Maslah joined Brunel to provide expertise on population health, sustainability and leadership. In addition to this, he practises as a GP in North London and works for NHS England where he leads on population health and sustainability.

Dr Sarah Armstrong
Content Expert for Renal Physiology and House Tutor

Sarah is currently a House Tutor at Brunel Medical School. She is responsible for a number of medical students, reviewing and supporting their academic progress and wellbeing. She is an active member of the House, celebrating diversity and encouraging students to develop their shared interests. Sarah is a Consultant Anaesthetist in the NHS with specialist interests in obstetric anaesthesia and education. She has published internationally and lectures at national and international level in obstetric anaesthesia. Sarah is the Honorary Secretary of the Obstetric Anaesthetists’ Association and has authored several revision textbooks for anaesthetic trainees.

Dr Anthony Barron
Content Expert for Cardiology

As a Senior House Tutor for Dorothy Hodgkin House, Anthony is involved in academic coaching, goal setting, pastoral care and support, directly for 5 students, and indirectly for the remaining students in the House. He delivers Cardiovascular System teaching in Year 1, and is Director of Undergraduate Education for Harefield Hospital, having responsibility for the students during their Year 3 attachment there. Anthony has been a Consultant Cardiologist at Harefield Hospital since 2016, specialising in cardiac imaging and heart failure.

Ms Archana Dixit
Content Expert for Reproductive Medicine

Archana has joined Brunel Medical School as a part-time clinical educator, creating curriculum content for 'Reproductive Medicine’ Team-based Learning (TBL) and will be delivering TBL sessions to medical students. Archana is also a House Tutor providing academic and pastoral support and mentorship to MBBS students. Outside of Brunel, Archana works as a Senior Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospitals NHS Trust, London where she is also the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) College Tutor for Obstetrics and Gynecology (O&G) Specialty trainees as well as the Lead for Cultural Diversity, Antenatal Service Lead and a Cultural Safety Champion. She is also an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer for Imperial School of Medicine, London. She is extremely passionate about improving the reproductive health of women particularly within South Asians and she fundraises for this purpose via charity musical shows.

Dr Silvia Lovato
Content Expert for Haematology

Since 2014 she worked as Teaching Fellow for the medical school at Imperial College London. Silvia also worked as Teaching Fellow for international students attending the Clinical MD in Internal Medicine at the University of Buckingham. Silvia joined Brunel in 2018 as part time Senior Lecturer for the Physician Associate MSc. In 2021 she joined the medical school as content expert in haematology She still works as Consultant Haematologist and is an examiner at National Exams for Physician Associate.

Dr William Lynn
Module Lead for Introduction to Medical Sciences (IMS I and 2)

William is the Content Lead for Infectious Diseases at Brunel Medical School. Along with colleagues, he is responsible for organising curriculum and learning materials for the infection-related Team-based Learning sessions in years 1 and 2. Prior to joining Brunel Medical School, William was an Infectious Diseases Consultant at London Northwest Hospitals. He managed inpatients with serious community, travel-related and hospital acquired infections in addition to outpatient clinics in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis.

Dr Rob Menzies
Lead for Year 3 & Senior House Tutor

Rob qualified in Medicine in 1998 from UCL. He is a practising Consultant Anaesthetist with an interest in Education. Previously he has held educational roles including College tutor, Simulation Lead and most recently Clinical Tutor. He joined the Brunel Medical School in 2022 as a Senior House Tutor, Content Expert and also as a co-director of the RMD resuscitation course. From January 2024, he has been appointed as Lead for Year 3.

Mr Ram Moorthy
Content Expert for Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)

Ram qualified from United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals, London. Following house jobs, he undertook basic surgical training at Poole Hospital and Charing Cross Hospital. He started higher surgical training in Ear Nose & Throat (ENT) in West Midland before transferring to complete his training in South East Thames, including posts at Great Ormond St Hospital and Guy’s Hospital. He undertook a National Interface fellowship in Head & Neck Surgical Oncology at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. He was appointed a Consultant ENT/Head & Neck Surgeon at Wexham Park Hospital, now part of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, in 2011. Ram has a special interest benign head and neck surgery including thyroid and parathyroid surgery. He holds several representative roles including member of Council of Royal College of Surgeons of England and is on the BMA UK Consultants Committee. He is also a member of ENTUK Council and Executive Committee member for British Association of Endocrine and Thyroid Surgeons.

Dr Rachael O'Brien
Content Expert for Immunology

Rachael is a content expert and house tutor. She has worked in the department of Clinical Immunology and Allergy at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey since 2018. She is also an educational supervisor for specialty doctors and is currently the regional Training Programme Director for Allergy, Clinical and Laboratory Immunology (ACLI). She is also an examiner for the Royal College of Pathologists.

Dr Jean Potter
Content Expert for Sociology and Senior House Tutor

Jean teaches on the Psychology, Sociology and Lifestyle Medicine (PSLM) and Communications Skills Modules. She also leads on the end of life care and palliative care aspects of the course. As Senior House Tutor, Jean works with students to foster lifelong learning skills, wellbeing, resilience and professionalism. In addition to her Brunel Medical School role, Jean is a Senior Consultant in Palliative Care at The Hillingdon Hospital, providing support to patients with progressive life limiting illness. Her subspecialty interests include lung cancer, neuropathic pain and advance care planning.

Dr Yohan P Samarasinghe
Content Expert for Endocrinology and Clinical Pharmacology

Yohan’s role at Brunel Medical School is Senior Lecturer and Content expert for Endocrinology and Clinical Pharmacology. Yohan is Consultant in Acute Medicine, Diabetes and Clinical Pharmacology at Frimley Park Hospital, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. He is also Clinical Lead for Acute Medicine at Frimley Park. Chair of the Drugs and Therapeutics Committee at Frimley Health and Co-chair of the Medicines Optimisation Board for the ICB. Yohan Trained at Imperial College School of Medicine and did his Registrar training in North West Thames in General Internal Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology with Diabetes.

Victoria Clausen-Thue
Examinations and Assessment Manager

Prior to joining Brunel, Victoria worked at UCL Medical School for 9 years, primarily coordinating the curriculum and assessments for the first clinical year, but latterly as the Assessment & Feedback Unit Manager for the whole school. During this time, she undertook a one-year secondment at the UCL School of Pharmacy as the Admissions and Student Services Manager. As Examinations and Assessment Manager, Victoria leads the team responsible for overseeing and managing all aspects of assessment within Brunel Medical School.

Debbie Dyson
Student Support and Well-being Manager

Debbie has a real passion in helping students with all aspects of university life, including welfare, wellbeing and student experience. She prides herself on the support she provides to students, enhancing the student experience and helping them achieve their potential. Debbie's role at Brunel Medical School is Student Support Manager. She has worked at Brunel for 18 years and has extensive experience in student support, working with students in areas around Homesickness, Disabilities, Medical Conditions, Mental Health, Pregnancy, Homelessness, Crimes, Harassment / Bullying, Underrepresented Groups, Well-being and Safeguarding. She has worked closely with International Students over the years, supporting students from their arrival on campus and throughout their journey on their course.

Helen Lewis
Education Quality Manager

Helen has worked in medical education at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Prior to joining Brunel Medical School, she worked at UCL for more than 5 years. For the majority of that time, she was the Quality Assurance Manager at UCL Medical School, but also undertook a one-year’s secondment at the Eastman Dental Institute. Before that, she was the Quality Assurance Manager at the Royal College of Surgeons. As Education Quality Manager, Helen leads the team responsible for promoting high standards and good practice across all the teaching, learning and assessment activities for the MBBS programme.

Paminder Midha
Placement Partnership Manager

Prior to joining Brunel, Pam worked with various NHS partners for over 15 years supporting workstreams and NHS frameworks across the UK. In addition she managed the very first Master Vendor contracts in the UK supporting Trusts across NWL, SEL and Mid-Essex for the provision of Doctors, Nursing staff and Allied Health Professionals. As part of Brunel Medical School team her role includes engagement with primary and secondary care providers, to support the placement of students commencing 2022.

Areena Sayers
Resources Manager

Areena’s initial focus is to support the Curriculum Development Team in the development of the curriculum and ensure that all working group deadlines are met, establishing effective workstreams and processes, facilitating the production of course materials and documentation and provides minute-taking duties for governance meetings.

Nesar Nadim Talukdar
Digital Learning Co-ordinator

Nesar joined the DigEd Team at Brunel Medical School in March 2023. He is responsible for developing and uploading content to the Virtual Learning Environment (Brightspace) and supporting and training staff and students with Brightspace and other digital platforms. Nesar studied Computer Science at Brunel University London and did a work placement at Philips Semiconductors in Southampton. After graduating, Nesar worked at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, a German investment bank in London as a Trading Application Support Analyst. Then, he worked for five years as an IT Officer at Brunel's Professional Development Centre. He worked for four years as Manager (ERP Implementation) at InnStar Limited, a real estate and construction company in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Laila Vijayan
Senior Department Administrator

Laila has a wide range of responsibilities including - diary management, meeting logistics, HR support, booking of conferences and the arrangement of hospitality. Previously she has supported various senior leaders within the corporate arena such as large pharmaceutical companies as well as holding a few appointments within the public sector including the Home Office, NHS & Metropolitan Police.

Alex Deo
Recruitment & Selection Officer (Students)

Alex is responsible for turning enquirers into enrolled students at Brunel Medical School. She offers support and direction to those in all stages of the application process. Prior to this she was working in the Brunel Admissions Office assessing applications based on entry criteria for all of the Colleges at Brunel. Alex is also an International alumna from Brunel University London. Therefore she understands the application process from a student perspective and uses her former admissions experience to guide others in making a competitive application.

Alison Russell
Recruitment & Selection Administrator (Students)

Alison’s background with Brunel goes back to 1995 when she joined as Assistant to the Head of Public Relations. She later joined the Events team co-ordinating graduation ceremonies and the 40th and 50th anniversary celebrations. In 2008 Alison joined the Development and Alumni Relations Office where she raised over £1million for scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Alison joined Brunel Medical School in March 2021 and helps coordinate the applicant journey from initial enquiry through to enrolment.

Valeria Nino Albornoz
Examinations and Assessment Administrator

Before taking on her role at Brunel, Valeria was part of the Central Exams Team at City, University of London. At Brunel Medical School, Valeria works in the Exams Team and provides administrative support for all of the examinations and assessments that take place within the MBBS programme, focusing on processes related to the Individual Readiness Assurance Tests (iRATS).

Robert Presland
Examinations and Assessment Officer

Robert has worked at Brunel for over 5 years, starting in the Student Centre before moving to the College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences (CEDPS) Taught Programmes Office, and then into Brunel Medical School, bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge of Brunel policy and procedure from across the University. He now works alongside the Examinations and Assessment Manager to provide professional administrative support for all examination and assessment processes across the 5-year MBBS programme, with a focus on the development, organisation, and running of Brunel Medical School’s Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs).

Sofia Kaisari
Curriculum & Placements Administrator for Years 3,4,5

Sofia previously worked as Medical Education Administrator at the Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust. As Curriculum and Placement Administrator, Sofia will provides administrative support in developing the clinical curriculum across years 3 to 5.

Dawn Scanlon
Fitness to Practise Officer

Dawn works as part of the Education Quality Team and spends most of her time providing administrative support for the Professionalism and Health Concerns process, ensuring compliance with relevant University and GMC regulations and policies. Prior to joining Brunel Medical School, Dawn worked in Student Wellbeing providing support to the Disability and Mental Wellbeing teams. Before Brunel, Dawn worked in a local primary school supporting students with special educational needs and carried out whole class teaching when required.

Emma Bolton
Student Support and Well-being Officer

Emma joined Brunel Medical School from UCFB where she was a Student Support Advisor. Emma has over 5 years’ experience in providing one-to-one mental health and wellbeing support to students as well as specialising in supporting survivors of sexual trauma as a qualified Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA). As the Student Support and Well-being Officer, Emma provides confidential wellbeing support and advice to Brunel Medical School students and ensures they have access to central and external support services. Emma is also involved in the development of wellbeing initiatives which contribute to the pro-active and holistic nature of the Brunel Medical School Student Support and Well-being Team.

Rebecca Zamora
Student Support and Well-being Officer

Previous to this role, Becky was the Student Support Administrator for the Henley Business School at the University of Reading supporting and advising international and home students on a range of subjects relating to student life and welfare. Previous to that, she was supporting students at the National Film and Television School and before that, a Secondary School English Teacher for a number of years in the West London area. In her current role in the Student Support and Wellbeing team at Brunel Medical School, she is the first point of contact for Brunel Medical School students for welfare support, offering advice and guidance as well as connecting students to a variety of internal and external support services.

Suzanne Hafezi
Placement Partnership and Finance Officer

Suzanne is involved in the implementation and maintenance of finance, IT and administrative systems for the Placements Team, as well as providing ongoing support to placement partners to facilitate a positive experience for both partners and students. Prior to joining Brunel, Suzanne worked within the NHS, assisting in the establishment of The Confederation Hillingdon, where she helped coordinate over 40 GP Practices to provide community services to a patient population of over 300,000.