Our People

Former Royal 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 financial services firm Deutsche Numis. 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

Professor David Edwards FRCP MBE

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

Clare Ferguson

Clare has an extensive background working in credit risk, banking finance and sales and marketing, specialising in strategy development and risk management in the precious metals markets. She subsequently became involved in a variety of voluntary sector roles and holds trustee positions across housing and educational organisations and has a particular interest in the development of bursary and fundraising programmes. Clare joined as a trustee in July 2023.

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.

Professor Stephanie Schorge PhD

Stephanie is the Sophia Jex-Blake Professor of Physiology and Head of the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology at UCL. Her expertise is in gene and genetic therapies for neurological disorders where she is part of a collaboration to bring new gene therapies to clinical trials. She joined as a trustee in October 2022.

Rajat Sharma

Rajat Sharma is a co-founder and Director of VAR Capital Ltd, which is a financial advisory firm offering asset management, debt raise and investment banking services to private clients and institutions. Rajat joined as a trustee in November 2022.

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 Stephanie Schorge PhD

Professor of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London

Panel

Professor Simon Bailey MBChB MRCP (Paediatrics) PhD

Professor of Paediatric Neuro-Oncology, Sir James Spence Institute of Child Health, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne

Professor Joanne Blair MB; ChB MRCP MRCPCH MD

Professor of Endocrinology, Department of Endocrinology, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool

Professor James Boardman MBBS PhD FRCPCH

Professor of Neonatal Medicine, University of Edinburgh/MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, Queen's Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh

Professor Adnan Custovic MD PhD FRCP FMedSci

Professor of Paediatric Allergy, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, St Mary’s Campus Medical School

Professor Deborah Gill PhD

Professor of Gene Medicine, Gene Medicine Research Group, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford

Professor Ed Johnstone MBChB PhD MRCOG

Professor of Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine, St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester and Head of Department, University of Manchester Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre

Professor Juan Kaski MD(Res) FRCP FESC

Professor of Paediatric Inherited Cardiovascular Medicine & Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist, UCL/GOSH Centre for Paediatric Inherited and Rare Cardiovascular Disease, Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Childhood

Professor Pablo Lamata PhD

Professor in Biomedical Engineering, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow, Department of Biomedical Engineering, King's College London

Professor Robert McFarland MA MBBS PhD MRCP FRCPCH

Professor of Paediatric Mitochondrial Medicine, Action Medical Research Professor of Neuromuscular Disease, Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research, Translational and Clinical Research, Newcastle University.

Associate Professor Nazima Pathan PhD FRCP

Associate Professor of Paediatric Intensive Care, University Department of Paediatrics, Addenbrookes Hospital

Dr Padmanabha Ramnarayan MD FRCPCH FFICM

Reader in Paediatric Critical Care, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College and St Mary's Hospital London 

Dr Claire Thornton PhD

Reader in Neurobiology, Dept of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London

Professor Brigitte Vollmer Dr.med PhD FRCPCH

Professor of Perinatal and Developmental Neurology, Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, University of Southampton 

Scientific Advisory Panel for joint Action Medical Research/LifeArc applications for Summer 2024 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 Stephanie Schorge PhD

Professor of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London

Panel

Professor Simon Bailey MBChB MRCP (Paediatrics) PhD

Professor of Paediatric Neuro-Oncology, Sir James Spence Institute of Child Health, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne

Professor Joanne Blair MB; ChB MRCP MRCPCH MD

Professor of Endocrinology, Department of Endocrinology, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool

Professor James Boardman MBBS PhD FRCPCH

Professor of Neonatal Medicine, University of Edinburgh/MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, Queen's Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh

Professor Adnan Custovic MD PhD FRCP FMedSci

Professor of Paediatric Allergy, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, St Mary’s Campus Medical School

Dr Thorsten Forster PhD

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

Professor Deborah Gill PhD

Professor of Gene Medicine, Gene Medicine Research Group, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford

Professor Pablo Lamata PhD

Professor in Biomedical Engineering, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow, Department of Biomedical Engineering, King's College London

Professor Robert McFarland MA MBBS PhD MRCP FRCPCH

Professor of Paediatric Mitochondrial Medicine, Action Medical Research Professor of Neuromuscular Disease, Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research, Translational and Clinical Research, Newcastle University.

Dr Andy Merritt PhD CChem

Head of Chemistry, Associate Director, LifeArc, SBC Open Innovation Campus, Stevenage

Dr Padmanabha Ramnarayan MD FRCPCH 

Reader in Paediatric Critical Care, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College and St Mary's Hospital London 

Professor Felicity Rose PhD FHEA 

Professor of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham

Professor Brigitte Vollmer Dr.med PhD FRCPCH

Professor of Perinatal and Developmental Neurology, Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, University of Southampton