“I am proud and privileged to be the chairman of Melanoma focus-a charity which aims to makes a real difference to the lives of patients with melanoma and to the healthcare professionals who look after them.’’

Biography

Dr Mark Harries is a Consultant in Medical Oncology at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital and an honorary senior lecturer at King’s College London School of Medicine.  He specialises in the treatment of Melanoma and Breast Cancer. He graduated from Cambridge University and underwent clinical training at the Royal London Hospital. He trained in Medical Oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital and completed a PhD and post-doctoral work in the Department of Immunology at University College, London. His research interests include immunotherapy for melanoma and breast cancer as well as clinical trials of new biological agents for these diseases. He is lead investigator on a number of clinical trials and has published over 50 papers.

Biography

Mr Howard Peach qualified from Bristol in 1989, completing a skin cancer fellowship at the Sydney Melanoma Unit, Australia. In 2003 he was appointed as a consultant Plastic Surgeon in Leeds. He has been actively involved in establishing a comprehensive skin cancer service for the region, including sentinel node biopsy, isolated limb infusion and electrochemotherapy. He continues to develop regional and national guidelines for the management of skin cancer, including a recent national consensus document on sentinel node biopsy. He was instrumental in developing a national skin cancer fellowship and continues to participate in clinical trials and publishing articles.

Biography

Professor Catherine Harwood is a Consultant Dermatologist in the Centre for Cell Biology and Cutaneous Research, Blizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust. She qualified in Medicine from the University of Cambridge and St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School, London. Her training in dermatology was at Westminster Hospital, St John’s Institute of Dermatology, St George’s Hospital and Barts and the London NHS Trust. Her main clinical and research interests are related to skin cancer, particularly in immunosuppressed individuals.

Biography

Dr Miranda Payne is a Consultant in Medical Oncology with expertise in the systemic treatment of melanoma, the consequences of immunotherapy, the multidisciplinary management of mucosal melanoma and cancer vaccine clinical trials. Miranda took a first in Physiology from Oxford University, completed clinical training in 1999 and was awarded a CRUK Clinical Fellowship in 2006, leading to a DPhil in Medical Oncology. Miranda has been an Oncology Consultant for over a decade. She is passionate about advancing cancer treatments through innovative and ethical research and overcoming barriers to trial participation. She is a previous Medical Oncology Training Programme Director and Clinical Lead for her department,  was an elected member of the National Cancer Research Institute Skin Group, is a co-author of the NICE-accredited national UK guidelines for the management of Ano-uro-genital Mucosal and Head & Neck Mucosal Melanoma, chaired the Melanoma Focus patient guide and has been an editor of the Oxford Handbook of Oncology for over 20 years.

Biography

Imogen Cheese is a melanoma patient based in Gloucestershire. She was diagnosed with stage 2C melanoma in June 2013. Imogen created a website blog shortly after diagnosis, www.melanomarollercoaster.co.uk, and subsequently become involved in patient awareness & knowledge of melanoma.

She serves as an advocacy representative at numerous conferences and events across Europe, helps provide the PPI representation for many research initiatives and is dedicated to improving patient engagement within clinical trials, specifically relating to patient care and access to quality across the UK.

She is Founder of the Melanoma Patient Conference, an annual conference aimed at patients. The conference provides an opportunity to learn about melanoma and current treatment options and to gain access to support all over the UK. It is attended by more than 200 patients, carers, and medical professionals and has formed a platform that is impartial, empowering, and motivating.

Imogen has been a trustee for Melanoma Focus for about 4 years now, having been encouraged by Founder Simon Rodwell to bring her patient perspective to the trustee board. Professionally Imogen Cheese works as Director of Business Development UK & Europe for Imperial CRS a US based clinical company. Her role is to work with clients providing support on Patient Recruitment & Engagement, Translation & Ancillary Study Supplies for global clinical trials.

I am very proud to be a trustee of melanoma focus. As a member I have found it to be extremely important resource for health care professionals and patients alike. The Melanoma Helpline has provided many patients with vital information and support at what is often a very difficult and stressful time

Biography

Jackie Hodgetts is a Nurse Clinician at The Christie Hospital in Manchester, where she has worked since 1988 when she was employed as a Research Nurse working with lung cancer and melanoma patients. In 2009 she completed a Master’s degree in Clinical Practice, and since then has worked with melanoma patients, assessing and supporting them through treatment, as well as managing their toxicities.
Jackie has been involved in multiple trials of melanoma treatments, including the early studies of BRAF inhibitors and other targeted therapies. She was also involved in early studies with CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies and has since treated many patients with these therapies. Consequently she has developed expertise in melanoma treatments and the management of their side effects. Jackie has published two articles on melanoma in Cancer Nursing Practice and The Nursing Times, and has jointly published a paper on understanding and managing immune-related adverse events.
She also leads the team of expert nurses who work on the Melanoma Focus Helpline.

Biography

Caroline Stevens is proud to be a trustee of Melanoma Focus and hopes to support the charity’s future growth and development. In 2022, her husband, Mark, was diagnosed with nodular melanoma. Like many melanoma patients, and their families, their journey has been a roller coaster of highs and lows. Caroline and her family benefited from the support of Melanoma Focus at the time of Mark’s diagnosis and during his subsequent immunotherapy treatment.

Professionally, Caroline started her career as a community and hospital pharmacist, later moving into hospital pharmacy management. She then became an operating theatre manager and hospital Managing Director.

In 2009 she moved in the charity sector as a senior director at The British Lung Foundation, then Chief Executive at a children’s disability charity, KIDS. Since 2019 she has been the Chief Executive at The National Autistic Society, a UK wide charity supporting autistic people and their families.

Caroline has had wide experience of both executive and non-executive roles in charities. She is currently also a Non-Executive Director for an NHS Hospital Trust and a trustee at an independent specialist college for autistic young people.

Biography

Carl Horrobin is a melanoma patient based on the Wirral. He was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma in February 2016, which progressed to stage 4 in January 2018 when metastatic melanoma was discovered in his lungs. Following successful immunotherapy treatment Carl has now been all clear for over 6 years.

He has been heavily involved with the Media and Communications team at the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity through patient advocacy at fundraising events and promoting their immunotherapy team on regional and national television.

His experience has instilled in him a passion for helping others who find themselves in the same situation, with a particular interest in those people whose treatment has been successful but find their lives impacted by lasting side effects.

Professionally, Carl is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and has 25 years’ experience in finance positions in the Leisure, Retail and Food Industries. He is currently employed as a Finance Consultant within the Food Ingredients Industry.

Biography

In his late 20s, George was unexpectedly diagnosed with stage 2B melanoma. He remains in active follow-up.

After graduating from Cambridge, George started his career working in healthcare, medical devices and pharmaceuticals as a strategy consultant (Monitor Deloitte) before moving onto work in the medtech space. He has experience working with NHS and Macmillan Cancer Support. More recently, George has contributed to NICE’s Skin Cancer Standards, is on Guys and Thomas’ Cancer Board and is a member of BAD’s AI working party group.

George is currently Managing Director of OxEd, a spinout from Oxford University, that works with over 10,000 schools globally. One of OxEd’s missions is to break the link between family income and the educational outcomes of children. He passionately believes in this mission, and hopes that the link between family income and cancer outcomes can also be broken.

Biography

Kayley is digital marketing operations lead at manifesto, a digital experience agency for changemakers. She has a wealth of experience in digital marketing strategy, including beneficiary research, website improvements, and online advertising for fundraising, advocacy and acquisition. Her expertise includes planning, execution and measurement of online advertising, to ensure that charities invest wisely, track the impact of investment and make ongoing improvements with eyes on both scale and efficiency. She has worked with a range of large and small charities on understanding their goals, audiences, and digital estate to help them better serve their beneficiaries and meet their organisational objectives.

She was driven to work with Melanoma Focus due to family experience of melanoma, and a desire to be part of raising awareness of signs and symptoms, as well as supporting professionals to provide the best treatment they can.

"I feel proud and privileged to have the opportunity to serve on the Board of Melanoma Focus. As a patient who is keen to raise awareness of the condition, help to prevent others getting it and keen to see better outcomes for people who do, the charity embraces everything that I consider to be important."

Biography

Willie Munro lives in Scotland and has retired from a career in the public sector. He is experienced in governance and working within regulatory and legislative frameworks, sitting on and chairing committees and boards. Throughout his career he led strategic planning and action planning, monitoring and review in a range of different topics. He has experience in project management, performance management and risk management. During his career, he particularly enjoyed achieving positive outcomes through collaborative working across departments, other public sector agencies, charities and voluntary bodies, business and community.

He has also served for several years on the Board of a National Public Body and, as part of this, chaired a Finance and Delivery Committee and a Performance Committee.

He was diagnosed with melanoma in 2015 and had an axillary dissection. Four years later, he had a recurrence and further surgery followed by a year of immunotherapy, the side effects of which have left him with a life long, potentially life threatening condition to manage. A further 5 years on, he had a second primary melanoma.

Since his diagnosis, he has been active in raising awareness of melanoma, its seriousness, prevention and early recognition and diagnosis

“I’m living proof that spotting things early saves lives. So if in doubt, check it out.”

Biography

Sir Chris Bryant is a British politician, since 2001 he has served as a member of parliament for Rhondda. He graduated from Oxford, where he read English and further went on to obtain an additional degree in Theology from Ripton College Cuddesdon. From 2008-2009 Chris served as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and under-secretary state for Europe and Asia from 2009-2010. From 2015-2016 Chris served as Shadow Culture Secretary and shadow Leader of the House of Commons.

In 2019 after finding an unusual mole on the back of his head, Chris was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma. Chris underwent surgery and received adjuvant treatment.

You can watch our interview between Chris and Dr Mark Harries, Chair of Melanoma Focus here.

Alongside his role in parliament, Chris dedicates a lot of his time to raise vital awareness about Melanoma. He uses own experiences to talk openly about early detection and prevention. Chris was awarded a Knighthood in the 2022 New Year’s Honours list, this achievement was in part a recognition for his work with melanoma charities, along with the campaigning he has carried out for his many other passions.

Biography

Susanna is honoured and privileged to lead Melanoma Focus as CEO, bringing over two decades of experience as the Principal Cancer Services Pharmacist in a leading teaching hospital and then in Pharma. Passionate about improving cancer care, she has worked closely with clinicians, nurses, and patients to enhance and improve cancer patient pathways. Now, she channels this expertise and unwavering dedication into advancing the mission of Melanoma Focus by providing key resources, education, and support to the skin cancer multidisciplinary team, patients, their support persons, and the general public.

Biography

Fiona is the Fundraising Manager at Melanoma Focus and comes from a background in healthcare charities. She supports individuals, groups and companies that want to get involved with Melanoma Focus through fundraising events, donations and partnerships.

Biography

Jenn is the Office Manager, leveraging her extensive decade-long background in charitable organisations, predominantly within Australia’s health sector. Jenn has the responsibility of spearheading operations pertaining to the Melanoma Helpline and various facets of the charity’s day-to-day operations.

Biography

Jorden manages the digital marketing at Melanoma Focus, this includes managing our social media channels, email marketing, website and digital campaigns. She has marketing experience working with various charities and has a Masters in Marketing Communications and Branding.

Biography

Emma manages all events at Melanoma Focus, for both healthcare professionals and patients. With over 10 years’ experience in the events industry, she has worked across a range of sectors, including start-ups, venue management, exhibitions, and large-scale community events.

Biography

Emma works on our Trusts and Grants programme and brings over 15 years of trust fundraising experience from various charities, including medical research, health, disability and youth. She will focus on continuing with our trust work whilst also securing funding for our future projects.

Biography

Nikita works on the Melanoma TrialFinder at Melanoma Focus. She is a pharmacist by background, with over 10 years’ experience and a speciality in cancer. She trained in the hospital setting, going on to support patients with their cancer treatments, as well as helping to co-ordinate the set-up of clinical trial protocols within the cancer centre.