Medical Advisory Board

About our Medical Advisory Board

Our Medical Advisory Board advises on clinical and research matters, supports operational activity and informs our strategic development. Members volunteer their time and are all experienced healthcare professionals who work in the field of dermatology and who have a particular professional interest in eczema management and research. The Board is chaired by Dr Carsten Flohr.

The collective knowledge and experience of Board members ensures our work is grounded in the latest research evidence and clinical practice. This is especially valuable for our information and advice work and our engagement with regulatory bodies like NICE. For example, members may be asked to review our factsheets and booklets, comment on evidence submissions, and act as media spokespeople for the charity.

Members are appointed to the Medical Advisory Board for a three-year term. The number of members varies according to the range of skills and expertise required for the Board to function effectively.

Medical Advisory Board members

Professor Carsten Flohr (Chair)

Carsten is a consultant dermatologist and with major academic and research commitments. He holds the Chair in Dermatology and Population Health Science at King’s College London & Guy’s and St Thomas ’NHS Foundation Trust. He has a particular interest in novel methods of atopic dermatitis (AD) prevention (early life risk factors) and therapeutics, especially in severe AD. He is Chief Investigator of the UK-Irish treatment of severe eczema in children Trial (TREAT), which compares cyclosporine with methotrexate in children with recalcitrant atopic eczema. He is also Chief Investigator of the Softened water for eczema prevention trial (SOFTER) and the UK-Irish Atopic Eczema Systemic Therapy Register (A-STAR). Carsten is a Founding Director of the International Eczema Council and past President of the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Dermatology.

Dr Paula Beattie

Paula is a Consultant Dermatologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow. She trained in dermatology in Belfast and Dundee before undertaking fellowships in paediatric dermatology at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto and Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. Paula has special interests in eczema and its impact on patients and vascular anomalies. She is actively involved in eczema teaching, guideline development and research; including pharmaceutical trials of new therapies for eczema in children and adults. Paula is also a steering group member of the Eczema Systemic Therapy Register (A-STAR).

Dr Stephanie Gallard

Stephanie is an experienced, accredited GP with Special Interest (GPwSI) in Dermatology, working in Liverpool for over 20 years in the community intermediate service for Liverpool University Foundation Trust. She is a non-consultant member of the British Association of Dermatologists and sits on the Executive Committee of the Primary Care Dermatology Society. Working as a GP whilst also remaining a registered pharmacist, means she has a rare combination of knowledge in her educational talks, and tries to bring this dual knowledge to her working life as much as possible. Her current work interests include the role of Dermatology Primary Care Lead for Cheshire and Merseyside ICB, as well as looking at nationwide teledermatology implementation for NICE and NHSE, and other projects to improve the patient journey and upskill primary care clinicians in dermatology. She has a now adult son with severe eczema now managed on a biological therapy, and never forgets the colossal impact this illness had on both her child and her family life from babyhood onwards.

Dr Claudia Gore

Claudia is a consultant and professor of practice in paediatric allergy at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust & Imperial College London. Clinically she has specific expertise in caring for children and young people with complex multisystem allergic disease, including severe eczema, and in providing as well as expanding services for allergic adolescents. Claudia’s research is in the field of better diagnosis and treatment of childhood eczema. She chairs the adolescent and young adult committee of the British Society of Allergy & Clinical Immunology and is a trustee and member of the senior leadership team. Claudia’s work includes promotion of holistic allergy and adolescent care through innovative ways of engaging patients, families, educators, health and care staff – see resource.

Nicola Housam

Nicola is a Nurse Consultant in Dermatology, who has made significant contributions to the care and treatment of patients with eczema, particularly children. Working within the NHS at United Lincolnshire Hospitals and now University Hospitals Plymouth, she has led the development of innovative service models that reduce waiting times and improve access to specialist eczema care.

Nicola has played an influential role in shaping national practice through her involvement on expert committees for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), contributing to evidence based guidance for eczema management. She is also a member of the steering committee for the Eczema Systemic Therapy Register (A-STAR). Her research has supported practical innovations in care, including the use of dilute bleach baths to reduce skin infections and antibiotic use. A strong advocate for patient safety and education, Nicola has led national work on emollient safety and fire risk awareness. Her contributions have been recognised through national awards for improving standards of care and education.

Dr Alpa Kanji

Alpa is a consultant dermatologist with a longstanding interest in eczema. She completed her dermatology training in London, followed by a fellowship specialising in paediatric dermatology at St John’s Institute of Dermatology at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where she is currently based. She has a strong background in research, having completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge and has been a principal investigator for clinical trials. She has a long association with the Eczema UK, having written articles for the charity’s Exchange Magazine, spoken at events, published in peer reviewed journals and been a panellist on podcasts discussing topics relevant to eczema. In her clinical practice, she sees adults with eczema and is a part of the multidisciplinary team managing the paediatric severe eczema clinic at St John’s. She has a particular interest in the mind and skin connection and is passionate about empowering people to manage eczema optimally.

Dr Tess McPherson

Tess is Consultant Dermatologist and Senior Clinical Lecturer at Oxford University Hospital. National roles including recent president of the British Association of Paediatric and Adolescent Dermatology (BSPAD). She has a specialist interest in adolescent eczema and committed to providing better services and resources for young people. In Oxford, she has established a service for young people with skin conditions that integrates psychological support. She has led resources including an NIHR project developing a resource on healthtalk.org, national patient information, co-led guidance on assessment and support for mental health conditions in children and young people with skin conditions, and has written a book; ‘Skin Conditions in Young People: A practical guide on how to be comfortable in your skin’. She has a long association with Eczema UK, having spoken at events and written patient directed resources.

Professor Celia Moss

Celia has been Consultant Dermatologist at Birmingham Children’s Hospital for over 25 years and is honorary Professor at the University of Birmingham. She has a long association with Eczema UK, having been a member of the Medical Advisory Board in the 1990s and a Trustee since 2019. She has served on several national committees and medical advisory boards, and chaired the British Society for Paediatric Dermatology and the NHS England Clinical Reference Group for dermatology. Now retired, she lectures, advises and publishes widely on paediatric and genetic dermatology, and is a firm believer in patient support groups. In 2016 she was awarded an OBE and the Archibald Gray Medal of the British Association of Dermatologists.

Dr Angelika Razzaque

Angelika has been a GP in South East London for 20 years. She studied in Germany, but obtained all her post-graduate qualifications in the UK including membership of the Royal College of GPs, Diploma of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health, Cardiff Diploma in Practical Dermatology and a certificate in medical education. She is a past Chair of the Primary Care Dermatology Society and remains an active executive committee member driving dermatology education by lecturing locally and nationally for primary care health professionals.

Angelika has worked in the skin cancer clinic at Kings College Hospital in London for many years, and has been clinical lead for dermatology in the Borough of Lewisham since early in her GP career. From working with the PCT in a GPSI capacity as well as a clinical director for the local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), she contributed from leading a Primary Care Network (PCN) wide community dermatology service to developing a borough-wide service that has close links with the local hospital provider. She remains active with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) in a role to develop GPwER (GP with Extended Role) training within the area of South East London.

Dr Donna Thompson

Donna is a Consultant Dermatologist and current Specialty Lead for dermatology at the Birmingham Skin Centre, City Hospital, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust in Birmingham. Her subspecialty interests include paediatric dermatology, as well as cutaneous allergy, and she is the lead physician for a dedicated Regional Cutaneous Allergy Service providing patch testing and other investigations required as part of the management of contact dermatitis and other contact, occupational and environmentally induced skin diseases.

Donna is a published author in peer reviewed journals, and has contributed to Eczema UK's Exchange Magazine. She is committed to facilitating shared learning in dermatology across regions for patients and colleagues and has organised more than 100 educational events at a local, regional, national and international level. She is a Past President of the Dowling Club of United Kingdom and Ireland, serving a two-year period from July 2020 – July 2022. She additionally holds positions with the Caribbean Dermatology Association (CDA) and British Society for Cutaneous Allergy (BSCA).

Dr Mark Turner

Mark is a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered clinical psychologist with over 10 years’ experience in the specialist psychological assessment and therapy of patients with hair and skin conditions and other reasons for attending dermatology. He works at St John’s Institute of Dermatology, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London including in their multidisciplinary clinic for adults with severe eczema.

He is accredited with the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) as a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and trained in Mindfulness interventions, Habit Reversal, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Re-Processing (EMDR). Mark completed his doctorate in clinical psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London in 2012. He has presented to national and international audiences.

Julie Van Onselen

Julie is a Dermatology Lecturer Practitioner with 30 years as a dermatology clinical nurse specialist, in both primary and secondary care. Her education and training company ‘Dermatology Education Partnership Ltd’ focuses on dermatology educational projects and training courses in practical dermatology as well as working in conjunction with training associates. Julie is a Dermatology Nurse Adviser for the Eczema UK and works with skin support groups. She has developed a primary HCP online course ’Psoriasis in Practice‘ with PAPAA. Julie is currently leading our ‘Exploring Eczema’ series which includes informational free webinars, providing guidance and support to help the eczema community self-manage their eczema.

Julie is a health care writer publishing in professional and health care journals; she is past editor of the BDNG Journal, Dermatological Nursing. She has contributed national projects, recently the Psoriasis Setting Priorities Partnership project and the RCGP Spotlight tool kit. She is a committee member of the BDNG primary care special interest group and the Primary Care Dermatology Society (PCDS). She works clinically twice a week, in an NHS primary care dermatology service at Solihull and south Birmingham CCG and with SkinHealth UK, running skin cancer detection and awareness clinics; in the past she ran nurse-led clinics in eczema, psoriasis and acne care.

Dr Mandy Wan

Mandy is a Consultant Pharmacist in Paediatric Research at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, where she leads the pharmacy clinical trials service and serves as Deputy R&D Lead for children’s research. She has a strong academic background, holding an MSc in Experimental Therapeutics from the University of Oxford and a PhD from King’s College London, where she is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer. With many years of experience in paediatric clinical trials, she has worked across a broad range of specialties, contributing to research innovation, governance, and translational medicine. In recent years, she has been part of a multidisciplinary team delivering clinical trials of novel systemic therapies for children with eczema. She is a co-applicant on the UK-Irish Treatment of Severe Eczema in Children Trial (TREAT) and a steering group member of the Eczema Systemic Therapy Register (A-STAR).

Professor Andrew Wright

Andrew has a long association with Eczema UK as an expert advisor. Appointed as a consultant dermatologist in Bradford in 1990, his research interests include eczema, psoriasis, and skin cancer. He is an associate clinical director of Bradford University’s Centre for Skin Science. In March 2019, Andrew retired from NHS clinical work but he remains as Research Head for the Bradford NHS Foundation Trust.

Andrew Proctor (Board Secretariat)

Andrew joined Eczema UK as Chief Executive in March 2018. He has worked in the voluntary sector for over 15 years, including spells with Asthma UK, Alzheimer’s Society and Action Medical Research. He believes passionately in people having the right information and advice to make informed choices about their health, and in supporting people to self-manage their health conditions effectively.

Andrew has a particular interest in digital, which he sees as playing an increasingly important role in healthcare and in helping Eczema UK reach more people affected by eczema. He is inspired by our many members, donors, partners and other stakeholders who work so hard to improve the quality of life for people with eczema.

Dr Charlene Murphy (Board Secretariat)

Charlene is an experienced project manager with a strong background in Research and Grant Management within the fields of Health care, Social Research, AI and Digital Development, and Higher Education. With her own academic background in the Social Sciences Charlene combines her academic expertise with practical experience to drive impactful research collaborations and development projects.

Interested in joining?

Please email Chief Executive, Andrew Proctor aproctor@eczema.org, if you are a suitably experienced healthcare professional who is interested in joining our Medical Advisory Board when vacancies arise. As part of our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, we welcome and encourage people to apply from all sections of the community, irrespective of ethnicity, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief.