MEET OUR EXPERT BIRMINGHAM FACULTY

  Dr Steve Colley completed his medical degree at Bristol Medical School, followed by radiology training in the West Midlands, developing a subspecialty interest in Head and Neck Imaging.

Since 2005, Dr Colley has been a Consultant Head & Neck Radiologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. He is a co-author of the British Thyroid Nodule and Thyroid Cancer Guidelines, contributed to the setup of the Rabbit RFA Trial, and has over eight years of experience performing thyroid ethanol ablation, receiving national referrals for the procedure. His work and case reviews in ethanol ablation have been presented at the British Society of Head & Neck Imaging.

Dr Colley has numerous publications, has contributed to national guidelines and book chapters, and is an experienced national and international lecturer, often focusing on thyroid imaging and interventional techniques.

Dr Hussain completed his medical degree at the University of Cambridge. He is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Radiologist, based at University Hospital of Birmingham NHS Trust, with an interest in lung cancer, interstitial lung disease, Cardiac CT/ MRI and thermal ablation.

He is heavily involved in training and education and is currently Head of School of the West Midlands Radiology Training Academy. He has authored several books including Radiology MCQ’s for the new FRCR 2a; On call Radiology and Rapid Review of Radiology. 

Dr Madava Djearaman is a cardiothoracic radiologist with an interest in thermal ablation and has been leading this service at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital for more than a decade. The thermal ablation team is now made up of expert consultant colleagues including anaesthetists, nurses and radiographers. The team offers all the thermal ablation techniques. 

Dr Djearaman trained as a radiologist in the West Midlands with mini fellowships at Papworth, Leiden and Essen. In 2005 he was appointed Consultant at the erstwhile Heart of England Foundation Trust, which is now part of the UHB banner. He set up the cardiac imaging service and the thermal ablation service early on in his consultant career.

Dr Geoffrey Chilvers is a Consultant Radiologist and Lead for Head & Neck Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB). He established UHB’s Thyroid Thermal Ablation Service and supports the multicentre RABBIT trial comparing RFA with surgery.

A Distinction graduate of Imperial College School of Medicine, Dr Chilvers initially trained in surgery (MRCS, DOHNS) before specialising in radiology (FRCR). His clinical interests include head and neck cancer, thyroid, salivary gland, and sinus imaging, with numerous publications and international presentations.

Dr. Rajesh Botchu is a Consultant Musculoskeletal Radiologist at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital. He trained in Leicester, Norwich, Birmingham, Geneva, and Oxford, specializing in musculoskeletal, sports and spinal imaging as well as interventional techniques. He has published 400+ peer-reviewed papers, authored 76 book chapters and editor of 6 musculoskeletal imaging books. He is the RCR/BSSR travelling professor for 2025 and Deputy Editor of Clinical Radiology journal. 

Dr Steven James is a Consultant Musculoskeletal Radiologist and Honorary Reader with the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham, UK. He initially undertook his Radiology training at University Hospitals Nottingham before completing a fellowship at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, London in Musculoskeletal and Spinal imaging. He was appointed in 2006 to a substantive post at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham.

Dr James works at a tertiary referral centre for Orthopaedic and Spinal Surgery. He has an interest in orthopaedic oncology and spinal intervention including cementoplasty and radiofrequency ablation. He has also developed an interest in the diagnosis and management of sports related injury.

Dr James has a strong research interest and has over 150 publications in peer reviewed scientific journals on Orthopaedic, Spinal and Sports injury related topics. He has edited 4 textbooks and written numerous book chapters. He regularly lectures at national and international meetings on musculoskeletal and sports injury related topics.

Currently a Consultant Interventional Radiologist at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s hospital, Dr McCafferty moved in 2023 from University Hospital Birmingham Hospital after 24 yrs of distinguished service. His main interests are urogenital and colorectal diagnostic and interventional radiology and was instrumental in setting up numerous services at University Hospital Birmingham including renal ablation, National Centre for Lymphangiomyomatosis (LAM) and Embolisation service. His research interests are in embolisation with specific interest in liquid embolics.

Professor McCafferty has been the past president of BSIR as well as held many prestigious roles including the post of BSIR Travelling Professor. 

Dr Homoyoon Mehrzad is a leading consultant interventional radiologist in Birmingham, who holds a special interest in interventional oncology procedures including oncology and liver imaging, biliary procedures, tumour ablation and transarterial, chemoembolization and radioembolisation. Dr Mehrzad also provides venous access and vascular procedures such as embolization.
 

After qualifying from the Imperial School of Medicine in London. Dr Mehrzad has attained several years of experience in the NHS and works at one of Europe's largest liver and transplant hospitals. He trained in interventional radiology, predominantly at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, where he undertook a hepatobiliary fellowship. He has gained vast experience in all aspects of liver imaging and particularly focuses on liver cancer and metastasis procedures. He is regularly invited to speak at conferences and has contributed to several peer-reviewed publications.

Dr Jones is a consultant interventional radiologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. He has subspecialty interests in dialysis access intervention and research and vascular anomaly management. He has a strong interest in research and has published extensively on a variety of interventional radiology topics and has been the principal investigator on a number of trials. 

Dr Sandeep Vijaya Gopal has worked as a Consultant Cardiothoracic Radiologist at Heartlands Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Foundation Trust since 2022.

He studied medicine at the University of Leeds where he also graduated with BSc (1st Class) in Medical Imaging.

He then completed Clinical Radiology training as a cardiothoracic radiologist in North East of England in 2022 with particular interests in CT guided lung biopsies, lung cancer and interstitial lung disease.

Dr Vijaya Gopal performs weekly CT lung biopsy lists, as well as contributing to the fortnightly lung/renal ablation list where he has experience in performing CT guided lung RFA and cryoablation using dose-limiting CT fluoroscopy method.

He is currently also a joint College Tutor for radiology resident doctors based at several sites across UHB.

He is the lead radiologist for several research trials currently being performed at UHB, predominantly in the field of Interstitial Lung Disease. He has also contributed to the multi-centre LungIMPACT trial on the use of AI technology in the interpretation and prioritisation of chest X-rays.

Sam is a Consultant Interventional Radiologist in the West Midlands and holds a substantive Consultant position at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, working primarily in the fields of Interventional Oncology, Embolotherapy and Vascular Access Intervention. He sits on the hospital’s regional UroOncology and Genetic Renal Cancer MDTs, and provides a tertiary microwave and cryoablation service for renal cancer patients from across the West Midlands, including renal transplant and VHL cohorts. He has worked as a cryoablation proctor for Boston Scientific and is a frequent contributor and speaker at BSIR, Charing Cross and VASBI. Sam is a keen educator, holding a postgraduate qualification in Health Professions Education from UCL, and is lead clinical tutor for the 40 trainees with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s Radiology Resident Programme. Sam is passionate about the ability of radiologists to provide cutting-edge, ultra-minimally invasive cancer treatment and is an advocate for IRs and IOs taking a central role in the provision of cancer care.

Dr Salil Karkhanis is a Consultant Intervention Radiologist working at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. 

After graduating from the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College in India, Dr Karkhanis completed his radiology training in U.K. This was followed by subspecialist training in intervention radiology, with a fellowship focussed on hepatobiliary interventions. During this time, he acquired skills in basic and advanced techniques in intervention radiology, with a special focus on hepatobiliary interventions and intervention oncology. His specialist interests are interventions in pathologies of liver, kidneys, and neuroendocrine disease. Towards the same, he performs a range of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions including percutaneous biopsies and drainages, as well as complex cancer therapies like transarterial embolotherapies and percutaneous image guided ablations. 

He is actively involved in research and has published many papers in his field of interest. He has also been the Chair of Scientific Programme Committee at BSIR.