Our Trustees and Honorary Trustees
Our Trustees, headed by leading City financier Keith Jones, ensures that Oracle fulfils its charitable objectives, maintains the highest governance and complies with all the regulatory requirements. We are incredibly grateful to our Trustees for giving their time freely and providing so much support, knowledge and help.
Keith Jones, Chair
Keith was formerly CEO of Aviva Global Investors (previously Morley Fund Management) and has held a number of senior executive director and Board positions during his career in the industry, including Chairman of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) investment committee, and Board directorships at Lazards, James Capel & Co and National Provident Institution.
He was more recently a board member of F&C Asset Management Group plc and Just Retirement Group, and an adviser to Lloyds Banking Group plc on its asset management and insurance businesses. He is currently an adviser to Permira, as well as Chairman of Pemberton Asset Management, a Non-Executive Director at Aon, Smith & Williamson and Chairman of Haitong Securities (UK), the first Chinese Investment Bank in Europe.
Keith was treated for nasopharyngeal cancer in 2000.
Nicola Ridges-Jones, Trustee
Nicola Ridges-Jones was appointed to the Board in February 2017 and has been a long-term passionate supporter of Oracle Cancer Trust. Nicola has raised over £100,000 for Oracle Cancer Trust over the past ten years in memory of her father, Fredrick, who died from throat cancer.
Nicola is Managing Director of MS Holdings, and is involved in commercial and residential property management as well as a number of non-executive roles.
James Robertson, Trustee
After a career in Corporate Finance and Strategy consulting, James is currently Managing Director of WG Carter Ltd, a specialist building contractor focused on the refurbishment and extension of country houses is Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds. He has previously held Non Executive Director positions in Cyber Security and Food Packaging companies.
James was treated for Cancer of the Tonsils by the ENT team in Oxford in 2008. Subsequently he was a committee member of Heads up, an Oxford based Head and Neck charity, prior to Heads up merging with Oracle in 2018. After four years serving on Oracle's Finance and Investment Committee, James became a Trustee of Oracle in 2022.
Professor Gus Alusi, Trustee
Professor Ghassan Alusi is an eminent Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon. He is a Consultant Otolaryngologist, Head and Neck Surgeon at Barts and The London NHS Trust, an Honorary Professor at the William Harvey Institute, Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry and a Honorary Consultant Surgeon, University College Hospital. He is deeply involved in research into image guided surgery, for which he was awarded a PhD by Leicester University.
Ali Hansford, Trustee
Ali is Director of Regulatory Policy & Strategy for Europe at Accumulus Synergy, a nonprofit industry member association working on behalf of Life Science Organisations and Health Authorities to address the global need for digital transformation.
After completing a PhD in Immunology, Ali gained many years’ experience working in health evidence and policy roles, across the academic, charity and pharmaceutical sectors.
Ali is passionate about raising awareness of cancer risk factors and addressing inequalities in service provision, having published papers on these topics during her time working at Prostate Cancer UK.
Dr Mehmet Sen, Trustee
Dr. Mehmet Sen completed his medical and specialist radiotherapy training in Istanbul, Turkey. He later sub-specialized in the treatment of head and neck cancer and was appointed Professor of Radiation Oncology and Clinical Lead for the Head and Neck Cancer Unit at Dokuz Eylul University Medical School in Izmir, Turkey.
He moved to the UK in 2004, joining Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust as Consultant Clinical Oncologist. As a part of this role, Dr. Sen supports the Huddersfield and Calderdale breast multi-disciplinary team, delivering radiotherapy for breast cancer. He also specializes in head and neck cancer and is lead clinician for the radiotherapy service.
Dr. Sen has published widely and retains his academic interest in the use of chemo-radiation to treat head and neck cancers.
Toby Amis, Trustee
Toby has a long history working in financial services with roles for Midland & HSBC bank trading currencies through to Reuters, Thomson Reuters, Refinitiv and more recently London Stock Exchange Group. A variety of roles spanning product strategy and management, design and consulting, sales and leading large teams has enabled him to working with the largest global banks through to the most technical of boutique hedge funds.
Toby enjoys meeting new people and bringing his energy to the table for collaboration and partnerships. Building and leading large teams to create strategy, deliver game changing product launches into the market and supporting multi-billion pound revenue streams across financial desktop platforms businesses.
After experiencing cancer in his vocal chords in 2021 Toby is now committed to raising awareness and working with our corporate partners to deliver on Oracle's purpose and tackling Head and Neck Cancer.
Gareth Thomas, Trustee
With over 30 years working with Healthcare data and technology, Gareth is passionate about health and improving patient outcomes for all. He is a partner with Positive Momentum helping clients accelerate growth and optimise individual and organisation performance. He is also an experienced coach and mentor.
As managing director, Gareth led Wilmington Healthcare in enabling the NHS and its commercial partners to work better together. Prior to this he held senior commercial and leadership roles in global healthcare data and technology businesses focused on supporting the life sciences industry.
Gareth is looking to bring his strategic approach and expertise to Oracle Cancer Trust enabling greater access to effective diagnosis and treatment for those diagnosed with Head and Neck cancers.
Professor Kevin Harrington - Honorary Trustee
Kevin Harrington is a Professor of Biological Cancer Therapies at Cancer Research UK and The Royal Marsden Hospital. He specialises in developing new treatments using viruses that selectively destroy cancer cells. He is a Senior Lecturer at The Institute of Cancer Research and an Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
After studying medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, he began focusing on head and neck cancer while a PhD student at Hammersmith Hospital.
Much of Professor Harrington's laboratory work is immediately translated into clinical trials at The Royal Marsden, most often in patients with head and neck cancers and melanomas.
Professor Harrington is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists.
In his infrequent spare time, he enjoys gardening, playing and watching football, and reading.
Professor Christopher Nutting, Honorary Trustee
Christopher Nutting is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden, and Professor of Clinical Oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research.
He was awarded a first class BSc Honours in Medicine and Cell Pathology, from the University of London in 1989 and an MBBS from the University of London in 1992. In 1995 he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians and he is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists.
Professor Nutting is a world leading Consultant Oncologist based in London UK. Operating from his Central and West London practices, he specialises in the management of cancer of the head and neck, thyroid, thorax and other forms.
He is an expert in solid cancer treatment with state of the art radiotherapy techniques such as conformal and intensity modulated radiotherapy designed to reduce complications of treatment and improve cure rates.
Professor Vin Paleri - Honorary Trustee
Professor Paleri is one of the UK’s leading head and neck surgeons with specialist knowledge of Transoral Robotic Surgery. He has pioneered a new robotic technique to remove throat cancers that recur following previous treatment and is the first surgeon in the UK to perform robotic free flap reconstructions. Vin is passionate about research and is currently researching new minimally invasive techniques to treat head and neck cancers. He is also supervising the UK’s first funded robotic surgery research which is being part-funded by Oracle Cancer Trust and ENT-UK.
Dr Kate Newbold - Honorary Trustee
Dr Kate Newbold is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist specialising in the treatment of patients with cancer of the head & neck and thyroid. Based in London, UK, Dr Newbold operates primarily from the Royal Marsden Hospital as well as several other hospitals in central London including the BUPA Cromwell Hospital.
Dr Newbold qualified from the University of Bristol in 1996, and carried out general medical training in Bristol and Cheltenham. She completed her specialist oncology training at The Royal Marsden and Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals in London.
She undertook research at The Royal Marsden between 2003 and 2005, and was awarded an M.D. (Res) in 2007. Her research interests include functional imaging applied to the oncological management of head & neck cancer, dosimetric delivery of radioiodine and novel systemic therapies for advanced thyroid cancer.
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Oracle Cancer Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales (1142037). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (7125497). Registered address: 80 Coombe Road, New Malden KT3 4QS