Book a speaker

This is a list of health professionals who would be happy to speak at conferences and events on the benefits of a whole food plant-based diet.


Dr Nitu Bajekal

MD FRCOG ObGyn Dip IBLM, Senior ObGyn and Author
 
Dr Nitu Bajekal, MD is a Senior Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist in London, UK with nearly 40 years of clinical experience in women’s health. Her special interests include Lifestyle Medicine, Menopause, PCOS, Endometriosis, period problems, complex vulval problems and medical education. She is a keyhole surgeon with experience in laparoscopic procedures including robotics.
 
She is a Fellow of the Royal College and recipient of the Indian President’s Gold medal. Dr Bajekal is one of the first board-certified Lifestyle Medicine Physicians in the UK. She also wrote the women’s health module for the first UK plant-based nutrition course at the University of Winchester. She has co-authored the women’s health chapter for an academic book for health professionals (Plant Based Nutrition in Clinical Practice, Sep 2022).
 
Dr Bajekal has an extensive website with free fact sheets on various women’s health issues and on lifestyle medicine. Dr Bajekal is passionate about educating women, providing reliable medical and lifestyle information for the general public, doctors, workplaces, and schools. She runs a voluntary service set up to educate, energise and empower schoolgirls and women to make lifestyle choices to help improve their own and their families’ health.
 
Dr Bajekal is the co-author of Living PCOS Free (Hammersmith Health Books, March 2022) a practical guide to managing Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) with proven lifestyle approaches alongside western medicine. She has written this book with her daughter, Nutritionist Rohini Bajekal.
 
Her new book, Finding Me in Menopause (Sheldon Press, April 2024), a complete manual to navigate perimenopause and menopause using nutrition and lifestyle approaches, with or without conventional hormone therapy is available to order now. For more information, visit www.nitubajekal.com and follow Dr Bajekal on Instagram and TikTok (@drnitubajekal)
 
Contact via website www.nitubajekal.com

Mr Rajiv Bajekal

Mr Rajiv Bajekal is an experienced Orthopaedic Surgeon with an interest in spinal surgery. He was appointed Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in 1998 and has been working in London at the Royal Free London NHS foundation Trust since 2002. He has published widely and lectures Nationally and Internationally besides being a senior examiner for the FRCS Orthopaedics.

In 2016 he had some personal health problems and had put on a lot of weight. He and his wife researched diet and nutrition and embarked on a way of living a healthier life with compassion and care for the environment. In the process, he lost 25 kg of weight, reversed his prediabetes and found a new zest for helping his patients live a healthier life.

He decided to study lifestyle medicine, as many of the disorders affecting people nowadays are lifestyle-related and he and his wife (Consultant Gynaecologist) both studied and passed the Diploma examination in Lifestyle Medicine conducted by the American board of lifestyle medicine, He and his wife Nitu are now certified lifestyle medicine practitioners with a Diploma from the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine – by far his proudest achievement.

Rajiv is based in London and is available for talks in London but also happy to travel up to 2 hours.

Email: rbajekal@aol.com


Rohini Bajekal

Nutritionist, Communications Lead at PBHP UK and Co-Author of Living PCOS Free
Rohini Bajekal (MA Oxon, MSc Nutrition and Food Sciences, Dip IBLM) is a nutritionist and board-certified Lifestyle Medicine professional. Prior to becoming a nutritionist, she studied Theology at Oxford University. Having previously worked in India and Singapore, Rohini is based in London and provides evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle advice and group programmes to her clients around the world. She is the Communications Lead at Plant-Based Health Professionals UK.

Rohini co-authored her first book Living PCOS Free: How to Regain Your Hormonal Health with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome which was published in April 2022. She also wrote the chapter on lifestyle medicine for the book How To Go Plant-Based: A Definitive Guide For You and Your Family by Ella Mills, founder of Deliciously Ella.

Rohini regularly comments in the media with a focus on myth-busting around nutrition. She has been featured in publications such as The Guardian, Refinery 29, SheerLuxe, Cosmopolitan and Women’s Health. She has been following a plant-based diet for almost 20 years.

Sign up for her regular newsletters via www.rohinibajekal.com and follow her on Instagram @rohinibajekal for daily tips on healthy living. For speaking opportunities, email Rohini at rohinibajekal@gmail.com


Dr Laura Freeman MBChB, MRCGP, CCFP, Dip IBLM/BSLM

GP, Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician

Dr Laura Freeman obtained her Medical Degree from the University of Edinburgh in 2006. She completed her vocational training in General Practice in Manchester in 2011. Between May 2012 and May 2019, after attaining full accreditation from the Medical Council of Canada, Dr Laura ran her own Family Medicine practice in midtown Toronto, taught medical students at the University of Toronto and worked with the Medical Council of Canada as an examiner for International Medical Graduates.

Both within and outside of her General Practice, Dr Laura has developed a strong interest for plant based nutrition and optimising health through lifestyle choices. In 2019, Dr Laura completed the Harvard Medical School Lifestyle Medicine course and passed the International Board Exam for Lifestyle Medicine. Her focus is putting her passion in Lifestyle Medicine into practice for her patients and watching the incredible success of their lifestyle interventions.

Dr Laura has been commended by her colleagues and patients alike for her unwavering calm and kind demeanour, her compassion and care for her patients as well as her sound clinical knowledge, skill and judgment. Her patients have endorsed her input for optimising their diet, prescribing individualised exercise prescriptions, stress management and improving sleep habits.

Laura is based in Glasgow and happy to speak on plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine.

Email: laurafreeman@doctors.org.uk


Dr Kana Grace, BS, MA (Counselling), PgCert (Autism), PhD

Dr Kana Grace is a Research Psychologist, Advocate, Educator, and Specialist Mentor, deeply passionate about health in humans, animals, and the planet.

Kana specializes in the mental, physical, and social health of neurodivergent people including neurodivergence such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, Tourette, and dyspraxia, along with associated physical conditions, particularly connective tissue issues (e.g., HSD, hEDS) and related issues (e.g., MCAS, POTS). Her expertise has been shaped by personal experiences, enhanced through academic study, research, and mentoring.

Kana has been featured in multiple media outlets such as the UK’s BBC, The Scientist, and the book “Nine Minds” by Daniel Tammet. She has delivered talks and lectures on neurodivergence around the world, including the UK, USA, Japan, and Australia. Kana’s doctoral research on loneliness in autistic adults has influenced public health policy in Sweden and initiated an international collaboration to develop an autism-specific loneliness measure. More about her work can be found on her linktree.

Kana is passionate about using Lifestyle Medicine, including a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) diet, to address common health challenges among neurodivergent people (e.g., IBS, connective tissue disorders). She has completed a certification in Plant-Based Nutrition at University of Winchester.

Currently, Kana is an Honorary Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE) at University College London (UCL). She is also the founder and director of Valtameri, where she educates about neurodivergence and provides one-to-one support to neurodivergent people of all ages as a Specialist Mentor (e.g., processing/understanding diagnoses, recovering from burnout).

Kana is happy to provide talks on mental, physical, and social health in neurodivergent people, and on the application of lifestyle medicine in this field.

Email: kana.grace@ucl.ac.uk
Personal Website: https://valtamerigrace.wixsite.com/kanagrace
Twitter/X: @kanabaletti
Instagram: @kanabaletti


Paula Hallam, RD PG Cert

Paula qualified as a dietitian in 1998 at the University of Cape Town and moved to the UK shortly afterwards, where she lives with her husband, two teenage daughters and Harvey the cavapoo!

Paula is a Specialist Paediatric Dietitian and has worked within the NHS for 18 years in a variety of paediatric roles in large London teaching hospitals including Great Ormond Street Hospital, Evelina Children’s Hospital, St George’s Hospital and UCLH. Paula most recently worked in a large food allergy research unit at King’s College London as well as consulting to charities and food brands such as Deliciously Ella, Rhitrition, Babease, Lune & Wild and Wildly Tasty.

Paula has completed additional nutrition training such as the Post Graduate Certificate in Advanced Paediatric Dietetics from the University of Plymouth and in 2021 she undertook the additional training ‘Plant-Based Nutrition: A Sustainable Diet for Optimal Health’ at the University of Winchester.

Paula recently published her first book, Plant Powered Little People – a practical guide to plant-based nutrition for under-fives, which combines the latest scientific research with easy recipes that children will love. Paula is passionate about setting up children for lifelong healthy eating habits, right from their very first bite of food!

Paula currently runs her own freelance business called Plant Based Kids, helping parents of plant powered children to confidently provide all the essential nutrients growing children need to thrive and reach their full potential.

Paula can be contacted via Instagram @plantbasedkids.uk or via email Paula@plantbased-kids.com


Dr Charlotte Hay

Charlotte holds a PhD in Animal Ethics from Leicester University in England. She trained in several styles of yoga, including prenatal yoga and fertility yoga, before gaining her health coaching certification with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). She has also trained as a women’s life coach, Doula, and Thai Yoga Massage therapist. She specialises in women’s health (including fertility and prenatal coaching, hormone issues, and perimenopause), stress and anxiety management, personal development coaching, plant-based nutrition, skin issues, energy issues (including adrenal fatigue), and weight management. She has been vegan for over 18 years, and a vegetarian since the age of 9.

Charlotte is available to talk on all aspects of plant-based nutrition, including nutrition for fertility, prenatal and postnatal, nutrition for menopause, and nutrition for women’s health and hormonal conditions. She is also happy to talk about transitioning to a plant-based diet, as well as energy and skin issues. She can travel anywhere in the UK.

Email: hello@drcharlottehay.com
Instagram: @drcharlottehay
Website: drcharlottehay.com


Elena Holmes, BSc Psychology; MA; MSc Nutritional Therapy; mBANT; mRSM.

Elena has been an ethical vegetarian since the age of fourteen and vegan for the last sixteen years. She is a self-employed Nutritional Therapist, working both with individual clients and delivering educational talks and workshops as well as writing articles and blogs about a whole-food plant-based diet. Elena is also an independent researcher and a member of the Research Network of The Vegan Society. In 2018 she collaborated in preparing 21-day menu samples for Veganuary.

Elena’s main areas of interest is the role of a whole food plant-based diet for gut, heart, and mental health, blood sugar management and sports nutrition. Her MSc research focussed on the status of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in adult vegans. This area of nutrition is so intriguing because there is more and more research showing how vitally important all omega-3 fats are to health yet there is still no definite answer on whether those avoiding the consumption of fish should supplement with EPA/DHA.

Email: info@elenahealthfood.com


Dr Tila Kansagra

Dr Tila Kansagra is a General Practitioner with over 15 years of clinical experience in the NHS, working in all aspects of Medicine including Care of the Elderly and Mental Health.

She currently specialises in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for the NHS in Hertfordshire but also works privately as a GP and Lifestyle coach.

She has always had issues with weight management since childhood and in 2017 she had several health problems that developed. She had numerous investigations that didn’t find a cause.

Through her own research she came across the concept of Lifestyle Medicine and Whole Food Plant Based Nutrition. She was then able to improve and reverse her chronic symptoms as well as lose weight in a more sustainable manner, focusing on health. She was able to help her friends, family and patients do the same.

She holds a Board Certification in Lifestyle Medicine (IBLM/BSLM) and Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition.

She is of Indian, Gujarati descent and is passionate about educating her community about improving chronic health conditions such as diabetes through lifestyle changes, particularly Whole Food Plant Based nutrition.

She is an advocate for mental health awareness and is known for her compassionate nature. She is able to meet clients where they are in their health journey, taking a more holistic approach.

She is able to provide talks anywhere in the UK.

Email: drtila@plantpromotingdoctor.com
Instagram: @plant_promoting_doctor

Dr Tila Kansagra

Dr Shireen Kassam MBBS, FRCPath, PhD, dipIBLM

Dr Shireen Kassam is a Consultant Haematologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at King’s College Hospital, London with a specialist interest in the treatment of lymphoma. She is also a Visiting-Professor at University of Winchester, Hampshire, where she has developed and facilitates the UK’s first University-based course on plant-based nutrition. In 2023 she launched a course on lifestyle medicine for cancer.

Shireen is passionate about promoting plant-based nutrition for the prevention and reversal of chronic disease and for maintaining optimal health after treatment for cancer. In 2019 she became certified as a Lifestyle Medicine Physician and is also a CHIP facilitator.

Shireen founded Plant-Based Health Professionals UK in 2018, a non-profit, membership organisation whose mission is to provide evidence-based education on whole food plant-based nutrition.

Shireen qualified as a doctor in 2000. During her training, she completed a PhD, which investigated the role of selenium in sensitising cancer cells to chemotherapy. Shireen has published a number of peer-reviewed papers in the fields of lymphoma and nutrition. Her first book, Eating Plant-Based, Scientific Answers to Your Nutrition Questions, co-authored with her sister Zahra, was published in January 2022. She has also co-edited the textbook Plant-Based Nutrition in Clinical Practice published in September 2022.

Shireen is happy to provide talks on lifestyle medicine, plant-based nutrition and cancer prevention and survivorship.

Email: kassam.shireen@gmail.com


Dr Sue Kenneally MBBS MRCGP MSC (NutMed) ANutr

Sue Kenneally qualified as a GP in 2002 and is also a nutritionist, having been awarded an MSc in Nutritional Medicine in 2017. She enjoys her portfolio career which gives her the flexibility to pursue her interests in weight management, lifestyle medicine and plant-based medicine. She is director of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine, SCOPE certified member and regional group lead of the Association for the Study of Obesity, a member of the Board of the Welsh Obesity Society, member of the ‘GPs with an Interest in Nutrition Group’ and a tutor in obesity and weight management at the University of South Wales. She is passionate about lifestyle and health and hopes to inspire and empower her patients to transform their lives by making often simple changes.

Sue has appeared on TV numerous times and gives regular radio interviews on any subject related to lifestyle as a means of maintaining good health, and also has spoken at a number of academic/medical meetings advising other doctors and health professionals about the importance of lifestyle medicine. You can contact her via her public Facebook page Dr Sue Kenneally, or via Twitter @drsuekenneally


Dr Surabhika Lunawat

Dr Surabhika Lunawat is a general practice specialty registrar, currently based in the West Midlands. She studied medicine at the University of Liverpool, with a Master’s degree in clinical neuroscience from University College London, being awarded a distinction. Having embraced veganism in 2018, her subsequent calling to lifestyle medicine and, specifically plant-based nutrition, prompted her to change her career path and, more importantly, her own life. She has completed a plant-based nutrition course at the University of Winchester and has become a certified lifestyle medicine physician with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Her keen interest in academic medicine and medical education has honed her ability to translate scientific literature into bite-sized actionable learning points. She uses this to passionately promote the power of plants to prevent and reverse chronic lifestyle-related diseases to her patients. In her spare time, she educates wider audiences about the science behind plant-based nutrition through social media and local and international speaking engagements. She also created and leads a successful physician-led walking group of over one hundred members within her local community, where she delivers educational talks on whole food plant-based nutrition, among other health-related topics.

Contact via instagram @dr_surabhika or LinkedIn Surabhika Lunawat.

Book a plant based health professional speaker

Claire Lynch RD, MNutr, DipIBLM

Claire started out as a nurse and then spent many years raising her 6 children.

Through being a mum of a large family and providing for them on a tight budget, Claire developed many life skills, including cooking and recipe development skills, and finding creative ways of managing on a budget. She also developed a keen interest in nutrition, which led her to her second career choice later in life: Claire qualified as a dietitian in 2020 and has worked within the NHS as a community dietitian and a diabetes specialist dietitian.

However, throughout her training Claire became more and more passionate about disease prevention and helping people to thrive and to reach their full potential into midlife and beyond. She therefore undertook further training with the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine and achieved their diploma, qualifying her as a Lifestyle Medicine Professional.

She has taken these principles on board in her own life and practises what she preaches; she has been following a plant-based diet since 2018, and staying active through her love of nature and the outdoors. She is lucky enough to live close to the Peak District, so runs, cycles and walks in beautiful surroundings. She also ensures she prioritises good sleep habits and has great social connections, largely through her family and belonging to a choir, a pipe band, and the local church.

As a freelance dietitian, Claire now supports people on a one-to-one basis in her plant:life nutrition clinic, and loves to speak to the public, to health professionals and to employees on all aspects of plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine.

Claire will always provide evidence-based information, knowledge and encouragement to your audience, and will tailor her talks and workshops to your unique requirements.

Find out more about Claire and her work on www.plantlifenutrition.co.uk and contact her via Email:  claire@plantlifenutrition.co.uk

Book a plant based health professional speaker

Dr Miriam Maisel

Dr Miriam Maisel qualified as a Family Practitioner (USA) in 1995, and then as a UK GP in 2001. She has also developed and maintained a special interest in Palliative Medicine in parallel with general practice throughout much her career. Whilst always making a distinction between “health” and medicine, it is over the last decade that she has studied and trained in Lifestyle Medicine, with an emphasis on nutrition, travelling abroad to CME events, with speakers such as Dr Dean Ornish and Dr Neal Barnard, and also meeting pioneer physicians promoting nutrition and lifestyle such as Dr Esselstyn, Dr Fuhrman, Dr Klaper and others.

In 2017 Dr Maisel authored a chapter in the medical textbook Nutrition and Integrative Medicine, a Primer for Clinicians. This chapter focuses on core clinical studies, which demonstrate positive results from the use of plant based diets in treating heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and autoimmune conditions. Most doctors will not have learned about these studies in medical school or in the course of their careers, and thus they may fail to offer a more benign, effective and economical option to their patients. By learning about the potential to address many medical problems with food, clinicians can be empowered to offer their patients a better quality of informed choice. Offering patients informed choice is a key ethical responsibility of all doctors as outline in many versions of the GMC’s publication “Duties of a Doctor”.

In 2018 Dr Maisel was part of the first UK cohort of physicians to sit and pass the Lifestyle Medicine Certification Examination in Edinburgh. She is now a Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician, with a diploma from the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine. Dr Maisel is now based in Israel.

Email; miriammaisel@hotmail.co.uk

Website: www.dr-maisel.co.il


Dr Gemma Newman MBBCH DRCOG DFSRH MRCGP

Dr Gemma Newman has worked in medicine for 14 years and is the Senior Partner at a family medical practice. She studied at the University of Wales College of Medicine and has worked in many specialities as a doctor including Elderly Care, Endocrinology, Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Psychiatry, General Surgery, Urology, Vascular Surgery, Rehabilitation Medicine and General Practice. She gained additional qualifications in Gynaecology and family planning. She has a specialist interest in plant-based nutrition and gives nutrition and lifestyle advice to her patients, who have gained tremendous benefits by using the power of their plate.

As a broadcaster and writer she has been regularly featured on television, including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky News Sunrise. She has contributed to articles for magazines including Glamour, Zest and Good Housekeeping. Her family lead a fully plant-based lifestyle, following the extensive scientific research she has done on the health benefits associated with whole food plant-based nutrition. She is regularly invited to teach other Doctors via training programmes and conferences about the benefits of plant-based nutrition. You can get in touch via Facebook Dr Gemma Newman, or follow her on Instagram @plantpowerdoctor, or gemmanewman.com. She would be happy to give a talk anywhere in the UK.


Dr Alka Patel

Dr Alka Patel is a Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician, Health Coach and GP.
She runs private Lifestyle Medicine Clinics based at the Spire Bushey Diagnostic Centre in Elstree, Hertfordshire.

Her areas of Specialist Interest are: Diabetes, Weight Management, Epigenetics, Habit-Change, Wellbeing of Drs, Workplace Wellbeing. She is based in London and Hertfordshire but happy to travel.

For more info visit her website: www.dralkapatel.com
Follow her through her social media handles:
Facebook: Alka Patel
LinkedIn: Dr Alka Patel
Instagram: @dr_alkapatel
Twitter: dr_alkapatel


Dr Minil Patel

Dr Minil Patel is a General Practice Specialty Registrar from London, currently based in Buckinghamshire. He graduated from King’s College London with an MBBS and BSc (Hons) in Neuroscience in 2016. An ethical vegan since 2017, he also has a keen interest in plant-based nutrition, health and fitness and the power of lifestyle medicine in the treatment and prevention of chronic disease. He has completed a certification in “Plant-Based Nutrition” at the University of Winchester and has PGCert in Medical Education from King’s College London. He has a background in powerlifting and strength training and does bodybuilding style resistance training in his spare time earning him a feature in Men’s Health Online. He balances his day to day work as a GP registrar whilst also teaching others about plant-based nutrition, fitness and Veganism using social media. Here he also shows wonderful plant based recipes to help power his active lifestyle and shows people you really can build muscle without the need for animal products.

Happy to travel anywhere in Buckinghamshire and London.

You can contact Dr Patel via his Instagram: @drironjunkie or email: minil_patel@hotmail.com

Dr Minil Patel

Dr Sunni Patel PhD MBA BSc(Hons) FAAO

Dr Sunni is a clinician-scientist, business director and trained fitness instructor with an MBA. He also has been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and switched to a plant-based diet that is supported with medication to improve some of the symptoms associated with the disease.

Dr Sunni’s PhD studied the risk factors and biomarkers (inflammatory and otherwise) for Type II Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease which extended out to neurological diseases in in his post-doctoral fellowship.

He has a special interest in plant-based nutrition and enjoys talking around the scientific evidence to support it to a wide range of audiences that would otherwise not have access to the information (BAME, younger generations and less affluent communities).

Dr Sunni is an advocate for well-being in chronic conditions, extending beyond the physical, medical and therapeutic to the mental, emotional and psychological considerations. He has launched an Instagram and website platform called dishdashdeets which focuses on the ‘art of being gut healthy’ through the creativity of plant-based dishes as well as the education, awareness and championing the issues around IBD and IBS.

He is available to give talks nationwide, as well as present virtual events and cook-a-longs. You can contact him through Instagram @dishdashdeets or his website www.dishdashdeets.com


Soraya Pineda, Registered Dietitian

Soraya is a Specialist Weight Management Dietitian working in a Tier 3 NHS Weight Management Service. She also runs her own business, Plant Nutrition With Soraya, specialising in helping people lose weight in a sustainable way.

Soraya graduated from Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2011 and has since worked across many acute and community settings within the NHS.

Due to infertility reasons In 2018 she started to explore how to improve her health and diet with food and lifestyle. This led her to implementing a whole food plant based diet and three months later she had a successful full term pregnancy.

Soraya has hosted a variety of talks including

  • The Role of a Prescribing Support Dietitian, Cardiff Metropolitan, 2015
  • Bone Health, Vegfest, 2022
  • CPD update Weight Management, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, 2022
  • Weight Management in the Community, University of Winchester, 2023
  • Weight Management on a Plant-Based Diet, Plant Based Health Professionals 2023

Soraya is committed to regular strength training for overall health, enjoys mountain walks and loves cooking and creating new recipes. Her husband and young child also follow a plant-based diet and she promotes the benefits of a plant-based diet in all areas of her work.

Soraya is able to travel for in person events as well as online events. Please contact her directly.

Email: soraya@pnws.co.uk
Website: www.pnws.co.uk
Facebook: PlantNutritionWithSoraya
Instagram: @soraya.pineda_rd


Dr Eleni Prifti

Dr Eleni Prifti is an Environmental Chemist, Health Coach, and certified Lifestyle Medicine Advisor based in the Netherlands. She holds a Ph.D. in the bioavailability and dynamics of heavy metals, and she is also a certified Lifestyle Medicine Advisor. Eleni advocates for the need to integrate Environmental Sciences with Healthcare and has developed a training program in Environmental and Planetary Health focused on Health Professionals, which she teaches through her private coaching services and also through the European Lifestyle Medicine Organization (ELMO) Certificate. Having worked for more than a decade at the Hellenic Center for Marine Research focusing on Pollution, she has developed expertise in the effects of Toxic Chemicals’ Exposures on Human and Planetary Health. She has been an Invited Lecturer and Speaker to numerous academic programs and conferences. As a mother of two vegan children, with a greek-indian-dutch cultural background, Eleni embraces the transgenerational responsibility towards them, devoting her professional and personal life to promoting Culturally-appropriate, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems.

She is available (and always excited) to offer talks, lectures, webinars, and workshops on Environmental and Planetary Health.

Email: eleniprifti@gmail.com
Website: www.iasishealthcoach.com
LinkedIn: @eleniprifti


Dr Ishani Rao, MBBS, BSc

Ishani is a GP trainee and emergency medical doctor working across London and Kent. She qualified from King’s College London in 2017 with an MBBS degree and a BSc in Women’s Health. She absolutely loves her job and is trying integrate veganism and sustainability into the curriculum. Veganism was the only New Year’s resolution that ever stuck!

Outside of her work in the NHS, Ishani has worked in eating disorders clinics, has hosted packed talks about mental health at Vegan Camp Out, and is strongly advocating more ethical and sustainable food choices across hospitals. She has a small charity called Buckets Of Love, which runs fun events such as skydiving and raves to raise money for other charities. She has recently published a book for NHS COVID charities called ‘National Health Stories: Tales from the front line’ which compiles her colleague’s perspectives of the pandemic. She mentors children with regards to education, academia and health with a wonderful organisation called Worldly Wise.

Please make contact if you think that she can be of help, or if you would like her support with any projects. Ishani is certified in alternative therapies in India, and recognises the importance of diet, sleep, exercise, social networks, mindfulness and general wellbeing for optimal health.

Email: i.rao@nhs.net
Website: https://bucketsoflove.co.uk/
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dr-ishani-rao


Dr Sudhir Sethi, MBBS, MD. MRCP, FRCPCH, MPH.

Dr Sethi has been a Paediatrician for over 30 years and for the last 20 years he has worked as a consultant in the NHS. He is currently based in North Wales and will be happy to travel to give a talk. His areas of interest include the management of obesity and other lifestyle-related illnesses. He also has personal experience in reversing type 2 diabetes.

Email: sudhirsethi1@hotmail.com 


Dr Nesan Shanmugam

Dr. Shanmugam is an Honorary Senior Lecturer based in the Molecular and Clinical Sciences Research Institute at St George’s University of London. He has ongoing research interests in Nutrition and CVD, Cardiac Sarcoidosis and Cardiac Device Therapies in Heart Failure. He has also obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education at University College London and continues to actively teach at an undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Dr. Shanmugam has followed a Whole Food Plant based diet since 2015. He also actively promotes a plant-based predominant diet for the prevention and management for patients with cardiovascular disorders.

Email: nesan.shanmugam@gmail.com


Dr Hannah Short MA (Oxon), MB BChir, MRCGP (2016), DRCOG, DFSRH

BMS Accredited Menopause Specialist, ISGE Certified Practitioner

Hannah is a GP Specialist in Menopause, Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) and Premenstrual Disorders, and co-author of ‘The Complete Guide to POI and Early Menopause’ (Sheldon Press, 2022).

Hannah became vegan, for ethical and environmental reasons, in 2016 and noticed that her health also improved as a result. This led to her to further investigate the benefits of a whole food plant-based diet for her patients, and in 2018 she completed the eCornell Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition. She has since undertaken further training in Lifestyle Medicine with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and completed the Lifestyle Medicine for Cancer Prevention and Survivorship course at the University of Winchester in 2024.

Her specialist areas include POI, Early Menopause, Medical and Surgical Menopause, PMS/PMDD/PME and Lifestyle Medicine. She has a long-standing interest in how dietary factors – and the gut microbiota – affect hormonal health and feels strongly about planetary health and social justice. Hannah can provide talks on all aspects of female/AFAB hormonal health, including specific concerns relevant to vegans (e.g. hormonal medications that do not include animal products).

Talks can be virtual, or she is happy to travel within East Anglia and to London. Travel further afield will be considered on a case-by-case basis, so please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Email: hannahshort@doctors.org.uk
Website: https://drhannahshort.co.uk

Hannah Short speaker for Plant Based Health Professionals U

Vanessa Sturman BA(Hons) MPhil Cantab

Vanessa Sturman is a Plant Based Health Coach & Award-Winning Expert Speaker featured on Sky News, regularly on BBC Radio as well as Times Radio, Metro and LBC. She helps people get rid of fatigue and maintain a healthy weight by implementing non-restrictive, healthy eating and incorporating the most delicious, balanced plant based foods. No dieting, no fads and you still get to eat your favourite foods.

She’s known for her fun, tasty and inclusive approach to building in more plant based wholefoods. Everyone can walk away from her talks with ideas and actions that fit around their lives, which can help their health, energy and weight management.

Her clients get results such as losing weight without ever dieting again, clear skin, hormone balance, reduced inflammation, great energy, great gut health, reduction in joint pain and bloating and much more.

Corporate clients include the likes of Octopus Energy and Cambridge University Press where she delivers talks and workshops providing practical information for the busy person. She’s also worked with Michigan State University teaching their future medical students how to implement healthy nutrition for themselves and their patients.

Vanessa is a Cambridge University post-graduate in Biological Anthropology, spent years as a Workplace Change Manager implementing behaviour change prior to coaching, and ran a successful plant based recipe website for years, so she’s all about delicious food.

She is happy to do talks online and around the UK.

More on Vanessa here

See her media appearances here

Email: vanessa@energiseandthriveplantbased.com

Vanessa Sturman speaker for Plant Based Health Professionals UK

Dr Aryan Tavakkoli MBBS MRCP FRACP CFMP

Dr Aryan Tavakkoli graduated from the Medical College of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1991, going on to specialise in Respiratory and General Medicine. She worked as a consultant in respiratory medicine for 16 years, before deciding to leave hospital medicine in order to open her own medical practice, Quantum Clinic in East Sussex, where she supports adults with cancer.

During her hospital career, Dr Tavakkoli developed an interest in other approaches to healthcare and studied many different disciplines including herbal medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, Functional Medicine, and mind-body techniques such as HeartMath and clinical hypnotherapy.

Dr Tavakkoli offers a progressive approach to adults with cancer, combining her experience in conventional medicine with the benefits of Functional Medicine and Integrative Medicine, to provide a more holistic experience for her patients.

Her aim is to approach health problems at root level and therefore enable her patients to achieve long term wellness and a better quality of life than would be achieved by using an allopathic medical approach alone.

Dr Tavakkoli has written and spoken widely on the benefits of plant-based nutrition, and advocates whole-food plant-based nutrition for her patients.

Website: quantumclinic.co.uk
Email: reception@quantumclinic.co.uk
Tel: 01825 841155


Jane Thurnell-Read

Jane Thurnell-Read has been vegan since 2015, and she was vegetarian for over 40 years before that. She’s passionate about healthy ageing, which she talks and writes about.

She is a whole food plant-based vegan, initially for the animals, but now for her health and that of the planet. She uses her bike as her main form of transport, so cycles around 40 miles a week in all weathers. She’s an enthusiastic advocate for weight training for older women, deadlifting 77.5 kilo in 2021 to celebrate the Vegan Society’s 77th anniversary.

She believes that everyone can be healthier, happier, fitter and stronger as they age.  She’s an inspirational speaker who offers hope and small practical steps her audience can implement.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivingjane/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivingjane
Email: jane@janethurnellread.com


Mick Walker

Mick is an Oxford-educated Biologist, who has recently retired from a career in education. In addition to teaching, he has, for many years, been a senior examiner with Cambridge Assessment. At present, he is mostly involved with international A Level Biology examinations.

In terms of diet, he has not eaten meat for approaching 40 years and has now been fully plant-based for around 6 years. As a keen cyclist, the decision to become 100% plant based was inspired by the reading of ‘Eat and Run’ by Scott Jurek, an American ultra-marathon runner. During this time, he has studied closely the increasing evidence for the benefits of a Whole Food Plant Based diet – benefits which he himself has experienced in terms of fuelling his cycling well into his 60s!

Mick is happy to talk about the health benefits of a whole food plant-based diet and is available to give talks in the North of England.

Email: mickwalker52@gmail.com