Our team

Lise was appointed as the NHSBT Medical Director for Transfusion in June 2024. Lise is a Consultant in Haematology and Transfusion Medicine in Oxford and an Associate Professor in Haematology and Transfusion Medicine at the University of Oxford. She is also the Clinical Lead for the NHSBT Systematic Review Initiative, and the Co-ordinating editor for Cochrane Haematology. She has authored and co-authored over 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Lise led the convalescent plasma transfusion trials on behalf of NHSBT with Professor David Roberts.

Helen has a Medical Statistics MSc from the University of Leicester and has worked at NHSBT since 2004. She is Head of Clinical Trial Statistics, co-ordinating all aspects of statistical support for the CTU and co-leading the CTU management team. Helen is a co-applicant on several research grants and focuses on study design. She is a member of the BTS Clinical Trials and Research committee and the South West Regional Advisory Committee for the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit programme.

Email: Helen.Thomas@nhsbt.nhs.uk

After gaining a Masters degree in Medical Statistics at the University of Southampton, Rachel joined NHS Blood and Transplant (or UK Transplant as it was then) as a statistician in 1992. Since then she has worked with clinicians, scientists and others to analyse the UK Transplant Registry database to provide an evidence base for clinical practice and organ allocation. In 2017 she was appointed Assistant Director for Statistics and Clinical Studies in NHSBT, leading the statistics team and the NHSBT Clinical Trials Unit. In 2021, the R&D Office and Systematic Review Initiative joined the team and Rachel became the Assistant Director for Statistics and Clinical Research. She is a member of the NHSBT Clinical Services Management Team and supports the Board level NHSBT R&D Committee. Rachel is also a member of the steering group for the UK Organ Donation and Transplantation Research Network and is an elected member of the British Transplantation Society’s Clinical Trials and Research Committee.

James joined NHSBT CTU in July 2022 as a Clinical Operations Manager and was appointed to Head of Clinical Trial Operations in February 2024. He studied Anthropology before becoming interested in clinical research and has been working in clinical trials ever since. James has worked in clinical trials for over 15 years, previously at academic CTUs specialising in haematology and cancer, neonatology, and more recently psychiatry.

Email: James.Griffiths2@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Cara is a Mathematics graduate from University of Bristol and joined the Statistics and Clinical Studies team in August 2007. She subsequently gained and MSc in Statistics and Management Science from University of West England. Cara is a Principal Statistician providing statistical support for the design and analysis of clinical trials. Cara was the trial statistician for PLANET-2 and is the trial statistician for TREATT and the PANDA programme. She is the lead statistician for several trials and is also involved in several funding applications.

Email: Cara.Hudson@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Rosie joined NHSBT CTU in September 2021 following the completion of her PhD in Cardiovascular Science and a short post-doctoral position at the University of Glasgow. Before that, she obtained a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Bath, where she undertook a placement year at Roche, and an MSc in Statistics with Applications in Medicine from University of Southampton. She is currently providing statistical support to the PLUTO, PANDA and DeFat trials.

Email: Rosie.Brown@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Emily is a Senior Statistician working full time on clinical trials. She joined NHSBT in September 2022. Emily worked in medical statistics for 7 years before starting at NHSBT, both in a health tech company, working in cardiovascular diagnostics, and at a clinical trials unit, at The University of Bristol, working on a variety of different clinical trials. Before that, Emily studied a BSc (Mathematics) and MSc (Statistics) at Lancaster university and moved to Bristol in 2015. She is trial statistician on SWiFT, RePAST, DeFat and Pancreas perfusion.

Email: Emily.Sanderson@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Laura undertook a placement year at NHSBT during her undergraduate degree and subsequently gained an MSc in Statistics with Applications in Medicine from University of Southampton. She returned to NHSBT in 2011, initially undertaking analyses of kidney transplant data from the UK Transplant Registry. Now as a Senior Statistician, she provides statistical expertise in the design and analysis of clinical trials. Laura is the trial statistician for several transplant trials, and is the independent statistician for TREATT.

Email: Laura.Smith2@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Naomi is a Senior Statistician working full time on Clinical Trials. She joined NHSBT in October 2024, having previously worked at Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit. Naomi studied a MMat (Mathematics) at the University of Oxford and MSc (Statistics with Applications in Medicine) at the University of Southampton. Naomi has experience working on Clinical Trials of various phases and therapeutic areas in both academia and industry.

Email: Naomi.Vides@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Elisa completed an MSc in Mathematics and a PhD in Statistics from the University of Bath. She then worked as a Statistician at a UK agricultural research centre for several years. She joined NHSBT in 2013 as a Principal Statistician, leading the areas of liver and small bowel transplantation in the Statistics Department. In her liver transplant role, she supported the national introduction of the liver offering scheme in 2018. She now leads the area of blood transfusion studies as well as being the trial statistician for ProGrES, SONAR and ADVENT in the CTU. She also works on the design of forthcoming trials including writing proposals for funding.

Email: Elisa.Allen@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Laura joined the team in July 2022 and works to support the Clinical Trials Unit and the Donation team within NHSBT. She has a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics and has previously worked as an analyst in both secondary and tertiary healthcare services.

Email: Laura.Silsby@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Nkechi joined the team in October 2021 as a Statistician and provides support for blood transfusion studies and the Clinical Trials Unit. Before joining the team, she obtained a BSc. in Demography and Social Statistics from Covenant University, Nigeria, an MSc. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Leeds and an MPH in Public Health from the University of Birmingham. Nkechi is a support statistician for PANDA work stream 3 and the independent statistician for the SIGNET clinical trial.

Email: Nkechi.Onwuka@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Alice graduated from the University of Exeter with an MMath in Mathematics with International Study and went on to join NHSBT in November 2019. She took a career break in April 2022 and rejoined the team in July 2024.

Email: Alice.Newton@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Jenni joined NHSBT in August 2020 after graduating from Cardiff University where she studied Mathematics with Statistics Operational Research. During her degree she undertook a placement year as a Biostatistician at Amgen. Jenni is a support statistician for the SIGNET and RePAST clinical trials.

Email: Jenni.Banks@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Joe is a Mathematics graduate from University of Bath, and during his degree he undertook a placement year working as a Biostatistician at Amgen. Joe started work at NHSBT in 2018. He provides statistical input in the clinical trials team to support the TREATT clinical trial and the ITOPS study.

Email: Joseph.Parsons@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Suzie joined NHSBT in August 2020 as the placement Statistician and subsequently after completing her Mathematics degree from the University of Sheffield re-joined NHSBT as a Statistician I in September 2022. Suzie is a support statistician for the SIGNET and PITHIA clinical trials.

Email: Suzie.Phillips@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Jess hails from the idyllic city of Cape Town, South Africa, and joined the Cambridge-based data team in January 2023. She holds a MSc in Global Health from Manchester University and focussed her undergraduate studies on microbiology and human physiology. Being based in South Africa, Jess spent 10 years working on trial management and data management teams for tuberculosis and HIV research projects and clinical trials. Her focus is to bring efficiency, high data standards, and future-proof solutions to all members of research teams through user-centred data systems.

Email: Jessica.Workman@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Rupa joined NHSBT CTU data management team in April 2017. Following her graduation, Rupa began her career working in IT sector in India. After moving to the UK, Rupa has worked in different services within NHSBT where she initially developed an interest in clinical research. In the CTU, Rupa is the lead data manager for several trials and responsible for full clinical data management support within the CTU portfolio.

Email: Rupa.Sharma@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Emily joined NHSBT CTU in April 2018. Prior to her role at NHSBT, Emily started her career working on agricultural trials before transferring her skills to clinical trials. Emily is the lead data manager for the PLUS trial. Emily’s role encompasses database build, documentation, CRF design, handling data queries, and she provides training and support to sites. Emily has worked on several other trials in the CTU portfolio.

Email: Emily.Arbon@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Harriet initially joined NHSBT CTU as a Senior Clinical Trials Administrator in September 2023, becoming a Clinical Data Manager in October 2024. She has previously worked as a Clinical Trial Coordinator and Data Management Assistant at the Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research. She holds a BA (Hons) in English Language and Linguistics with Cognitive Science Studies from the University of Sussex.

Email: Harriet.Nye@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Nikki has recently joined the clinical data services team as a Data Management Support Officer. She has 12 years experience in a pharmaceutical laboratory setting, liaising with clients and generating and assessing data packages. Nikki also has experience in dealing with governing bodies such as the MHRA and adhering to Good Manufacturing Practice. Tel: 01223 588151

Email: Nikki.Dallas@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Jonnie joined the NHSBT CTU as a Junior Data Manager in January 2022. Jonnie has previously worked in the Blood Donor Centre building and has experience of working as a data manager from his days working for the Medical Research Council’s Food Nutrition department. Jonnie has worked with many databases during his career and was eager to get back into Data Management. Jonnie will be helping with many studies, but initially CRYOSTAT-2.

Email: Jonathan.Last@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Roshni is an engineer with an MTech in Genetics and BTech in Bioinformatics from India. She has 9.5 years of experience in clinical data management working in various global pharmaceutical and clinical companies like ICON, PPD, CTS, AstraZeneca, Biogen and Novartis. She first joined NHSBT in 2020 before rejoining the team in September 2023.

Email: Roshni.Paul@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Sara joined the NHSBT CTU as a Junior Data Manager in February 2022. Sara previously worked as a Cancer Registration officer for NHS D formerly PHE. She worked on-site before working in one of the clinics at Addenbrookes Hospital and working in the Blood Donor Centre for a few years for the NIHR Bioresource. She enjoys working with databases and working in a research environment that strives to improve lives. Sara is currently helping with the TREATT study and will be involved in the PANDA study. She is looking forward to growing within the CTU and getting involved where she can.

Email: Sara.Last@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Anna has a BSc in Medical Microbiology and after working on antibiotic resistance trials, moved into diabetes and oncology trial management in the pharmaceutical industry. She moved into the NHS as Industry Manager and GCP Facilitator in the NIHR Clinical Research Networks, providing regional support for NHS Trusts. Anna joined the NHSBT CTU in 2016, initially supporting the PlaNeT-2 trial of platelet thresholds in neonates and then a range of kidney transplantation projects, becoming a Clinical Operations Manager in 2024.

Tel: 07392 139868

Email: Anna.Sidders@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Joined NHSBT CTU in July 2023 as a clinical operations manager. Have a PHD in Optometry and was previously working at Cambridge clinical trials unit as a senior coordinator, specialising in renal, ophthalmology and maternity trials.

Email: Catherine.Bain@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Claire has a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences and, following graduation, worked at GlaxoSmithKline in pre-clinical research based in Harlow, UK and then Singapore before starting a career in clinical research at Barts Health NHS Foundation Trust and Queen Mary University London. For over 10 years, Claire worked in trauma research managing both CTIMPs and non-CTIMPs. During this time, she studied a MSc in Clinical Trials at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 2020, Claire moved to the University of Hertfordshire as Clinical Trial Manager working on a mental health trial. Claire joined NHSBT as a Clinical Operations Manager in 2022.

Email: Claire.Rourke2@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Kerrie joined NHSBT CTU in August 2022 as a Clinical Operations Manager based in Cambridge. Following my PhD Kerrie worked as a Data Manager and Clinical Trials Coordinator and developed particular expertise in data linkage to routinely collected healthcare data, EDC systems and bespoke database systems. Outside of work Kerrie can most likely be found rock-climbing, in the pub, wild swimming or gardening.

Email: Kerrie.Brusby@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Amy studied Medical Genetics at The University of Leicester and then went on to study a Masters in Assisted Reproduction Technology at Nottingham University. After University Amy started working for a clinical research organisation, both in the QA department and in toxicology as a trainee study manager. She started working for NHSBT CTU in 2018 as the Clinical Trial Co-ordinator for CRYOSTAT-2. Amy is now the Trial Manager for SIGNET.

Tel: 0776 4280175

Email: Amy.Evans@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Ashley began working at NHSBT CTU as a Clinical Trial Manager in March 2023. She studied Biochemistry at the University of Oxford has a PhD in Epigenetics from Queen Mary, University of London. She joined the Cambridge Clinical Trials Unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital as a trial coordinator working on a variety of CTIMPs and device trials in diabetes, paediatrics, and neurology. Ashley is the Trial Manager for ADVENT-DS.

Email: Ashley.Foster@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Charlie joined NHSBT as a trial manager in April 2022. He earned a BSc in Biochemistry in New Zealand, following an initial career as a chef in various establishments in New Zealand, Australia and London, before moving to the UK for the second time in 2016. Soon after, he started with the University of Oxford as a preclinical lab research assistant before moving into clinical trial administration with the Jenner Institute, working on phase I, II & III IMP trials such as the Oxford COVID vaccine trial. Following this he progressed into project management in liver cancer research. Charlie is working on PLUS, looking at increasing the availability of donor livers available for transplantation, as well as SWiFT.

Email: Charlie.Brown@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Ellie joined NHSBT as a Clinical Trial Manager in March 2023. Ellie studied Natural Sciences at the University of Bath, completing an industrial placement year as a synthetic chemist at GlaxoSmithKline. After graduating, Ellie worked in clinical trials data management before moving into trial coordination and trial management.

Email: Eleanor.Hounslea@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Fontini has a degree in nursing from the University of Athens, a PhD in cardiology nursing from Cyprus University of Technology, and an MSc in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Fotini's previous role was Senior Cardiovascular Research Nurse in the Vascular Research / Experimental Medicine and Immunotherapeutics department at Addenbrookes Hospital. Prior to that, she was the haematology trials nurse at the Cancer Clinical Trials Centre at Addenbrookes hospital.

Email: Fotini.Kaloyirou@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Gillian’s background is nursing with a degree in Health Care Studies and a Diploma in Critical Care. Prior to joining NHSBT her specialities had been intensive care, intravenous therapy and blood transfusion. She initially came into the CTU as a research nurse in 2008 for the TOPPS trial and since then has been involved in co-ordinating the TOPPS, GIN, ATHENA and ISOC2 trials. She is manager for the TREATT trial, but also worked on the Convalescent Plasma arm of the University of Oxford RECOVERY Trial alongside many other collaborators from NHSBT. Currently Gillian is working with CTU colleagues on RESTORE, MELODY and continuing with TREATT, studying the effects of tranexamic acid on bleeding in patients with haematological malignancies, as it approaches close down.

Tel: 07590 353091

Email: Gillian.Powter@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Jo has previously worked as a trial manager in the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, and in the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences at the University of East Anglia. Most recently Jo worked as research & development co-ordinator at the James Paget University Hospital. Her research interests include trauma, critical care, cardiovascular and mental health. Jo is currently managing CRYOSTAT-2 study, looking at the effect of early cryoprecipitate on mortality in patients with major haemorrhage.

Tel: 07764 280606

Email: Joanne.Lucas@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Tom joined the NHSBT CTU as a Clinical Trial Manager in April 2022. He has a BSc in Sport and Exercise sciences from the University of Birmingham. Following graduation he joined the University of Oxford as part of their Department of Oncology, progressing to trial manager where he responsible for several early phase, first-in-human trials. As part of the NHSBT team Tom will be managing the PANDA programme.

Email: Thomas.Holmes@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Anne has studied Social Anthropology at the London School of Economics, and has been a Research Nurse for the University of Cambridge Department of Haematology. She started working in January 2023 for the NHSBT CTU on the Signet trial.

Email: Anne.O'Maolain@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Val has both an administrative and clinical background which began in Higher Education at Anglia Ruskin University and The School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge. She went on to train as an Assistant Practitioner in Breast Imaging, working at The West Suffolk Hospital and The Rosie, Addenbrooke's Hospital for the NHS Breast Screening Programme. Prior to joining CTU, Val worked as a Medical Laboratory Assistant at The Pathology Partnership’. Val joined the CTU Data Management Team in March 2014 working on the PlaNeT-2 trial. She is now part of the operations team working on SONAR and REPAST.

Tel: 01223 588188

Email: Valerie.Hopkins@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Viona joined the NHSBT CTU as a Clinical Trial Coordinator in October 2022. She has a BSc in Psychology and started working in research shortly after graduating in 2011. Her first role was working as a research assistant in her home country, Germany, at the Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University Hospital. Since moving back to the UK, Viona has gained research experience in both the NHS and Academia, as well as the private sector. Viona is currently supporting the SWiFT and RESTORE trials as part of the NHSBT team.

Email: Viona.Rundell@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Wayland started his career in clinical research industry as a CRA in Hong Kong in 1997, and has experience in monitoring, regional project management and line management in global pharma and CROs. Wayland joined NHSBT CTU as a Business Manager in Apr 2023.

Tel: 01223 588004

Email: Wayland.Hui@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Kavya joined NHSBT CTU in September 2023 following the completion of her MSc In Public Health at University of Northampton. Before moving to the U.K., she obtained a Doctor of pharmacy degree (PharmD) from India. She is currently working on and supporting the SIGNET, PLANET-2, RESTORE clinical trials.

Email: Kavya.Baswana@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Maisie joined NHSBT as a Clinical Trial Administrator in July 2024. She has an MBiolSci in Biochemistry and Genetics from The University of Sheffield and has since gained business administration experience working in the sport industry.

Email: Maisie.Gardner@nhsbt.nhs.uk

Katie has a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences from the University of Birmingham. She joined the QA team in July 2019 specifically to provide Quality Assurance support to the CTU by ensuring compliance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and the regulatory environment for clinical research. Katie joined NHSBT as a Senior Clinical Data Manager in 2018 and prior to that worked in safety and quality support at Cambridge University Hospitals specialising in applying the principles of root cause analysis to the investigation of serious patient incidents in areas of oncology, haematology and imaging. Katie has over 10 years' experience in clinical data management and clinical research gained in the biotechnology industry and contract research organisations, primarily in the fields of oncology and haematology.

Tel: 01223 588177

Email: Katie.Keen@nhsbt.nhs.uk