The Foot and Ankle in Rheumatology

Philip Helliwell is the Professor of Clinical Rheumatology and the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, and an Honorary Consultant for the Bradford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He is a member of the Assessment of Spondyloarthropathy Society (ASAS), and the co-founder and Vice President of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA). He qualified in Oxford, working in London, Australia, and New Zealand before returning to the UK to working on psoriatic arthritis and biomechanics. Prof Helliwell is also the co-founder of the Leeds foot and ankle studies group and has published widely on foot and ankle problems in inflammatory arthritis including rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis. He has contributed to several guidelines on management of foot and ankle problems in the UK.

Dr Backhouse has a background in podiatry, and over a decade of experience in applied clinical research. This is highly multidisciplinary and ranges from large clinical trials, to imaging and mechanism of action studies, all aiming improve the lives of people with musculoskeletal disease and other long term conditions. This work has a strong focus on the foot and ankle in rheumatoid arthritis, including physical therapies, devices, and surgical interventions for lower limb pathologies.
Prior to joining York Trials Unit, Mike was a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Leeds where he held two NIHR fellowships. Mike is an elected Fellow of the College of Podiatry and Faculty of Podiatric Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow. Nationally he also works with the British Society for Rheumatology, NHS England, Health Education England, amongst others and is a Past President of British Health Professions in Rheumatology.

Dr Heidi Siddle qualified as a Podiatrist from the University of Salford in 1998 and was awarded her PhD from the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds in 2013. Heidi is a Consultant Podiatrist in the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and has established an internationally renowned rheumatology foot clinic. Heidi has developed a successful clinical academic career and is an Associate Professor and lead for the Foot and Ankle Studies in Rheumatology (FASTER) program at the University of Leeds. Heidi's research focuses on persistent foot and ankle disease in inflammatory arthritis and the use of ultrasound imaging to assess disease activity.