To help us achieve our ambitious goals, our Council of Trustees and Executive Board plan where we invest our time, money and expertise.

They are responsible for setting out our short-term and long-term strategy, covering everything from scientific research and fundraising to resources. The Executive Board also propose our annual budget, which is then submitted to the Council of Trustees for approval.

The Executive Directors who constitute the Executive Board are:

Harpal Kumar

MA MEng MBA

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board

Harpal joined Cancer Research Technology Limited as Chief Executive in 2002. In addition to this role, he became Chief Operating Officer of Cancer Research UK in July 2004, before becoming Chief Executive in April 2007.

Aisling Burnand

MBE

Executive Director, Policy and Public Affairs (from 5 October 2009)

Aisling joins the Charity in October 2009. The PPA directorate incorporates: Policy Development, responsible for the development of the Charity's position on areas of public policy; Public Affairs and Campaigning, responsible for engaging the public in achieving our political lobbying objectives; and Tobacco Control, responsible for developing and implementing internal and external tobacco control policy for CR-UK.

Lilian Clark

PhD MBA

Executive Director, Science Operations and Funding

Lilian was appointed Executive Director, Science Operations and Funding, in August 2007. Lilian is responsible for a large proportion of our science funding, ensuring that assessment of applications is carried out objectively and impartially, and that the research we fund is regularly peer reviewed.

Iain Foulkes

PhD

Executive Director, Strategy and Planning

Iain was appointed as the Executive Director, Strategy and Planning in August 2009. He is responsible for helping to shape the long-term direction of the organisation and to ensure we have effective strategies to meet our ambitious goals. Iain is also responsible for overseeing the Charity's assurance activities.

Professor Peter Johnson

MA MD FRCP

Chief Clinician

Peter Johnson has been Chief Clinician for Cancer Research UK since January 2008. He has responsibility for the strategy and shape of the Charity¿s clinical activities, both in clinical research and in the wider context of cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Professor Sir David Lane

FRS FRSE

Chief Scientist

Professor Sir David Lane is the Chief Scientist of Cancer Research UK. He is the Director of the Cancer Research UK Transformation Research Group at the University of Dundee and is responsible for developing our scientific strategy.

Sarah Lyness

MA

Executive Director, Communications and Information

Sarah joined the Charity in 1997. She developed and launched the Cancer Research UK brand. She is responsible for providing communications and information about cancer and the Charity's work to our external audiences.

Lynne Robb

BSc ACA

Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director, Corporate Resources

Lynne Robb joined Cancer Research UK as Finance Director during its merger in 2002. Over the last six years her role has expanded to Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of Corporate Resources, which includes Legal, Property Services, Finance,Treasury and Procurement for the whole organisation.

Elizabeth Sideris

Executive Director, Human Resources

Elizabeth Sideris was appointed as the Executive Director for Human Resources in August 2009. She is responsibile for supporting CR-UK in achieving the people related aspects of its strategy and for facilitating the development of a performance and learning culture.

Peter Sneddon

PhD

Executive Director, Clinical and Translational Operations and Funding

Peter joined the Charity in December 2008. He is responsible for the operation of programmes within Clinical and Translational Research, which includes Clinical Trials, CR-UK Centres, Drug Discovery, Drug Development and Biomarkers, Imaging and Tissue Resources.

Richard C Taylor

Executive Director, Fundraising and Supporter Marketing

Richard joined the Charity as Retail Director in April 1998. He is responsible for the five-year fundraising strategy which drives income to support the Charity's long-term ambitions.

Download our Executive Board Structure Chart (PDF) to see which areas our Executive Board Directors are responsible for.

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