Professor Richard Grundy
CCLG Chairman, Professor of Paediatric Neuro-Oncology and Cancer Biology, University of Nottingham
My initial training was in paediatric haematology at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, before moving to registrar training at Great Ormond Street and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children in Hackney. I was then the paediatric oncology exchange fellow at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (1990-1991). On return I undertook my senior registrar clinical training at Great Ormond Street and a PhD in the molecular biology of Wilm’s tumour at the Institute of Child Health. I was appointed to a consultant post at the Middlesex and Great Ormond Street Hospitals in 1997, before moving to a clinical senior lecturer post at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. In 2005 I was appointed as Professor of Paediatric Neuro-Oncology and Cancer Biology at the University of Nottingham, where I have remained.
In all of this, I have developed the view that improvements in our ability to cure children with cancer and reduce the considerable morbidity they suffer will, to a large part, come through a better understanding of the underlying biology of these varied and frequently difficult to treat tumours. However, many tumours are reluctant to give up their secrets and progress is relatively slow. In the meantime, focussing efforts on best supportive care and making sure we treat patients according to guidelines and collect the evidence on how they respond are crucial goals, along with improving quality of survival.
We need to develop a better evidence base on which to base our future practice if we are to continue to make the great improvements we have over the last decades.
Ashley Gamble
CCLG Chief Executive
Ashley has day-to-day responsibility for the operation of CCLG. This includes defining strategies across all the activities of CCLG and leading on the implementation of those strategics, ensuring an efficient and effective organisation that delivers its objectives and enhances the impact and profile of the organisation.
Ashley is responsible for providing expert advice across the wide range of CCLG activities, including fundraising, and provides leadership to the staff team at CCLG HQ. Ashley is a founding member of the Children and Young People's Cancer Coalition and represents CCLG on a range of advisory boards and committees including the NHS England CYP Cancer Clinical Reference Group, the NCRI Children's Group, and the NIRH Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Strategy Group.