Our People

Patron

HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, KG KT OM GCVO GBE ONZ QSO AK GCL CC CMM (deceased)

President

Field Marshal The Lord Guthrie GCB LVO OBE DL

Vice Presidents

Stephen May

The Duchess of Northumberland

Richard Price

Phil Hodkinson

Trustees

The trustees are responsible for the policies and strategies of Action Medical Research and give their medical, financial and business skills and expertise on a voluntary basis. The council of trustees meets four times a year and is supported by a number of advisory committees.

Chair

Luke Bordewich

Luke became Chair in January 2021 and has been a trustee since January 2015. He is a Managing Director at Numis Securities, leading UK corporate adviser and stockbroker. He is also a keen volunteer fundraiser.

Honorary Treasurer

Richard Wild

Richard Wild joined as a trustee in November 2017 and is the Chair of the Investment and Audit Committee. With a background in financial services, Richard has held a number of leadership roles in risk management and compliance. He is currently Group Head of Anti-Financial Crimes Compliance for Unicredit, a major European Financial Services Institution headquartered in Milan. 

Council

Esther Alderson

Trained as a doctor at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington and worked, mostly in paediatrics, in a number of London hospitals before having children. Since then she has been involved in voluntary fundraising for a number of children's charities. Esther became a trustee in May 2012.

Professor David Edwards

David is Professor of Paediatrics and Neonatal Medicine at King's College London and became a trustee in January 2016.

Kathy Harvey

Kathy joined as a trustee April 2018. She has an extensive background in HR, corporate governance, strategy formulation and change management, and currently runs a consulting practice providing executive education and coaching for major corporate clients.

Karen Last

Karen joined the board in November 2019. She has a wealth of experience gained across the financial services sector, including running her own business and she is currently self-employed as an independent financial advisor. She has been involved with the third sector for many years, working with a range of charities, and was instrumental in helping to set up the Common Purpose leadership programme in Suffolk.

Professor David Rowitch MD PhD ScD

David is Professor and Head of Paediatrics at University of Cambridge and is chair of our Scientific Advisory Panel. He became a trustee in October 2018.

Richard Stoneham-Buck

Richard joined the board in April 2019 and chairs the Risk Management Committee. He brings with him a wealth of experience in planning, logistics and large-scale business transformation projects, gained across leading automotive companies in both the UK and Germany. He is currently working as Head of Operations and Planning for Google’s Consumer Electronic Division.

Chair

Professor David Rowitch MD PhD ScD

Professor and Head of Paediatrics, Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge

Panel

Professor Claire Booth MBBs MSc PhD MRCPCH

Associate Professor in Gene Therapy, Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Immunology, UCL GOS Institute of Child Health, London

Professor Alicia El Haj FREng FRSB FEAMBES

Interdisciplinary Chair in Cell Engineering, Healthcare Technology Institute, Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Birmingham

Professor Jonathan Grigg BSc MBBS MD FRCPCH

Professor of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Department of Child Health, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London

Professor Muzlifah Haniffa BSc MBBCh MRCP PhD FMedSci

Professor of Dermatology and Immunology, Newcastle University and Associate Faculty Group Leader, Cancer Genetics, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge

Professor Sam Johnson PhD CPsychol AFBPs

Reader in Developmental Psychology, Department of Health Sciences, Centre for Medicine, University of Leicester

Professor Andrea Nemeth BSc MBBS DPhil (Oxon) FRCP

Associate Professor, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford and Consultant in Clinical Genetics, Oxford Centre for Genomic Medicine

Dr Adam Shortland BSc PhD MIPEM CSci​

Consultant Clinical Scientist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust, London and Senior Lecturer, King's College London 

Professor Shiranee Sriskandan FRCP PhD

Professor and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases, Section of Infectious Diseases & Immunity, Imperial College London

Professor Michael Taggart BSc PhD 

Chair of Reproductive Sciences, Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University, International Centre for Life

Scientific Advisory Panel for joint Action Medical Research/LifeArc applications for summer 2022 awards

Action Medical Research and LifeArc are working together to co-fund translational, rare disease research projects to improve the lives of children. Below are listed members of the expert advisory panel who will consider these applications:

Chair 

Professor David Rowitch MD PhD ScD

Professor and Head of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge

Panel

Professor Claire Booth MBBs MSc PhD MRCPCH

Senior Clinical Lecturer in Gene Therapy, Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Immunology, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London

Professor Paul Brennan PhD

Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Oxford

Professor Yanick Crow MBBS MRCP CCST PhD FMedSci 

Chair of Genomic Medicine, MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh

Professor Alicia El Haj PhD FREng, FRSB, FEAMBES

Interdisciplinary Chair in Cell Engineering, Healthcare Technology Institute, Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Birmingham

Dr Thorsten Forster PhD

Statistical Research Fellow in Computational Biology, University of Edinburgh and Senior Data Scientist, LifeArc

Professor David Gray PhD 

Head of Biology, Drug Discovery Unit, University of Dundee

Professor Jonathan Grigg BSc MBBS MD MRCP FRCPCH 

Professor of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Department of Child Health, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London 

Professor Muzlifah Haniffa BSc MBBCh MRCP PhD FMedSci

Professor of Dermatology and Immunology, Newcastle University and Associate Faculty Group Leader, Cancer Genetics, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge

Dr Andrew McKenzie PhD FRS FMedSci

Group Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Professor Andrea Nemeth BSc MBBS DPhil (Oxon) FRCP 

Associate Professor, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford and Consultant in Clinical Genetics, Oxford Centre for Genomic Medicine

Professor Stephanie Schorge PhD

Professor of Translational Neuroscience, School of Pharmacy, University College London

Professor Michael Taggart BSc PhD 

Chair of Reproductive Sciences, Cardiovascular Research Centre, Newcastle University