OPENING AND CLOSING THE CONFERENCE
Professor Kamila Hawthorne MBE MD FRCGP FRCP FAcadMed (Hon)FLSW FFPH (Hon) DRCOG DCH(Lond) DFFP PG Cert Med Ed
Kamila has been a GP in South Wales for 31 years, and a GP for 37 years, having qualified
from Somerville College, Oxford in 1984, and completed her GP training in Nottingham in 1988. She grew up in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania. Prior to arriving in South Wales, she was a GP partner in practices in Nottingham and Manchester. She is the immediate past Chair of the Royal College of GPs, having demitted office at the end of November 2025. She is on the Trustee Boards of the Kings Fund, and Moondance Cancer Initiative, the Chair of Trustee Board for two charities, the National Academy of Social Prescribing, and Pathway (health inclusion for homeless people). She is the patron of Health Literacy UK. She is also a Bevan Commissioner and a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.
Her research and clinical working interests have been in health inequalities and access to health services, (her MD was based on link-worker-led culturally appropriate health education for BAME patient groups with Type 2 diabetes in Nottingham, Manchester and Cardiff). With wide experience of general practice and running community projects in diabetes and heart disease, she has been named ‘GP of the Year’ twice, Woman of the Year 2024 at the GG2 Leadership and Diversity Awards and was awarded an MBE in 2017 for services to General Practice. She has been an MRCGP Examiner for 26 years, and has worked in senior roles at Cardiff University (2002 – 2015), and the University of Surrey (2015-2018). More recently, she has been Head of the Graduate Entry Medicine programme at Swansea University (2019-2022).
NEW ANNOUNCEMENT
Health Literacy UK (HLUK) is delighted to announce that Professor Sir Michael Marmot CH, Director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity and Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London (UCL), will be the Keynote Speaker at the HLUK Conference on 4 March 2027.
Internationally recognised as one of the world’s leading voices on health inequalities and the social determinants of health, Sir Michael has dedicated his career to advancing understanding of how the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age shape health outcomes. His groundbreaking research has influenced public health policy across the UK and globally, championing a fairer society in which everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy life.
At the HLUK Conference 2027, Sir Michael will share his insights on reducing health inequalities, creating healthier communities, and the critical role that health literacy plays in improving health outcomes and promoting equity. His keynote address will provide an inspiring and thought-provoking perspective for healthcare professionals, policymakers, researchers, educators, and community leaders committed to advancing health literacy.
Join us for what promises to be an outstanding opening session as we welcome one of the most influential public health leaders of our time.