Our Strategic Leadership Team

Chief Executive, Henny Braund

When Henny joined Anthony Nolan in 2009, she set out a bold ambition to transform the registry’s ability to meet patient need. Early on, Henny established a far-reaching new strategy that included a radical transformation of Anthony Nolan’s brand and communications. Inspired by the passion and commitment of Anthony Nolan’s staff, Henny works to build on the charity’s rich history and secure it a successful future. 

At Anthony Nolan, Henny works with staff at all levels, Trustees and supporters, as well as with external stakeholders, such as government departments. She sees it as her role to deliver our vision, champion our cause, and to inspire people to help our lifesaving work. Henny was named as the Charity Times Charity Principal of the Year in 2013 and has steered the charity to several awards including Charity Times’ Charity of the Year in 2012. 

Previously Resources Director at Shelter, the housing charity, Henny draws on 20 years’ experience in the voluntary sector. She is a former Trustee for the Small Charities Coalition and was Chair for Aids and Housing (Health and Housing). She has also been a Trustee for Thames Reach and Shelter Trading. 

Henny is a current Board member of World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) and The Mix. 

Laboratory Director and Senior Research Scientist, Dr Katy Latham

Dr Katy Latham is our Laboratory Director and Senior Research Scientist. She is responsible for the charity’s histocompatibility and immunogenetics services. Katy started her career as a research and development scientist in the biotech industry, later gaining her PhD in Transplantation Genetics at the University of Manchester. For her thesis, Katy investigated the role of genotyping in predicting renal graft survival, working in collaboration with the NHS and industry. Katy has many years’ experience in her field, largely earned as a Clinical Scientist with the Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust and by gaining the FRCPath.

At Anthony Nolan, Katy is working to push the boundaries of HLA testing for the charity’s register, by implementing new technologies and achieving high throughput of new donors added to our register. Katy also leads on a collaboration project with NHS Blood & Transplant, making her role key to improving the provision of UK bone marrow donors for blood cancer patients both in the UK and worldwide.

Operations and Patient Services Director, Nic Alderson

Nic Alderson joined Anthony Nolan in December 2013 and is responsible for the operations of the organisation. This involves the management of the aligned register, the process of finding a match for patients, ensuring our donors are looked after both before and during the donation process, and the cord blood collection programme. Nic is also responsible for the Patient Services team, which provides support and information to patients and families at every stage of the ‘transplant journey’ – from the point they are told they need a transplant, right through to long-term recovery.

Nic is leading the team in Operations and Patient Services to continually improve our practice to ensure we can provide much-needed stem cells for patients in the quickest and most effective way, both in the UK and internationally.

Nic has 20 years' experience in the charity sector, having previously worked at Save the Children, Positively Women, Refugee Council, and Shelter, and joined Anthony Nolan after five years at the NSPCC where she was Director of Planning and Performance and led on the programme management of the delivery of the children's services.
 

Scientific Director, Anthony Nolan and Professor of Haematology, Royal Free Hospital , Professor J Alejandro Madrigal MD, PhD, FRCP, FRCPath, DSc, HonDSci, FMedSci

Professor Madrigal joined Anthony Nolan in 1993. Since then, he has created the Anthony Nolan Research Institute, which is recognised as one of the world’s leading stem cell research institutes. 

He has received many prestigious awards for his work and published over 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals (with more than 3,000 citations). He led AlloStem, as Chair and Co-Ordinator, the largest EU-funded project for immunotherapy, for four years (2004-2008). His main objectives are improving the outcome of stem cell transplants and to find new tools for cell therapy. He is a former President of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT, 2010-2014).

Over the years, Professor Madrigal feels that Anthony Nolan has become a highly renowned, science-based organisation, which has improved its interactions with the community as a whole. He is proud of the educational aspect of our work, which involves sharing knowledge and helping other countries to set up their own registers. His work brings him the greatest satisfaction when he sees a patient survive with a good quality of life after a transplant.

Director of Bioinformatics, Deputy Director of Research & Co-Director of Histocompatibility Laboratories, Anthony Nolan and Professor of Immunogenetics, UCL Cancer Institute, Professor Steven GE Marsh BSc, PhD, ARCS

Prof Marsh is Deputy Director of Research and Head of Immunogenetics at the Anthony Nolan Research Institute and Co-Director of our Histocompatibility Laboratory. He is also Professor of Immunogenetics at University College London and Chairman of the World Health Organization (WHO) Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System, and the WHO/IUIS Nomenclature Committee for Killer-cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptors (KIR). He is currently a President of the International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop, President of the British Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (BSHI) and formerly President of the European Federation for Immunogenetics (EFI). In 2016 he became Editor-in-Chief of the journal HLA (formerly Tissue Antigens).

The aim of his research group is to improve the outcome of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation by understanding genetic differences, particularly the matching of HLA and KIR genes, between patients and donors. This work is undertaken by both bioinformatics and laboratory-based projects. He initiated the IPD-IMGT/HLA and IPD-KIR Databases, which are the worldwide resource for HLA and KIR sequences.

Medical Director, Chloe Anthias

Dr Chloe Anthias joined Anthony Nolan in 2014 as a Medical Officer to undertake an MD(Res) degree at UCL where she completed her thesis on the care of related stem cell donors before being appointed as Medical Director in 2015. Chloe is responsible for providing medical support throughout the organisation and works closely with the Operations team caring for our donors at each stage of their journey through the donation process. 
 
After completing her degree in Medicine at the University of Bristol, Chloe completed her medical training in New Zealand and London before specialising in Stem Cell Transplantation. Chloe now performs a split role, working part time at Anthony Nolan and part time at The Royal Marsden Hospital where she works as a Haemato-Oncology Consultant with a special interest in Transplantation. She believes this joint role provides strength to both organisations, bringing Anthony Nolan’s expertise in donor selection and donor health to the Hospital, and bringing clinical transplant expertise into Anthony Nolan.

Chief Information Officer, Danny Attias

Danny Attias is responsible for realising Anthony Nolan’s digital technology potential and driving change initiatives in the organisation. Accountable for all aspects of technology strategy and delivery, he is passionate about utilising innovative technology to enrich the lives of all the people who are a part of making Anthony Nolan great.

Danny is an energetic and enthusiastic personality who often presents at technology leadership forums. He has been an early adopter and strong proponent of cloud based services, agile project delivery and the use of analytics to create success.

Having read Chemical Engineering at Loughborough University Danny joined the John Lewis Partnership where he spent 9 fruitful years as a Partner in their Waitrose Division; ultimately taking a leadership role in store technical infrastructure. Most recently Danny held the role of Global CIO at the Grass Roots Group, a leading employee and customer engagement solutions provider, which owns such brands as Cyclescheme, Care-4 and Bonusbonds. He has been a part of the Anthony Nolan team since May 2016.

Finance and Resources Director, Gareth Morgan

I joined Anthony Nolan as Finance & Resources Director in June 2018. Prior to that I was Director of Finance & Operations at the Institute for Government, a small Think Tank aiming to improve the process of government. My role there encompassed finance, HR, IT and looking after a Grade II* listed building.

Heathgate Place may not be listed but the breadth of that role stood me in good stead for taking on my responsibilities at Anthony Nolan! Prior to that I worked as Finance Director at Penrose Housing Association and started my life in the charity sector as Head of Finance at Shelter in 2002.

I'm a qualified chartered accountant and spent 11 years in practice auditing a variety of organisations from the Royal Bank of Scotland to the Royal British Legion. 

Photo credit: Chantal Scurr