Vis-Ability 2026

Chair: Professor Chris Hammond

Prof Chris Hammond is a clinician scientist and the Frost Professor of Ophthalmology at King’s College London, as well as a consultant ophthalmologist at Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

His research aims to understand the causes (both genetic and environmental) of common eye diseases including myopia, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, cataract and dry eye. He studies the TwinsUK cohort based at St Thomas’ Hospital, as well as other large population-based studies such as the UK Biobank study, and collaborates with other international researchers to identify markers of disease and to identify new targets for treatment.

As a clinician, his specialty is paediatric ophthalmology and strabismus (squint) and he is a key opinion leader in treatments to try to slow myopia progression in children.

Lola Solebo 

Lola Solebo is a Wellcome Clinical Fellow at UCL GOS ICH, and Consultant Paediatric Ophthalmologist at GOSH. Her work provides impactful evidence on what decides outcome for children with treatable, potentially blinding eye disorders, and on how best to translate those findings into changes in practice and policy. 

Liz Tomlin

Head Orthoptist at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital

Chair: Georgie Stewart

Georgie has over 35 years of experience in developing famous effective communication for the world’s best brands. Leading business worth over £30m globally, she’s helped Dove’s ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’, American Express ‘Realise the Potential’, UBS ’60 is the new 40’ and CRUK’s ‘Together we will beat Cancer’ - launch, grow and thrive. Coach to emerging talent as part of the Leadership Program at Oxford University. She is also a trustee at Fight for Sight.

Dr. Chris Bailey

Dr. Chris Bailey is a Senior Digital Accessibility Manager at HSBC, where he helps ensure global Commercial Banking products meet global digital accessibility standards. He leads HSBC’s global accessibility user research programme and supports innovation projects. He has 20 years’ experience working on the development of accessible digital technology and investigating social aspects of digital inclusion, presenting his work at several international conferences. Chris has held leadership roles for UXPA UK (UK Chapter of the User Experience Professionals Association), the UXQB (International Usability and UX Qualification Board) and W4A (Web4All) conference, and is a regular accessibility speaker and panellist.

Chantelle O'Hagan

Employment Manager, Blind in Business

Panellists: 

Hector Minto

Hector Minto is a disability-first technologist, the UK Government Disability and Access Ambassador for the technology sector, and a former global accessibility lead at Microsoft. For 30 years he has worked to make assistive technology more practical, trusted and widely used, always starting with the needs of disabled people. As Founder and CEO of Kerbcut, Hector is focused on making it easier to find, trial and adopt the right tools, combining lived experience, human-centred design and pragmatic AI. His work across Microsoft, government and the wider sector is driven by a simple aim: to remove barriers and support independence and digital participation.

Sumaira Latif

Chair: Kate Rowbotham

Kate Rowbotham has been General Manager of the Roche UK affiliate since May 2025. In this role, Kate provides vision, financial stewardship, and strategic focus to ~1500 employees across multidisciplinary functions for pipeline and marketed products within the UK. She is accountable for the affiliate's profit and loss, in addition to its compliance with statutory regulations and corporate standards. She is an active member of the Roche Pharmaceutical International Network Enabling Team.

Kate is known as a visionary, results-oriented leader, and as a catalyst for change.

Most recently, Kate led the Customer Engagement organization at Genentech, Roche’s US subsidiary, overseeing ~1400 employees across multiple national, regional, and local teams that engage with healthcare providers, patients, payers, distributors and other Genentech customers. Her responsibility spanned the entire Genentech portfolio of products, delivering ~$25B in annual revenue in the US.

Mr. Josef Huemer, MD FEBO MRCOphth 

Josef Huemer is a Consultant Ophthalmologist for Medical Retina and Cataract at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and a honorary senior research fellow at the Institute of Ophthalmology at UCL, London. After qualifying from the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, he completed his specialty training in Austria, with subsequent fellowships in Medical Retina in the UK at Torbay Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital. 

His research interests are retinal imaging, telemedicine, and artificial intelligence. 

Chair: Neil Heslop - OBE

Neil is the Group CEO, Charities Aid Foundation. Senior business and charity leader with executive experience at O2 Plc, Cincinnati Bell Inc., RNIB, Leonard Cheshire and Charities Aid Foundation. Over 35 years of driving organisational transformation, growth and innovation for publicly quoted telecoms companies and international social purpose organisations. Deep expertise in strategy, operations and public policy, with a track record of leading delivery in highly regulated markets and fast-changing environments. Co-founded Blind In business in 1992 and in 2025 served as a member of HMT’s Social Impact Investment Advisory Group. The SIIAG was established by the UK government with 11 members drawn from business, local government and civil society to recommend strategies for mobilising impact investment to support inclusive economic growth and social cohesion. It’s final report led to the creation of the Office for the Impact Economy in Whitehall by the Prime Minister. Passionate about people, technology, social justice and measurable impact. Awarded an OBE in 2002 for services to British telecommunications and charity, and Recipient of the 2026 Cranfield School of Management Distinguished Alumni Award.

Breandan Ward 

Breandan is a disability strategist, educator, and leadership coach with over 25 years’ experience across corporate, academic, and mission-driven sectors. He works with organisations to strengthen leadership capability, shape inclusive cultures, and embed accessibility as a driver of performance, innovation, and long-term value.

He is an Adjunct Professor at New York University, where he teaches disability-inclusive strategy and leadership, and also teaches entrepreneurship for people with disabilities at TU Dublin.

Breandan previously spent over 15 years in investment banking in London and New York, including leadership roles at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. His corporate background, combined with lived experience of progressive sight loss due to an inherited retinal condition, informs a practical, commercially grounded approach to leadership and organisational change. Now based in London, Breandan works internationally across sectors, advising leaders on inclusive design, talent strategy, and cultural transformation.

A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an ICF-certified coach, Breandan brings a distinctive combination of lived experience, strategic insight, and leadership expertise. He believes disability is not a special case for leadership, but a powerful lens through which leadership is tested - requiring clarity, adaptability, and the ability to create environments where a wide range of people can perform at their best.

Naqi Rizvi

Naqi is a blind tennis champion, disability advocate, and financial services professional. Blind since childhood due to congenital glaucoma, Naqi has become one of the world's leading visually impaired tennis players, reaching World No.1 in the B1 (totally blind) category and winning both the International Blind Sports Association World Games and the International Blind Tennis Association World Championships. Alongside his sporting achievements, he works in the financial services sector and is a passionate advocate for disability inclusion, particularly in employment and sport. He serves as an ambassador and spokesperson for initiatives promoting opportunities for blind and partially sighted people, using his lived experience to challenge perceptions, break down barriers, and champion greater accessibility and representation.

Panellists: 

Marc Powell

Marc is a multi-award-winning leader in accessibility and accessibility innovation, with over a decade of experience driving transformational change across global organisations. Registered blind since birth, he combines professional expertise with lived experience to champion inclusive design and systemic change. As Global Accessibility Centre of Excellence Lead at Unilever, Marc embeds accessibility into brand strategies, product development, and global experiences.

Previously at RNIB, he led internationally recognised initiatives that advanced inclusive design for major brands. A Paralympian who represented Team GB in Judo at London 2012, Marc is passionate about using technology and collaboration to create a more inclusive world.

Andy Lane

Accessibility activist, Be My Eyes