Dr Emma Coyne is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, where she has specialised in renal and transplant psychology for the past 17 years. She is Chair of the UK Renal Psychologists Network and has over 20 years of experience working across physical and mental health settings. Her interests include psychosocial care in kidney disease, transplantation, adjustment to long-term conditions, neurodiversity, and service development. Emma has led and contributed to a number of regional and national initiatives aimed at improving psychological support for people living with kidney disease, including contributing to Caring for People with Kidney Disease – Psychosocial Health: A Manifesto for Action. She is passionate about ensuring that psychosocial care is recognised as an essential component of high-quality renal services and brings this commitment into her clinical practice, research, teaching, and writing.

I was born on the 18th of June 1970 in Zagorje, Slovenia. I graduated from high school in Trbovlje in 1989 and enrolled in the Medical faculty at the University of Ljubljana in October 1989. I graduated from the Medical faculty in September 1995 and started working as an intern at Trbovlje General Hospital. I finished my residency in internal medicine in 2000 and enrolled in a postgraduate course in nephrology and hemodialysis, which I finished in 2001.

Since December 2001 I am working as an attending physician at Trbovlje General Hospital. Between 2012 and 2025 I was the head of Internal Medicine Department, and since 2023 I am the head of Dialysis department. I work as a chief physician in cardiology and nephrology and am the founder and chief of the Vascular access and vascular disease unit. I work with chronic renal and heart failure patients in the outpatient clinic, the internal medicine department, and at dialysis department. I am head of the Chronic Heart Failure Clinic, a member of the National Heart failure association, and a mentor and consultant for young cardiologists and nephrologists. I am also the Head of the hemodialysis department and a long-standing member of the Vascular access society.

For the last few years, my main work interest is the Vascular Access and vascular disease unit, which I founded in 2006. We are the main clinic in Slovenia for vascular access construction and reconstruction. We construct native arteriovenous fistulas, arteriovenous fistulas with PTFE grafts, perform complicated reconstructions of vascular access, and implant all alternative types of vascular access (tunneled hemodialysis central venous catheters, hemodialysis ports, HERO grafts). We are also one of the first in the world who use CorMatrix for arteriovenous fistula (re)construction. We perform ultrasound and fluoroscopy-guided percutaneous angioplasties of peripheral and central veins, not only in the field of hemodialysis vascular access but also in the field of proximal deep venous thrombosis, where we have also developed our thrombolysis protocol.

In 2017, the Slovenian Ministry of Health awarded me the title “premium”, which is the highest clinical title in the medical profession, awarded for outstanding clinical work and innovation. In 2022 I was awarded the title FESC (Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology) for my work in the field of cardiorenal syndrome. I am a member of the VAS (Vascular Access Society) council since April 2023.

I have published several papers on hemodialysis vascular access construction, reconstruction and angioplasty and management of chronic heart failure.

Marques Shek Nam Ng is an Assistant Professor at The Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is an emerging leader in global kidney care, serving as Deputy Chair of the Kidney Health Professionals Working Group of the International Society of Nephrology and Council Member of the Hong Kong Association of Renal Nurses. His research focuses on symptom management, financial toxicity, and compassion in kidney failure using mixed methods approaches, with over 100 publications, more than 1,500citations, and an H-index of 21. He has received prestigious honours including University Education Award and Fulbright-Lee Hysan Hong Kong Research Scholar Award.

Professor Joanna Gotlib-Małkowska has been affiliated with the Medical University of Warsaw since 2002. Since 2013, she has served as Head of the Department of Education and Research in Health Sciences. She previously held key academic leadership positions, including Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2019–2020 and Vice-Dean for the Division of Public Health in 2016–2019.

Her academic development includes numerous courses and training programmes in artificial intelligence delivered by leading international and national institutions, including IBM, Google, Arizona State University, Vanderbilt University, and other institutions. She actively integrates AI-related content into teaching for students of medical and health science programmes and incorporates artificial intelligence into her research activity.

Her scientific work focuses on the application of generative artificial intelligence, particularly large language models such as ChatGPT, in health communication, patient education, public health, and health sciences research. A major area of her research concerns the quality, reliability, readability, and patient-friendliness of AI-generated health information in Polish, with particular attention to cervical cancer screening, menopause-related communication, perioperative care, and discharge instructions. She also explores advanced prompt engineering as a methodological tool supporting nursing research, evidence-based information retrieval, and the optimization of healthcare quality.

Professor Gotlib-Małkowska has served as principal investigator and leader of several national and international research grants. Her academic and project activities include participation in international initiatives funded by the Erasmus+ programme, including AIMS - Artificial Intelligence for Medical Students, which promotes practical and ethical AI competencies in medical education, and S.H.I.E.L.D., which aims to strengthen the resilience of health and social care institutions against cybercrimes through digital skills, cybersecurity literacy, and innovative training solutions for students and professionals.

Her work combines expertise in public health, medical education, health communication, digital innovation, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, highlighting both the opportunities and limitations of emerging technologies in clinical, educational, and research practice.