HeadSmart project staff

Sarah Lindsell, CEO, The Brain Tumour Charity.

She recently joined from The Challenge, the leading provider of the Government’s new National Citizen Service where she was Director for External Affairs and Fundraising. She also worked with Shaftsbury Partnership, a social reform 'think and do tank' where she led on strategic planning. Sarah has worked at a senior level in the voluntary sector for over 20 years and is committed to social justice. She joined The Challenge from The Duke of Edinburgh's Award where she held the role of UK Services Director leading on operations marketing and infrastructure. Prior to this she was CEO of Caritas, a lobbying and advocacy federation addressing poverty and injustice. Sarah has also been CEO of a grass roots charity working with those living in poverty as well as undertaking research at LSE and Cardiff University. Sarah has a Masters in Voluntary Sector Management from LSE and a First Class degree in Social Policy.  Sarah is on the Project Board for HeadSmart and ensures the voice of the voluntary sector and those whose lives have been affected by brain tumours is heard throughout the campaign.

Louise Taylor, Head of Marketing and Communications, The Brain Tumour Charity.

Louise has 18 years charity and commercial experience in developing and implementing complex and effective communications and marketing projects. Her career began with marketing specialist industrial equipment, driving demand through direct mail, events and PR and working with customers globally. Louise then moved on to work for Newsweek, the international news magazine. Whilst there she introduced e-commerce solutions for subscribers throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa and managed marketing campaigns with a budget of up to $10m each year. Most recently she spearheaded the rebrand of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, which necessitated rewriting and redesigning all materials, developing a new website and implementing it throughout a complex organisation and hundreds of partners. In addition, Louise managed all national non-fundraising events, for over 16,000 people per year. Louise’s role at The Brain Tumour Charity is to develop and manage the charity’s brand and raise the profile of the charity and brain tumours through more effective internal and external communications including the HeadSmart campaign.

Julia Trusler, Head of Research, The Brain Tumour Charity.

Julia joined the organisation in 2008, having previously worked in biomedical journal publishing and at the Nuffield Foundation, for the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. She was the first research grants staff member to be appointed at the charity, and since joining the organisation has been involved in reviewing its grants activities, including its funding initiatives, award terms and conditions, peer review policies and data management. She also has played a significant role in the charity’s work on the HeadSmart campaign, particularly in relation to developing the website, communications and public and patient engagement. Julia has a degree in biomedical sciences and a Master’s in medical ethics and law.

Lucie Clough, Project Manager, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Lucie has over 7 years experience managing projects related to healthcare and children and young people. She has previously worked at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, using service improvement methodology, mainly in elective care. She has a particular interest in child development, counselling and play therapy.

Jo-Fen Liu, Research Co-ordinator, the Children's Brain Tumour Research Centre (CBTRC).

A nutritionist and epidemiologist by training, she joined the University of Nottingham in 2006. She currently works with Professor David Walker, Dr Sophie Wilne and the project team on HeadSmart outcome evaluations, analysing awareness of brain tumour symptoms and the HeadSmart campaign in public and healthcare professionals, as well as symptom interval data collection and analysis.

Jo-Fen has worked at the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG, formerly UKCCSG) in Leicester and teaching hospitals and universities in Taiwan. She has also been worked on data analysis for large-scale epidemiological studies and clinical trials.

Neil Dickson, Chairman, The Brain Tumour Charity.

Neil was Chairman and Founder of the BAC Group Limited, a successful group of aviation companies with a turnover of £25 million a year. In 1994 he was devastated to receive the news that his only daughter Samantha had a malignant brain tumour.

Following her death in October 1996, Neil and Angela, his wife, set up The Brain Tumour Charity (formerly Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust).

The Brain Tumour Charity to raise much needed funds for brain tumour research to provide patient support, and increase awareness. The charity has become the largest brain tumour charity in the UK, and funded £7 million of high quality research resulting in a number of major breakthroughs.

As Chairman of The Brain Tumour Charity Neil was instrumental in overseeing the grant to Nottingham University for tracking delays in diagnosis in 2003, which led to the HeadSmart campaign. As it took nearly a year to diagnose Samantha, this was close to the Founders’ hearts.