2 May 2025

What is your role?

I am a haemato-oncologist by training and a key opinion leader in myeloma and stem cell transplantation for auto-immune disease. I am also the Director for Research, Innovation, Digital and Commercial for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (FT) Cancer & Surgery group. I sit on the board of three start-up companies and I am a clinical advisor to a venture capitalist firm specialising in Life Sciences.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

My role is diverse. I am responsible for bringing new relationships/partnerships to the Trust allowing us to remain at the forefront of innovation in clinical service delivery, education, use of our data, and commercial research. This not only strengthens the organisation financially with diverse revenue streams but more importantly gives our clinical teams and patients access to the latest and best advances.

Some examples include the £18.9m grant we obtained from the government to enrich our historical joint King's College London/Guy's and St Thomas' NHS FT biobank data to become a rich training set for AI companies. We matched that funding with £25m from a variety of sources including industry partners and charities creating PharosAI, so that we can position King's Health Partners (KHP) and the UK at the vanguard of the AI revolution in cancer care.

I have also worked with two start-up companies in bringing practice changing digital/AI technologies in cancer care that will transform the lives of patients and staff. One provides real time support to cancer patients outside of the hospital and the other relieves the pressure on our cancer services, in particular the cancer multi-disciplinary meeting which are increasingly busy and hugely expensive to run. This tool allows us to divert over 40% of patients away from the MDT meetings directly to treatment freeing up capacity and reducing treatment delays.

I am also working in collaboration with King's College Hospital Dubai to help them set up world class cancer services in the UAE. No two days are ever the same and I get to meet some fantastic people within and outside healthcare, and I am always learning.

What inspired you to get into this work?

I started my career with a plan to be an academic but realised quickly that I had an aptitude for leadership and an entrepreneurial streak. This coupled with the ability to think strategically led me to bringing in lots of novel technologies into the Trust - for example I started the first unrelated bone marrow donor transplant programme at the Trust.

I made the case for the creation of the Oncology/Haematology Clinical Trials Unit, I led the clinical programme building the Guy’s Cancer Centre that opened in 2016, and also the creation of Guy's Cancer Academy, which has recently spun out as a commercial entity. My inspiration has always been to strive to do better for the patients who use our cancer services.

What are the benefits of your work for staff, students, and patients?

We have made real tangible difference to all our patients the single most impactful thing was the opening of the new cancer centre. Prior to that patients may have had to go to 17 different places in the organisation during their cancer journey. We brought most of that under one roof. The stand alone cancer centre allowed us to continue to offer complex cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Staff enjoyed working in the new environment, we created an innovation hub that attracted more students into cancer-related research. We have raised the profile of cancer in KHP and now attract talent to come and work here, we have one of the largest clinical trials portfolios and a very active student research programme.

Patients are getting access to the latest trials/ technology adoption, advanced therapies and best in class holistic support. KHP is well positioned to reach its objective of being seen as a leader in cancer care globally.

What would be your one career top tip? 

Find great colleagues to work with who share the same mission, never settle for the status quo, and always strive to do the best for patients, your institution and yourself.