Programme committee

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.

Prof. Noemi Bitterman is the founder and chair of Masters in Industrial Design with focus on medical and social design at the Technion, Israel. Her academic credentials include a PhD in Medical Sciences and MSc in Industrial Design, including a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Göran Lindahl 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 e.g. 8 years with the City of Gothenburg facilities planning department. Dr Lindahl is Director of the Center for Healthcare Architecture (CVA) where he focuses on the planning of hospitals and other healthcare facilities through his understanding of health care processes and the strategies of the facility providers. Integrating approaches and trans disciplinary research is a strong aspect of his work. Previous projects include evaluations of usability of hospital 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 elderly and information management in healthcare construction projects. Dr Lindahl author of 150+ publications, a keen reviewer and engaged in development of knowledge and evidence relevant to practice.

Ganesh is an intensive care consultant with a specialist interest in leadership, service design and development. He is honorary secretary and forthcoming president-elect of the Intensive Care Society.

Christine Chadwick is the managing director of Archus Canada, a specialist healthcare infrastructure consultancy. With more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, including many executive and leadership roles, Christine brings system-wide expertise and skills, including health services planning, lean thinking, digi-physical visioning, and stakeholder engagement. She is co-chair of the CSA Z8005 (Digital Infrastructure & digital technologies in healthcare facilities) and 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 at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine & Innovation, a mentor for the Women’s Infrastructure Network, and founding president of the Canadian Womens’ Circle of Healthcare (CWCH). Through the expansion of Archus Canada, Christine leads the provision of a broad range of consultancy services within the Canadian healthcare market, while drawing on the capabilities and expertise of the company’s global team to encourage knowledge exchange of global best practice amongst clients and peers, ultimately driving innovation to shape the future of Canadian healthcare.

Sasha has spent his career working in the NHS, initially in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery. He has spent 20 years at executive level in hospital systems and has a particular interest in the development of integrated systems. He now works for the NHS Horizons team supporting a wide range of change programmes. His current focus is on increasing the role of physical activity in health, working on a commission to support Sport England’s ‘Uniting the Movement’ strategy.

Dr. Nirit Pilosof is an Associate of Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS), and a Fellow of Cambridge Digital Innovation (CDI) at the University of Cambridge, UK. Nirit is also a Faculty Member at the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University, the Head of Research in Transformation at Sheba Medical Centre, and the Executive Member of Israel at the International Union of Architects (UIA) Public Health Group. Nirit holds a PhD from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, a Post-Professional M.Arch from McGill University, and an Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC) from the Center for Health Design in the USA. Nirit won international awards, including the prestige's AIA Academy of Architects for Health award, the American Hospital Association (AHA) graduate fellowship, The McGill Major Fellowship, and the Azrieli Foundation fellowship. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nirit-pilosof-a8880057/

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 program at Clemson is nationally recognized 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 program and student awards for its work under Professor Allison’s direction. Professor Allison is also a Licensed Architect in South and North Carolina as well as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He is also a board certified, founding member and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Architects [ACHA], currently serves on the ACHA Board of Regents, and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. He is the founder of the Architecture for Health Educators Summit held annually as part of the joint AIA/AAH and ACHA Summer Leadership Summit. He is also a cofounder of an annual AIA Academy of Architecture for Health South Atlantic Regional Conference. 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 recognized by the Center for Health Design as its 2019 Changemaker.

Marte is manager for advisory department for hospital planning and two project departments in Sykehusbygg, the Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency.

Karin is a partner with Lead Consultants and the official representative for Switzerland within the Union of International Architects, Public Health Group.

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.

Harry van Goor, MD, PhD, FRCS is a Professor of Surgical Education and Innovator at the Radboud university medical center. He is leading several technology tracks in the ‘less bricks, more bytes, different behaviour’ programme to improve care and wellbeing of patients, and healthcare workers in- and outside the hospital, including intuitive personalised wayfinding, continuous monitoring with wearable devices and predictive analytics, VR therapy and VR education, Ambient Intelligence and personalised healing environments in the hospital and at home. He runs a project of home-facilitated VR (p)rehabilitation (e.g. long-COVID rehab) and VR4Pain management in a virtually connected care solution. Harry has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers in a broad field of surgical care, medical device development and digital technology supported care innovation. He coaches several start-ups companies in the field of digital technology supported healthcare and design in a ‘Learning by Doing’ and ‘Digital by Design’ way. Harry was awarded Digital Innovator of the Year 2022 in the Netherlands. He is a Frank Lloyd Wright connoisseur, living with his wife in a FLW designed Usonian house.

A Health Economist with over 35 years experience in health planning and facility development, Rhonda has worked in both the private and public sectors. Researching the impact of capital funding for hospitals on their operational performance led Rhonda to develop new metric for hospital investment. Her Ph.D. examined the role of capital investment in hospitals for delivering more appropriate, sustainable and innovative care. The research identified antiquated macroeconomic approaches to capital funding for hospitals undermines the efficiency of hospitals significantly. However, by investing in micro-economic efficiencies at the patient level improved patient outcomes, staff retention and operational efficiencies can be delivered. Currently she is applying her research to a diverse range of projects from the clinical pathways for stroke, enabling innovation into hospital ward design, to delivering evidence-base improvement to acute and chronic wound care. In addition to her role as the Managing Director of Rhonda Kerr and Associates Health Planners, Rhonda is a Hon. Research Fellow of the University of Western Australia and the Director, Economics, Health Services and Planning for the Guidelines and Economists Network International (GENI).

Clinical director / intensivist, King’s College Hospital, UK

Cristiana Caira, partner and board director at White Arkitekter and Artistic Professor of Healthcare Architecture at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. Focused on increasing collaboration between practice, research and education, Cristiana has led major White Arkitekter healthcare projects including Södra Älvsborg Hospital (SÄS) 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 Mukwege. Cristiana is also part of the expert international team recently appointed to draw up plans for Cambridge Children’s Hospital. Cristiana is a member of the Board at the European Health Property Network.

Sunand Prasad is a principal at Perkins&Will. While designing across several sectors, he has been consistently engaged in healthcare and sustainability for four decades. At the core of his architectural practice, alongside interdisciplinary collaboration, Sunand holds a passionate belief that expertise and aesthetic judgement are most effective in creating truly successful environments when they are catalysed by the everyday experience of people. Sunand has been active in the wider built environment industry, particularly championing low-carbon, regenerative design, and until recently, as chair of the UK Green Building Council. He was president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) from 2007 to 2009, campaigning for action on climate change. He was founding member of the UK Government’s Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment; a London Mayor’s design advocate; a trustee of the Centre for Cities; and chair of the Trustees of Article 25, the humanitarian architecture charity. He currently chairs the Editorial Board of the Journal of Architecture and the External Advisory Board of TRUUD, a major research project on the fundamental links between health and urban development. He has written widely on architecture, sustainability and healthcare design, such as the book 'Changing Hospital Architecture'.