Speakers

Eamonn Rogers, M.Ch. M. Med Sci. FRCSI FRCS(Urol) LL B(Hons), is Consultant Urologist, University College Hospital Galway, and the Chairman of Patient Office in the European Association of Urology. He is also the National Clinical Adviser in Urology to Health Service Executive of Ireland, Adjunct Professor of Urology in the University of Illinois Chicago, USA, as well as Honorary Personal Professor of Surgery (Urology) National University of Ireland, Galway.

Kylie Shae works with the World Health Organization as a member of the Assistive Technology team in Geneva, and is responsible for technical oversight and leadership of the team’s activities related to the operationalization of the 71 World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution on improving access to assistive technology. Originally qualified as an Occupational Therapist, Kylie has worked in the field of disability and international development since 1991 and has a strong rights-based and equity-focused approach to inclusive and sustainable development. After working with British International Development Organization, the Motivation Charitable Trust for many years, Kylie founded Motivation Australia. She led this organization between 2007-2020, working alongside Government and Non-Government partners in the Pacific Region to build sustainable rehabilitation and assistive technology services. Kylie is passionate about implementing equitable, practical solutions to enable increased access to inclusive health, rehabilitation and assistive technology for all. Kylie is also an accredited member of the Partnership Brokers Association, and is a Higher Degree Research Student at Flinders University, Australia.

Myra Robson is the clinical lead physiotherapist for an integrated acute and community pelvic health team in a South London NHS Trust. She is the co-creator of the pelvic floor exercise app “Squeezy”, and a co-founder of the physiotherapy-led, collaborative campaign group Pelvicroar.

Katie Featherstone is Professor of Sociology and Medicine, and Director of the Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory at the University of West London, UK. Katie’s research programme utilises sociology and ethnography to examine institutional cultures of care and the organisation and delivery of care at the bedside and its consequences within hospital ward settings. Her research (funded by the National Institute for Health Research) have examined the management of resistance to care and of continence care, aspects of bedside care identified by people living with dementia, carers and families, and ward staff as priority areas where evidence is needed to improve care. Katie’s latest monograph Wandering the Wards (with Andy Northcott), published as part of the Routledge Studies in Health and Medical Anthropology series is an open access publication available free to download via: Kindle, Google Books and Taylor and Francis.

Dr Cathy Murphy is a registered nurse and Principal Research Fellow in the Bladder and Bowel Management research group, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton. She has a programme of work aimed at improving support for people living at home with both dementia and incontinence. She is also leading an NIHR funded clinical trial of a novel urinary catheter and a WHO funded multi-country qualitative study on the use of washable continence products. She is an editor with the Cochrane Incontinence Group and co-chair of the International Consultation on Incontinence Committee on Management Using Continence Products.

Dr. Maribel Velasco-Perez works at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (Autonomous Metropolitan University), School of Science and Engineering in Mexico City. She has a degree in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (2005), MSc in Environmental Sciences (2008), PhD in Environmental Sciences (2012) from the University of East Anglia in United Kingdom. Maribel has been teaching in the School of Science and Engineering at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana since 2012 and was head of the BSc in Environmental Engineering from 2015 to 2021. Her research interests include waste management, waste treatment, and wastewater treatment.

Prof. Eveliina Repo is a head of the research group of Hydrometallurgy for Urban Mining in Department of Separation Science, LUT university, Finland. She focuses on the development of advanced methods and materials including electrochemistry, ionic-liquids, metal-organic-frameworks, and 3D-printed separation materials for various applications such as water and air purification and recovery of valuable components form the side streams. She has over 80 scientific publications with h-index of 38 and she also holds a position of Academy Research Fellow.

Dr Mervi Toivari is a Principal Scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. Her key expertise is on engineering of yeast and filamentous fungi for production of fuels and chemicals. She has over 20 years of experience in metabolic engineering, molecular biology, and cell physiology. Mervi Toivari has a PhD in Biochemistry and IPMA C training in project management.