About Me

Charity work • Chief Executive • Health Scientist • Researcher • Author

I have worked in the charitable sector for most of my career.  I am the Chief Executive at The Encephalitis Society.  My PhD is in neuro-narratives and I have been involved in much of the research dedicated to encephalitis and its consequences.

My experience extends to charity/non-profit strategy, policy and leadership; fundraising and major donor relations; public speaking, teaching and lecturing; healthcare; mental health; event management and celebrity/VIP relationships; and social media.

Feedback suggests I am recognised among my peers as a reflective, innovative and dedicated leader whose energy, vision and passion drives forward teams and organisations to deliver high-quality outcomes. 

In 2012 I was honoured to be invited by Her Majesty The Queen to her Diamond Jubilee Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in recognition of my work in Encephalitis, with survivors and their families, and those professionals supporting them.  I was also awarded by the High Sheriff of North Yorkshire for me 'Services to encephalitis'.

In 2019 I was Charity Leader of the Year finalist.  In 2019 I won an Inspiring Communicator Award and was also a Patient Advocate of the Year finalist.  I was a finalist in the Third Sector Awards 'CEO of the Year' in 2018 and a finalist in the 2014 Charity Times Awards ‘Rising CEO Star’ Category.  World Encephalitis Day (an initiative created and led by myself and my team) won Silver in the CIPR Pride Awards in 2014, our use of digital for the campaign won a Digital Impact Award in 2018, a further Charity Times Award in the same year, and in 2019 the campaign won Best Communications Campaign of the Year at the Third Sector Awards.  In 2015 the Encephalitis Society Team won an 'Outstanding Achievement' Award and in 2017 we were voted Charity of the Year by The Charity Times Awards. In 2014, 2017, and 2019 I was voted one of the UK’s Top Social CEOs in an initiative led by The Guardian Newspaper.

Other Positions held:

1. Honorary Fellow, Dept, of Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Liverpool (since 2014).

2. Global COVID-19 Neuro Research Coalition:  Patient and Public Involvement representative on the taskforce for Acute Clinical Care of Covid Neurology [2020 to present].

3. Member, Steering Committee, COVID_CNS [The COVID-Clinical Neuroscience Study]; and Patient and Public Engagement Lead (2020 to present).

4. Member, Steering Committee, Coronerve (2020 to present).

5. Co-Investigator and Chair of the Patient and Public Involvement Panel - GECO/COVIDNeuro Global Study (2020-present).

6. Member of the Expert Working Group on the Clinical Management of Human Rabies, Public Health England (2020 – present).

7. Member of the NIHR Global Health Community Engagement and Involvement Virtual Advisory Network (June 2019 - September 2021).

8. Chair, Patient and Public Involvement Panel, The Global Health Research Group on Brain Infections (2018 - present).

9. Ambassador, European Brain Council (since 2016).

10. Book/Film/Theatre Reviewer for The Lancet Neurology (since 2016). 

11. Book Review Editor and Editorial Board Member for Brain Injury Journal (since 2014).            

12. Consultant to Media (Radio, Television and Press) on Encephalitis and Acquired Brain Injury.  

13. Lecturer for Glasgow Schools of Medicine and The University of Liverpool Brain Infections Unit.

14. Reviewer/Referee for NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme for NIHR Research Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre; Brain Injury Journal, Nursing Standard, British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, Journal of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation.
15. Member, Royal Society of Medicine (2008 - present).
16. Member, ACEVO (2011 - present).
17. Member, American Academy of Neurology (2015 - present).
18. Member, European Academy of Neurology (2019 - present).

My first book Life after Encephalitis was published in 2016 by Psychology Press and over the years have had many papers, booklets and chapters published in academic journals and other media.

In my spare time, I love my dogs, enjoy watching movies, reading, listening to music, eating good food and drinking good wine, walking, and travelling.