Specialist doctors based at Stepping Hill Hospital shared their expertise at two separate international forums recently, one of which looked into health quite literally out of this world.

Dr Niddhi Kakkar gave a presentation on the theme of heart resuscitation for people taking part in space travel at the 71st International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine in Singapore during October.

Her oral presentation based on ‘Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Space/Microgravity’ was very well received, and received the first prize in her category during the space-based specialist health forum.

It’s a theme Dr Kakkar has returned to, following her earlier article, ‘Breathing Beyond Earth: Understanding Respiratory Medicine in an Aerospace Environment’ in the Clinical Focus Respiratory Medicine 2025.

She will also be giving a demonstration on the same theme at Stepping Hill Hospital’s own Pinewood Educational centre this month.

Meanwhile, Dr Ruchit Singla gave a presentation at the CHEST Conference in Chicago, USA, the annual forum for the American College of Chest Physicians, and one of the word’s leading seminars on chest medicine. 

His presentation was on ‘Comparative Safety and Efficacy of DOACs vs VKAs in Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension’ based on his own earlier abstract. This was also very well received by its audience.

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust Chief Medical Officer Dilraj Sandher said; “It is excellent to see our doctors bringing their expertise to an international audience in forums such as the CHEST conference, Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine and more. I’d like to congratulate Niddhi, Ruchit and all their colleagues for being such strong ambassadors for our medical care.”

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust International Medical Graduate Tutor Professor Madapura Shashidhara said “We actively support locally employed doctors by encouraging them to contribute to national and international conferences, helping them develop specialist skills, and bring fresh ideas back to patient care. 

These international successes are a testament to the inclusive educational structure established by Director of Medical Education Prof David Baxter, with the support of RCP Tutor Dr Jayne Little; Clinical Directors Dr Anjali Prasad and Dr Dhruv Sharda, and with the flexibility of the Medical Rota team. We’re working to ensure our doctors can showcase their work globally and return with expertise that benefits our community.”