Our staff
Get to know our dedicated and passionate staff team, united in the fight for a future where no child dies of neuroblastoma or suffers due to the treatment they receive. Several of the team have lived experience of neuroblastoma, helping to inform and focus our work for children and families.
Gail Jackson
Chief Executive Officer
Gail joined Solving Kids’ Cancer UK in April 2020 as the charity’s CEO. Gail is passionate about working for organisations with children at its heart and this is what led her to Solving Kids’ Cancer UK.
Gail has a wealth of experience in supporting children and families, having started her career as a children’s social worker. Gail has held senior leadership positions within regional and national charities and was CEO of a regional community development charity.
Gail lives in rural Lincolnshire with her husband, two teenage children, two dogs and four hens.
Georgina Clark
Executive Assistant
Georgina joined Solving Kids’ Cancer UK in January 2021, as Executive Assistant, providing an efficient and effective administration service to the Chief Executive, Company Secretary and Head of Research. Georgina also supports the Board of Trustees, ensuring that the Charity adheres to good governance.
Georgina has experience of supporting a range of business processes within both the public and private sector, and held a similar role in the third sector, whilst working for a charity supporting rural communities.
Georgina lives in rural Lincolnshire with her husband and two boys and enjoys an active lifestyle with her family.
Helen Pearson
Chief Nurse
Helen has worked in paediatric oncology for over sixteen years, having worked in the NHS and private sector. She has a master's degree in advanced Practice in Cancer Care and a Post-Graduate Diploma Advanced Nurse Practitioner. For her doctoral studies Helen developed and led the REDMAPP research study which explored parent treatment decision-making in relapsed and refractory neuroblastoma. The knowledge gained informed the development of a website to support parents in making these decisions, which was developed in partnership with parents. Helen was the first paediatric oncology nurse to receive the National Institute for Health and Care Research Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship which funded her doctoral studies. She has published with nursing and medical colleagues, co-authoring a chapter on treatment decision-making with colleagues internationally for a paediatric oncology nursing textbook, and contributed to the Neuroblastoma textbook which is due to be published in 2025.
Helen is a member of the MiNivAn Trial Steering Committee, CCLG Research Advisory Group, the SIOP Young Investigators Education Committee, and the SIOPE nurses research group. She has previously been a member of the European Oncology Nursing Society Advocacy working group. Helen is the founder and Chair of the National Neuroblastoma Nursing Group which was initiated to increase partnership working amongst nurses nationally caring for children with neuroblastoma and is co-chair of the CCLG/RCN Children and Young People’s Nursing Group.
Finance
Gemma Wadsley
Director of Strategic Finance
Gemma joined Solving Kids' Cancer UK in 2019 as Head of Strategic Finance and is responsible for all our financial affairs, working closely with the Treasurer.
Previously she worked at Macmillan Cancer Support for 11 years, predominantly as Director of Finance, and more recently at RNIB also as Director of Finance.
Gemma has two young children - James and Sammy - and spends much of her free time playing superheroes and building Lego. Any other spare time is spent cycling around the countryside or with friends.
Sue McGregor-Ogden
Senior Finance Manager
Sue joined Solving Kids’ Cancer UK in October 2023 as Senior Finance Manager, actively ensuring the effective day-to-day financial management of the charity, working closely with the Head of Strategic Finance. Previously she worked at AstraZeneca as a Strategy & Planning Director, and more recently as the Head of Finance & Operations at The Joshua Tree, a children’s cancer charity based in the North West.
Sue became aware of charities supporting families affected by childhood cancer when her son Cameron went through treatment for leukaemia in 2014. Following a bone marrow transplant from his sister Holly, he has now been in remission for nine years.
Sue lives in Cheshire with her husband and enjoys theatre, swimming, winter sports, and getting out and about in the fresh air.
Val Wood-Brignall
Finance Assistant
Val joined the team in 2022 and supports the finance processing and reporting for Solving Kids’ Cancer UK. Her background is in finance and admin in the not-for-profit sector, including six years at the charity Railway Children. She lives in Cheshire with her 12-year-old son Aidan and their cat Bob.
Edward Fordham
Finance Officer
Ed joined the team in 2019 and supports the finance processing and reporting of the charity.
He previously worked as a consultant specialising in automating finance systems and before that in various finance roles with the charity Christian Aid. Ed has two young children and enjoys spending his time with his family.
Family Support
Vicky Inglis
Head of Family Support Services
Vicky leads our Family Support Team and she truly understands the impact of a neuroblastoma diagnosis. Her brave son, Jamie, passed away in January 2013 after battling neuroblastoma for half of his life. Throughout Jamie's treatment, which included travel to the US and Germany, Vicky became informed about neuroblastoma and the research landscape.
Vicky left her primary school teaching career to work with Solving Kids' Cancer UK, and one of the ways Jamie's legacy lives on is through his mum’s brilliant work
Vicky is always available to identify and address each families' needs, aiming for the best outcome each time.
Hayley Blackwell
Family Support Coordinator
Hayley is always on hand to provide support to families throughout their child's cancer journey.
She has been through this with her own daughter, Eva. Eva was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in 2014 and is now over eight years in remission, thriving after being successfully treated in the UK.
She is ideally placed to guide other families.
Away from work, Hayley enjoys music festivals and travelling. She also volunteers for the Make-A-Wish Foundation as a wish visitor.
Samantha Wilkinson
Family Support Coordinator
Sam joined Solving Kids’ Cancer UK in July 2022, as Family Support Coordinator, providing support to families throughout their child’s cancer journey. Her daughter, Oonagh was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in 2019 and is now three years in remission and enjoying life to the fullest. Before Oonagh’s diagnosis, Sam worked in the Theatre and Arts sector in the UK and Dubai. Sam lives in West Yorkshire with her husband and three small children and enjoys exploring the local area with her family and going to the gym.
Donna Ludwinski
Family Support Advocate
Donna Ludwinski has a vast knowledge of the neuroblastoma research landscape. As a staunch parent advocate, Donna is passionate about providing resources to neuroblastoma families and guiding them through the world of clinical trials to empower their decision-making. She is based in Virginia, USA, and is the Director of Research Advocacy Programs for Solving Kids' Cancer in the US. Donna is an active member of the New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Advisory Council, Coalition Against Childhood Cancer (CAC2) Board, and National Cancer Institute (NCI) Pediatric Central Institutional Review Board. She is also a member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Pediatric Cancer Working Group (PCWG) and was a member of their Steering Committee 2015-2018. Donna also serves on the Pediatric Oncology Subcommittee of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (PedsODAC) for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Donna’s son, Erik, passed from neuroblastoma in 2010 at the age of 24.
Research & Awareness
Leona Knox
Head of Research
Leona’s role is to ensure Solving Kids’ Cancer UK effectively and efficiently delivers on its Research Strategy, as the charity strives to improve outcomes for children with neuroblastoma. As part of Solving Kids’ Cancer UK’s collaborative approach, Leona works closely with national and international charity partners to ensure that more can be achieved, jointly, for children and their families. Leona also supports our Scientific Advisory Board to function effectively and organises our grant review and award process, ensuring that we work to the standards and values required by the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC). As part of her role with the charity, Leona leads on the development and delivery of the scientific agenda of our annual parent conference, selecting and inviting leading neuroblastoma researchers from around the world to share recent updates directly with the parent/patient population they are working to help. Leona is founding Chair of the SIOPE-Neuroblastoma (SIOPEN) Advocate Committee, member of the Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer (ITCC) Advocate Committee, a Steering Committee member of the international multi-stakeholder platform ACCELERATE, and Affiliate Member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Her son, Oscar, died from neuroblastoma in 2014 at the age of five.
Leah Ambler
Research Manager
Leah joined Solving Kids’ Cancer UK in 2022 as Research Officer. Her role is to support the Charity’s growing international research portfolio to ensure maximum impact for the children suffering with neuroblastoma and their families.
Previously Leah worked as a Research scientist in the field of cancer biology and was awarded her PhD in March 2022. Her goal is to use her understanding of the research process to support the research funded by Solving Kids’ Cancer UK to achieve its full potential.
Leah lives in rural Essex and enjoys an active lifestyle with her husband, family, and friends.
Emily Hall
Public Affairs & Advocacy Lead
Emily leads the work within our Awareness pillar - with a particular focus on driving our public affairs activities including national campaigning efforts and parliamentary engagement. In addition, Emily has a strategic oversight of our research advocacy efforts, especially our participation as patient partners in EU funded research projects.
Emily first joined the charity in 2021 with a keen interest in research, having gotten a Masters degree in Chemistry from the University of Sheffield two years prior. Since then, she has found a passion for patient and public engagement in research that now underpins the work she does to drive change in the research landscape.
Outside of work she enjoys spending time outdoors, reading a good book and slowly learning how to crochet!
Stephanie Restivo
Research Manager
Stephanie joined Solving Kids’ Cancer in August 2024 as the Research Manager. She is passionate about medical research and excited to play her part in supporting children and families affected by neuroblastoma.
Stephanie graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in Biological Sciences where her dissertation focused on studying the effects of immunosuppression. She has worked in healthcare since, initially as a Healthcare Assistant and later as a Life Sciences Project Manager.
Outside of work, Stephanie enjoys spending her time dancing salsa, and other Latin dances, in London.
Fundraising & Engagement
Danielle Russell
Head of Fundraising and Engagement
Danielle joined Solving Kids’ Cancer UK in February 2023 and leads the Fundraising and Engagement team.
She is a senior fundraising, charitable giving, communications and marketing professional with a career spanning over 20 years in the higher education, arts and charity sector. She is currently studying for an MA in Philanthropic Studies from the University of Kent and is on the Board of Trustees at the Nottingham Playhouse.
Danielle is passionate about building the best partnerships and the power of philanthropy to deliver positive change. During her career, she has raised vital funds to support cancer research, disadvantaged and vulnerable students, access to the arts, creative initiatives and capital projects.
Danielle lives in Sheffield. Outside of work she enjoys walking in Sheffield's many green spaces, ballet lessons, reformer pilates and visiting numerous wildlife parks with her animal crazy 10-year-old daughter.
Anna Austin
Relationship Manager
Anna became aware of Solving Kids’ Cancer UK when her daughter Isla was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma on her first birthday.
Isla accessed frontline treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital and then with the help, support and guidance of Solving Kids’ Cancer UK embarked on a clinical trial in New York. Isla is currently in remission, recently celebrated her five years post-treatment milestone and is loving being at school with her siblings and friends.
Prior to Isla’s diagnosis, Anna worked within the corporate retail sector, with over 14 years' experience in head office roles for leading UK retailers, latterly as a Senior Ecommerce Trading Manager. Anna lives in Hertfordshire with her husband Rick and children, son Finn and twin daughters Lottie and Isla.
“I have seen firsthand the devastation neuroblastoma causes. Our innocent children are being put through such brutal treatment, the heart-breaking loss of lives, and the cruel and serious side effects survivors contend with. I am honoured to be part of this organisation and passionate about making a difference. Together we must fight for our children, for kinder treatment and a cure”.
Laura Nott
Fundraising Campaigns & Communications Manager
Laura joined the team in May 2019 and supports families who are fundraising for their child to access treatment with Solving Kids' Cancer UK.
She has previously volunteered for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and has a degree in Criminology from the University of Leicester.
Laura moved to London in 2019 and likes to spend her weekends seeing as much of the city as she can.
Sophie Lizra
Community and Events Fundraising Manager
Sophie joined the team in the summer of 2019 and supports our fabulous community fundraisers and challenge events participants.
Her goal is to ensure those who join Team Solving Kids' Cancer UK have the best experience and raise plenty of money for children affected by neuroblastoma and their families.
At home, Sophie loves spending time with her cats!
Laura Barker
Communications and Campaigns Manager
Laura joined the team in August 2024 as Communications and Campaigns Manager. As part of her role, she is responsible for developing marketing campaigns and raising the charity's online and media profile.
Laura previously worked at The Lullaby Trust and has over 8 years of experience in charity communications.
She lives in London and in her spare time enjoys reading, swimming, and exploring more of the city.
Operations
Claire Hislop
Head of Operations
Claire has worked for the charity since 2012, joining the Fundraising Team initially before becoming Head of Development in 2016 and then Head of Operations in 2017.
Claire oversees the charity's operations - HR, legal, health and safety, compliance, systems and policies - as well as manages our office and different projects including our annual parent conference.
Outside of work, Claire likes to spend time with her family - in the UK and Morocco and enjoys travelling and being outdoors.
Nicholas Leverton
Database Manager
Nicholas joined the team in 2022. With a background in Business Support, Administration and HR, Nicholas manages our RENXT Database and supports staff with data-related training and queries. Nicholas has previously worked across several roles in the voluntary sector including volunteer coordination, wellbeing support and community engagement.
Outside of work, Nicholas enjoys exploring his hometown of Manchester and the nearby Peak District - further afield, he likes to visit America to see his partner's family. When he isn't crunching numbers and spreadsheets for work, Nicholas loves to watch Baseball and he spends his evenings reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy books.