Leadership & Management Team
Dr. Mikael Sodergren
MBChB(Hons), DIC, PhD, FRCS
Managing Director & Academic Lead
Mikael is an Academic Clinician and Consultant Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgeon at Imperial College London.
At Imperial he has a broad research portfolio which includes leading a medical cannabis research programme. He is also the Research Director at EMMAC Life Sciences where he leads the pre-clinical and clinical medical cannabis research activities.
As one of the founding doctors of Sapphire, Mikael has developed the clinical governance framework of the clinics and established relationships with key stakeholders within the NHS. As academic lead he is in charge of developing the patient registry and clinical trials hub within Sapphire.
Dr. Michael Platt
MA MBBS FRCA FFPMRCA
Medical Director
As well as leading our team of specialist clinicians, Michael will head up all of Sapphire’s public facing communication and operational protocols & policies.
He has operational experience in the private medical sector and is working to establish a network of Sapphire clinicians across the United Kingdom.
He holds ultimate responsibility for sign-off of all Sapphire prescriptions.
Dr. Ross Coomber
BSc (hons), MBBS, FRCS, PGCERT
Operations Director
Ross is a Consultant Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon with research interests in innovative solutions to improve patient care.
Having completed a 12 month trauma fellowship in Canada, he has experience of working with medical cannabis. Ross has worked with start-ups to digitalise medical locum work, medical navigation and platforms for orthopaedic surgeons education.
Responsible for all aspects of operations including doctor training programmes, franchisee set-up, contracting, background checks and establishing all communications across the Sapphire brand.
Aran Samra
MChem (Oxon) ACA
Chief Financial Officer
Aran is a Chartered Accountant and Wealth Manager having studied at Oxford University.
Prior to running the finance function at a tech start-up, Aran gained experience in Audit, Investment Advisory and M&A for 9 years at PwC.
By managing all aspects of financial and management accounting, Aran controls Sapphire and franchisee companies. This includes budget and business planning for our proposed franchisee expansion.
Beth Sweet-Escott
BA Hons Business Management
Head of Marketing and Communications
With a first class Business Management degree and seven years in client servicing and media, Beth brings her project management and marketing experience to Sapphire.
She is responsible for the execution of operations across clinics and all Sapphire communications. By leading relationships with our PR and digital marketing agency, she’ll establish Sapphire’s online presence and delivery of franchisor material.
Carl Holvey
MPharm, MRPharmS, DipCLinPharm, IPresc, DBA
Partnership Director & Chief Pharmacist
Carl is an experienced Clinical Pharmacist and healthcare manager with extensive experience in the NHS. He has worked in various sectors of healthcare delivering direct patient care and managing services.
Carl is responsible for establishing new franchises, other commercial and public partnerships. He ensures excellent standards of pharmaceutical care for all our patients and medicines services.
Dr. Simon Erridge
MBBS, BSc
Head of Research and Access
With a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and BSc in Surgery and Anaesthesia, Simon has also worked on a number of innovative biotech opportunities.
Research interests include cannabis-based medicinal products, and patient- reported outcome measures.
Simon will be driving growth through professional, corporate and academic partnerships.
Dr. Avani Bhanushali
MSc, BDS
Operations Manager
With a bachelor’s in dental surgery, and MSc in Healthcare management and strategic leadership, Avani has worked both in clinical and managerial roles.
Avani has over 7 years of experience in driving strategic initiatives in improvement of patient care at leading tertiary healthcare organisations.
At Sapphire Clinics, Avani oversees Clinic Operations across the UK to ensure top quality care is provided to patients, and acts as a direct liaison between clinicians and other stakeholders to maintain the highest healthcare standards and care.
Contact Us
Get in touch with our leadership team direct by emailing: [email protected]
