John Cole, an architect and health design champion, is an honorary professor at the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen's University Belfast. John retired in June 2013 from the role of deputy secretary and chief estates officer DHSSPS (2008-2013), having previously acted as chief executive of the Health Estates Agency (2003-2008). During that period, he was responsible for the oversight and implementation of in excess of £3 billion of capital expenditure, covering the full range of health and social care facilities – from major regional centres of excellence and new acute hospitals, to community hospitals, mental health facilities and primary and community health buildings. John is currently procurement champion for RIBA and was IMPACT assessor in REF2014. John's involvement at Queen's University Belfast's School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering will strengthen its expertise in healthcare design and procurement systems that support design quality across public-sector buildings. John's inaugural professorial lecture, 'Architecture: the art of healing', was given on 19 November 2014. From 2008 to 2012, John was chairman of the European Health Property Network, and in 2013, the Queen appointed him as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his contribution to the development of health infrastructure.

Göran Lindahl PhD is an architect and Professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden, Adjunct Associate Professor of Tampere University of Technology in Tampere, Finland, and visiting professor at Politecnico di Milano. He has 35 years’ experience working across academia and the AEC (architecture, engineering, construction) sector – among this, for example, eight years with the City of Gothenburg facilities planning department. Dr Lindahl is Director of the Centre for Healthcare Architecture (CVA) where he focuses on the planning of hospitals and other healthcare facilities through his understanding of healthcare processes and the strategies of the facility providers. Integrating approaches and transdisciplinary research is a strong aspect of his work. Previous projects include evaluations of usability of hospitals in Sweden and abroad, and educational aspects of clinical and non-clinical environments. He is currently involved with projects concerning design dialogues, maternity wards, health promotion in hospitals, real estate issues related to demographic changes, housing for the elderly and information management in healthcare construction projects. Dr Lindahl is author of 150+ publications, a keen reviewer and engaged in the development of knowledge and evidence relevant to practice.

Christine has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, including many executive and leadership roles. Christine brings system-wide expertise and skills, including strategy/visioning, health services planning, functional programming, lean thinking and digi-physical visioning, as well as stakeholder engagement at all levels and input into healthcare planning. Christine is Co-chair of the CSA Z8005 (Digital infrastructure and digital technologies in healthcare facilities). She also sits as an associate 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 a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine and Innovation, a mentor for the Women’s Infrastructure Network and Founding president of the Canadian Women’s Circle of Healthcare (CWCH).

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.

Unni has been working at Sykehusbygg HF (Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency) since 2015. The job covers early planning of hospitals, as well as pre- and post-evaluation of hospitals and monitoring through the phases of a project. She is also responsible for developing evaluation tools and guidelines. Her 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 Paedagogics where the thesis was a study of doctor–patient communication. She holds a PhD in Medicine. Her doctoral thesis was about the co-ordination of healthcare services and follow-up among elderly and chronically ill patients after hospital discharge.

Duane, originally an Astrophysicist, has worked on major investment programmes and projects in the NHS for over 35 years utilising public funding and PFI. He has worked on some of the largest projects in the NHS, being directly involved in well over £1 billion of investment to date. Duane’s projects include the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, various developments at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, the redevelopment of Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds, the Jubilee Wing at Leeds General Infirmary, the award-winning £238m Queen’s Hospital in Romford, the redevelopment of the North Middlesex Hospital and led the 3Ts programme in Brighton for almost 12 years from SOC into construction. Most recently he was the Acute Redevelopment Director for the major investment programme at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – one of the eight “pathfinder” schemes in the New Hospital Programme. He was also a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Engineering, Science and the Built Environment at London South Bank University and also at the School of the Built Environment at the University of Salford. He has published and presented widely on healthcare planning and capital investment in the UK and internationally. His particular interests are leadership of major programmes, innovation in service design, procurement, design and construction and ways in which the NHS can contribute to wider sustainable development. Duane is a graduate of the Cabinet Office’s Major Project Leadership Academy programme and has been a Gateway Reviewer for High Risk major programmes and projects since 2003. He is also an accredited Business Case Practitioner. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estates Management and serves on the Institute’s Conference Organising Committee and Equality & Diversity Committee.

Rhonda has evaluated effectiveness and performance for healthcare and hospitals for 40 years as a health planner, health facility planner and health economist. The relationship between investment and patient outcomes, clinical change, sustainability, and innovation is her particular interest. Improving the cost effectiveness of hospital capital programmes relative to patient demand and clinical standards was the focus of her 2020 Ph.D. She has been involved in over 40 hospital and health service development projects and evaluated health investment programs in 18 OECD countries. Rhonda has been invited to speak on her research at 25 international conferences and her research has been published and quoted in several national reviews of health and hospitals. Prior to consulting in the private sector, her experience was in senior management roles in health service evaluation and planning for the Australian Health, Finance, state and territory health departments. Her research and experience challenge outmoded political models for hospital capital investment. Rather she recommends investment in continuous improvement for the patient, the treatment and for health system effectiveness. She has modelled a new method for appropriate capital resourcing for all hospitals that is patient-centred, values-based, supportive of innovation and enables patient access to appropriate care in effective and efficient hospitals.

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. Embedding research alongside clinical expertise in physical and mental child health, the hospital will be a state-of-the-art hospital designed to take care of the whole child.