Professor Graham N. Smith Award
for Outstanding Contribution to Sports Therapy

Dr Allison Smith

Chair of the Award Judging Panel

Dr. Allison Smith serves as Chair of the Independent Award Judging Panel. Now retired, she dedicated over three decades of her career to clinical nursing excellence, respiratory oncology, and high-level academic research within the NHS and higher education sectors.

Throughout her extensive career as a Senior Lung Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Dr. Smith served as a crucial bridge between multidisciplinary medical teams, thoracic surgeons, and patients navigating complex cancer care pathways. Her work was heavily focused on patient advocacy, clinical standards, and improving the quality of consultation environments during critical diagnostic and treatment phases.

Her clinical expertise led to doctoral research at the University of Stirling, where she completed a qualitative multiple case study investigating information exchange during outpatient clinic consultations in lung cancer care. Her groundbreaking research evaluated how clinical information is processed, retained, and communicated between healthcare professionals and patients, offering vital frameworks for improving consultation dynamics, early diagnostic communication, and patient-centred nursing standards.

As the late Professor Graham N. Smith’s wife and a distinguished clinician-researcher in her own right, Dr. Smith brings profound personal commitment, rigorous academic oversight, and deep institutional knowledge to leading the panel entrusted with evaluating nominees for this prestigious memorial award.

Professor Karim Khan AO, MD, PhD

Karim Khan, AO, is a Professor at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He has combined his clinical and research training to address both sides of the sport and exercise coin: the health benefits and the injuries. He was one of the pioneers of multidisciplinary academic sport and exercise medicine originally in Australia and then in Canada. The textbook Brukner and Khan’s Clinical Sports Medicine is in its 6^th edition after serving clinicians and students for over 30 years.

He was Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) from 2008-2020. He and his editorial colleagues harnessed the power of both open access and social media channels to help the journal reach literally millions of sport and rehabilitation aficionados. The BJSM podcast platform launched in 2010; you can access almost 600 episodes there for free (> 10 million downloads).

From 2017 to 2025, Khan served the Canadian Institutes of Health Research as Scientific Director of the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis. In that role, he worked closely with researchers and policy-makers to foster collaborative research. He has also increased the opportunities for patients and people with lived experience to have leadership roles in health research.

He has always been a strong support of the Society of Sports Therapists. He has been a popular speaker at national events, a visitor to various Sports Therapy programs at UK Universities and he championed for the Society as Editor of the BJSM.

Dr Theodora Papadopoulou, MD, PhD

MD, BSc, PGDip, MSc, PhD, FEBSM
Consultant in Sport and Exercise Medicine | Orthopaedic Surgeon | Certified Sports Scientist

I am a Consultant in Sport and Exercise Medicine, an Orthopaedic Surgeon, and a Certified Sports Scientist. I serve as the Lead Consultant for the Hip and Groin section at the UK Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC), Stanford Hall, where I specialise in athletes’ and young people’s hip and groin pain, while participating in several international and national hip and groin research projects.

Since 1998, I have lectured on Sport and Exercise Medicine and Orthopaedics at various universities. I have held key roles in prominent organisations, serving as Secretary General and an executive committee member of the European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), an executive board member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine (BASEM), and working alongside the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS). As an ESSKA member, I also co-authored the recent ESSKA consensus on hip and groin pain in active adults.

Throughout my career, I have worked at many major sports events, including the Olympics, Paralympics, and Special Olympics in various roles. I am actively involved in several scientific sports medicine projects, passionately promoting exercise as a preventative intervention and treatment for chronic diseases. I have authored numerous peer-reviewed papers, am frequently invited as an international speaker, and have chaired and directed numerous Sport and Exercise Medicine and Orthopaedic conferences and scientific committees.

Beyond my clinical and academic achievements, I am deeply passionate about mentoring the next generation of young scientists and advocating for diversity and inclusion in healthcare. As a dedicated volunteer, I champion exercise as a preventative medicine and fiercely protect medical integrity and sporting ethos. Grounded in the principles of Olympism as a cornerstone of my philosophy of life, I am wholeheartedly devoted to advancing the global development of Sport and Exercise Medicine to optimise patient outcomes.

It is against this backdrop of shared commitment to medical integrity, education, and mentorship that I am deeply honoured to serve on the award committee recognising outstanding contributions to SSTs, named in memory of my late mentor, Professor Graham Smith.

“Graham and I worked closely together beginning in 2017 as executive committee members for BASEM. Throughout his tenure, Graham was the fierce, unwavering voice of Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) across every committee, single-handedly establishing the highly acclaimed SST session at every annual BASEM conference. His vision extended deeply into the DMRC, where he entered into pivotal conversations to empower the roles of SSTs, while simultaneously ensuring his clinical and practical guidelines remained prominently displayed at the DMRC today, serving as a vital foundation for countless personnel.”

In 2019, when I proposed creating a much-needed scientific and research committee to BASEM, Graham championed the idea. Together, we co-wrote the Terms of Reference for the newly created Scientific Advisory Group and served as its interim co-chairs until the official commission was formed. Beyond his immense professional achievements, Graham was a grand, inspiring personality who mentored me for over a decade. He selflessly supported every conference I organised, constantly pushing me to see that my potential had no limits, and always reminding me how proud he was of my journey.

On a personal level, his warmth was boundless. No email or text from him ever concluded without the words, “Please look after yourself,” and he always offered a standing invitation to visit him and his wife, Alison, in Scotland to debate the world over a glass of quality wine.

While it brings me profound sorrow that we missed a final joint visit to the DMRC, and that I did not have the opportunity to formally nominate him for BASEM’s Sir Roger Bannister Award, Graham’s wisdom and his fierce defence of honesty and integrity remain my lifetime driving force. His refusal to compromise on moral ethos and integrity will always be my guiding light, and Frank Sinatra’s song “My Way” will forever remain the melody that beautifully reminds me of his resilient spirit. It has been an honour.

Mr Andrew Walton, FCSP

Andrew trained as a physiotherapist, worked in the NHS and elite sports before founding Connect Health in 1989.

He worked clinically whilst growing the business until it’s scale meant he needed to focus on management and leadership around 15 years ago. He focused on professionalising the senior team and dispersing power and responsibility to a wider group, bringing in talent from outside of the health sector. Onboarding institutional investors has further helped to improve clinical and non-clinical performance and provided capital to make acquisitions to broaden the offer. Connect merged with Healthshare in 2024 to become Cora Health.

Andrew moved to a non-executive role in 2026, affording him the opportunity to advise and invest in other businesses. With others, he has recently founded First Contact Health Clinics (UK) to which he brings valuable experience.

In 2023 he was awarded a Fellowship of his professional body, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, in recognition of his innovation in MSK care.