Spokespeople

Just some of the people you can speak to about our key issues

If you’d like an expert comment, please get in touch at press@anthonynolan.org or 0207 424 1300 (Out of hours: 07881 265 285)

Henny Braund, Chief Executive

Henny Braund became Chief Executive of Anthony Nolan in January 2009. Henny works with staff at all levels: trustees and supporters, as well as external stakeholders such as government departments. She sees it as her role to deliver our vision, champion our cause, and inspire people to help our lifesaving work.

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

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Ann O'Leary, Assistant Director of Donor and Transplantation Services

Ann O’Leary is Assistant Director of Donor and Transplantation Services at Anthony Nolan, and is responsible for overseeing the finding and facilitating of matches, as well as the donation process and support for those donating. Ann has been working in the area of altruistic donation for 11 years, having spent 4 years as Specialist Donor Recruiter with the Irish Blood Transfusion Service before moving to Anthony Nolan in 2010.

Ann is available to discuss issues around the need for donors, the finding and facilitating of donor matches and the donation process.

Amelia Chong, Policy and Public Affairs Manager

Amelia Chong joined Anthony Nolan’s Policy and Public Affairs Team in November 2016. She is responsible for promoting understanding of Anthony Nolan’s lifesaving work among political audiences and wider stakeholders, as well as managing policy development and overseeing the organisation’s campaigning activity, all with the aim of improving the lives of blood cancer patients.

Before joining us, Amelia held a number of positions within the policy and campaigns arena, most recently working for another medical research charity.

Rebecca Pritchard, Assistant Director of Engagement (Register Development)

Rebecca Pritchard is Anthony Nolan’s Head of Register Development and regularly speaks to media about the role of the charity’s register in matching potential donors to blood cancer and blood disorder patients in need of stem cell transplants.

Rebecca has worked at Anthony Nolan for three years and, as well as overseeing the recruitment and retention of potential donors on the Anthony Nolan Register, Rebecca is responsible for ensuring the charity engages with young male as well as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic audiences.

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

Professor Steven Marsh

Prof Marsh is Director of Bioinformatics and Deputy Director of Research at the Anthony Nolan Research Institute where he heads the HLA Informatics Group and leads the Bioinformatics and Immunogenetics research. 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 a Past-President of the International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop, Honorary 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.

Dr Neema Mayor, Head of Immunogenetics Research, HLA Informatics Group

Dr Neema Mayor is a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist at the Anthony Nolan Research Institute and manages a team of lab-based scientists and students looking at ways to improve the outcome of stem cell transplants to treat blood cancer and blood disorders.

Dr Mayor leads the Patient/Donor project, an ongoing study that aims to identify genetic and clinical factors that impact on stem cell transplant outcome. This study has made several significant findings that have shaped Anthony Nolan’s donor recruitment and selection strategies, for example confirming that donors under 30 provide better outcomes for patients. Dr Mayor’s team has demonstrated the importance of matching for an additional gene that was historically not considered to have any impact on transplant prognoses. Anthony Nolan now routinely types all new donors for this gene.

Dr Mayor’s current research looks at how matching donors and patients using a new method in Anthony Nolan’s Clinical Laboratories impacts on the outcome of the stem cell transplant, as well as looking for new genetic markers that may be associated with better survival prognoses.