Dr Martin Dedicoat (Interim Chair)
Dr Martin Dedicoat is a Consultant in Infectious Diseases at the Heart of England NHS Trust. He is currently TB clinical lead for Birmingham and Solihull. He trained in London, Birmingham, Ecuador and South Africa. He worked as a physician for 9 years in South Africa before taking up his present post.
Robert Wilkinson (Secretary)
Robert Wilkinson is a freelance consultant to international development, humanitarian and human rights organisations. He specialises in providing support on funding strategy, proposal writing and programme development. He has held posts in the UK and overseas with WWF, Save the Children and Merlin. Prior to working with NGOs he was a finance lawyer with international law firm Clifford Chance.
Renu Bindra
Renu has worked in public health since 2002, building on a long-standing interest in inequalities and the determinants of health which have piqued her curiosity throughout her medical career. Renu has worked for Public Health England as a Consultant in Communicable Disease Control, where she led for the Yorkshire and Humber region on TB. During 2015, Renu led on the establishment of the joint Yorkshire and Humber and North East TB Control Board which oversees the control of TB activities in both regions.
Nic Coetzee
Nic Coetzee is a Consultant in Communicable Disease Control at Public Health England West Midlands. Nic gained over 20 year’s clinical and public health experience in South Africa, before moving to the UK to take up the position of Director of Public Health at East Staffordshire PCT. Nic’s professional interests include delivering cost-effective, sustainable and equitable services to underserved populations and populations with the greatest burden of disease; promoting continual service quality improvement through patient cohort reviews and audits and improved data quality; and developing and embedding evidence-based practice in routine health protection work.
Professor Luis Cuevas
Professor Luis Cuevas is Head of the Department of Clinical Sciences at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Luis began his medical career in Guatemala and has trained in Paediatrics, Epidemiology and Tropical Medicine. Luis’s research focuses on the evaluation of diagnostics, epidemiology and implementation in low and middle-income countries with a view to improving access to diagnosis and treatment among disadvantaged populations. Luis currently sits on the TB REACH and EDCTP consultation panels.
Jagjit Dosanjh-Elton
Jagjit Dosanjh-Elton is Chief Operating Officer at Anstey Horne & Co. Jagjit has extensive experience as an Executive and Non-Executive Director gained through over 20 years in commercial finance across several sectors, including Retail, Media, Legal, Insurance and Energy. Jagjit is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Paul Sommerfeld
Paul Sommerfeld served as TB Alert’s Chair from the charity’s launch in 2009 before stepping down in 2019. He is also Past Chair, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health NHS Trust; Past General Secretary, International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP); Chair of Governors, Co-operative College; Organiser, International Society for Influenza and other Respiratory Virus Diseases; Lay Member of both Appeals Committee of General Pharmaceutical Council, and Qualifications Committee of Bar Standards Board.
Prabhakara Varma
Prabhakara Varma has 30 years senior level experience in social development across India, working with agencies and donors including the British government, Action Aid, Plan International, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is currently Group Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for KSK Energy Ventures Group of Companies, based in Hyderabad.
Professor John Watson
Professor John Watson is the former Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health. He is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Visiting Professor in the Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences at University College London. He was previously Head of Respiratory Diseases at Public Health England’s Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control.
Anna Watterson
Anna Waterson is a barrister who specialises in immigration and housing law. Anna has herself recovered from multi-drug resistant TB.