World Sustainability Day: Rethinking Healthcare for a Greener Tomorrow
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World Sustainability Day: Rethinking Healthcare for a Greener Tomorrow
Wed, 29/10/2025 - 09:30 to 11:30
Location:
Speaker:
Carolina Tacchella, Ella-Louise Handley, Keith Moore, Pete Culmer, Katie Boag, Alifia Chakera & Maïwenn Kersaudy-Kerhoas
Synopsis:
Join us to celebrate World Sustainability Day with a special workshop, that will bring together leading voices in sustainable healthcare and explore the latest innovations, challenges, and opportunities for a greener future.
How can we reduce the environmental impact of medical technologies?
What practical steps can healthcare take to achieve a greener future?
Which innovations are leading the way in sustainable healthcare?
Our speakers will discuss:
Sustainable materials and technologies – from biodegradable alternatives and reduced reliance on virgin petrochemical plastics to innovative case studies like lateral flow cassettes.
Greener clinical practices and emissions reduction – including the Nitrous Oxide Project and approaches for more sustainable surgical procedures.
Frameworks and collaborations for systemic change – covering value-based assessment, carbon auditing, sustainable procurement tools, and the role of the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition in uniting public and private sectors.
The session will conclude with an interactive joint Q&A, giving you the opportunity to engage directly with our panel of experts. For in-person attendees, coffee and tea will be provided.
Don’t miss this chance to be part of the conversation on reshaping healthcare for a sustainable future!
Biography:
Carolina Tacchella
Technology Specialist
Medical Device Manufacturing Centre (MDMC), Heriot-Watt University
Dr. Carolina Tacchella is a technology specialist in medical device research and development at the Medical Device Manufacturing Centre (MDMC), a project currently funded by Scottish Enterprise, as, offering technical expertise and assisting SMEs in advancing their products.
In April 2025 she obtained funding through the Impact Acceleration Fund to develop sustainable material alternatives for two distinct medical products: Indenti Ltd’s IDYTM, an oral hygiene aid that combines floss and interdental brush in one device, and Tily Blooms Ltd’s home insemination syringe. Both products currently rely on plastic materials, which lack biodegradability. This project aims to establish whether their biocompatibility, mechanical robustness, durability, and sterilisation potential properties can provide significant impact for the companies mentioned above.
Ella-Louise Handley
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Heriot-Watt University
Ella-Louise Handley is a postdoctoral research associate at Heriot-Watt University, where she collaborates with industry partners to explore the potential of biodegradable polymers for low-risk medical devices. Focused on reducing plastic waste in healthcare, she is passionate about integrating sustainability into medical innovation by engineering materials that improve clinical outcomes whilst minimising environmental impact.
Keith Moore
Programme Coordinator
Sustainable Healthcare Coalition
Keith Moore is an established environmental and sustainability professional with over 25 years’ experience. Before taking up the role of Programme Coordinator at Sustainable Healthcare Coalition, he was AstraZeneca’s lead on carbon and climate strategy helping the company achieve “A-list” on the CDP annual corporate benchmarking programme and inclusion in both the FTSE4Good and Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.
The Sustainable Healthcare Coalition is a healthcare sector led group that looks for the greatest opportunities to inspire sustainable practices in healthcare through the collaboration of its members.
Pete Culmer
Professor of Healthcare Engineering
University of Leeds
Pete Culmer is Professor of Healthcare Engineering at the University of Leeds, leading the Healthcare Mechatronics Group. He brings research expertise in the development of medical devices with a focus on sustainability and global healthcare. He leads research into sustainable materials for Circular Medical Devices (EPSRC ReMed, UKRI/NIHR Green Healthcare Hub) and co-leads the Sustainability theme of the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Accelerated Surgical Care. He sits on the UK IMechE Biomedical Engineering Division (BMeD) committee and Innovations in Global Surgery organisation, working as an advocate for sustainable, global healthcare engineering.
Katie Boag
General Surgery Registrar & Academic Clinical Fellow
Leeds Institute of Medical Education
Katie Boag is a general surgery registrar in Yorkshire and academic clinical fellow with a research interest in surgical sustainability. She has previously won the national green surgical challenge in 2021 with a “sustainable appendicectomy” and has clinical experience in making lasting sustainable change within the theatre environment.
Alifia Chakera
Head of Pharmaceutical Sustainability
Scottish Government’s Health Infrastructure and Sustainability Division
Alifia Chakera is the Head of Pharmaceutical Sustainability with Scottish Government’s Health Infrastructure and Sustainability Division. Alifia has a long-standing commitment to reducing health inequalities, health system strengthening and improving decision-making frameworks to become more sustainable. Her research into nitrous oxide mitigation led to her establish the award-winning Nitrous Oxide Project which has taken root globally. She is a co-founder of Pharmacy Declares a professional network committed to environmental sustainability. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alifia-chakera/
Maïwenn Kersaudy-Kerhoas
Professor of Microfluidic Engineering
Heriot-Watt University
Maïwenn Kersaudy-Kerhoas is Professor of Microfluidic Engineering at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, where she leads research on point-of-care diagnostic technologies. Her group develops innovative microfluidic tools for sample preparation and rapid testing, while also investigating the environmental sustainability of single-use devices and exploring alternatives to virgin plastics, in collaboration with clinicians and manufacturers.