We have several media spokespeople who are able to comment on a range of issues experienced by patients with blood cancer, or blood disorders, who receive stem cell transplants.
The topics we can help with include:
- Stem cell and bone marrow transplantation
- Stem cell donor matching
- Research
- The long-term effects of stem cell transplant
- Cell and gene therapies
- Cancer policy
- NHS policy
- Fundraising
- Thought leadership
Our Chief Executive Henny Braund, colleagues from the Anthony Nolan Research Institute, Anthony Nolan Cell & Gene Therapies and our Policy and Public Affairs team are also available for longer form written pieces on thought leadership.
Please get in touch with our press team on 020 0207 424 1300 or press@anthonynolan.org.
Henny Braund MBE, Chief Executive
Henny Braund MBE 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.
Caitlin Farrow, Director of Strategy and Influencing
Caitlin Farrow joined Anthony Nolan in 2019 and is responsible for our work engaging politicians and policymakers in the breadth of our work. Caitlin's work focuses on effecting change at Government and NHS-level to improve the lives of people with blood cancer.
Prior to working at Anthony Nolan Caitlin held senior strategy and policy positions in the social housing sector. She is a trustee at Health Improvement Project Zanzibar.
Professor Steven GE Marsh (BSc, PhD, ARCS), Chief Bioinformatics and Immunogenetics Officer at Anthony Nolan and Professor of Immunogenetics, UCL Cancer Institute
Prof Marsh is Chief Bioinformatics and Immunogenetics. At the Anthony Nolan Research Institute 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.
Ann O'Leary, Director of Donor and Transplantation Services
Ann O’Leary is 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.