Medical Advisory Board

Facial Palsy UK has recruited a Medical Advisory Board made up of practitioners from a range of professions of relevance to facial palsy (ear, nose and throat surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, ophthalmology, neurology, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, psychology, maxillofacial surgery, medical research and more). The members of our Medical Advisory Board provide input regarding the content on the website, advice leaflets and to help promote this under-recognised condition to the wider medical community and to ensure all our material is accurate and based on clinical practice.

Mr Patrick Addison – Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon

Patrick Addison is a consultant plastic surgeon in Edinburgh with an interest in adult and paediatric facial paralysis. Having completed a head and neck fellowship in Toronto, a centre of excellence for facial paralysis surgery, he returned to the UK in 2008. He undertakes a wide range of facial reanimation work including microvascular reconstruction and has written one textbook chapter on facial paralysis.

Mr Omar Ahmed – Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon

Omar Ahmed has been a consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, since February 2005. Omar was instrumental in setting up the Northern Facial Nerve Centre in 2006, the first multidisciplinary team for the management of facial paralysis in the Northeast of England. He has extensive experience in reconstructive surgery, specialising in reconstruction after facial palsy, head and neck cancer, and skin cancer. Omar is the Chairman of the Head and Neck Special Interest Group of BAPRAS.

Katerina Anesti – Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon

Katerina Anesti is a consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust where she is a core member of the Peninsula head & neck cancer network. She undertook fellowships in NZ, USA and Taiwan, specialising in Head & Neck Reconstruction and microsurgery and developed further skills in facial reanimation surgery. She has an interest in complex head & neck reconstruction and offers a multidisciplinary approach to both adults and children with facial palsy including free tissue transfer.

Mr Tim Blackburn – Consultant Maxillofacial and Facial Plastic Surgeon

Tim Blackburn has been at Manchester Royal Infirmary since 2008 after graduating from King’s College London medical school followed by training in London, Liverpool and Manchester with visiting fellowships for facial reconstruction & reanimation surgery in Toronto, Boston and Milan. He performs reanimation surgery in the interdisciplinary team in Central Manchester across the co-located Manchester Royal Infirmary, Royal Manchester Eye and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospitals and has chaired the MDT for the Manchester Facial Nerve Centre 2008-2014. As a member of both the Manchester skull base & head neck oncology teams serving 3.2 million population, he has wide experience in complex facial reconstruction and reanimation surgery.

Mr Dominic Bray – Facial Plastic Surgeon

Dominic Bray trained at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London. After completing his ENT/ Head and Neck surgery specialist training in London, he sub-specialised in facial plastic surgery with a research and clinical interest in facial reanimation following facial paralysis, and now works independently as a facial plastic and cosmetic surgeon at 70 Harley Street, London. He has personally suffered a facial palsy, giving him a unique insight and empathy into the condition as a physician and as a patient.

Mr Daniel Butler – Consultant Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon

Daniel Butler is a UK-trained Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon now based at the Bay of Plenty District Health Board in New Zealand.  Prior to this, Daniel worked as a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as a core member of the West Kent Head and Neck Cancer service. During his senior fellowship training, Daniel gained extensive experience in paediatric and adult facial palsy care working at some of the UK’s busiest facial palsy units (Queen Victoria Hospital and Great Ormond St Hospital).  Alongside providing general plastic surgery services, Daniel has a particular interest in head and neck cancer resection and reconstruction along with facial palsy treatment.

Mr Richard Chalmers – Consultant Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon

Richard Chalmers is a Consultant Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon at the University Hospital of North Durham where he is the SSMDT Lead Clinician for Skin Cancer and specialises in Complex head and neck skin cancer resection and reconstruction. He has had specialist training in Facial Palsy Management in the Northeast as well as during his Head & Neck TIG Fellowship at Guy’s & St Thomas’. He has presented internationally on techniques in Facial Palsy and has developed a multidisciplinary team in County Durham to manage adult facial palsy patients.

Miss Rosie Ching – Consultant Plastic and Craniofacial Surgeon

Rosie Ching is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon based at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. As part of the NHS England commissioned Oxford Craniofacial Unit, she undertakes highly specialised craniofacial surgery for children born with rare diseases. Through the Oxford Facial Palsy Service, she manages both children and adults with facial palsy through a well-established multi-disciplinary clinic that includes surgery, facial therapy and clinical psychology. Rosie trained predominantly in Yorkshire and the North East of England, prior to completing her fellowship in Craniofacial Surgery in Oxford. She has also undertaken laboratory-based research into nerve injuries at Umeå University in Sweden, exploring novel therapies aimed at improving nerve regeneration.

Professor Jonathan Cole – Consultant in Clinical Neurophysiology

A consultant at Poole Hospital and Professor in Psychology and Medicine at the University of Bournemouth, Jonathan Cole was educated at Oxford and The Middlesex Hospital, London. His research has focussed on chronic pain, motor control, sensory loss, and the first person experience of neurological conditions. He has written two books on the relations between face and self.

Mr Jonathan Cubitt – Consultant Plastic Surgeon

Mr Jonathan Cubitt is a Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon in the Welsh Centre of Burns and Plastic Surgery. Having trained in Wales he has carried out advanced training fellowships in Edinburgh (RCS TIG fellowship with Patrick Addison) and Sydney at the Children’s Hospital in Westmead (craniofacial fellowship). He is interested in adult and paediatric facial reanimation surgery, runs a monthly facial palsy clinic and is developing the facial reanimation service in Wales.

Mr Demetrius Evriviades – Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon

Demetrius Evriviades trained at Oxford and in the Trent region. He undertook an Advanced Surgical Fellowship with Dr Ralph Manktelow, an expert in the treatment of facial palsy, in Toronto, Canada. A consultant at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine and the New Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, he has a particular interest in facial reconstruction, the treatment of facial paralysis and microvascular facial reanimation surgery.

Mr Adel Fattah – Consultant Paediatric Plastic and Microsurgeon

Adel is a consultant at the Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust whose primary specialty is facial palsy reconstruction. He trained at Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto with Dr Ron Zuker. He has established a multidisciplinary team that provides holistic care for all aspects of facial palsy in children.

Monica Fawzy – Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon

Monica Fawzy is a consultant plastic surgeon in Norwich with a specialist interest in head and neck reconstruction, and facial palsy. She completed the majority of her plastic surgery training in the East of England, followed by a Craniofacial fellowship in France. She has established a multidisciplinary facial palsy service, which serves the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and areas of Lincolnshire.

Dr Matthew Hotton – Clinical Psychologist

Matthew Hotton trained at the University of Oxford, before joining the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, in 2016. He specialises in working with children and adults with conditions affecting facial appearance and function and is also a Research Tutor at the Oxford Institute for Clinical Psychology Training and Research. Matthew has collaborated with the Oxford Facial Palsy Unit to secure funding from the Vocational Training Charitable Trust to develop and evaluate psychosocial resources for adults with facial palsy, as well as carry out research to better understand the psychosocial impact of facial palsy in children and young people. He recently collaborated with international colleagues and Facial Palsy UK to develop clinical guidelines for the improvement of the psychological wellbeing of people with facial palsy.

Mr Richard Irving MD FRCS (ORL-HNS) – ENT Consultant Neurotologist, Skull Base Surgery

Qualifying from King’s College Hospital in 1985 and trained in London, Cambridge and San Francisco; Richard was appointed Consultant in Otology, Neurotology & Skull Base Surgery at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth and Children’s Hospitals in 1997. He provides a regional and national service for patients with complex ear disease. His clinical interests are in the rehabilitation of hearing with auditory implants, vertigo, facial paralysis and the management of skull base tumours. Richard is widely published in all aspects of otology and serves on the Editorial Boards of a number of international journals. He is the current President of the British Society of Otology, and Secretary of the British Society for The History of ENT.

Mr Ruben Kannan – Consultant Plastic Surgeon

Mr Ruben Kannan is a consultant plastic surgeon, specialising in facial palsy at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead. He completed fellowships in top centres in the UK, USA and Japan in the fields of facial palsy, migraine surgery and super-microsurgery respectively. He is an active contributor to facial palsy with innovations such as selective neurotisation and performs cutting-edge facial reanimation migraine surgeries including selective neurolysis as well as migraine surgery. Ruben is also a founder-member of the UK Cranial Nerve Network; the first global network which aims to restore all aspects of facial functions such as eye movements, global facial expressions, eating, swallowing etc.

Hala Kanona – Consultant Otologist and Auditory Implant Surgeon

Hala Kanona is a Consultant Otologist and Auditory Implant Surgeon in London. She graduated from The University Of Birmingham and completed Higher Surgical Training in leading centres such as Great Ormond Street, The Royal London Hospital (Barts Health NHS Trust) and the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospital (UCLH) where she also undertook an Advanced Otology and Auditory Implant Fellowship. Her interests include neurotology, auditory implantation and facial palsy.

Sarah Kilcoyne – Principal Speech and Language Therapist

Sarah is the Principal Specialist Speech and Language Therapist in the Oxford Facial Palsy Clinic. Sarah has extensive experience in working with children and adults with visible difference in the UK and Australia, and has clinical specialties in cleft, craniofacial and facial palsy. Sarah has a special interest in working with children with facial palsy, and developed the first online intervention for children with facial palsy in 2015.

Mr Georgios Kontorinis – Consultant ENT Surgeon and Neurotologist

Having obtained his ENT training and his MD in Hannover Medical School in Germany, Georgios Kontorinis completed advanced fellowships in paediatric Otolaryngology in Sheffield Children’s Hospital and in complex Otology, auditory implantation and Skull Base surgery in Manchester University Hospitals. Since 2013 he’s been a Consultant Otolaryngologist and Skull Base Surgeon at the Institute of Neuroscience in Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. He has a special clinical and research interest in hearing and balance disorders as well as in facial nerve palsy.

Suzi Lawford – Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist

Suzi Lawford is a Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist with a special interest in treating patients with facial palsy. She is part of the multidisciplinary facial palsy team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham where she has worked with facial palsy since 2011. Suzi is also a committee member, mentor and course trainer for Facial Therapy Specialists International which is dedicated to providing evidence based teaching and support for facial therapists.

Mr Andre Litwin – Consultant Ophthalmic and Oculoplastic Surgeon

Mr Litwin has been a Consultant Ophthalmic and Oculoplastic Surgeon at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead since 2014. He graduated from the University of Southampton and trained in London, Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge and QVH. His special interests include the management of facial palsy as well as complex eyelid, tear duct and ocular surface disease in patients from across the UK and further afield.

Dr Simon Lowe – Retired GP and Musculoskeletal Clinical Lead

Simon Lowe recently retired as a GP in Bedford, after 30 years, although continues to work in musculoskeletal medicine. He has experience in acute diagnosis and management of facial palsy in Primary care. He developed an interest in management of facial palsy when he developed Ramsay Hunt syndrome himself! The complexity of the symptoms he experienced stimulated a desire to support Facial Palsy UK in increasing awareness of diagnosis, treatment and subsequent resources in general practice to improve future support for patients .

Mr Raman Malhotra – Consultant Ophthalmic and Oculoplastic Surgeon

Raman Malhotra graduated in medicine and surgery from the University of Bristol. He completed his ophthalmic surgical training at the Western Eye Hospital in London, in Oxford, and in Adelaide, Australia. He is based at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead. His specialist interests include facial nerve palsy rehabilitation, reconstructive eyelid and orbital surgery, endonasal lacrimal surgery and aesthetic eyelid rejuvenation.

Helen Martin – Senior Physiotherapist

Helen Martin graduated from the University of Nottingham as a physiotherapist in 2003. She has worked for many years as a senior physiotherapist in the plastic surgical unit at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in Merseyside – a tertiary service with a catchment area that includes North Wales and the Isle of Man. Helen has provided specialist facial rehabilitation for adults in the Cheshire and Mersey region within this role and set up the regional Facial Palsy UK Support Group in Liverpool in 2016 in partnership with patient representative Sheila Fairclough. Helen is General Secretary of Facial Therapy Specialists UK and International – a multidisciplinary therapy team who are dedicated to ensuring that patients with facial palsy have access to high quality care and rehabilitation.

Mr Paolo Matteucci – Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon

Paolo Matteucci is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Castle Hill Hospital and Hull Royal Infirmary specialising in complex head and neck and facial reconstruction. He has extensive experience in microvascular reconstruction in the head and neck and a special interest in facial palsy management. To this end he has set up a Multidisciplinary Team in Hull to manage the holistic needs of facial palsy patients. He continues to work hard with local commissioners to improve patient’s access to specialist care.

Mr Michael McBride – Consultant Plastic Surgeon

Michael McBride is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon based in Belfast – working primarily across the Ulster and Royal Victoria Hospitals. He undertook advanced specialist training/fellowships across a number of UK, European and International Centres. These included Glasgow, Salisbury, Southampton, Newcastle, London, Hull, Paris, Barcelona, Zurich, Helsinki, Florence, Pakistan and India. He has been comprehensively trained across the breadth of Plastic Surgery – his specialist interests are in head and neck reconstruction, facial palsy/reanimation and peripheral nerve surgery.

Miss Philippa Moth – Locum Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist

Philippa Moth trained at The Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine. She completed specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology with a specialist interest in minimal-access surgery. She has recently been appointed as a Locum Consultant at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust looking after patients with complicated pregnancies and benign gynaecological conditions. Philippa has firsthand experience of the physical and psychological challenges of facial palsy, having suffered a Bell’s palsy in pregnancy.

Mr Charles Nduka – Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon  (Chair of the Medical Advisory Board)

Charles Nduka trained at Oxford and Imperial College before joining the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, in 2006. Having developed an interest in facial palsy, he launched with colleagues a multidisciplinary team that covers Sussex, Kent and part of Surrey, and receives referrals from across the country.

Catriona Neville – Extended Scope Practitioner Physiotherapist

Catriona Neville works as an Extended Scope Practitioner Physiotherapist in the field of facial palsy both at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, which she joined in 2002 and in her own practice, The Facial Rehabilitation Centre. In 2007, she set up the Facial Palsy Clinic at Queen Victoria Hospital with Charles Nduka. In 2010, Catriona Neville and three colleagues founded Facial Therapy Specialists International, a group that supports and trains therapists in this field internationally (www.facialtherapyspecialists.com)

Rupert Obholzer – ENT/Skull Base Consultant

Rupert Obholzer is a consultant ear, parotid and skull base surgeon at Guys and Kings College Hospitals, London. He trained in London, with fellowships in Skull Base and ear surgery in Sydney and back in London. Rupert now runs the multidisciplinary facial nerve service at Guy’s, and is a joint lead of the Neurofibromatosis and Skull Base teams.

Richard Price – Consultant Facial Plastic Surgeon

Richard Price qualified from Charing Cross & Westminster Medical School in London and trained as a Plastic Surgeon in Manchester and Preston. He undertook fellowships in Australia, specialising in Head & Neck Reconstruction and microsurgery. He joined Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust in 2007 and is the Lead Clinician for Head & Neck Reconstruction in Cambridge. He has a specialist interest in Facial Palsy and Facial Reconstruction, particularly in association with skull base tumours patients with neurofibromatosis types 1 & 2.

Professor S. Ahmed Sadiq – Consultant Ophthalmic and Oculoplastic Surgeon

Ahmed Sadiq qualified from the University of London in 1987, completed his ophthalmology training in London and Nottingham, and was a Consultant at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital between 1999 and 2020. He originated the Multi-disciplinary Facial Function Clinic in Manchester.

Professor Shakeel R. Saeed – Emeritus Professor of Otology / Neuro-otology and Consultant ENT and Skullbase Surgeon

Professor Saeed is a surgeon and researcher in disorders of the ear, hearing, balance, facial nerve and skullbase. He manages patients from all over the UK as well as internationally. He has set up and maintained dedicated multidisciplinary facial palsy services firstly in Manchester and subsequently in London over the last 25 years. He is currently a consultant ENT and Skullbase Surgeon at the Royal National Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Professor Saeed is also an honorary consultant at Guy’s St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospitals in London as well as being Emeritus Professor of Otology / Neuro-otology at University College London, Ear Institute.

Dan Saleh –  Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon

Dan Saleh is a consultant head neck and facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon in the North East. He did sub-specialty training at the Princess Alexandra Hospital Brisbane and Broomfield Hospital Chelmsford covering all aspects of facial paralysis managment. In particular his interests lie in post-oncological facial palsy and its integrated management. He has an active collaboration with Newcastle University in facial palsy research.

Mr Chris Skilbeck – ENT Skull Base Fellow

Chris Skilbeck has recently completed the Skull Base Fellowship at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, following his training in ENT, otology and Skull Base surgery in London. Whilst in Cambridge, he undertook to complete a research degree into balance in Neurofibromatosis 2. Qualifying in 2002 from Guy’s, King’s College and St Thomas’ Hospitals he has developed an interest in facial palsy throughout his training. In 2007 he was awarded the Nan Blofeld Award to enable him to spend time at the Facial Nerve Center in Boston, USA. Chris continues to contribute to the development of the facial palsy MDT clinic at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospitals in London.

Mr William Townley – Consultant Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon

William Townley is a Consultant Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ in London where he is a lead clinician in the facial palsy service and a core member of the head & neck reconstruction team. He trained in Oxford and developed further skills in facial palsy in various international units including Toronto, Vancouver, Boston and France. He has an interest in complex facial reconstruction and offers a comprehensive surgical service to both adults and children with facial palsy including free tissue transfer.

Ms Kallirroi Tzafetta – Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon

Kallirroi Tzafetta is a consultant plastic surgeon at St Andrew’s Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns, Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford. Ms Tzafetta is a core member of the Essex Head and Neck Network and performs head and neck reconstructive procedures following cancer removal, trauma, and to restore facial function and symmetry that have been affected by facial paralysis. She has subspecialized in Facial Palsy in Norfolk, Virginia, USA in 2006-7. She has authored several chapters and scientific papers on facial palsy, has been an invited speaker in national and international meetings and is the Chair of facial palsy special interest group in BAPRAS. She runs a weekly multidisciplinary facial palsy clinic.

Wendy Walker – Neurological Physiotherapist

Wendy qualified as a physiotherapist 30 years ago and specialised in neurological physiotherapy. She works extensively with patients with facial paralysis and is a member of the Facial Function Clinic, a specialist multidisciplinary clinic based at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital which allows patients to be assessed by a dedicated rehabilitation team including ENT & skull base, plastic and ophthalmic surgeons.

Margaret Youatt – Team Leader Physiotherapist in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Margaret qualified as a physiotherapist from Normanby College School of Physiotherapy at Kings College Hospital in 1982. In 2009 she completed an MSc by Research from the University of East Anglia. Having worked in London at KCH, the original Westminster Hospital and UCH, and travelling for 18 months, she moved to Norwich in 1987. For the past 34 years she has very much enjoyed working with the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Team in Norwich. She retired from the NHS in March 2022, however remains MSCP & HCPC registered as she hopes to continue with some clinical work. She will also continue as a committee member of FTSI and to run the Norwich Support Group with her good friend and colleague, Sheila Crowley.

Karen Young – Advanced Specialist Facial Therapist

Karen Young joined Queen Victoria Hospital in 2017 and works as an Advanced Specialist Facial Therapist. She has worked for many years in the field of neurology at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, The Royal London Hospital and East Surrey Hospital, and this experience enhances her knowledge, care and management of people referred for treatment following a facial palsy. Karen is also a committee member for FTSI and is actively involved in the ongoing development of clinical services through research and development within the NHS.

Sarah Healey – Patient Representative

Sarah Healey is a patient representative on the Medical Advisory Board. Sarah has had a facial palsy for thirty years following the removal of an acoustic neuroma. In her professional career as a nurse she has managed community nursing services and has been a member of a local Research Ethics Committee. Now retired, Sarah is a governor at Chailey Heritage Foundation which includes a school for children with complex physical disabilities.

Janet Robb – Patient Representative

Janet Robb is a patient representative on the Medical Advisory Board. Janet has had facial palsy for seven years after contracting Lyme disease. Janet runs the Northern Ireland Facial Palsy support group. She has been campaigning for over five years for the introduction of a facial palsy multidisciplinary clinic in NI. Janet’s day job is as a change practitioner manager helping large organisations adopt new IT and business processes. In her spare time she organises and runs free IT conferences and mentor programs for women as well as being a keynote speaker.

Rachel Fox – Secretary of the Medical Advisory Board

Rachel previously worked as an improvement specialist in Urgent and Emergency Care and has also held a number of non-executive director roles in the NHS. She spent over 20 years as a University academic, a pharmacologist involved in both research and teaching. Rachel’s interest in facial palsy stems from her husband’s experience of Bell’s palsy and the detrimental effects the condition had on his well-being; whilst wanting to ensure a better profile of understanding of facial palsy and its longer term impact on individuals, she is also keen to ensure psychosocial support is readily available to all affected.

Please note that by appearing on our website and as part of our medical advisory board, we are not providing recommendations of healthcare professionals’ clinical practice.