Dr. Suneeta Soni
Dr. Suneeta Soni is a Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV in Brighton, and an Honorary Associate Professor at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. For BASHH, she is co-Chair of the Bacterial Special Interest Group and is a member of the Clinical Effectiveness Group. Her interests are antimicrobial and diagnostic stewardship and she has authored national guidelines including N. gonorrhoeae and M. genitalium.
Dr John Saunders
Dr John Saunders is a consultant in genitourinary medicine with nearly 20 years of experience in the field. Currently based at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), John leads a team that supports the translation of data and evidence into practice with the aim of improving public health outcomes and reducing health inequalities in relation to blood borne and sexually transmitted infections (BBSTIs).
He is an honorary associate professor of sexual health at University College London (UCL) and the UKHSA lead for the National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Protection Research Unit in BBSTIs at UCL. His research has informed public health strategies across the UK and he has led or contributed to several national guidelines. John’s work bridges the gap between academia and practice, ensuring that scientific insights lead to measurable improvements in health outcomes.
Dr Soonita Oomeer
Dr Soonita Oomeer completed GUM & HIV specialist registrar training at St Mary’s Hospital, Central Middlesex Hospital and Northwick Park Hospital in London. From 2016 she was a GUM & HIV consultant at St Ann’s Sexual Health Clinic, Haringey and Marlborough GUM clinic at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
She works at Archway Sexual Health Centre, part of Central North West London NHS Trust (CNWL) as an integrated sexual health consultant. She is the syphilis lead for CNWL Sexual Health services in North Central London.
She is a member of the NHS Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy (IDPS) congenital syphilis clinical expert review panel.She has been a member of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) Bacterial Special Interest Group since 2024.
Dr Kevin Martin
Dr Kevin Martin is an internal medicine trainee at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust and an honorary research fellow at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. His primary research interests are in curable sexually transmitted infections, diagnostic strategies, implementation science, and mixed methods research, with a focus on implementation of STI screening across different settings. He recently undertook a PhD investigating the integration of aetiological approaches to STI management into antenatal care services in Zimbabwe.
Dr Emma Harding-Esch
Dr Emma Harding-Esch is an epidemiologist, with a focus on diagnostics and public health research for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). She is Associate Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and co-director of LSHTM’s STI Research Interest Group, LSHTM’s WHO Collaborating Centre for STIs, and Bristol Health Partners’ Sexual Health Improvement Programme (SHIP) Health Integration Team.
Dr Michelle Cole
Dr Michelle Cole is now a Principal STI Surveillance and Prevention Scientist in UKHSA’s STI Division, after previously heading up the STI reference laboratory. Michelle is a Clinical Scientist and Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, who has a wealth of experience in STI AMR, diagnostics and surveillance. Michelle works closely with UKHSA colleagues to deliver the M. genitalium antimicrobial resistance surveillance (MARS) programme and the gonococcal resistance to antimicrobial surveillance programme (GRASP) and is also co-ordinating the update of UKHSA’s syphilis response plan. She has worked on a number of international surveillances activities, and still co-leads Euro-GASP with colleagues from Örebro University Hospital.
Dr Sarah Alexander
Dr Sarah Alexander is the Unit Head of the STI Reference Laboratory (STIRL) at the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA). She has research interests in STI diagnostics and antimicrobial resistance. She is an associate editor of the STI Journal.