Meet The Team

Hope Virgo

Hope Virgo is an Author and a multi award winning international leading advocate for people with eating disorders. Hope is also a recognised media spokesperson, having appeared on various platforms including BBC Newsnight, The Lorraine Show Victoria Derbyshire, Good Morning Britain, Sky News and BBC News. Hope is the founder of the #DumpTheScales campaign.

James Downs

James is a mental health campaigner, peer researcher and expert by experience in eating disorders. He holds various roles at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, NHS England, and a number of universities and charities - all of which focus on developing collaboration across a range of professional and personal perspectives to improve mental health for all. James has written extensively about his own experiences, from textbook chapters and peer-reviewed research to blog posts and mainstream media features. He is also a yoga, dance and mindfulness teacher.

Hannah Hickinbotham

Hannah is the host of the Full of Beans podcast, dedicated to reducing stigma and raising awareness about eating disorders. With a master's degree in eating disorders and clinical and research experience, Hannah now supports mental health professionals through digital marketing. Drawing from her 14 years of lack of support atypical anorexia, body dysmorphia, depression, having only just been diagnosed with ADHD and understanding the impact this has had on her eating disorder and respective recovery, Hannah is passionate about advocating for those who are misunderstood and unable to receive the treatment they deserve.

Helen Missen

Helen is a retired nurse, and mother to 3 adult children. At the age of 15 her daughter was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa, and the family as they knew it changed tack. Helen began to learn about her daughter’s illness, whilst successfully petitioning the Welsh government for increased funding for CAMHS. Her advocacy, petition campaigning and advocating for further research and finances into eating disorders has also been a highlight of Helen’s endeavours.

She is also the carer representative for the ongoing training of all Eating Disorder Adult Service Whole Team Training commissioned by the English Government and delivered by SLAM (South London and Maudsley).

Helen has served on the board of FEAST (Families Empowered And Supporting Treatment) as well as being a member for 15 years. She is passionate about encouraging evidence-based, well delivered, timely treatment, as well as pushing for a change in the landscape of eating disorder care across the UK.

Nicky Smith 

Nicky is a member of FEAST and works closely with other family members and carers to advocate for current and emerging eating disorder issues in the UK.

Nicky has presented at conferences, spoken in Parliament exhibitions, and has provided lectures to raise awareness of eating disorders. Nicky has also supported journal and book publications, contributed to NHS commissioning teams and research groups, and is currently a parent/carer representative in an Adult Eating Disorder service collaborative Trust.

Nicky’s daughter has had anorexia for 12 years, so unfortunately Nicky has gained experience (from a parents perspective) in adolescent and adult eating disorder services including inpatient, community, out-of-area placements, sectioning under the Mental Health Act, nasogastric feeding, SEDU, acute mental health and general hospital admissions.

Jodie Goodacre

Jodie is a mental health campaigner with lived experience of anorexia and has both worked and volunteered in the mental health sector since 2016. Alongside the Eating Disorder diagnosis are various mental health and physical health co-morbidities which have played a role in terms of the development of anorexia, as well as impacting both the treatment and recovery process. Jodie is passionate about intersectionality in both eating disorder research and treatment whilst highlighting the experience of those historically underrepresented and the importance of early intervention with effective and individualised treatment.

Debbie Taylor

Debbie Taylor is a devoted parent and carer with over a decade of expertise by experience, supporting her daughter through the challenges of an eating disorder. A passionate advocate for ED awareness and support, serving as a member of the UK Feast Executive team and representing Feast within the Wales Eating Disorders Clinical Implementation Network.  She regularly engages in community outreach and education as an eating disorder awareness campaigner to promote understanding and destigmatization of ED.

Suzanne Baker

Suzanne Baker is the mother of 2 adult daughters, both in recovery from Anorexia Nervosa. The considerable difficulty that she and her husband faced in accessing eating disorder treatment for their eldest daughter, led her to become involved in working with others to work towards better outcomes for all those affected by eating disorders.

Suzanne has been on the Expert by Experience Committee at the Academy for Eating Disorders,     a Carer Representative at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Faculty of Eating Disorders for the past 4 years and has sat on various NHS England Working Groups for Eating Disorders. She is a Carer Representative for the Whole Team Training programme for Eating Disorder Adult Services (EDSA) run by SLAM (South London and Maudsley) and is on the Steering Group for King’s College London’s Eating Disorder Clinical Research Network (EDCRN) project.
 

Ellie Smith 

Ellie is a mental health campaigner specialising in eating disorders. Ellie uses her live experience of being diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa at the age of 14 to raise awareness on social media, and in parliament. She was instrumental to the #DumpTheScales march in April 2024 and wants to ensure no one goes through the traumatic things she has had to. Change has to be possible.

Rachel Egan

Rachel Egan is a mental health campaigner with lived experience of anorexia nervosa, depression and anxiety. She is a seasoned mental health speaker and trainer with clients across the corporate and charity sector, the RAF and the education sector. Rachel is frequently asked to comment in the media about the impact of diet culture on people with eating disorders and has appeared on Sky News, BBC News and has her own column on the Huffington Post. Rachel supports on the marketing and communications around the Dump the Scales campaign following 15 years working in charity sector communications and on trustee boards. 

Anna Carnegie

Anna Carnegie is a research coordinator with lived experience of Anorexia Nervosa and OCD. Anna was fortunate enough to benefit from high-quality, compassionate treatment and is now in stable recovery. She is passionate about ensuring everyone has access to receiving the treatment they need and deserve. In her day job, Anna works as the Study Coordinator for the Eating Disorders Clinical Research Network (EDCRN) at King's College London. EDCRN is working with services across the UK to collect standardised data on eating disorder presentations, treatments and outcomes, with a view to improving trajectories for all those affected by eating disorders. 

Dr Agnes Ayton

Dr. Agnes Ayton MD FRCPsych is a consultant eating disorder psychiatrist at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. She has held several key roles within the RCPsych Faculty of Eating Disorders and has dedicated her career to this specialty since 2003. Dr. Ayton's work is centered on enhancing patient safety and quality of care, evidenced by her numerous publications and leadership in advancing medical education for eating disorders. She co-authored the influential Medical Emergencies in Eating Disorder Guidelines and developed an enhanced CBT model for severe eating disorders, for which her service received the NHS Parliamentary award in 2022.

Professor Gerome Breen

Dr. Gerome Breen is a psychiatric geneticist with a particular focus on eating disorders. He serves as a Professor of Psychiatric Genetics at the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. Dr. Breen leads the UK Eating Disorder Genetic Initiative (EDGI UK), which seeks to recruit 10,000 people in the UK with lived experience of eating disorders to help better understand the genetic factors involved. He is also senior advisor for the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Eating Disorders working group, collaborating with experts like Cynthia M. Bulik and Laura Huckins to advance research in this field. Dr. Breen is committed to making a difference in the understanding and treatment of eating disorders through both his research and his work with the community.

Alykhan Asaria

Through my involvement in NHS quality improvement, and interlinked lived experience research, I am determined to improve the quality of care experienced by eating disorder sufferers and their caregivers. Compassion, Hope, Empathy, Appreciation, and Patience (CHEAP) are not expensive care principles. They must be embedded in routine clinical practice.