Staff profiles

Director of Science Funding

Kevin Moses joined the Trust in July 2011. Kevin was the founding Chief Academic Officer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus. Previously, he held faculty positions at Emory University and the University of Southern California, where he led a research group that studied morphogenetic mechanisms in the development of the Drosophila compound eye.

Science Portfolio Manager
Chonnettia Jones joined the Wellcome Trust in 2012 to coordinate the cross-cutting major award activities in the division. Chonnettia has more than fifteen years of academic research experience. Having obtained a PhD from Emory University, she continued her studies in genetics and developmental neurobiology as a Ruth L. Kirschstein postdoctoral research fellow at Emory. In addition Chonnettia taught science courses as an Instructor at Emory University and the University of Georgia. For four years prior to joining the Wellcome Trust, Chonnettia managed a collaborative research programme at the Janelia Farm Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Basic Careers

Head
Candy Hassall leads the Wellcome Trust's funding activities in the area of basic biomedical research training and careers. These provide a range of opportunities for support: from Vacation Scholarships for undergraduates through to Principal Research Fellowships for outstanding, internationally recognised senior scientists and also the Investigator Award scheme. As part of this role, Candy works closely with those funded by the Wellcome Trust, as well as other stakeholders. She held a British Heart Foundation Basic Science Lectureship at University College London before joining the Trust in 1996.

Deputy
Shewly Choudhury as the Basic Careers Portfolio Adviser, is responsible for contributing to the development and implementation of the Wellcome Trust’s strategy and policy on basic (non-clinical) research career schemes in the UK, ensuring delivery against the strategic aims of the Trust. She also supports the Head of Basic Careers in managing the Trust’s extensive portfolio in this area. Since joining the Wellcome Trust in October 2005, Shewly has held a number of roles in Science Funding and worked (for a short time) in the Strategic Planning and Policy Unit. Shewly has a BSc (Hons) in biological sciences from the University of Leicester and undertook a PhD in neuroscience at the Babraham Institute at the University of Cambridge and GlaxoSmithKline.

Clinical Activities

Head
John Williams trained initially as a neuroscientist at the National Institute for Medical Research, London. Postdoctoral training followed at Stanford and Duke. In 1998 he changed direction and embarked on a career in science administration when he joined the Wellcome Trust. John has held a number of roles within the organisation. He is currently Head of Clinical Activities and Head of Neuroscience and Mental Health.

Senior Portfolio Developer
Kathryn Adcock has a BSc in biochemistry from Imperial College London and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Cambridge. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Basel and then Zurich before joining the Wellcome Trust in 2005. She is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with researchers across a wide range of activities. Kathryn also provides input into the development and implementation of the Trust's scientific strategy and direction. She is currently Senior Portfolio Developer for Clinical Activities and for Neuroscience and Mental Health.

Cellular, Developmental and Physiological Sciences

Head
Alison Cave holds a degree in Pharmacology and a PhD in biochemistry, both from the University of London. Following her PhD, Alison completed postdoctoral training in Boston, USA and Guy’s Hospital in London before returning to King’s College London as a lecturer and subsequently senior lecturer. Her research interests initially focussed on the protection of the heart following ischaemia and reperfusion but later centred on the role of oxidant stress, in the development and progression of cardiac hypertrophy with a specific focus on the fibrosis which accompanies this pathology. She was also interested in the mechanisms underlying the cardiac dysfunction associated with sepsis.Prior to joining the Trust in 2013 she worked at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency monitoring and assessing the safety of marketed medicines.

Senior Portfolio Developer
Clare McVicker has a BSc in pharmacology, a PhD in physiology and experience working in a pharma environment. She joined the Wellcome Trust in 2005 following postdoctoral training at King's College London and Imperial College London. Since joining the Trust, Clare has overseen the Physiological Sciences portfolio and is now a Senior Portfolio Developer. Her responsibilities include the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research at the University of Manchester and the Diabetes and Inflammation Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.

Genetic and Molecular Sciences

Head
Michael Dunn is Head of the Genetic and Molecular Sciences team in Science Funding. Having obtained a PhD in biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, he went on to work on the genetics of type 1 diabetes at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford. Michael joined the Trust in 2000. His role is to manage and develop its scientific portfolio and community of investigators to enable the Trust to achieve its mission.

Senior Portfolio Developers

Audrey Duncanson joined the Wellcome Trust in 2000 and is now a Senior Portfolio Developer. Her role is to help develop and implement strategic funding initiatives in genetics, genomics and the molecular sciences, and to oversee the portfolio in these areas. After receiving a BSc (Hons) in molecular biology and a PhD from the Department of Genetics, University of Glasgow, Audrey went on to postdoctoral studies in fly neurodevelopment at the Department of Genetics, University of Leicester. Her current responsibilities include the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, the UK10K sequencing project and H3 Africa.

Victoria King joined the Wellcome Trust in 2012 to help oversee the portfolio and develop and implement strategic funding initiatives in genetics and the molecular sciences. After a first degree and subsequent PhD in Biochemistry (Universities of Sussex and Sheffield) Victoria held research development roles in several medical research charities including Asthma UK, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and most recently Diabetes UK where she was Head of Research. Victoria has also spent time working for the NIHR Comprehensive Clinical Research Network to develop and implement strategies to support clinical research. Her current responsibilities at the Trust include development of the Trust’s research portfolio at the chemistry biology interface, the Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Initiative (HIPSCI) and ELIXIR.

Science Portfolio Adviser
Tom Collins joined the Wellcome Trust’s Molecular and Physiological Sciences team in 2012 following postdoctoral research into the development and treatment of heart failure at the National Heart and Lung Institute. He has a first degree in physiology and holds a PhD from Oxford University, where his thesis focussed on novel signalling pathways in the healthy myocardium. At the Trust, his current responsibilities include the Structural Genomics Consortium, the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium and the Molecular Basis of Cell Function expert review group.

Neuroscience and Mental Health

Head
John Williams

Senior Portfolio Developer
Kathryn Adcock

Please see the Clinical Activities team above for biographies.

Science Portfolio Advisers

Clarissa Edwards joined the Wellcome Trust's Neuroscience and Mental Health Team in 2011, moving from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and returning to her primary discipline. She holds a PhD from King's College London, where her thesis focused on experience-dependent synaptic plasticity. She has also studied a combination of neuroscience, physiology, psychology and philosophy at UCL and Oxford. At the Trust she works to promote the molecular and cellular neuroscience portfolio, engaging with scientists and stakeholders and identifying opportunities for strategic funding.

Emily Richardson joined the Wellcome Trust's Neuroscience and Mental Health team in 2012. Prior to that she was a postdoctoral fellow working on fly neurobiology at the National Institute for Medical Research. Emily has a first degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from University College London. She has previous experience of working in the medical research charity sector, having worked at Deafness Research UK. Emily oversees the molecular and cellular neuroscience portfolio, and contributes to identifying and developing strategic funding initiatives. She also builds and maintains relationships with the neuroscience community.

Raliza Stoyanova joined the Neuroscience and Mental Health team in 2012 having previously trained in cognitive neuroscience at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, supported by the Gates Cambridge Trust. She also holds degrees from the University of Toronto and the University of the Witwatersrand. Her background includes behavioural and functional neuroimaging research in healthy volunteers and clinical populations as well as more clinically focussed work in the mental health sector.Her role at the Trust is to oversee the cognitive neuroscience and mental health portfolio , manage relationships with relevant stakeholders and assist in the development of strategic funding initiatives.

Pathogens, Immunology and Population Health

Head
TBC

Science Portfolio Advisers

Lara Bethke is responsible for the development, implementation and monitoring of strategic funding activities in the virology, mycology, bacteriology and animal health portfolios. She oversees a number of activities including the Thailand and Vietnam Major Overseas Programmes and the Oxford Centre for Research in Clinical Tropical Medicine. Lara has a PhD in biological sciences in public health from Harvard University.

Michael Chew obtained his PhD in parasitology at Imperial College London. He contributes to the development and implementation of strategic funding activities and initiatives in the team. Michael’s responsibilities include the Malawi Major Overseas Programme, the Liverpool Centre for Research in Clinical Tropical Medicine, the Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology in Glasgow, the African Capacity Strengthening Strategic Awards, and the Public Health and Tropical Medicine Fellowship scheme.

Lauren Foster-Mustarde works across the Wellcome Trust's portfolio in public health research and population studies. Her current responsibilities include the UK and international cohort studies, the Imperial College Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine, the UKCRC Centres of Excellence for Public Health Research, and initiatives related to e-health. Lauren's training is in international public health with a specialisation in reproductive and sexual health research (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine). Prior to joining the Wellcome Trust she worked as a research fellow in maternal health and in the international NGO sector.

Nidhee Jadeja contributes to the Wellcome Trust's portfolio in the area of public health research and population studies. Her responsibilities include the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies, health systems research, and the development of Strategic Challenge 5: Connecting the Environment, Nutrition, and Health. Nidhee completed her first degree from the University of Toronto and her training in public health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Helen Wakeford oversees the immunology funding portfolio and contributes to the implementation of strategic funding activities and initiatives in the team. Her responsibilities include the Imperial Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine, the India Alliance and the Insect Pollinators Initiative. Before joining the Trust, she worked for a World Health Organisation think tank, and for the Institute of Infectious Diseases of Poverty. Helen received her immunology training at the University of Cambridge, where her focus was on infectious triggers of autoimmunity, and her first degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford.

International Activities

Head
Jimmy Whitworth has been Head of International Activities at the Wellcome Trust since 2004. He is responsible for strategy, policy and developing the scientific portfolio for research in low- and middle-income countries, which has an annual grant disbursement of about £70-100 million. Jimmy qualified in medicine in 1979, and has worked in the Gambia for Save the Children Fund and in Sierra Leone and Uganda for the Medical Research Council. He has worked at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he was Professor of International Public Health from 1999 to 2004.

International Activities Manager
Val Snewin works in the International Activities team at the Wellcome Trust, with particular responsibility for health research capacity strengthening initiatives in Africa. She contributes to planning and coordinating implementation of Trust global health research strategy both internally and with the external community. In 2005, Val was on secondment to the Department for International Development; prior to that, she was a member of the Wellcome Trust Strategic Planning and Policy Unit. She joined the Trust in 2000, following ten years of research into malaria at the Pasteur Institute, Paris, and as a research lecturer at Imperial College London, working on tuberculosis.

International Portfolio Manager
Dermot Maher trained in medicine in Cambridge (MA) and Oxford (BM BCh), with subsequent postgraduate training as a GP in the UK and Australia and then in internal medicine and infectious diseases in the UK. He has since worked as a specialist physician in Malawi, as a tuberculosis specialist with the World Health Organization in Geneva, as head of a programme of HIV research in Uganda, and most recently as Senior Tuberculosis Advisor with the Global Fund in Geneva, before joining the Trust in 2012. He has a Doctorate of Medicine from Oxford University.

International Activities Advisers
Alice Norton joined the Wellcome Trust at the beginning of 2009. She contributes to the operation and development of the strategy, policy and scientific portfolio of the Trust's international activities. She has particular responsibility for the African Institutions Initiative and the associated Learning and Evaluation Project. Other responsibilities include the WT/ Department of Biotechnology Indian Alliance Initiative and research capacity building projects in India and Africa. Previously Alice has been a member of the Trust’s Challenge 1 team: maximising the health benefits of genetics and genomics, and led on the Thailand and Vietnam Major Overseas Programmes.Before joining the Trust, Alice worked as Country Programme Manager for the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative in Tanzania. She has a BA in biological sciences from Oxford University, a PhD in parasitology from Imperial College London and postdoctoral experience in epidemiology, parasite population genetics and operational research in Kenya, Niger and Tanzania.

Marta Tufet contributes to the development and operation of the Trust’s International strategy, policy and scientific portfolio. Her responsibilities include, the African Institutions Initiative to strengthen research capacity in 51 African universities and research institutions, and the Joint DfID/MRC/Trust Global Health Trials Scheme to address major causes of mortality and morbidity in low and middle-income countries. Marta is a member of the Trust’s Challenge 3 team: Combating Infectious Disease. Previously she worked as a Science Portfolio Adviser, overseeing the Immunology portfolio, UK Biobank, the Kenya Major Overseas Programme, the Bloomsbury Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine, and the Insect Pollinators Initiative. Prior to joining the Trust in 2009, she worked for Nature Reviews Immunology, and the Charles Darwin Foundation in the Galapagos Islands. Marta has a PhD in molecular parasitology (malaria) from Imperial College London. She speaks several languages having lived in Spain, Belgium, Portugal, France, Holland, and Ecuador.