Dr Austin Kulasekararaj Austin is a consultant haematologist at King’s College Hospital, London and leads King's PNH Centre. Expand Austin is a consultant haematologist at King’s College Hospital, London. He has trained and worked at King's since 2004, undertaking research in molecular pathogenesis of MDS and aplastic anaemia. He specialises in bone marrow failures, myeloid malignancies and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. He also leads the King's PNH Centre, which is one of two NHS England-commissioned highly specialised services for PNH.
Dr Bethany Mitchell Bethany is a Consultant Paediatric Haematologist at Belfast Children's Hospital Expand Bethany is a Consultant Paediatric Haematologist at Belfast Children's Hospital
Dr Dominic Culligan Dominic is a consultant haematologist and honorary senior lecturer at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and The University of Aberdeen Expand Dominic Culligan is a consultant haematologist and honorary senior lecturer at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and The University of Aberdeen. He qualified in medicine in 1986 and after training in general medicine and haematology at Kings College Hospital and The London Hospital he became a Leukaemia Research Fund clinical fellow at The University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff. There he completed an MD thesis on aspects of the biology of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) under the supervision of the late Professor Allan Jacobs and went on to complete his training as a Senior Registrar in Cardiff. He moved to Aberdeen in 1996 where he is lead clinician for malignant haematology and specialises in the management of acute myeloid leukaemia, MDS and lymphoma. He is a member of the NCRI AML Working Party, past Chairman of the NCRI MDS Clinical Trials Subgroup and current Chairman of the UK MDS Forum.
Dr Keith Wilson Keith is a Senior Lecturer, Honorary and Consultant Haematologist, Clinical Lead for Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation, at the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. Expand Keith is a Senior Lecturer, Honorary and Consultant Haematologist, Clinical Lead for Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation, at the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
Dr Morag Griffin Morag is a consultant haematologist and honorary senior lecturer at St James Hospital Leeds. Expand Qualified in 2006 from Dundee University completing haematology training in Sheffield, with an MSC in medical leadership concurrently. Joint clinical lead of the Aplastic anaemia and PNH service in Leeds. Active in clinical trials and having completed the EHA clinical research trials in the haematology programme, Ci and PI for aplastic anaemia and PNH clinics trials phase 1-3. Member of the International PNH interest group, Severe aplastic anaemia working party
Dr Sanjay Tewari Sanjay is a Paediatric Haematologist at The Royal Marsden. Expand Dr Sanjay Tewari completed his post-graduate training in paediatrics in India. After finishing his CCT in paediatrics, he did his haematology training in London, working at Royal Marsden and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Dr Tewari was appointed as Paediatric Haematologist at The Royal Marsden in 2018. His special interests are bone marrow failure syndromes, myeloid neoplasms and chronic myeloid leukaemia. He is a member of CML and aplastic anaemia working groups as well as the European Neuroblastoma Morphology working group. He is also the lead for paediatric leukaemias and the lead for paediatric haematological malignancy diagnostic services at The Royal Marsden.
Dr Sujith Samarasinghe Sujith is a consultant paediatric haematologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. Expand Dr Sujith Samarasinghe is a consultant paediatric haematologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. He completed his medical training at Imperial School of Medicine, London in 1998. He did his paediatric haematology training at Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College Hospital, London. He was awarded a PhD in 2010 from University College London in the field of immunotherapy for leukaemia. In 2011, Sujith was appointed as a consultant haematologist in Newcastle but returned to Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2014. His areas of expertise include childhood leukaemia and aplastic anaemia. He is the national lead for childhood aplastic anaemia and supportive care, and a co-investigator on two CAR T-cell studies in childhood leukaemia.
Ellie Dawes, CEO Ellie is our CEO this year, while Stevie Tyler is on Maternity leave. Expand Ellie has worked for The Aplastic Anaemia Trust for two years as our Head of Fundraising and Communications. In October 2022, she stepped up as Acting CEO to cover Stevie Tyler's maternity leave. Ellie previously worked as Digital Engagement Manager at Blood Cancer UK, before spending five years in the world of international development, running comms and fundraising as part of the senior team at Child.org. Ellie loves food and once appeared on a TV cooking show! She's passionate about helping charities to be bold, ambitious and inspiring. You can email her at [email protected].
Professor Alan Warren Alan is Professor of Haematology at the University of Cambridge. Expand Alan Warren is Professor of Haematology at the University of Cambridge. He graduated from the University of Glasgow in Biochemistry (1983) and Medicine (1986) and trained in Haematology at the Hammersmith Hospital in London and at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. He gained his PhD in molecular biology in the laboratory of Terry Rabbitts at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge. Alan is Clinical Lead for Bone Marrow Failure and Myelodysplastic Syndromes at Cambridge University Hospitals. His lab discovered that defective assembly of ribosomes, the machines in all our cells that make protein, causes Shwachman-Diamond syndrome. Alan was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2005.
Professor Ghulam Mufti (Chair) Ghulam is the head of the department of haematological medicine at Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’s hospitals, King’s College London. Expand Ghulam is the head of the department of haematological medicine at Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’s hospitals, King’s College London, with a team of 13 professors, 6 senior lecturers/lecturers and approximately 100+ research staff. In addition, Professor Mufti is the Clinical Director of Laboratories Sciences and a non-executive director of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Ghulam has extensive clinical and research expertise in leukaemias, lymphomas and in particular myelodysplastic syndromes, for which he is internationally renowned. His particular area of research has focused on molecular aberrations in MDS/AML and the identification of novel therapies that include gene and cell-based therapies. He has published 400+ papers and chapters in scientific journals and textbooks on leukaemias and MDS. He heads the research groups at King’s working on the molecular genetics of MDS/aplastic anaemia/AML and is a member of the working group that produced national and international guidelines on the treatment and prognosis of MDS. He is a member of the European Bone Marrow Transplantation Group and a founding member of the Board of the International Myelodysplastic foundation, for which his department at King’s College Hospital is a recognised Centre of Excellence. The department is also a centre of excellence for Leukaemia Lymphoma Research and is the largest allogeneic bone marrow transplant centre in the UK, and the only gene and cell-based therapies centre for myeloid leukaemia and allied diseases.
Professor John Snowden John is a Consultant Haematologist and Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Programme at Sheffield Teaching Hospital. Expand John trained as an undergraduate in the University of Leeds, and as a postgraduate in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. He has been Consultant Haematologist and Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Programme in Sheffield, UK since 2002. He has held the role of Clinical Lead for various NICE Guidelines and Chair of the NHS England Clinical Reference Group for BMT (2016-20). From 2017-20, he was Chair of the Intercollegiate Committee on Haematology to the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Pathologists. Since 2019, he has been co-Lead clinician for Haematology-Oncology in the NHS England Genomic Laboratory Hub (GLH) for North East & Yorkshire region. He is President of the British Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (2021-22). Internationally, John has a long association with the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and the international accreditation organisation, ‘JACIE’, including JACIE Medical Director (2012-16) and Chair of the JACIE Committee (2015-20). He has been a member of the EBMT Board and Scientific Council as Autoimmune Diseases Working Party Chair (2016-20) and is EBMT Secretary (2020-24). John has contributed to the fields of BMT, haematology-oncology and autoimmunity with authorship of over 300 publications (Scopus H index >50), along with clinical trials, grant awards, educational meetings, teaching, supervision, examination, journal editorship and scientific peer review. He has been awarded honorary professorships by The University of Sheffield and University College London.
Professor Josu de la Fuente Josu de la Fuente is a Consultant Haematologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Professor of Practice (Cellular and Gene Therapies) of Imperial College London. Expand Josu de la Fuente is a Consultant Haematologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Professor of Practice (Cellular and Gene Therapies) of Imperial College London. He was appointed Director of the Paediatric Blood & Marrow Transplant Programme in 2006, specialising in transplantation for haemoglobinopathies and bone marrow failure, and being innovative in the use of alternative donors. He is the vice-chair of Paediatric Diseases Working Party of EBMT, a member of the steering committee of the BMT CTN 1507 trial Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Global Consortium for a Cure. He is an investigator and in the steering committee of a several gene therapy trials in sickle cell disease and thalassaemia. After an initial period in adult medicine, Professor de la Fuente completed his general training in paediatrics in different hospitals in London and following membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, he trained in haematology at Imperial College and Great Ormond Street Hospital achieving membership of the Royal College of Pathologists. During this time, he developed an interest in red cell disorders, bone marrow failure and transplantation, including a period of basic research in human developmental haemopoiesis as an MRC Clinical Research Fellow leading to a PhD. He has also developed a unique clinical and research programme for Diamond Blackfan anaemia patients. My main interests include novel therapies, in particular targeted, cellular and gene therapies and ensuring the needs of rare anaemias and bone marrow failure are represented, with particular attention to Diamond Blackfan anaemia.
Professor Rod Skinner Rod is a semi-retired paediatric and adolescent haemato-oncologist at Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle. Expand Professor Rod Skinner is a semi-retired paediatric and adolescent haemato-oncologist. He is the clinical lead for long-term follow-up of childhood and adolescent cancer and leukaemia. Prior to semi-retirement, Professor Skinner was also clinical lead of the Paediatric Haematology Bone Marrow Transplant service and cared for children with acute leukaemia, aplastic anaemia and rare paediatric haematological malignancies. Professor Skinner’s clinical interests include long-term follow-up of individuals previously treated for childhood cancer or leukaemia, those who had bone marrow / stem cell transplants during childhood or adolescence, and childhood cancer survivorship.
Stevie Tyler, CEO (on maternity leave) Stevie joined the Aplastic Anaemia Trust in July 2020 as its new CEO Expand Stevie joined the AAT in July 2020 as its new CEO and brings with her many years of experience across the sector, working in healthcare, International development and the arts. She is passionate about fundraising innovation, improving patient experience and collaborative working. Career highlights for Stevie include working at Macmillan Cancer Support, Fashion Revolution and becoming a Trustee of a small museum. Stevie lives in Margate with her family. She is passionate about boxing, creative writing and taking her young son to the beach. You can contact Stevie on [email protected]
Tracy Stephenson Tracy, a patient advocacy focused Trustee, joined the AAT Board in April 2020. Expand Tracy was a police officer in the Metropolitan Police for 30 years, retiring at the rank of Superintendent. She held a wide variety of roles during her career and built strong bonds with the community and partnerships with key stakeholders. Tracy currently is a part-time lay member for the Bar Tribunal Adjudication Service sitting on a panel hearing discipline cases relating to Barristers. She volunteers for Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Anthony Nolan Trust. Tracy is passionate about the AAT's work as her son was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia two years ago and has had a rocky road through treatment. As the new patient advocate she is keen to help transform patients' and their families’ journey through this disease.