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Dr Gail Horan is Chair of the CCRF Scientific Advisory Board. She is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn (from 2007). Gail is the Radiotherapy Lead for Sarcoma and Paediatrics at Addenbrooke’s and for Uro-oncology at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Her main clinical interests are in all aspects of urology oncology, rarer tumours (sarcoma, myeloma) and total body irradiation. She is the Principal Investigator (PI) for several clinical trials, especially involving advanced radiotherapy techniques.
Dr Sally George is a Paediatric Oncologist and a CRUK Clinician Scientist with an interest in paediatric solid tumours, specifically the common, poor outcome childhood tumour, neuroblastoma. In 2021, Dr George was awarded a CRUK Clinician Scientist Fellowship. Her laboratory-based research is focused on gaining a better understanding of how key changes during foetal development result in neuroblastoma in children – and using this knowledge to identify new treatments for children who are not cured by currently available therapies.
Trung is an Australian consultant paediatric oncologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, UK. He specialises in the management of soft tissue sarcomas, Langerhans cell histiocytosis and histocytic disorders, and rare tumours and cancers in the paediatric and adolescent population. His current research pertains to the use of emerging and experimental treatments in children with cancer.
Dr Kyle Matchett is a Lecturer in Molecular Immunology and Principal Investigator (PI) at the School of Medicine, Ulster University. In 2015, Dr Matchett was appointed as a Leukaemia and Leukaemia NI Postdoctoral Research Fellow following an increasing interest in haematology. His research focused on developing novel therapeutics for paediatric and adult acute myeloid leukaemia. This work has been recognised both nationally and internationally with a number of grants, invited talks and awards.
Dr Katherine Finegan is Senior Lecturer in Cancer Biology & Therapy at The University of Manchester. She is a cellular signalling expert with over 15 years of experience working in translational research. Her research interest is the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), which are signalling proteins that regulate all aspects of cell biology, with particular focus on a member of that protein family – ERK5 – and its contribution to cancer development and fibrotic disease.
Prof. Helen Bryant is Senior Lecturer and Head of The DNA replication and repair group at the University of Sheffield. Prof. Bryant has worked in genome biology for 20 years. Prof. Bryant’s area of specialism is understanding the control of the fidelity of DNA replication in normal cells and why defects in the proteins involved are associated with cancer. Her aim is to pinpoint differences between dividing tumour cells and dividing normal cells and determine which are important in cancer development. This has enabled the development of drugs which can specifically kill the tumour cells rather than just all dividing cells, also known as personalized therapy.
Dr Ghorashian qualified from Oxford University and undertook haematology training at the Hammersmith and Royal Free Hospitals. She obtained a PhD at University College London (UCL) in the use of gene-engineered T cells for cancer immunotherapy. More recently, her post-doctoral studies at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health involved translation of CD19CAR T cells as therapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) from bench to bedside.
Nancy, 11, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma when she was just 2 years old. She was treated with Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) in Germany but unfortunately relapsed less than a year later. The family were then sent to Germany for a second round of PBT. Although treatment helped to cure Nancy’s cancer, she has been left with lots of lasting effects which will require ongoing treatment throughout her life. Here Nancy and her mum, Antonia, share their story in the hope it will help others, raise awareness, and raise more money for children’s cancer research.
Why I am a Trustee of CCRF
I have spent my professional career representing individuals and families affected by the devastating asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma, which has no cure and for which there are only a limited number of palliative treatments available on the NHS.
I joined CCRF because I wanted to bring my understanding of the need to raise awareness of less well known cancers and passion for the need to secure improved funding for research to children facing a cancer diagnosis.
My role on the Board
I am responsible for oversight of our collaboration agreements with other charities to co-fund research into cures and treatments for childhood cancers. I also manage our challenge events and help with community fundraising.
My Background
I am a Senior Associate at Irwin Mitchell LLP and specialise in Asbestos Disease Litigation, acting on behalf of victims of asbestos related diseases and their families. Over the years, I have undertaken a number of fundraising challenges to raise money for cancer research, including a 1000 mile cycle ride from Glasgow to Southampton.
