Bwrdd Member biographies

Emma has been a member of Bwrdd Cymru since 2023, and became Chair in 2025, having supported Penny Doyle as Deputy Chair. As a fluent Welsh-speaker, she has spent her whole dietetic career in Wales, working across a range of clinical settings, including serving as the regional lead kidney dietitian for South West Wales for over two decades. In her current post as Malnutrition Strategic Lead she is focussing on applying a whole-system approach, embedded with value-based health care, to tackling malnutrition across her Health Board. Emma is focused and keen to thread a ‘Welsh-flavour’ into the BDAs strategic objectives that Bwrdd Cymru is working on as a work plan. She is passionate about working with and supporting the dietetic workforce to truly capture their value, and after nearly 30 years she has never been more convinced of the impact the dietetic workforce can have within Wales.

Ali has been a member of the British Dietetic Association (BDA) since 2005 and actively contributes across the association, including Bwrdd Cymru, the BDA Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, and the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) Group. She also participates in the BDA's Renal and Public Health Specialist Groups, bringing a specialist interest in renal nutrition and population health to her academic practice. In her day-to-day role, Ali works as a Senior Lecturer and Programme Director for the BSc (Hons) Human Nutrition and Dietetics course at Cardiff Metropolitan University, where she leads curriculum delivery, assessment, and placement coordination for a professionally accredited pre-registration dietetics programme.

Amanda is our communications and social media member of Bwrdd. She joined Bwrdd Cymru when she was a student Dietitian in 2024 and has stayed ever since! She graduated in July 2025 with a First Class honours degree from Cardiff Metropolitan University where she was also nominated for the prestigious Dean’s award for overcoming adversity. Amanda started her career in Dietetics in 2020 as a Dietetic Assistant covering Critical Care in Swansea Bay Health Board. She progressed to a Dietetic Assistant Practitioner working in Pulmonary Rehabilitation in the same health board and started her degree at Cardiff Metropolitan in 2023. She is passionate about diversifying Dietetics and as a current care leaver and neurodiverse individual she wants to open up more opportunities for Dietetics assistants and Dietetic Assistant Practitioners to join the profession directly from the workforce in Wales. She is currently working in Hwyel Dda Health Board as a Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Dietitian, also covering the Forensic wards. In her Board role she is keen to support early-career engagement within the profession and contribute to raising the profile of Dietetics in Wales.

As the TUNEC Representative for Wales, Caroline Bovey champions the interests of dietitians across the country, offering guidance, representation, and a clear voice for members within national trade union work. Her role centres on supporting colleagues, addressing workplace challenges, and advocating for fair, safe, and positive working environments. Caroline is committed to strengthening the profession in Wales and ensuring that the experiences of Welsh dietitians shape wider BDA and TUNEC priorities.

Gwawr James is a Registered Dietitian and Senior Policy Officer at the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), where she serves as the National Dietitian for Special Diets in Schools. In this national role, she leads work across Wales to support children and young people with medically prescribed diets, collaborating with local authorities, health boards, catering services, schools, and Welsh Government to develop practical, evidence-based approaches to school food provision. She is passionate about reducing health inequalities and ensuring that every child has access to safe, nutritious, and inclusive school meals. Gwawr has extensive experience in public health dietetics, having previously worked as a Public Health Dietitian with Powys Teaching Health Board and within the Flying Start programme in Cardiff. Throughout her career, she has supported families, children, and communities to develop healthy eating habits and improve health outcomes and reduce health-inequalities. A strong advocate for the Welsh language, Gwawr was recognised with an award from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board for her contribution to promoting Welsh language services within dietetics. She is also a regular contributor to Welsh-language media, using her expertise to raise awareness of nutrition and public health issues.

Kieran is a Highly Specialist Mental Health and Eating Disorder Dietitian at Swansea Bay University Health Board. He is Chair of the South Wales BDA Branch and has held several national leadership roles within the British Dietetic Association, including serving as Eating Disorder Education Officer for the Mental Health Specialist Group. During his time in this role, Kieran project managed the development of the BDA Mental Health Specialist Group Practice Guidance for dietitians working in eating disorders, co-authored a joint open letter to The Times highlighting the increasing prevalence of eating disorders in children and young people, and supported the development of the BDA eating disorder assessment proforma. He has also collaborated with the BDA Sports Nutrition Specialist Group and the Sports and Exercise in Diabetes subgroup to develop educational resources focusing on neurodiversity and eating disorders in sport. Kieran is passionate about advancing dietetic practice through education, collaboration and advocacy, with a particular interest in improving care for people with mental health conditions, eating disorders and neurodivergence across Wales and the wider UK.

Rhian has worked as a dietetic assistant at Swansea Bay University Health Board since August 2007, and was promoted to dietetic assistant practitioner in 2016. She graduated in 2025 with the Level 4 Diploma for Therapy Assistant Practitioners and Apprenticeship. She works with the care home team, undertaking dietetic assessments and providing training for staff on food first and malnutrition screening. Rhian won the Swansea Bay Health Board Impact Award in June 2025 for her work leading the delivery of structured education programmes for care home staff, enabling timely identification and management of malnutrition. This has streamlined referrals to the dietetic service, reduced pressure on GPs and enhanced service efficiency. She joined the BDA in 2021, and her role on the Board is to support the dietetic support workforce across Wales.

Vicky Davies is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for the BSc (Hons) Nutrition and Dietetics programme at Wrexham University, having joined the institution in 2021. Prior to this, she was Clinical and Professional Lead for Dietetics at The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool, specialising in neuroscience and intensive care nutrition.
Throughout her career, Vicky has held several professional leadership roles, including positions with the Council for Allied Health Professions Research (CAHPR) Liverpool, the British Dietetic Association (BDA) Critical Care Specialist Group, the BDA Outcomes Working Group, and the Critical Care Support Network (CCSN). She contributed to the revision of the BDA Model and Process for Nutrition and Dietetic Practice (2020), for which she received the BDA Roll of Honour.
Vicky has also contributed to the professional literature through chapters in the Manual of Dietetic Practice and Neurointensive Care, as well as a publication in Nursing Standard. Her interests include clinical nutrition, evidence-based practice, leadership and innovation, and preparing future dietitians for contemporary healthcare practice.