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Mr. Yakubu Karagama is an internationally renowned ENT Surgeon who made history as the first surgeon in the UK to introduce the hypoglossal nerve stimulation implant for the treatment of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea in 2022. He is proud to see this procedure now becoming a standard treatment option across the UK.
Mr. Karagama leads the Laryngology and OSA surgery Service at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital, one of the UK’s largest teaching hospitals, and serves as a Senior Lecturer at King’s College London. His clinical expertise spans voice, swallowing, airway disorders, snoring, and sleep apnoea, alongside general ENT conditions. A dedicated educator and researcher, he founded and directs the London and Manchester Phonosurgery Courses and earned an MSc in Advanced Voice Research from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He has presented award-winning research at national and international conferences, authored over 50 scientific publications, and previously served as Secretary of the British Laryngological Association. Mr. Karagama is also an Honorary Fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, and a frequent keynote speaker at global conferences. He continues to mentor trainee doctors and medical students while advancing surgical innovation in sleep and voice medicine. |
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Professor Claudio Vicini, MD, PhD (ENT Specialist, Neurologist, Audiologist) is a distinguished ENT surgeon, neurologist, and audiologist with extensive academic and clinical experience. He previously served as Associate Professor at the Universities of Ferrara and Bologna and is a Past President of the Italian Society of Otorhinolaryngology (SIO).
He is a Probo Viro and Sleep Medicine Expert for AIMS, serving on the AIMS Clinical Research Scientific Board since 2019. Professor Vicini is also a founding member and board member of EOS–Disturbi Respiratori in Sonno (DRS) and served as Coordinator of the SIO Sleep Surgery Committee from 2017 to 2023. Internationally, he is part of the Global Faculty Board of the Florida Hospital Nicholson Center (FHNC) since 2016 and has worked as an Intuitive Europe Proctor for Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) for six years. Professor Vicini has contributed extensively to the advancement of sleep surgery and sleep medicine research, including as Co-Author of the European Position Papers on Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy (DISE) published in 2014 and 2017, and as Co-Author of the PDTA OSA guidelines for the Emilia-Romagna Region (July 2021). |
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Prof. Dr. Olivier M. Vanderveken, MD, PhD, is a leading ENT, Head and Neck Surgeon at Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium, where he serves as Chair of the Department. He is also a Full Professor at the University of Antwerp’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and will assume the role of Vice-Dean in 2024. After earning his medical degree in 2001 and completing his residency at Antwerp University Hospitals, he obtained his PhD in Medical Sciences in 2007.
His research centers on sleep-disordered breathing, with a focus on understanding upper airway collapse through multidisciplinary and pathophysiological approaches. His key areas of expertise include drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE), phenotyping of sleep apnea, and treatment modalities such as mandibular advancement devices, hypoglossal nerve stimulation, and transoral robotic surgery. Prof. Vanderveken is Editor-in-Chief of B-ENT, Associate Editor of Sleep and Breathing, and Deputy Editor of the Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine. A prolific researcher, he has co-authored numerous papers in high-impact journals and received several prestigious awards, including the Pierre Robin Award from the AADSM. He also serves as Founding President of the Belgian Dental and Surgical Sleep Medicine Academy (iBEDSSMA) and holds a Senior Clinical Investigator Fellowship from the Research Foundation Flanders. |
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Prof. Dr. Clemens Heiser is an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at the HNO-Zentrum Mangfall-Inn in Bad Aibling, Germany, where he also leads the Sleep Laboratory. He holds a professorship at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and serves as a Guest Professor at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.
As head of the Research Group for Neurostimulation in ENT, Professor Heiser’s work focuses on innovative treatments for sleep-disordered breathing, with a special emphasis on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). His research explores the use of neurostimulation, advanced sleep surgery techniques, and diagnostic tools to improve care and outcomes for patients with OSA. Clinically, Professor Heiser has extensive experience in hypoglossal nerve stimulation therapy and other surgical procedures that help restore natural breathing during sleep. He has received several national and international awards in recognition of his scientific contributions and pioneering work in the field. Through his clinical expertise, research, and teaching, Professor Heiser continues to advance modern sleep medicine and promote innovative, patient-centered approaches to treating sleep-disordered breathing. |
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Guillermo Plaza, MD, Ph has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and written three books on sudden deafness as well as four on sleep-disordered breathing.
I have directed or co-directed more than 60 national and international courses, primarily focused on FESS and sleep medicine. In addition, I have delivered over 100 invited lectures at otolaryngology conferences worldwide and presented more than 200 oral, poster, and video contributions both nationally and internationally. |
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Dr Allie Hare (MA (Cantab), MB BS, MEd, FRCP) is a consultant physician and leading specialist in sleep medicine. She currently serves as President of the British Sleep Society and Honorary Treasurer of the British Thoracic Society. Dr Hare led the national review of outpatient sleep medicine pathways, and in 2024 was honoured with a National Clinical Impact Award in recognition of her significant contributions to sleep and respiratory medicine.
She is the co-founder of Grace London and the clinical lead for Grace Sleep, where she brings her extensive clinical expertise to support individuals and organisations in optimising sleep health. Dr Hare’s expertise is frequently featured in major national media outlets, including British Vogue, Stylist, Esquire, The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, the BBC, and the Daily Mail. She has provided expert sleep advice to large corporations, Formula 1 teams and drivers, and professional athletes from Premier League football clubs to world-class boxers. |
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Dr. Srinivas Kishore has been a distinguished invited speaker and faculty member at numerous international conferences, sharing his expertise in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and sleep surgery. His presentations have spanned multiple continents, contributing significantly to global understanding of surgical management in OSA.
At the World Congress on Sleep Apnea (Rome, 2012), he discussed the safety of single-stage multi-level surgery in the Indian context. His subsequent talks at IFOS (Seoul, 2013) and WASM (Barcelona, 2013) focused on improving surgical outcomes and the role of the lateral pharyngeal wall in OSA. He highlighted the role of the epiglottis at the ASEAN Sleep Surgeons Society Meeting (Singapore, 2013) and addressed decision-making in palatal surgeries at ArabFOS (Dubai, 2014). Between 2016 and 2019, Dr. Kishore was invited to major regional and global forums, including conferences in Turkey, Bahrain, the USA, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the UAE. His sessions covered diverse topics such as drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE), failures in OSA surgery, and pediatric septoplasty. Notably, at the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting(New Orleans, 2019), he presented insights on managing OSA from a South Asian perspective and optimizing outcomes using DISE, reinforcing his reputation as a global authority in sleep surgery. |
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Mr. Ryan Chin Taw Cheong is a substantive Consultant ENT and Specialist Sleep Surgeon at the world leading University College London Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic London. He is currently the only Consultant ENT Surgeon in the UK with a full-time NHS practice exclusively in snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea. He is a multi-award-winning surgeon from prestigious institutions such as the Royal Society of Medicine, the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and the British Rhinological Society. He completed his extensive higher surgical training in the full breadth of ENT at world class institutions such as the Royal Marsden Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the Royal London Hospital.
Mr. Cheong has been featured on the BBC, Sky News, The Guardian, The Times and other media outlets for his pioneering work in sleep apnoea. He is also the Founder and Course Director of the first International Sleep Surgery Course in the UK. |
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Dr. Aditi Desai is a leading dental surgeon and expert in dental sleep medicine, specialising in obstructive sleep apnoea, snoring, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, and sleep bruxism. She is President of the British Society of Dental Sleep Medicine (BSDSM) and the British Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (BADSM), and has also served as President of the Odontology Section at the Royal Society of Medicine.
Awarded Fellowship of the College of General Dentistry, and a graduate of the University of Wales (1977) with an MSc from UCL, she spent 13 years as in-house dentist at the BBC before focusing exclusively on dental sleep medicine since 2009. She practices at London Bridge Hospital (HCA at The Shard) and Royal Brompton Hospital, as part of collaborative care for her patients. Actively involved in research, teaching, and professional boards, she has helped integrate dental sleep medicine within national sleep societies (BSS and BPSS) while continuing to travel, lecture, and champion patient care globally. |
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Dr Panagis Drakatos, PhD, FRCP is a Consultant in Sleep Medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, and a Honorary Senior Lecturer at King’s College London. He has published extensively in the field of sleep, and authored several book chapters, and contributions to the Oxford Handbook of Sleep Medicine and the Encyclopaedia of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms. His clinical and research interests include obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), parasomnias, and hypersomnia, with a particular focus on OSA endotypes, arousal threshold, and comorbid anxiety.
Dr Drakatos has served as Co-PI in multiple clinical trials, is an editorial board member and reviewer for leading journals, and regularly lectures for international postgraduate programs including Oxford and Athens. He has been invited to speak and chair at numerous international conferences and received the Lyn Davies Award for Innovation in Sleep Medicine. |
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Dr Biju Krishnan BDS FICD FCGDent - Dr Krishnan is a UK-based dentist with over 30 years of clinical experience and a leading advocate for early-stage orthodontics, functional orthopaedics, and airway-focused care.
A co-founder and President of the Society for Dentofacial Growth and Function (SDGF), he heads up a group of over 300 multi-disciplinary professionals in the field of childhood dentofacial and airway development and as such he works to advance interdisciplinary collaboration in paediatric growth and function. He has published extensively, including his book, Early Stage Orthodontics: A Parent's Guide, and through his clinical work, teaching, and international speaking, he continues to champion a holistic approach to orthodontics that prioritises craniofacial development, airway health and long term patient wellbeing |
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Professor Vik Veer is a leading Consultant ENT Surgeon based at the Royal National ENT Hospital in London and Queens Hospital in Essex. He heads the UK’s largest surgical practice for snoring and sleep apnoea and is nationally funded by the NHS to treat sleep-disordered breathing conditions. A graduate of University College London Medical School, he excelled academically, ranking first in Head and Neck Anatomy and Neuroanatomy. His early surgical training at Barts & The Royal London Hospital covered multiple specialities, while his advanced ENT training took place in Newcastle, with additional placements at the Evelina Paediatric Hospital and with internationally recognised surgeons in France, Italy, and Australia.
Professor Veer won the prestigious Royal Society of Medicine Temporal Bone Competition in 2014, reflecting his specialist expertise in Otology, particularly in treating ear infections and cholesteatoma. Beyond his clinical work, he is pioneering new surgical techniques and classifications for snoring and sleep apnoea and is a frequent speaker at international conferences. Passionate about education, he trains junior doctors and leads a charity providing ENT training courses for healthcare professionals. He also runs a popular YouTube channel offering accessible information on ENT, snoring, and sleep apnoea for patients worldwide. |
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Mr Tom Pepper is a dual-qualified consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon, who qualified as a dentist in 2004 and as a doctor in 2014. He works at Guy’s Hospital and King’s College Hospital, providing expert care in conditions affecting the face, mouth, jaws, and neck.
Mr Pepper trained at leading London hospitals and gained further specialist experience during a fellowship year in the Plastic Surgery unit at the renowned Duke University Hospital in the USA. This combination of training has given him internationally recognised expertise in both complex reconstructive surgery and advanced facial procedures. Alongside his clinical work, Mr Pepper is an active educator, author, and researcher. He lectures internationally, trains junior surgeons, medical and dental students, and his work has been published widely in international peer-reviewed journals. His commitment to excellence has been recognised through several national academic prizes. |
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Professor Suveer Singh BSc MBBS PhD EDIC DICM FHEA FFICM FRCP is a Consultant in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Royal Brompton and Chelsea & Westminster NHS Foundation Trusts, and Professor of Practice at Imperial College London. With over 25 years of experience, he specialises in respiratory diseases including asthma, COPD, ILD, sleep disorders, respiratory critical care, and post-ICU recovery. His clinical expertise spans bronchoscopy, ECMO, and management of complex respiratory infections such as COVID-19.
Prof. Singh’s research focuses on early diagnostic markers for ventilator-associated pneumonia, sepsis-related microvascular dysfunction, bronchoscopy innovations, and antibiotic stewardship. He has led and participated in multiple multicentre trials and authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications. He completed his PhD at the National Heart and Lung Institute, London, and trained across major London teaching hospitals, as well as at Harvard Medical School. A committed educator, he has received multiple teaching awards and holds leadership roles in undergraduate and postgraduate training. He serves as Editor of the Oxford Textbook of Respiratory Critical Care, is an examiner for the MRCP and EDIC, and an influential figure in national respiratory and intensive care education, research, and clinical excellence. |
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Prof Guy Leschziner is a Consultant Neurologist specializing in sleep disorders, epilepsy, and other causes of blackouts or funny turns. He holds clinics in sleep disorders, epilepsy, and general neurology. Prof Leschziner completed his general medical training in London and then undertook a PhD in the genetics of epilepsy and drug treatment at Imperial College London and the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge. His neurology training was completed at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals. He lectures regularly and has ongoing research in narcolepsy, sleepwalking, Kleine-Levin syndrome, and restless legs syndrome. Prof Leschziner is also a Professor in Neurology and Sleep Medicine at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London. He has an active interest in public engagement, presenting for BBC Radio 4 and World Service on neuroscience, and is the author of "The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares Neuroscience and the Secret World of Sleep" and "The Man Who Tasted Words." His expertise encompasses epilepsy, sleep disorders, headache/migraine, weakness, numbness, tingling, tremor, and general neurology.
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Professor Bhik Kotecha is an internationally renowned consultant ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeon based in Essex, specialising in snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea. With additional expertise in sleep-related breathing disorders, upper airway obstruction, and voice and swallowing issues, he provides care for both adults and children at private clinics including Nuffield Health, Spire, Harley Street, and Westland Medical Centre.
After earning his medical degree from the University of Wales in 1984, Professor Kotecha trained at leading hospitals such as Great Ormond Street, Hope Hospital, the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, and the Royal National Throat, Nose, and Ear Hospital. He became a consultant ENT surgeon in 1995 and went on to win the prestigious Hospital Doctor Award for “Sleep Medicine Team of the Year” with his team at the Royal National Throat, Nose, and Ear Hospital. A passionate educator, he has taught anatomy and held various academic roles, currently serving as an Honorary Clinical Professor at Barts and The London School of Medicine. Widely published with over 100 peer-reviewed papers, textbooks, and international lectures, Professor Kotecha is also a recognised media expert, having appeared on major outlets such as BBC, The Discovery Channel, and GMTV to raise awareness about sleep-related disorders. |
