FTC&V Chair: Gianpiero Molinu (Pride Cymru)
Gian is the founding Chair of Fast Track Cardiff & Vale. He has also been the Chair of Pride Cymru since 2018, the largest LGBT+ Pride event in Wales.
A solicitor by trade and a lifelong Cardiffian, Gian is a partner in a firm providing a wide range of legal services. Gian also advises the peer support working group for the Wales HIV Action Plan.
FTC&V Secretary: Lisa Power
Lisa has worked and volunteered in HIV since before it had a name, having been a volunteer on London Gay Switchboard from 1979-94. She spent 17 years developing services for the Terrence Higgins Trust including peer support and groundbreaking research into the needs of older people with HIV before becoming Director of Policy. One of the founders of Stonewall, she is also a historian and Trustee of Queer Britain and appears regularly in the media discussing HIV and queer history. She is a member of the Wales HIV Action Plan Working Party and the Sexual Health Programme Board.
FTC&V Communications Lead: Dr Alessandro Ceccarelli
Dr Alessandro Ceccarelli is a research and policy specialist and currently an SEO Research Manager. His previous work includes being Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and Research Manager at the Equality and Human Rights Commission. A committee member of Pride Cymru, he is also the Social Media Welsh representative for Queer Britain, and an IGR Content Author. He was President and Chair of the Cambridge Graduate Union, and a Trustee of the board of directors of Cambridge University Council, championing the rights of migrants and LGBTQ+ people.
FTC&V Research Lead: Dr David Gillespie (Cardiff University)
Dave is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Trials Research College of Biomedical & Life Sciences at Cardiff University. His research focuses on the prudent use of medicine for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Dave currently holds a five-year post-doctoral research fellowship from Health and Care Research Wales which aims to understand and optimise how people in Wales use HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). One of his recent publications studied the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures on the sexual behaviour of PrEP users in Wales. Dave is also a member of the Wales HIV Action Plan Working Group.
Dr Jane Nicholls (Cardiff Royal Infirmary)
Jane is a Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV at Cardiff Royal Infirmary. She is one of the founders of Fast Track Cardiff & Vale, being one of the first people to lobby for the Fast Track system within Wales. She is interested in HIV prevention, testing for sexually transmitted infections and health inequalities. A Monmouthshire resident, Jane is also a member (vice-chair) of the British HIV Association (BHIVA) external relations subcommittee. Her previous work includes research into PrEP and evaluating new treatments for HIV.
Abderrahim el Habachi (Glitter Cymru)
Rahim is a longstanding LGBT+ and HIV activist, first in his home country of Morocco and more recently as a refugee in the UK. He is a member of the organising committees of Glitter Cymru and Pride Cymru and an active volunteer for both. He is also an actor and writer.
His recent one-man show, The Love Thief, looked at sexuality, race and the reality of life for LGBTQ+ people in today’s Britain.
Professor Kerry Hood (Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University)
Kerry is Professor of Trials and the Director of the UKCRC Registered Centre for Trials Research at Cardiff University. A Senior Research Leader and a mentor for Health and Care Research Wales, Kerry has over 20 years of experience in clinical and health services research with a specific interest in evaluating interventions and inclusion.
She is co-lead of the Trial Methodology Research Partnership Working Group for Trial Conduct.
Dr Darren Cousins (Cardiff Royal Infirmary)
Darren is a Consultant in Sexual Health & HIV at Cardiff Royal Infirmary. He has an interest in developing sexual health services related to men who have sex with men, with the aim of making healthcare more accessible and relevant to those who need it with the background of austerity, PrEP and vaccination challenges.
He also sits on the Clinical Effectiveness Group of the British Association of Sexual Health & HIV and is a member of the Wales HIV Action Plan Working Group.
Cllr Ash Lister (Cardiff Council)
A passionate campaigner for LGBT+ rights and his local community, Ash is a Labour councillor for Grangetown in Cardiff. The Chair of Grangetown Community Action, he was a driving force in pulling together a network of 150 local volunteers to help vulnerable residents during the recent Covid-19 lockdown.
He is a Senior Policy and Communications Officer for an AM, a Governor of a local school and was previously a youth worker.
Dr Jonathan Underwood (University Hospital of Wales)
Jonathan is a consultant specialising in acute medicine & infectious diseases with a research interest in HIV-associated comorbidities, particularly cognitive dysfunction, having completed a PhD studying cognitive impairment in treated HIV-disease in 2017. A British HIV Association (BHIVA) Trustee, he serves on the executive committee and the education and scientific subcommittee.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jonathan has returned to full-time clinical work from academia and is the principal investigator for several COVID-19 randomised controlled trials of immunotherapy.
Mark Lewis (APPG on HIV & AIDS)
Originally from West Wales and a native Welsh speaker, Mark is the Senior Policy Advisor for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV & AIDS in Westminster, England. They are also Head of Creative Services for the International Gay Rugby (IGR).
Previously a Community Councillor in Carmarthenshire, they also worked for Terrence Higgins Trust as a Campaigns & Parliamentary Affairs Officer.
Fast Track Cardiff & Vale 