The Compassion Salon: Lorna Marson and Annabel Sowemimo Thursday 2 July 2026The Compassion Salon will host Lorna and Annabel in a warm and reflective evening of meaningful conversation and shared insight into the importance of compassion in our lives.You will hear from Professor Lorna Marson, Professor or Transplant Surgery, and Dr Annabel Sowemimo, Consultant in Sexual & Reproductive Health, as they share insights on compassion in their work and life.After the conversation, there will be time for discussion and audience Q&A. Guests are welcome to purchase drinks at the bar throughout the evening.The Compassion Salon LinktreeSpeakersProfessor Lorna Marson is Professor of Transplant Surgery at the University of Edinburgh, and Honorary Consultant Surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.Lorna has held leadership roles in transplantation, in surgical training and in undergraduate medicine. She was elected as the first female President of the British Transplantation Society (2017-2019) and was Co-Director of UK Organ Donation and Transplantation Research Network until 2024. She was appointed as Non-Executive Director to the board of NHS Blood and Transplant in March 2024.Lorna is College Dean of Clinical Medicine and Deputy Head of College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh.Lorna is passionate about mentoring and supporting surgeons in training with a national and international profile in supporting and inspiring women in surgery. She has trained as an Executive coach to enhance this work. She is married with two children and spends as much of her spare time as possible on a bike.Dr Annabel Sowemimo is a doctor, academic, activist and writer. She is an NHS Consultant in Sexual & Reproductive Health working in South London.She published her first book Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare with the Wellcome Collection in April 2023. It won the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing and a Breast Cancer Book of the Year award. It was also shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Non-Fiction, the British Academy Book Prize for Cultural Understanding and an Indie Champion’s Award.She founded the charity the Reproductive Justice Initiative (RJI, formerly Decolonising Contraception), which aims to address health inequalities and racial disparities. RJI has been shortlisted for numerous awards, winning grassroots organisation of the year at the Sexual Health Awards in 2020 and a National LGBTQ Health Advisor award in 2022. In 2023, Annabel received an outstanding achievement award from the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH). Within her specialty, she is interested in tackling Gender Based Violence and improving access to healthcare for marginalised groups. She firmly believes that healthcare should be about empowering people with knowledge to make informed choices about their bodies. She is a Trustee for Birth Rights and an Ambassador for Birth Companions.Annabel is also a part-time PhD candidate and Harold Moody Scholar at King’s College London, with her research focusing on the experiences of Black women in Britain with long acting reversible contraception (LARCs) . Annabel has also worked as a freelance writer for numerous outlets including the Independent, Guardian and Novara Media, and she was a regular columnist for gal-dem. She previously co-hosted The Sex Agenda podcast, and has appeared on BBC radio including BBC Women’s Hour, BBC London and BBC World Service. In 2023, she featured on the ITV documentary Our NHS with Dr Zoe Williams. In 2026, she launched her substack, Healthy Futures focusing on health, politics and culture.Annabel spends her spare time campaigning on reproductive justice, against NHS cuts and improving healthcare for marginalised groups. She became a mum for the first time to a baby boy who arrived on her birthday in June 2024.Annabel's website: Annabel SowemimoThe Compassion SalonThe Compassion Salon is a literary salon which brings together authors, poets, comedians, musicians and other creatives to share their work and reflect on compassion in contemporary life. Recent salons at Steel Coulson Southside have featured conversations between, novelist Karen Campbell and musician Karine Polwart, as well as appearances by Hannah Lavery, Paul Gilbert, Deborah Ritchie, Ian Rankin, Gavin Francis and many others offering audiences a unique blend of narrative and performance.The Compassion Salon was founded by Dr Marti Balaam in 2019. Marti is a social entrepreneur, healthcare educationalist, social scientist and author who has worked in health, and social care education for many years. She is currently the student experience co lead for Edinburgh Medical School 300, a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education and Nursing Studies at the University of Edinburgh and Director of Professionalism within the undergraduate medical programme. She is passionate about the power of compassion and how we can integrate it into our lives and work to transform society. Marti works with Global partners to develop programmes of work, share new strategies on compassionate engagement and learn from global and local experiences of how other communities practice compassion.The Salon Marti says is 'a place for people to connect, inspire, and support using books and prose to reflect on human existence in a fragmented, challenging but wonderful world.RegisterPlease book your place via the Eventbrite link on this page. Jul 02 2026 19.00 - 21.30 The Compassion Salon: Lorna Marson and Annabel Sowemimo Join Professor Lorna Marson and Annabel Sowemimo for the second anniversary edition of The Compassion Salon, in collaboration with Edinburgh Medical School 300. Venue TBC Book your place via Eventbrite
The Compassion Salon: Lorna Marson and Annabel Sowemimo Thursday 2 July 2026The Compassion Salon will host Lorna and Annabel in a warm and reflective evening of meaningful conversation and shared insight into the importance of compassion in our lives.You will hear from Professor Lorna Marson, Professor or Transplant Surgery, and Dr Annabel Sowemimo, Consultant in Sexual & Reproductive Health, as they share insights on compassion in their work and life.After the conversation, there will be time for discussion and audience Q&A. Guests are welcome to purchase drinks at the bar throughout the evening.The Compassion Salon LinktreeSpeakersProfessor Lorna Marson is Professor of Transplant Surgery at the University of Edinburgh, and Honorary Consultant Surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.Lorna has held leadership roles in transplantation, in surgical training and in undergraduate medicine. She was elected as the first female President of the British Transplantation Society (2017-2019) and was Co-Director of UK Organ Donation and Transplantation Research Network until 2024. She was appointed as Non-Executive Director to the board of NHS Blood and Transplant in March 2024.Lorna is College Dean of Clinical Medicine and Deputy Head of College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh.Lorna is passionate about mentoring and supporting surgeons in training with a national and international profile in supporting and inspiring women in surgery. She has trained as an Executive coach to enhance this work. She is married with two children and spends as much of her spare time as possible on a bike.Dr Annabel Sowemimo is a doctor, academic, activist and writer. She is an NHS Consultant in Sexual & Reproductive Health working in South London.She published her first book Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare with the Wellcome Collection in April 2023. It won the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing and a Breast Cancer Book of the Year award. It was also shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Non-Fiction, the British Academy Book Prize for Cultural Understanding and an Indie Champion’s Award.She founded the charity the Reproductive Justice Initiative (RJI, formerly Decolonising Contraception), which aims to address health inequalities and racial disparities. RJI has been shortlisted for numerous awards, winning grassroots organisation of the year at the Sexual Health Awards in 2020 and a National LGBTQ Health Advisor award in 2022. In 2023, Annabel received an outstanding achievement award from the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH). Within her specialty, she is interested in tackling Gender Based Violence and improving access to healthcare for marginalised groups. She firmly believes that healthcare should be about empowering people with knowledge to make informed choices about their bodies. She is a Trustee for Birth Rights and an Ambassador for Birth Companions.Annabel is also a part-time PhD candidate and Harold Moody Scholar at King’s College London, with her research focusing on the experiences of Black women in Britain with long acting reversible contraception (LARCs) . Annabel has also worked as a freelance writer for numerous outlets including the Independent, Guardian and Novara Media, and she was a regular columnist for gal-dem. She previously co-hosted The Sex Agenda podcast, and has appeared on BBC radio including BBC Women’s Hour, BBC London and BBC World Service. In 2023, she featured on the ITV documentary Our NHS with Dr Zoe Williams. In 2026, she launched her substack, Healthy Futures focusing on health, politics and culture.Annabel spends her spare time campaigning on reproductive justice, against NHS cuts and improving healthcare for marginalised groups. She became a mum for the first time to a baby boy who arrived on her birthday in June 2024.Annabel's website: Annabel SowemimoThe Compassion SalonThe Compassion Salon is a literary salon which brings together authors, poets, comedians, musicians and other creatives to share their work and reflect on compassion in contemporary life. Recent salons at Steel Coulson Southside have featured conversations between, novelist Karen Campbell and musician Karine Polwart, as well as appearances by Hannah Lavery, Paul Gilbert, Deborah Ritchie, Ian Rankin, Gavin Francis and many others offering audiences a unique blend of narrative and performance.The Compassion Salon was founded by Dr Marti Balaam in 2019. Marti is a social entrepreneur, healthcare educationalist, social scientist and author who has worked in health, and social care education for many years. She is currently the student experience co lead for Edinburgh Medical School 300, a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education and Nursing Studies at the University of Edinburgh and Director of Professionalism within the undergraduate medical programme. She is passionate about the power of compassion and how we can integrate it into our lives and work to transform society. Marti works with Global partners to develop programmes of work, share new strategies on compassionate engagement and learn from global and local experiences of how other communities practice compassion.The Salon Marti says is 'a place for people to connect, inspire, and support using books and prose to reflect on human existence in a fragmented, challenging but wonderful world.RegisterPlease book your place via the Eventbrite link on this page. Jul 02 2026 19.00 - 21.30 The Compassion Salon: Lorna Marson and Annabel Sowemimo Join Professor Lorna Marson and Annabel Sowemimo for the second anniversary edition of The Compassion Salon, in collaboration with Edinburgh Medical School 300. Venue TBC Book your place via Eventbrite
Jul 02 2026 19.00 - 21.30 The Compassion Salon: Lorna Marson and Annabel Sowemimo Join Professor Lorna Marson and Annabel Sowemimo for the second anniversary edition of The Compassion Salon, in collaboration with Edinburgh Medical School 300.
