Medical Research Foundation: Who we are
The Medical Research Foundation is governed by a Board of seven trustees. Candidates for two of the seven positions are nominated by the MRC. The existing Board of Trustees selects all new trustees and appointments are for three years in the first instance.
Mr Charles Perrin CBE (Chair of the Board of Trustees)
Charles Perrin was the Chief Executive of a major merchant bank until he retired in 1998; he has also been Vice Chairman of the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust from 1998 until 2007 and a Trustee of the University of London until 2010. Charles is currently a Hon. Treasurer of the Royal Veterinary College, and a trustee of the Royal College of Physicians and of the Nuffield Trust; he is also Chairman of the Investment Committee of the MRC Pension Scheme. He was elected in 2009 as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
Professor Genevra Richardson CBE
Genevra Richardson is Professor of Law at Kings College, London. Her main research interests include law and psychiatry. In 1998, she was appointed chair of the Expert Committee established to advise Ministers on mental health law. She was elected to an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Society of Psychiatrists in 2004 and became a fellow of the British Academy on 2007. She has been a member of the Animals Procedure Committee and was a member of the MRC’s Council from 2001-2008. Genevra has been a trustee of the Nuffield Foundation since 2002.
Mr Steve Visscher
Steve has been Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer for BBSRC since November 2008. He joined BBSRC on its formation in 1994 from the Agricultural and Food Research Council initially serving as Director of Finance. Currently he is actively involved in Food Security research coordination and strategy, including developing international partnerships, multinational research initiatives and closer collaboration between funding bodies and research agencies. He is a member of the Food Research Partnership, Chairs the Food Research Partnership International Sub Group and the G20 Wheat Initiative Institutions’ Committee. He is also director of research campus companies in Cambridge and Norwich and a member of the Technology Strategy Board ‘Catapult’ Committee overseeing the establishment of technology and Innovation centres.
Professor Eve Johnstone CBE
Eve Johnstone is Assistant University Principal for Mental Health Research and Development at the University of Edinburgh where she was Head of Division of Psychiatry until 2010 when she retired from that post. Her main research area is in the field of schizophrenia and psychotic illness. She was previously Chair of the MRC’s Neurosciences and Mental Health Research Board and member of MRC Council. In addition to her research interests, Eve carried a full clinical load as a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. She has been a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists for over 20 years and in 2009 was elected as an honorary fellow on the basis of her achievements. Eve is trustee of the Shirley Foundation which is concerned principally with research into Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Mr Anthony Smith CBE
Anthony Smith was President of Magdalen College, Oxford between 1988 and 2005. He is currently chair of the Oxford-Russia Fund and the Hill Foundation, both of which are involved in the support of higher education in the Russian Federation. Anthony had a long career in broadcasting, starting as a producer of BBC Current Affairs programmes in the 1960’s. He has been Director of the British Film Institute, Director of Channel 4 Television Company and a member of the Arts Council of GB.
Professor Nicholas Lemoine
Nick Lemoine is Director of the Institute of Cancer at Barts & The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London. His main research interests are in molecular genetics and gene therapy of cancer. He is also the Clinical Director of the Cancer Centre at Barts and The London NHS Trust and the Director of the National Institute for Health Research’s Comprehensive Clinical Research Network for the Central and East London. He has served as Chair of the Clinical Training and Career Development Panel at the medical at the Medical Research Council, and has previously been a member of the MRC’s Molecular & Cellular Medicine Board. He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2006. Nick was nominated by the MRC for his position on the Board of Trustees.
Dr Alan Stone
Alan Stone trained as a biochemist and a molecular biologist. He joined the staff of the Medical Research Council in 1975 and from 1990-96 was head of the Council’s AIDS Research Management Group. Since 1996 he has been an independent advisor on numerous international projects concerned with the biomedical prevention of HIV/AIDS. He was a founding member of the International Working Group on Microbicides, established by the World Health Organization to facilitate this aim, and from 2000-2008 served as its Chairman.
Day-to- day management of the Medical Research Foundation is delegated to Dr Angela Hind, the charity’s business manager. The business manager is supported by an office manager, Ms Vanessa Chauhan.