The Scar Therapy Network Board
Our Board combines expertise from a wide range of professional fields, bringing together individuals who are passionate about good governance and meaningful impact.
Dr. RuthAnn Fanstone
Dr. RuthAnn Fanstone is an internationally recognised physiotherapist specialising in scar treatment and rehabilitation. Her passion for improving outcomes for people with scarring began early in her career working in burns and plastic surgery.
Over the past 30 years, she has treated thousands of scars, from the smallest to the most complex, with a special interest in burn injuries and scars from trauma.
Dr. Fanstone has held leadership roles across the NHS, academia, private practice, education, charitable organisations and humanitarian settings, consistently focusing on advancing care and outcomes for people affected by scars. She has pioneered numerous scar-related treatments, services and training programmes in the UK and globally.
Her PhD research examined risk factors for burn scar contractures, and she is the Managing Editor of Scars, Burns & Healing, a PubMed-listed journal dedicated to evidence-based scar care.
She is a Consultant at The London Scar Clinic, Director of Scarchange, her clinical consultancy, and of DrContracture, an advocacy campaign to reduce the global burden of burn contractures. Known for her highly specialised and diverse knowledge, empathy, dedication and collaborative approach, Dr. Fanstone is committed to raising the standard of scar care worldwide.
Alastair McLoughlin
Alastair began his career in healthcare in the early 1980’s when he qualified as a remedial massage therapist with the Northern Institute of Massage.
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He later trained in Bowen Technique and in 1997 became the UK’s senior instructor for The Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia. He became a Life Member of The Bowen Association (UK) in recognition for his work. He is also an Honorary Member of The London and Counties Society of Physiologists.
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In his career Alastair has developed many bodywork techniques which he has taught as an independent international teacher since 2011.
His scar work (abbreviated to MSTR®) is just one of many bodywork techniques he created. MSTR® is quickly gaining recognition as an important technique for the treatment of post surgical and trauma wound scars.
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Alastair has formed an international teaching team of 22 instructors to take his work to the 30 countries in which MSTR® is now available. Besides English, MSTR® training is also available in 15 other languages including Arabic, Croatian, Dutch, German, Italian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.
Peter Moortgat
Peter Moortgat graduated as physical therapist in 1985. He specialized in burns- and scar therapies in 1997 and developed expertise in physical scar management.
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Nowadays he is Research coordinator at OSCARE, a multidisciplinary aftercare and research center in Antwerp, Belgium. He is also Academic Coordinator of Scar Academy, an international educational program on scar therapy. He is executive board member of the Global Scar Society and the European Tissue Repair Society. He is also guest lecturer of QMUL University in London and editorial board member of Scar, Burns and Healing.
Since 2025, Peter founded BridgewAI to bridge the gap between the scar community and artificial intelligence. His topics of interest are soft-tissue techniques, scar-taping, vacuum-massage, shockwave-therapy, micro-needling, mechanobiology of scarring and integration of AI in scar mitigation.
Dr. Magdalena Fiolna
Dr Fiolna is a Consultant Obstetrician and an RCOG-accredited Subspecialist in Maternal and Fetal Medicine at Nottingham University Hospitals. She also serves as the Clinical Lead for the Fetal Medicine Network in the East Midlands.
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An associate at the University of Nottingham, her research interests include hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, reducing stillbirth rates, and improving the success of labour induction.
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She is a former Fellow of the Fetal Medicine Foundation and a collaborator on the ASPRE trial. Dr Fiolna is passionate about enhancing antenatal care and improving women’s experiences through effective communication and empowering them in decision-making.
Susan Findlay
Susan Findlay is the director of NLSSM, a remedial soft tissue therapist, teacher, and lifelong student of the human body.
Her journey began in Canada with dance, gymnastics and nursing before moving to the UK, where she built a career blending health, movement, and education.
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Since qualifying in 1996, she has trained therapists across the UK while continuing hands-on clinical work in London and Wales, believing that staying connected to practice makes her a better teacher.
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She has contributed to London 2012 Olympics, written for leading therapy journals, and served on professional boards to advance the profession.
Passionate about raising standards and sharing knowledge, Susan is dedicated to teaching that is grounded in both experience and curiosity.
Hannah Poulton
Hannah Poulton is a Women’s Health Physiotherapist with over 25 years’ experience in Physiotherapy practice. She is the founder and owner of HLP Therapy clinics - delivering gold standard, evidenced based treatments and care for individuals.​
Hannah delivers professional scar therapy education across the UK and internationally and is currently undertaking a five-year PhD investigating caesarean section scarring. This research will focus on advancing evidence-based scar care and improving outcomes for women following birth.​
She is the founder and lead organiser of the UK Scar Symposiums and the creator of the Scar Therapy Network, supporting collaboration, education and research within scar therapy practice.
Mr Ioannis Goutos
Mr Ioannis Goutos is a plastic surgeon specialising in scar management. His career commenced at the Royal London Hospital (Barts Health), where he led the development of the Trust burn injuries facility and formed a key role in expanding the tertiary scar management service.​
With regard to current clinical practice, he is the Director of Goutos London, a multidisciplinary clinic in Harley Street dedicated to the care of patients with scar related concerns.​
In his academic capacity as a Reader in Cutaneous Scar Management, he forms part of a scientific team studying the behaviour of fibroblasts (scar forming cells) in keloid scars among many other academic projects.
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With his lifelong commitment to postgraduate education, he extends his surgical role through the position of the Director of Plastic Surgery Academic programmes at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).
Dr. Donna Kennedy
Dr Donna Kennedy is a Hand Therapist and Senior Clinical Academic for Occupational Therapy at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and is an NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre Postdoctoral Clinical Research Fellow in the Human Performance Group, Imperial College London.​
Donna has extensive clinical expertise in hand trauma and acquired, rheumatologic and surgical conditions of the hand and upper limb. Donna’s research interests include the evaluation of scars and change in scars over time, understanding scar symptoms and developing evidence-based patient-administered treatment for surgical and traumatic scars.
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Donna teaches and presents her work nationally and internationally. She is a member of the ICL Wound Healing & Regeneration Network, International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), British Association of Hand Therapists (BAHT), and Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT).
