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Board of Directors
Myeloma UK is managed by a Board of Directors. The general responsibilities of the board are to ensure that the organisation is meeting its objectives, purposes and working within its powers as stated in its constitution whilst complying with legal obligations under both charity and company law.
Judy Dewinter
Chairman
Judy was Managing Director of the stock broking firm Instinet, where she ran their global equity business. She left her job in the City in 2003 to undergo treatment for myeloma. Judy was initially diagnosed with myeloma five years earlier, aged 33, when living with her family in New York.
Rather than going back to work after her treatment, Judy wanted to use her skills and personal experience of myeloma to help improve the treatment and care of myeloma for patients in the UK. She helped organise a fundraising dinner in 2003 to raise funds for Myeloma UK and has since organised a number of other major donor fundraising events for Myeloma UK, including a 10th Anniversary Gala Dinner, which raised £800,000. Judy also helped establish the Patronage scheme for Myeloma UK.
Judy joined the Board of Directors in January 2004 and was elected as Chairman in 2006.
Judy is married with two children.
Prof Gareth Morgan
PhD, FRCP, FRCPath
Director
Prof Morgan is Professor of Haematology at the Institute of Cancer Research and Head of the Haemato-Oncology Clinical Unit at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation.
Prof Morgan is an internationally respected clinician and researcher and has published extensively on the genetics and treatment of blood cancers. His research has focussed on the translation of information derived from the molecular analysis of the pathogenesis of leukaemic cells into the clinic using novel targeted treatment strategies.
In particular, he has developed strategies for the use of new drugs in the context of standard treatment approaches. He is currently Principal Investigator on a number of Phase I, II and III studies as well as serving on independent data monitoring committees.
He reviews for many journals and sits on a number of grant governing bodies both in the UK and internationally.
Prof Morgan joined the Board of Directors in May 2001. He became Chairman in 2003 and then was President from 2006 to 2009.
Prof Morgan lives in Wimbledon, is married and has two daughters.
Josie Dobrin
Director
Josie was previously a Director of a London communications agency and Press Adviser to Ken Livingstone during his first term as Mayor of London. Josie is now a freelance consultant, providing PR and communications advice for a wide variety of community and faith organisations. She has 15 years experience advising some of Britain’s leading blue chip companies, as well as government, public bodies and charities.
Josie has been involved with Myeloma UK since its inception in 1997. She ran the London Marathon in 1998 raising over £50,000 for Myeloma UK and has since organised numerous fundraising events including a comedy night at London's Comedy Store starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Matt Lucas.
Josie joined the Board of Directors in May 2004.
She is married with three daughters. Her mother was diagnosed with myeloma in 1997.
Prof Gordon Cook
MB.ChB.(Glas), PhD, FRCP(Glas), FRCPath
Director
Prof Cook is a Consultant Haematologist and Myeloma Lead in Yorkshire based at Leeds Teaching Hospitals. He is currently the Chair of the British Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation Clinical Trials Committee, an executive committee member of the UK Myeloma Forum, an executive committee member of the NCRI Haematological Oncology sub group and has been a member of the Myeloma UK Medical Advisory Board for nine years.
He was appointed Professor of Haematology and Myeloma Studies in December 2011.
Future plans include a desire to become more active in advancing the collaboration of haematologists interested in myeloma in the fields of good clinical practice and clinical research. He is the Principal Investigator of the current national myeloma trial, the NCRI Myeloma X clinical study.
Prof Cook joined the Board of Directors in April 2008.
He lives near Leeds with his wife and two daughters.
Prof Atul Mehta
MA, MD, FRCP, FRCPath
Director
Prof Mehta was born in Kenya of Asian parents and came to London at a young age. He trained in medicine at Cambridge University and King's College Hospital, London, qualifying in 1978. His postgraduate training in haematology was largely in London's Hammersmith Hospital and he was appointed to his present post as Consultant Haematologist at the Royal Free Hospital in 1986. He was appointed Professor of the University College London in August 2010.
Prof Mehta became interested in myeloma in 1987 when asked to develop services for myeloma patients at the Royal Free. The department had a very large Clinical Bone Marrow Transplant Service and he collaborated with Prof Tim McElwain and his colleagues at The Royal Marsden to pilot treatment strategies using C-VAMP and high-dose melphalan with autologous bone marrow transplant.
He is also the Clinical Director of the Lysosomal Storage Disorders Unit at the Royal Free. This is one of only six nationally designated units for patients with inherited enzyme deficiencies.
His overriding concern, however, has been to provide high quality services for patients, designed to meet their medical as well as their psycho-social needs.
Prof Mehta joined the Board of Directors in May 2005.
He lives in London, is married and has a daughter.
Dr Jeff Solomon
Director
Dr Solomon has lived in Cambridge for 25 years and has experienced the growth of biotechnology during that time, where he has applied his technical and management skills in the research and development of biotechnology in the food, water and healthcare industries.
In 2000 he founded and until recently was CEO of ERBI, a not-for-profit, privately funded membership organisation formed to help the growing biotechnology community in Cambridge and the East of England. He is also Chair of the Council of European Biotechnology Regions.
Dr Solomon joined the Board of Directors in May 2009 and provides guidance on the strategic development of translating science into clinical practice to ensure new therapeutic products will provide real benefits to myeloma patients.
Jeff lives in Cambridge and is married with two sons.
Dr Stuart WG Smith
Director
Dr Smith has worked in the healthcare sector for more than 20 years, with particular research experience within the areas of leukaemia and auto-immune disease, veterinary and public health.
He has considerable international experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors where he held senior commercial positions with Schering AG and British Biotech PLC.
In 1996 he founded and operated as CEO (1996 - 2003) of Darwin Medical Communications Ltd. which was later sold to Grey Global Group Inc. where he continued in the role of CEO of Darwin Grey. He was one of the co-founders of Bioenvision, Inc. where he served as Senior Vice President (1999 – 2002).
Dr Smith recently set-up World Health Communications Ltd., an Edinburgh based medical education company focussing on haematological malignancies such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. He became involved with Myeloma UK in 2009.
Stuart is also Founder and CEO of the Scottish based charity Developing World Health which is focussed on the treatment of neglected tropical diseases which affect around 16% of the World’s population.
He is currently on the Biotechnology Industry Association (Scotland) Committee and holds a number of academic fellowships including: Fellow of the Linnaean Society, Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences and Fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene.
Dr Smith joined the Board of Directors in February 2011.
He lives near Stirling.
Susan Blair
RGN
Director
Sue qualified as a nurse in 1984 and her early career was spent mainly in haematology and palliative care. She was the nurse transplant coordinator at University College London Hospital for several years before becoming a community based palliative care nurse at St Christopher’s Hospice in London.
After a year as a Macmillan nurse in Macclesfield, she took on the role of Myeloma Clinical Nurse Specialist at The Christie in Manchester.
She currently manages the haematology day unit at The Christie which provides treatment for patients with a wide range of haematological malignancies including myeloma.
Sue has been involved with Myeloma UK since 2001, when she first became a Myeloma Specialist Nurse at The Christie. Sue has hosted seminars for our Patient and Family Myeloma Infodays and is involved with our nurse education programmes.
Sue joined the Board of Directors in November 2010.
Sue lives in Derbyshire with her son and daughter.
