Senior Leadership Team

Professor Charles Craddock

Medical Director

Professor Charles Craddock is Professor of Haemato-oncology, University of Birmingham. Professor Craddock is Chair of the UK Stem Cell Strategic Oversight Committee and was Medical Director of Anthony Nolan from 2010–2014. He is a past President of the British Society of Haematology. Professor Craddock’s main research interests include the development of novel drug and transplant therapies in acute myeloid leukemia. He pioneered the development of the UK Haemato-oncology Trials Acceleration Programme and the UK stem cell transplant trials network, IMPACT.

He has published more than 250 papers in peer reviewed journals. Professor Craddock was awarded the CBE for services to medicine and medical research in the 2016 New Year’s Honours list and elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020.

Graham Silk

Graham has had a great deal of commercial experience within the Life Sciences sector which began when he was diagnosed with CML in 2001. In getting very early access to a trial for the world’s first example of personalised medicine, Gleevec, he became aware of the importance of accelerated trial delivery and in 2004 co-founded the charity Cure Leukaemia. Cure Leukaemia designed and instigated the Trial Acceleration Program which brought new treatments to haematology patients at a much quicker rate, worked with the haematology community in developing trials and has leveraged over £250m worth of drugs into the NHS at no cost to patients.

In 2016 he was asked to write the Life Sciences economic sector report for the West Midlands Combined Authority and continues to work actively within the sector. He’s spoken at many Parliamentary committees and presentations and maintains an active interest in the commercial side of life science development, within both the philanthropic and private sectors.

Nicola Horlick

Hugh is Chief Strategy Officer at Anthony Nolan, the transplant stem cell charity, where he leads strategy, policy, public affairs and organisational development. He has over 20 years' experience helping Boards and executive teams develop and deliver strategy across the health, research, charity and public sectors. Throughout his career, Hugh has worked at the intersection of research, strategy and public policy, with a particular focus on improving patient outcomes through innovation, collaboration and evidence-based decision-making. He helped to establish IMPACT, the UK's national stem cell transplant clinical trials initiative, creating a stronger platform for collaborative research and faster translation of discoveries into patient benefit. He has also led the development of organisational and sector-wide strategies, including for the World Marrow Donor Association and the UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum, bringing together clinicians, researchers, policymakers and patient organisations around shared priorities. Before joining Anthony Nolan, Hugh held senior strategy and policy roles in the not-for-profit and public sectors. Hugh is passionate about translating ambitious ideas into practical change. He brings expertise in strategic planning, governance, organisational transformation and partnership working, together with a strong commitment to advancing research that improves the lives of patients.

Geoff Cousins

Geoff has worked in a number of countries in key leadership and business transforming roles, including CFO North America and Managing Director UK for Jaguar Land Rover. He has broad commercial experience and skills around brand strategy, product innovation, customer experience and driving profitable market growth, including internationalisation, underpinned by a strong operational financial management and governance background.

Geoff is Chairman of Cure Leukaemia, with the remit to deploy a strategy to scale up significantly to become a powerful UK national blood cancer charity, with international renown.

He is also Visting Professor of Global Governance at the University of South Wales and consults on strategic vision, commercial due diligence and post sale growth for Private Equity companies and to the professional services sector in the Automotive and related sectors.

Charles De Rohan

Chair

Having retired as CEO of Birmingham based Binding Site Group in May 2021 where he remains a Non-Exec Director, Charles has taken on a number of other roles including Chairmanship of ACT and acting as a Senior Advisor to Rothschilds’ Private Equity teams.

Charles graduated from Imperial College London in 1984 and qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young. He has spent the past 30 years in the in-vitro diagnostics industry, running IVD businesses for Abbott Laboratories around the world, before returning to the UK to run the London-quoted company Genetix plc (sold to Danaher in 2010) and subsequently the highly successful Binding Site Group. Binding Site’s major business interests are in improving the diagnosis and management of patients across a range of B-cell cancers and immune system disorders.

Professor Charles Craddock

Charles Craddock CBE, FRCP (UK), FRCPath, DPhil, FMedSci

Charles Craddock is Medical Director of ACT and works closely with the TAP and IMPACT leadership teams to develop and trial new drug and transplant trials in blood cancer.

Professor Charles Craddock is Professor of Haemato-oncology at the University of Warwick and Academic Director of the Centre for Clinical Haematology at University Hospitals Birmingham. Professor Craddock is Chair of the UK Stem Cell Strategic Oversight Committee and was Medical Director of Anthony Nolan from 2010–2014. He is a past President of the British Society of Haematology. Professor Craddock’s main research interests include the development of novel drug and transplant therapies in acute myeloid leukaemia. He pioneered the development of the UK Haemato-oncology Trials Acceleration Programme and the UK stem cell transplant trials network, IMPACT. He has published more than 250 papers in peer reviewed journals. Professor Craddock was awarded the CBE for services to medicine and medical research in the 2016 New Year’s Honours list and elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020.

Alicia Velascoin

Commercial Operations Director

With a strong academic foundation in Business Administration and extensive professional experience, Alicia Velascoin has built a career as a key leader in shaping and driving commercial strategy across the clinical research ecosystem. Over the years, Alicia has held pivotal roles in commercial organisations, universities, and non-profit institutions, consistently guiding decision-making processes that ensure growth, sustainability, and alignment with long-term strategic goals.

Specialising in proposals, contracts, and costings for clinical trials, Alicia has led complex negotiations, optimised financial frameworks, and developed innovative solutions that balance compliance, competitiveness, and value creation. Her expertise lies not only in operational excellence but also in strategic leadership, helping organisations position themselves for long-term success while delivering tangible, measurable results.

Recognised for a forward-thinking and results-driven approach, Alicia has been instrumental in supporting organisations to expand their research capacity, strengthen partnerships, and secure sustainable funding. With a reputation for clarity, precision, and impact in decision-making, Alicia continues to excel in roles where commercial insight, financial stewardship, and strategic vision intersect to drive organisational performance in the clinical research field.

Prof Steven Knapper

Prof Steve Knapper is Professor in Haematology at Cardiff University and works as Honorary Consultant Haematologist at the University Hospital of Wales where he leads the regional acute leukaemia service. He graduated in Medicine from Oxford University in 1996. His main clinical and research interests are in AML and the myeloproliferative neoplasms. He is an active member of the UK NCRI AML and Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Subgroups and has been heavily involved in the NCRI AML trial programme for >10-15years. Steve also has a strong interest in early phase studies; he was chief investigator of the MONOCLE study in CMML, leads on early phase studies within the Wales Cancer Research Centre and led the Cardiff Trials Acceleration Programme Centre from 2013-2023.

Dr Pramila Krishnamurthy

Dr Pramila Krishnamurthy is a Consultant Haematologist and honorary senior lecturer at King’s College Hospital and King’s College London respectively. She specialises in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes and Stem Cell Transplantation. She was awarded a John Goldman Fellowship by Leukaemia UK and the Rosetrees Trust in 2021 to study the immunological consequences of donor lymphocyte infusion using samples collected from patients treated on PRO-DLI, the world’s first RCT of preventative donor lymphocyte strategies. Additionally, she has interests in quality of life and is leading a Blood Cancer UK funded study to investigate the relationship between quality of life parameters and disease biology as well as treatment outcomes in AML/MDS patients undergoing cytotoxic chemotherapy. She is PI on a number of commercial and academic clinical trials in AML/MDS and transplant within the UK and a member of the NCRI MDS and AML Study Groups, developing clinical trials for patients with these diseases.

Prof Ronjon Chakraverty

Prof Ronjon Chakraverty is Professor of Haematology at the University of Oxford, based at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. Previously, he was a Senior Bennett Fellow in Experimental Haematology at Harvard University before returning to the UK to set up his own research group in UCL from 2005-2020. He is the current Director of the NIHR-funded Oxford Blood and Transplant Research Unit in Precision Cellular Therapeutics and Co-Lead of the new Gene and Cell Therapy theme of the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. He combines study of pre-clinical models with an extensive portfolio of phase I-III clinical trials evaluating methods to accelerate anti-tumour immunity and immune reconstitution following transplantation. Since 2020, he has been Medical Director of the IMPACT network which runs transplant and cell therapy clinical trials across the UK.

Dr Wendy Ingram

Dr Wendy Ingram MBBS, FRCP, FRCPath, PhD, is a Consultant Haematologist at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) Cardiff, with a specialist interest in Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) and Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Dr Ingram received her medical degree from St Bartholomew’s and The Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1997 and completed specialty training in Haematology at King’s College Hospital, London, where she was awarded a Leukaemia Research Fellowship and a Biomedical Research Council Award. She completed a PhD in 2009 studying the ‘Immune Biology of AML’ with a focus on AML whole cell vaccines and closely involved in the set up an Phase I, first in man study, gaining first hand experience in GMP and the regulatory requirements of MHRA and the gene therapy advisory committee (GTAC).

Since this time, Dr Ingram has served as principal investigator on a wide range of commercial and investigator led studies primarily within the fields of MDS, AML and allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Dr Ingram is a core member of the UK MDS NCRI subgroup and co-investigator for the Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) and IMPACT portfolio at UHW, Cardiff.

Dr Victoria Potter

Dr Victoria Potter is a Haematologist specialising in myeloid malignancy and stem cell transplantation at King’s College Hospital, London, UK. She completed early postgraduate and specialty training in Sydney, Australia followed by a clinical fellowship at King’s College Hospital.

In 2017 she was appointed Transplant Programme Director at Kings College Hospital. She has specialist interests in AML, prevention of relapse post-transplant and development of transplantation strategies for sickle cell disease. She is research active and committed to development of clinical trials in myeloid malignancies and transplantation. She is a member of the AML NCRI working party steering group and Chair of the relapse sub-group of this committee. Victoria is secretary of the BSBMTCT clinical trials sub-committee and the IMPACT (UK prospective clinical trials network) Deputy Medical Director.

Samantha Campbell

Business Operations Manager

Sam is an experienced Business Operations Manager with a strong background in executive support, having spent many years working closely with C-suite leaders. In her current role, she’s a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, contributing to various operational areas, including HR, onboarding, finance, governance, marketing, and communications. She brings significant experience in organising Board and committee meetings, preparing Board packs, and recording accurate minutes.

Throughout her career, Sam has excelled in high-level email and calendar management, coordinating complex travel logistics, and providing comprehensive administrative support to senior leadership. She also leads internal communications initiatives and oversees the creation and management of social media content and marketing materials. With a proactive mindset and a versatile skill set, Sam plays an integral role in supporting strategic and day-to-day operations across the organisation. She’s passionate about living the company’s values and takes great pride in contributing to meaningful work that makes a difference for blood cancer patients.

Carolyn Stoppard

Financial Controller

Carolyn brings over 20 years of senior financial leadership experience across both the public and private sectors, with a background spanning construction, distribution, and professional services.

She is highly skilled in financial reporting and analysis, management accounts, compliance, and systems implementation, complemented by strong project management expertise. Carolyn has a proven track record of delivering solutions that drive value, enhance performance, and support business growth in dynamic and evolving environments.

Her work consistently contributes to improved profitability, operational efficiency, and strategic clarity.

Specialisms include: Financial Management, Business Policy & Procedure Development, Continuous Process Improvement, Risk Management, PRINCE2 Project Management, Charity and Public Sector Governance, and Regulatory Reporting for Not-for-Profit organisations.

Anna Hockaday

Chief Clinical Operations Director

Anna brings 20 years of experience working within academic clinical trials and has held senior operational leadership roles since 2019. She has extensive knowledge of the UK clinical trials landscape, with significant experience of haematology clinical trials and working alongside regulators, government bodies, and funders, including AMRC charities, NIHR, and industry partners. In her previous role, Anna was responsible for the operational leadership and delivery of the Leeds Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit, overseeing a portfolio of 45 oncology clinical trials. She led a multidisciplinary team of over 90 staff, with expertise spanning trial management, data management, pharmacovigilance, and quality assurance.

The Senior Leadership Team

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