Shireen Kassam - Plant-Based Nutrition in Clinical Practice

Shireen Kassam, Zahra Kassam, Lisa Simon and David Jenkins

Sandra Hood and Miriam Martinez-Biarge

Nesan Shanmugam

Aryan Tavakkoli

Priyumvada Naik

Sue Kenneally

Gemma Newman and Shireen Kassam

Leonie Dupuis and Shivam Joshi

Divya Devabhaktuni and Meagan Gray

Alan Desmond and Rosie Martin

Arvind K Maheru

Nitu Bajekal and Lisa Simon

Ayesha Sherzai, Sophia Sherzai, Shireen Kassam and Dean Sherzai

Despina Marselou

Rajiv Bajekal and Lisa Simon

Niyati Sharma

Leila Dehghan-Zaklaki

Trent Grassian and Arvind K Maheru

Laura Freeman

Laila Kassam and Amir Kassam

Shireen Kassam MB BS, FRCPATH, PhD, DIPIBLM

Dr Shireen Kassam is a Consultant Haematologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Kings College Hospital, London, UK 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 UKs first university-based course on plant-based nutrition.

Shireen is passionate about promoting plant-based nutrition for the prevention and reversal of chronic disease and for maintaining optimal health aft er 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. In January 2021, she co-founded and launched the UKs first regulated, plant-based, lifestyle medicine healthcare service Plant Based Health Online.

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 field of lymphoma. Her first book, Eating Plant-Based: Scientific Answers to Your Nutrition Questions, co-authored with her sister Zahra, was published in January 2022. (Editor; : Plant-based nutrition and Alzheimers prevention)

Zahra Kassam MB BS, FRCR(UK), FRCPC, MSC, DIPABLM

Dr Zahra Kassam is a Radiation Oncologist at the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre in Ontario, Canada, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto. Zahra received her medical degree from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in 1995, completed her specialist training in clinical oncology in the UK, followed by three years of clinical and research fellowship training at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Canada, with a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Toronto. Her areas of clinical practice are in gastrointestinal and breast cancers. She has published a number of peer-reviewed papers on these malignancies, as well as in education and mentorship.

A few years ago, Zahra discovered the significant body of evidence demonstrating the benefits of nutrition in the prevention and management of chronic diseases, not taught at any stage of her medical training. She is a certified Lifestyle Medicine physician with the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine and has completed the eCornell certification in plant-based nutrition and the Plant-Based Nutrition course at the University of Winchester, UK. Zahra co-founded Plant-Based Canada, a non-profit organisation, in 2019, with the goal of educating the public and health professionals on the evidence-based benefits of plant-based whole food nutrition for individual and planetary health. Their inaugural event was held in 2019, the first Canadian Plant-Based Nutrition conference in Toronto. Her first book, Eating Plant-Based: Scientific Answers to Your Nutrition Questions, co-authored with her sister Shireen, was published in January 2022.

(Editor; : The impact of plant-based dietary patterns on health and disease)

Lisa Simon BSC(HONS), BA(HONS), RD

Lisa Simon, Registered Dietitian, studied Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics at Cardiff Metropolitan University for four years before graduating as a Registered Dietitian with first class Honours in 2014.

She began her career working in Morriston Hospital in Swansea. After a year working with patients with a wide range of clinical conditions, she took up a rotational post at the University Hospital of Wales, where she worked in Neurology, Cardiology and Respiratory Medicine. She then took up a temporary, specialist post in Critical Care in the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, before specialising in Gastroenterology in 2016.

Lisa now splits her time working as project lead in the NHS, running outpatient clinics and group workshops, and working at CQC (Care Quality Commission) registered healthcare service, Plant Based Health Online, running individual and group consultations and delivering educational webinars. Her clinical areas of expertise are gastrointestinal conditions, liver and pancreatic disease, and male and female fertility.

Lisa has written a clinical update on diet and fertility for the British Dietetic Association and is writing her first book The Plant-Based Dietitians Guide to Fertility: From Pre-Conception to Healthy Birth, due to be published in 2023.

She is passionate about providing an evidence-based, individualised approach with her patients, using all the pillars of Lifestyle Medicine to enable a holistic and detailed assessment and treatment plan.

(Editor; : Plant-based nutrition and bone health)

Nitu Bajekal MD FRCOG DIPIBLM

Dr Nitu Bajekal is a Senior Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist in the UK with over 35 years of clinical experience in womens health. Her special interests include Lifestyle Medicine, PCOS, endometriosis, period problems, menopause, precancer, 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 Presidents Gold medal. She is also one of the first board-certified Lifestyle Medicine physicians in the UK. She has written the womens health module for the University of Wincheters plant-based nutrition course.

Dr Bajekal is passionate about educating women, providing reliable medical and lifestyle information for the general public, doctors, workplaces and schools. She is the co-author of Living PCOS Free, a book that aims to help people with PCOS to understand their condition better and regain their hormonal health.

(: Plant-based nutrition for male and female health)

Rajiv Bajekal MS FRCS ORTH MCH ORTH DIPIBLM