Meet the BLA Council
Nick Gibbins
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Mr Nicholas Gibbins FRCS (ORL-HNS), MD
Mr Nicholas Gibbins is a Consultant Laryngologist and Head & Neck Surgeon at the University Hospital Lewisham. Trained in London and the South-East of England, Nick has built a reputation as an excellent surgeon, teacher and lecturer. Patient outcomes are a key focus for Nick and, along with the whole of the renowned voice team at Lewisham, has built the largest Voice Database in Europe to analyse outcomes.
His key interests in the voice are the diagnosis and treatment of vocal fold scars and sulci, and the care and treatment of the professional voice. More recently he has been sought after to lecture on musculoskeletal problems that can either originate in the larynx causing muscle tension imbalance or that arising distally and effect the biomechanics of the voice. He has built a team that can address all these issues that includes speech therapists, osteopaths, vocal rehabilitation coaches, kinetic chain specialists, gastroenterologists, neurologists and more.
He writes and publishes regularly and is the current Editor of the Chapter on the Larynx for Gray’s Anatomy (43rd Ed). He is proud to be the current Honorary Secretary of the British Laryngological Association and to be President Elect. His term of office begins in 2025.
Declan Costello
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Declan Costello is a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon specialising in voice disorders (a laryngologist). He studied music at St John’s College, Cambridge, where he was a choral scholar, and went on to study medicine at Imperial College. As a singer himself, he has a particular interest in treating voice disorders in performers.
Having worked for ten years in Birmingham as a consultant, he moved to Wexham Park Hospital in Berkshire in 2018. He has published a number of books and has written many chapters, including the chapter on “Larynx” for the 42nd edition of “Gray’s Anatomy”. In the middle of 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, he helped to coordinate research on the perceived dangers of singing and aerosols. This research led to the UK government opening up performing after a prolonged period of enforced silence.
Declan was appointed President-Elect June 2022.
Chadwan Al Yaghchi
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Mr Chadwan Al Yaghchi is a consultant laryngologist at the National Centre for Airway Reconstruction at Imperial College Healthcare. His specialist areas of interest are airway stenosis and complex dysphagia. He completed his higher surgical training in Ear Nose and Throat in the London North Thames regional rotation and laryngology training at Charing Cross Hospital.
Mr Al Yaghchi holds a PhD in Molecular Oncology from Queen Mary’s University of London, studying oncolytic viruses in head and neck cancers. In addition, he has an active clinical research program in voice, airway and swallowing disorders. He published multiple book chapters, 30 peer-reviewed articles and is currently the Laryngology Section editor of Scott-Brown’s Otolaryngology.
Mr Al Yaghchi is an internationally renowned specialist in gender-affirming voice surgery. He introduced a number of voice feminisation procedures to the UK, including his own modification to the Wendler Glottoplasty technique and Vocal Fold Muscle Reduction. He is a founding member of the International Association of TransVoice Surgeons.
Kate Heathcote
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Kate is a consultant laryngologist at the University Hospitals Dorset. She established the Robert White Centre for Airway, Voice and Swallow in 2015 to provide advanced in-office techniques to patients within the National Health Service.
Following her fellowship with Prof Jean-Paul Marie in Rouen France, she has worked to introduce techniques of laryngeal reinnervation globally through courses, conferences and one-on-one mentoring.
Kate is a longstanding council member of the British Laryngological Association and chairs the committee on dysphagia for the European Laryngological Society.
Natalie Watson
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Natalie Watson is a Laryngology Consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust with a passion for laryngology and singing. She has a Masters in Clinical Education, for which she was awarded a distinction from King’s College London. Natalie qualified with two distinctions from Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ Medical School and was awarded the prestigious Jelf medal. She obtained an intercalated Honours BSc in Neuroscience having received the Health Foundation Student Research Fellowship.
Currently, she is in the PERFORM working group looking at respirable particles emitted during singing, woodwind and brass instruments, exercise, speech and language therapy exercises and inputting this data into computational fluid dynamic modelling. This project is funded by an EPSRC Grant, sponsored by Public Health England and results directly communicated to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Sadie Khwaja
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Sadie is a Consultant Laryngologist based in Manchester, serving the Great Manchester area and tertiary referrals from outside the region. Saide has been practising Laryngology for over 8 years.
The Manchester voice team treat all benign and premalignant laryngeal pathology from diagnosis to treatment whether that be dedicated disease-specific therapy, LA office procedures, Botox clinics to tubeless microlaryngeal surgery. Running dedicated dysphagia clinics with a TNO dilatation/laser service and a biopsy service along with her head and neck colleagues and is a member of a complex adult airway MDT.
Sadie has been a BLA member from the start and has contributed to a number of BLA Covid-19 guidelines. Her motto is teamwork, a holistic approach following evidence-based treatment plans leading to a patient journey which enables trusted results.
Nick Hamilton
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Mr Nick Hamilton is a Consultant Laryngologist and ENT surgeon at the Royal National Ear Nose and Throat Hospital and an Associate Professor at University College London.
Nick completed ENT specialist training in London’s North Thames Deanery where he gained expertise in all areas of general ENT and Laryngology. He undertook a fellowship in Laryngeal Surgery at the MGH Voice Centre in Boston, USA. During this time, he gained focused training on the management of complex voice and airway disorders and the care of the professional voice user.
Nick holds a PhD in regenerative medicine from UCL and has an academic interest in the latest treatments for vocal cord ageing, scarring and paralysis. He is also interested in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic throat symptoms and chronic cough.
Justin Roe
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Justin is a Consultant Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) specialising in laryngology and head and neck oncology. He is a Consultant and Professional Lead in the Department of Speech, Voice and Swallowing at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust (RM) in London. He is also a senior member of the Centre for Applied Cancer Research and leads the survivorship theme for the International Centre for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer (IReC) at RM. From 2016-2026, he established and led a dedicated SLT/ swallowing service at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust supporting the National Centre for Airway Reconstruction and Complex Laryngology service. He is a Professor of Practice in Speech and Swallowing Rehabilitation in the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London.
Justin was awarded his PhD from the Institute of Cancer Research in 2013. He has been a co-investigator on several NIHR portfolio studies focused on head and neck cancer treatment outcomes including the DARS and TORPEdO studies and is chief investigator on the NIHR-funded CONSIDER study. He has published extensively and contributed to key policy and position papers, acting as an expert adviser to several national/ international organisations. He is currently SLT Council Member for the British Laryngological Association and President of the UK Swallowing Research Group. Justin was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in 2018 and an MBE in the 2022 Queen’s New Year’s Honours in recognition of his contribution to the SLT profession.
Aphrodite Iacovidou
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Ms Aphrodite Iacovidou is an Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) consultant surgeon practising at Imperial NHS Trust, London’s National Centre for Airway Reconstruction within Charing Cross Hospital. Her primary focus lies in laryngology and airway disorders, with a particular emphasis on laryngeal pathology, airway issues, subglottic stenosis, voice disorders and laryngotracheal reconstruction.
Ms Iacovidou runs a weekly Voice clinic at St Mary’s Hospital and operates an office-based phonosurgery/interventional clinic at Charing Cross Hospital.
Ms Iacovidou received her specialised training at some of London’s leading healthcare institutions, including GOSH (Great Ormond Street Hospital), UCLH (University College London Hospital), Northwick Park Hospital, and Imperial NHS Trust. Her training in these diverse environments emphasised the importance of a multidisciplinary team approach to patient care and has equipped her with a wide range of skills to diagnose and treat issues that her patients present with.
She has received awards including BMA research award, Rowena Ryan Best Project award, BAETS best presentation awards and Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh award for her research work. She remains committed to continuous professional development and has expanded her expertise by attending international meetings and courses. She is undergoing continuous work in research with collaborations with other international centres and Imperial College London. She has been awarded Clinical Teacher for Imperial College Medical School.
She performs more than 500 operations per year, both endoscopically and open surgical procedures as well as clinic based operations. She specialises in microlaryngoscopy and laser surgery, photosurgery, airway/tracheal operations, thyroplasty and vocal fold medialisation procedures and laryngotracheal reconstructions. She also offers laryngeal re innervation procedures to eligible patients.
Shiying Hey
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Miss Shiying Hey is a fellowship trained Consultant ENT Surgeon and Laryngologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, specialising in voice, airway and swallowing disorders, with a particular interest in professional and artistic voice users.
Following specialist ENT training in the East of Scotland, she undertook the Royal College of Surgeons of England-accredited Laryngology fellowship at Guy’s Hospital, with further subspecialist training at leading international centres, including Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center in Boston and University Hospital of Rouen in France, developing expertise in phonomicrosurgery and neurolaryngology.
Her practice spans the full spectrum of laryngology, using both office-based and general anaesthetic approaches to diagnosis and treatment.
She has a strong interest in education, training and mentorship and is regularly invited as faculty and speaker at national and international courses and meetings. She founded and directs the Young European Laryngological Society mentoring programme. She also sits on the Executive Committee of the European Examination Board in Laryngology, with responsibility for setting and maintaining Laryngology examination standards across Europe.
With a keen interest in advancing clinical care, she works closely with colleagues across Europe and internationally on multiple collaborative scientific and educational initiatives through organisations including the ELS and UEP. She also hosts The Voice Box, the official podcast of the Union of European Phoniatricians.
A strong advocate for patients and best-practice clinical pathways, she has worked with NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme to advance office-based laryngology services. Through BLA Council, she is committed to advancing laryngology as a subspecialty through education, collaboration, innovation and patient-centred care.
Benjamin Cosway
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Mr Benjamin Cosway is a Consultant ENT Surgeon in Newcastle and the sole laryngologist in the North East of England, with a specialist practice focused on laryngology and head, neck and thyroid surgery. He is a core member of the Head and Neck, Thyroid, and Sleep MDTs and leads structured remote image review pathways supporting regional speech and language therapy services.
He has transformed regional voice pathways through service innovation, including streamlined local anaesthetic interventions, permanent voice restoration pathways, and supporting expert SLT-led services and elite voice clinics for professional voice users.
As a performer himself, he has a particular passion for voice and enjoys bridging high-level clinical care with the practical needs of singers, performers, and professional voice users. He is the laryngology representative for the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine, reflecting his dual perspective as both clinician and performer.
He has contributed to national guidelines in laryngeal dysplasia and UK multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer care, and has more recently led national Head and Neck Surgical Oncology interface fellowships. His research focuses on improving the management of persistent throat symptoms.
As a council member of the British Laryngological Association, he is committed to supporting excellence in laryngology practice, education, and national service development across the UK.
Richard Steven
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Richard Steven is an ENT consultant and laryngologist in Edinburgh, Scotland. Having undertaken a laryngology fellowship in Liverpool and Manchester he returned to the east of Scotland where he undertook his specialty training. He has a particular interest in voice and airway disorders as well as in education.
From 2022 until 2026, Richard was on the Otolaryngology Surgical Speciality Board of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In 2018 he was awarded an MD for his work on curriculum design and development. He is co-lead for the head and neck section of Scottish Otolaryngology Specialty Training education programme and was Associate Director for Medical Education in NHS Fife from 2024 until 2025.
Representatives
Tiffany Munroe-Gray
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Tiffany Munroe-Gray is an Ear, Nose and Throat Registrar currently training in London. Having completed an MBBS with a BSc in Haematology, she has since completed a Masters in Surgical Innovation at Imperial College. With a passion for education she is an Associate Fellow for the Higher Education Authority and was key in designing the ENT teaching curriculum for Imperial College, for which she was shortlisted for “Best Teaching of Undergraduates” across all Imperial courses.
Tiffany has a strong passion for research, contributing to several national research projects with Integrate as well as presentations at BAETS, BACO and RSM. Having been offered a recording contract at medical school as well as directing musicals and jazz bands through adult life, the voice remains a passion both professionally and in her own day to day life.
Justin Roe
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Justin is a Consultant Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) specialising in laryngology and head and neck oncology. He is a Consultant and Professional Lead in the Department of Speech, Voice and Swallowing at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust (RM) in London. He is also a senior member of the Centre for Applied Cancer Research and leads the survivorship theme for the International Centre for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer (IReC) at RM. From 2016-2026, he established and led a dedicated SLT/ swallowing service at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust supporting the National Centre for Airway Reconstruction and Complex Laryngology service. He is a Professor of Practice in Speech and Swallowing Rehabilitation in the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London.
Justin was awarded his PhD from the Institute of Cancer Research in 2013. He has been a co-investigator on several NIHR portfolio studies focused on head and neck cancer treatment outcomes including the DARS and TORPEdO studies and is chief investigator on the NIHR-funded CONSIDER study. He has published extensively and contributed to key policy and position papers, acting as an expert adviser to several national/ international organisations. He is currently SLT Council Member for the British Laryngological Association and President of the UK Swallowing Research Group. Justin was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in 2018 and an MBE in the 2022 Queen’s New Year’s Honours in recognition of his contribution to the SLT profession.
Tori Burnay
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Tori is the clinical lead speech and language therapist in voice at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals NHS Trust. This role involves a significant commitment to the development of the laryngology provision, including patient pathway development, clinical innovation, training, research, and audit. She has considerable experience in training SLTs at undergraduate and post-graduate levels, running courses through the RSCLT CENs and independently, as well as being a lecturer at UCL on the Speech Therapy MSc. She provides clinical supervision to voice specialist SLTs and other voice professionals and delivers lectures at national and international conferences. She has been a member of the British Laryngological Association since its inception and an integral member of the British Voice Association, sitting on the Education Working Party for nine years, coordinating many conferences, collaborating with laryngology professionals, academics, and the wider MDT, across the globe. She chairs the annual BVA Voice Clinics Forum and the Vocal Health Committee for The British Association for Performing Arts Medicine.
Tori states “It is an honour to join the BLA council as the SLT Representative for the next term to focus on extending the wonderful work of the association, bringing developments in the field to the membership and encouraging dissemination of information of existing and new treatment approaches linking organisations across the globe with a therapeutic perspective.”
Get in touch with us
If you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback for the Council, we’d love to hear from you.