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Team

We are a kind, diverse, multi-skilled team that includes doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and psychosexual therapists – many of whom are members of the trans and/or LGBT+ communities.

We work out of 56 Dean Street, which is part of the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Leigh is the manager of 56 Dean Street and of the TransPlus service. He has been a nurse working in HIV care for over 30 years. Leigh was the project lead for the development and opening of 56 Dean Street, Europe’s largest HIV and Sexual Health Service. In 2004, Leigh won the Nursing Times “Nurse of the Year” award for his continued innovation in the field of sexual health and he has been instrumental in Dean Street receiving a long list of awards and accolades over the years (inc. awards from the Nursing Times, Nursing Standard, HSJ and many more). In 2016, Leigh produced the documentary film “AIDS: Doctors and Nurses tell their Stories”. Most recently, Boyz Magazine honoured Leigh with a lifetime achievement award for his work with London’s LGBTQ+ communities.

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Karen has been a clinical psychologist in sexual health & HIV for 17 years. Working in services for LGBTQ+ people, Karen provides face-to-face therapy and runs workshops on sexual health and sexual functioning. She is interested in supporting psychological wellbeing and positive sexual relationships for trans/non-binary people. She also runs workshops for health professionals on the sexual wellbeing needs of LGBTQ+ people.

Tara has been the clinical lead for Trans services since 2016. She is a multiskilled consultant, holding qualifications in Sexual Health, HIV, and Sexual & Reproductive Health. Tara introduced hormone monitoring for gender diverse people to 56 Dean Street and has been instrumental in the development of our trans sexual health service. Under Tara’s supervision, 56T has become the largest recruitment centre for the PrEP Impact study for trans/non-binary people in England. She is the Principal Investigator of the TIME study (a pan-European research initiative exploring the lives and clinical characteristics of trans people living with HIV).

Aedan has been providing advice and advocacy to his fellow trans/non-binary community members for over a decade. At TransPlus he helps co-create and coordinate care and support plans for service users, as well as running groups and workshops. Outside of 56 Dean Street, Aedan also works as a trainer and university lecturer, offering consultancy on trans/non-binary health and inclusion at strategic and policy levels, nationally and internationally.

Richard has been a nurse for over 16 years. In that time, he has worked exclusively in the fields of sexual and reproductive health. Richard started working in Dean Street’s specialist trans/non-binary sexual health clinic in 2012 and was the lead nurse for the service. He has spoken about his role in promoting trans health at a series of national conferences and is passionate about improving services for trans/non-binary communities. At TransPlus, Richard supports our service users to manage their hormone protocols, as well as assisting them in improving their wider health and wellbeing.

Marcelo is a senior nurse at TransPlus. He has nursing experience in care for older adults, as well as respiratory medicine; a field he worked in for over 8 years and where he also held the position of ward manager. Originally from Portugal, he is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English. Marcello joined 56 Dean Street in 2018, where he became member of the 56T team and an active recruiter of trans/non-binary people to the PrEP Impact Trial. He is excited about this new venture and thrilled to be a part of a novel service that will benefit the trans/non-binary communities.

Rebecca is part of the Peer Support team at TransPlus. She is an advocate for trans women living with HIV and works alongside our service users to ensure seamless integration between gender care, sexual health & HIV, and our wider wellbeing services. She has worked as an outreach officer for the Terrence Higgins Trust, promoting HIV testing in the community and is also a member of the Gilead Sciences’ pan-European Women’s Working Group on HIV. Since 2017, Rebecca has been delivering her trans empowerment initiative, Project Bootcamp. Which creates a support network for trans women and trans femmes which helps to build confidence and resilience, and provides education on sexual health and wellbeing via a series of psycho-educational workshops.

Callum is a Peer Support Worker at TransPlus. He has a background in theatre, both as a performer and as a playwright. Latterly, he retrained as a Healthcare Assistant and has been working in sexual health & HIV as part of the 56 Dean Street Clinical team. Further to his work across both our Dean Street sites, Callum has been shadowing our chemsex team in order to build on his existing experience of drug & alcohol recovery work. Callum is excited to bring his life experience and training to the role of Peer Support Worker to facilitate TransPlus service users in shaping and realising their own personal journeys, while supporting their wellbeing and sense of self.