Meet The STEER Team

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Chair

I am an ST8 general surgery trainee in the East of England with subspecialty interest in Colorectal Surgery. 

I completed my undergraduate medical degree at University College Medical School, UCL. During this time I interrupted my medical degree to complete a PhD in Department of Neurophysiology within the Faculty of Engineering at UCL. My thesis explored the role of Electrical Impedance Tomography in imaging fast neural activity within the brain. It encompassed comparison of reconstruction algorithms for the detection of acute stroke using EIT, the statistical analysis (using second-level statistical parametric and non-parametric mapping) of an imaging dataset of fast neural activity, and lastly, cross-validation of the use of EIT to image fast neural activity was assessed in vivo.

I completed my foundation training in the East of England and then went on to secure a run-through training post in General Surgery during which time I have been involved in local and regional research.

Vice Chair

Arkeliana is an ST7 UGI/ Bariatric trainee in EOE deanery with a keen academic interest. She graduated medicine from Barts and the London (2010) after graduating from Medical Engineering (BEng and MEng) at Queen Mary University of London(2006). She has a PhD from Imperial College London in Medical Device Safety and Human Factors. Hence she has a great interest in safe use of technology, artificial intelligence, use of big data and safe use of data to support clinical decision making. Arkeliana is the Roux representative for the deanery and the local trainee representative for endoscopy. She has a number of publications and has presented both nationally and internationally as well as contributed to two textbooks. She is a reviewer for international journals and an honorary lecturer at Imperial College where she teaches on the Masters in Surgical Innovation course.  

Project Coordinator

Hannah graduated from St George’s Hospital Medical School in 2014. She is an ST8 in General Surgery with a subspecialty interest in UGI surgery.  She completed her core training in the East of England and has recently moved back to the deanery after having her first child.

Throughout her training, Hannah has been appointed to numerous leadership roles and is currently a national trainee representative for a large UK wide RCT - The Sunflower Study, as well as its sister study – The Rosier Study.

Hannah has a keen interest in medical education, for which she has received local and national recognition. She is also passionate about female representation within surgery and is the East of England regional representative for the Medical Women’s Federation, as well as this organisation’s Women in Surgery representative.

Hannah has peer reviewed publications, regularly presents her work on both national and international platforms and has contributed to numerous national collaborative projects. 

Within her role as STEER project developer, Hannah is keen to promote trainee collaboration within research and drive improvements in surgical practice. 

Project Coordinator

Georgios completed his primary medical education in Greece before moving to the UK for his foundation training. Currently, he is a Clinical Research Fellow at Imperial College London and a General Surgery Registrar. He has completed a MSc in Trauma Sciences at QMUL. He is a committee member in various surgical and research associations such as STEER, Roux Group, ASiT, HFSN and MedTech Foundation.

Project Coordinator

Samin is an ST3 East of England General Surgery trainee with a subspeciality interest in HPB surgery. He has strong local ties having graduated from the University of Cambridge and completed his training prior to Higher Surgical Training mostly within the region. He has contributed to numerous publications and has presented his work at national and international conferences. He is currently a national representative for an international audit analysing outcomes in appendicectomy (ALLIGATOR). He also holds a great interest in medical education and is currently completing a Masters in Medical Education with the University of Warwick. He is excited to take up the position of STEER project developer.

Project Coordinator

Georgios completed his medical degree at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, where he also earned a PhD with a thesis titled “The Effectiveness of Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Mixed with Platelet-Rich Plasma in the Healing of Inflammatory Bowel Anastomoses.” He is currently a colorectal surgery trainee in the East of England Deanery with a strong academic interest in surgery.

Along his training, Georgios has supported various leadership roles and developed a particular interest in surgical research and education. He has presented his work at numerous national and international conferences and holds expertise in conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

He is excited to contribute to STEER as a Project Coordinator, aiming to promote trainee-led research, support collaborative projects, and help drive improvements in surgical practice across the UK and beyond.

Treasurer

I am Anchal Jain, a core surgical trainee at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust. I was raised in India and moved to Republic of Ireland to study undergraduate medicine. Having graduated with honours from Trinity College Dublin and completing my foundation years in Waterford and Cork, I moved to the UK for my surgical training. As my interest in surgery continues to grow, my research interests have strongly burgeoned. As the Treasurer, I will secure funding and manage financial affairs of STEER to continue and further flourish the wonderful collaborative work being undertaken.

Secretary

Mahaveer graduated from University College London Medical School in 2022 and is currently a Plastic Surgery Themed Core Surgical Trainee in the East of England. He holds a great interest in both research and leadership and management. He has first authored on number of papers and has presented his research at National and International meetings, and is currently completing his Masters. Mahaveer will be joining the team as secretary during the 2025-26 period and excited to promote the projects the team is working on.

Journal Club Coordinator

SpR in East of England deanery, currently out of programme for research. Throughout her training Marita has undertaken multiple leadership roles in a local, regional and national level.

Webmaster + Social Media

Taner is an ST6 currently completing a PhD centred on using technology to improve robotics training. He has been in the deanery for foundation and core training, building strong links. Working his way up to being elected as Vice President in the Dukes Club, he has become accustomed to leadership and management roles.  He has numerous publications and has presented internationally.  

Honorary Consultant

Alan is a Consultant Bariatric, Upper GI, and General surgeon. He has a strong interest in training, academia, and collaborative work. Alan co-founded the STEER Collaborative and served as its first President, as well as being the East of England Deputy Trainee Representative. He continues to support the Collaborative in an advisory Consultant role.

Alan holds an MSc in Surgical Science & Practice from Oxford and a PhD from Imperial College, London. His research actitivy includes over 140 peer-reviewed publications and numerous book chapters, along with 170+ abstract presentations at international conferences. He is a Trustee for the international surgical charity TUGSS and serves as the Director of Corporate Engagement on the organisation’s executive board. 

As a co-founder of 'Scrubbing In,' a surgical education platform on YouTube and podcasts, Alan is dedicated to mentoring and promoting clinically relevant academia. His past roles as the inaugural ASGBI Moynihan Academy President, ASiT Council member, the National Bariatric Surgery Registry (NBSR) the Social Media Lead for the Roux Group underscores his commitment to advancing medical education in the digital era.