World Child Cancer is governed by an international group of child cancer experts and business leaders.

Gordon Morrison BSc (Chairman)

Gordon graduated from University of Edinburgh with Honours in Civil Engineering (Bsc). He is a businessman and entrepreneur.  Previously, he was a Director and a major shareholder with Morrison plc, a facilities management, property and construction company, from 1975 to 2000. Following the sale of Morrison, Gordon was a Director of AWG plc, the public utility, until 2001.  He is currently Chairman of the Chaldean Group, a diverse company with interest in farming, property, business management and venture capital investment and Chairman of RR Richardson, a business involved in construction services, facilities management, affordable housing and IT services.  Gordon is also Honorary President and previously Chairman of CLIC Sargent – for which he co-ordinated the merger of CLIC and Sargent to create the UK’s largest children’s cancer charity and currently Chairman of World Child Cancer, a charity that saves lives and reduces suffering of children with cancer in developing countries. 

Professor Tim Eden MB.BS, DRCOG, MRCP(UK), FRCP, FRCPath, FRCPCH, FRCR (Deputy Chairman)

Tim has held senior academic and clinical positions in Bristol, Edinburgh, London and Manchester where he was the Teenage Cancer Trust Professor of Teenage Oncology.  He was formerly President of SIOP (International Society of Paediatric Oncologists) and his interests include research into causation, incidence and survival of children and adolescents with cancer worldwide, equable delivery of care for all children worldwide and provision of psycho-social support for all children and their families.  Tim retired in 2008 but remains active in a number of organisations working in the field of childhood and teenage cancer in the UK and in developing countries.  

Click here to read an interview with Professor Eden

Professor Olle Bjork, MD

After training as a doctor in Sweden, Olle specialised in paediatrics at that Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.  He became Head of Unit for the Paediatric and Teenage Oncology Department from 1995 to 2000.  In addition, he lectured at the Karolinska University and was actively involved in the establishment of the first paediatric oncology ward in Sweden at the Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm in 1979.  He is currently the Secretary General of Barncancerfoden, Sweden’s largest children’s cancer charity as well being Professor of Paediatric Oncology at the Karolinska Institute.

g that provides up-to-date oncology information to 26,000 healthcare professionals in 175 countries and developed the online, multilingual Paediatric Oncology Networked Database that facilitates improved child cancer care in 40 countries. 

Kenneth Dollman BA, BEd

Kenneth has spent much of his career as an English teacher in the Western Cape of South Africa.  He became Head of English at Stellenberg High School in Cape Town in 1987 and has coached athletics since 1979 taking part in a number of national training camps.   He left teaching in 1996 to start a successful recruitment business.   As the father of a child diagnosed with cancer Kenneth brings a wealth of experience to World Child Cancer.  He was one of the founders of CHOC, the national South African parent support group for children with cancer, in 2001 and in 2008 Kenneth was elected to the Board of ICCCPO (International Confederation of Child Cancer Parent Organisations).   He has dedicated himself to establishing new groups in Africa and to date his work has resulted in the creation of 10 new groups. 

Trijn Israels MC, PhD 

Trijn is a consultant paediatric oncologist at AMC University/EMMA Children’s Hospital in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She has a PhD in the treatment of children with Wilms tumour in Malawi and spent two years working at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi researching her doctoral thesis. She is the Joint Chairman of SIOP’s Paediatric Oncology in Developing Countries Committee with Scott Howard. 

David Henderson MA (Hons)

David brings a wealth of commercial and strategic experience to World Child Cancer.  Now retired, he has enjoyed a successful career spanning senior operational roles in the hospitality sector after completing a MA in Economics and Economic History at the University of Aberdeen.   He joined Bass Plc in 1974 as a distribution trainee and worked his way up to Divisional Director of Mitchells & Butler, the UK’s largest operator of managed pubs and pub restaurants.  David was responsible for developing and managing leading brands such as Harvester, Vintage Inns, All Bar One, Browns and Toby Pub.   David enjoys most sports and has a particular passion for cricket, golf, rugby union and football.  He lives in Kent with his wife and they have two grown up daughters.  

Scott Howard, MD, MSc

After training in internal medicine, paediatrics, and epidemiology at the University of Tennessee and completing a haematology/oncology fellowship, Dr Howard joined the faculty of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where he treats patients with leukaemia and lymphoma and conducts research on supportive care. His specific research interests include implementation of protocol-based therapy and development of cooperative paediatric oncology groups in low-income countries.  Dr. Howard’s mission and passion is to improve survival for children with cancer in developing countries by adapting and implementing proven treatments to conditions in low-income countries. He is the chair of the SIOP Paediatric Oncology in Developing Countries committee and director of clinical trials for St. Jude’s International Outreach Programme and in those roles assists partner centres in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He also assists with content development for the free online oncology resource, www.Cure4Kids.org

Terry Hunt, FIDM

From his work with international brands Terry brings a wealth of marketing experience to World Child Cancer.  He was co-founder of the pioneering direct marketing agency, Evans Hunt Scott in 1986.  In 2002 Terry led the merger with Brann to create the fully integrated direct, digital and data agency - EHS Brann – of which he is Chairman.  Long term clients include Tesco, Barclays, Barclaycard, The Economist, Volvo and Diageo.  In 1997 Terry was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing.  Terry has been closely involved in the development of Tesco Clubcard and co-authored Scoring Points, the international best-selling book about the programme.   He lives in London with his wife and has two grown up sons.  

Simon Lala B Com, CA

Simon is a Chartered Accountant with a public practice in New Zealand.  He has extensive experience in the charities sector both at governance and management level. Simon became involved with childhood cancer when his daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia 19 years ago. Today she is a fit and healthy 25 year old.  Simon was formerly Chairman of the New Zealand Child Cancer Foundation where he became interested in child cancer issues internationally and a member of the executive committee of ICCCPO (the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parents Organisations). Simon brings his financial experience to World Child Cancer along with experience of developing international child cancer projects.  

Dr Marianne Naafs-Wilstra

Marianne is Executive Director of the Childhood Cancer Parent Organisation (VOKK) in The Netherlands and is one of the founders and a past President of ICCCPO. She is the parent of a childhood cancer survivor and understands the impact of the illness on the whole family. She has worked in childhood cancer for over 20 years and has extensive experience of establishing family support programmes and developing psycho-social support structures.  She has written over 20 books on childhood cancer and has an international network of contacts in the paediatric oncology field.  

Benson Pau MBA

Benson became Chairman of ICCCPO in October 2008 and is the Chairman of the Pau Kwong Wun Charitable Foundation in Hong Kong which he founded in 1998.  He is the bereaved father of a son who suffered from leukaemia and understands the need for psycho-social support for the child and their family.  On the business side, he is the Founder and Managing Director of Wings Trading (HK) Company Limited - a service oriented and quality conscious supplier in the house-ware industry since 1980. The company has won several industry awards including the Caring Company Award for seven consecutive years since 2002 and the HSBC’s Living Business Emerald Award in 2007.  Benson has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the Western University of Ontario.

Raul C Ribeiro MD

Raul trained in Brazil and accepted a position as a paediatric haematologist/oncologist at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 1990.   St. Jude is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and has a cure rate for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia of 94%.   In 1996 he was appointed director of the St Jude International Outreach Programme, and in 2007 was appointed director of the St Jude Leukaemia/Lymphoma Division.   Raul specialises in acute leukaemias, lymphomas and implementing paediatric cancer care programmes in countries with limited resources.

Click here to read an interview with Dr Ribeiro

Louise Soanes, RSCN, BSc (Hons), PGDip, MSc

Louise is an experienced children’s and young people’s cancer nurse.   She has worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital as a Nurse Practice Educator and has lectured in nursing at South Bank University.   Before taking up her current role as TCT Nurse Consultant for Adolescents and Young People at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust she was the Trust’s Senior Sister for Children’s Services.  She brings a wealth of experience to World Child Cancer and had direct experience of programmes in developing countries having visited child cancer wards in Bangladesh.  As well as working full-time, Louise is studying for her professional doctorate in nursing and is the author of academic articles and books on nursing.

Anu Vedi CBE, ACA, MCIH

Anu is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ACA), and is an honorary member of the Chartered Institute of Housing (MCIH). He retired in 2009 as Group Chief Executive of the Genesis Housing Group, a role he had held since 1999. Under Anu’s leadership, Genesis Housing Group increased its property portfolio ten-fold in just over a decade to become one of the largest housing enterprises in the UK with assets worth approximately £4bn and owning/managing 40,000 properties. In addition, he established Genesis Community, the Group’s charitable foundation targeting deprivation and social exclusion in disadvantaged areas. Anu is also a board member of the, Dolphin Square Trust and Relationships Foundation Advisory Board. Anu was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006 in recognition of his strong and innovative leadership within the housing sector. Anu brings commercial acumen and strong strategic vision to World Child Cancer.