Matthew Newcombe-Ellis - chair of trustees
Prior to joining Kidney Research UK, Matthew has been chair of trustees for Prostate Cancer Research for the last five years and a trustee since 2016.
During this time, Prostate Cancer Research has trebled its fundraising income and significantly expanded the portfolio of research that it funds, including leading researchers at universities and academic institutions in the UK and US, supporting translational research in partnership with leading pharma and biotechs, and a programme of grants focused on addressing the racial inequalities in prostate cancer.
Before moving into the charity sector, Matthew worked in investment banking for 15 years, advising on over $300bn of mergers and acquisitions for some of the largest companies in the UK.
Matthew is also a director of Cambridge spin-out Constructive Bio, whose platform technologies allow the fundamental reprogramming of the genetic code to create new classes of enzymes, pharmaceuticals and biomaterials.
Tejal Amin
Tejal is an Associate Partner at a large professional services firm specialising in leading, designing and executing large-scale change and transformation programmes. With 25+ years with the firm, she has had several operational and strategic roles, spanning both client facing and internal delivery. She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Tejal has been involved with the charity for a number of years and has completed a term as a member of our Lay Advisory Group and is also a member of the Dialysis Research Network. She has a keen interest in kidney disease and understanding how the care provision continues to evolve to meet the needs of patients. Her father suffered from chronic kidney disease and was on peritoneal dialysis treatment for 5+ years. Having witnessed first-hand the impact that this treatment has on the whole family and beyond, Tejal is passionate about using her professional skills and practical experience to support the charity and drive better outcomes for kidney patients and families.
Mother of two boys, Tejal’s spare time revolves around family and food!
Chris Brocklesby
Chris brings extensive experience in technology leadership and transformation. He is currently the chief technology officer at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) where he is overseeing a technology transformation including advancing the use of AI across the organisation and vital work around information security.
Before the BHF he was chief transformation officer at the Post Office where he was responsible for the digital transformation of the UK’s biggest retailer. He has also served as CIO at many customer facing businesses including Dunelm, Vodafone, EasyJet and Tesco Bank, with a strong track record of delivering innovation and driving strategic change.
Chris is also a trustee at Hearing Dogs for Deaf people where he chairs the Digital Transformation Programme Board.
Chris has lived experience of kidney disease and dialysis and is a thankful recipient of two kidney transplants.
John Cunningham
John is a retired Professor of Nephrology at University College London Medical School and The Royal Free Hospital and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge.
"En route I have spent time at Cambridge and Oxford Universities also the University of California and Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, USA from where I became a consultant at The London Hospital, Whitechapel from 1982, moving to my current positions in 2003. I work in general nephrology with niches in metabolic medicine and in the interplay between kidney, cardiovascular system and bone. Over the years I have run research programmes trying to understand why kidney patients are so prone to heart disease and fractures, problem areas that are closely connected.
Supporting education and research is central to what we all try to do and is energized by the buzz that the young transmit upstream to the pleasure and benefit of all concerned. A stint as Sub‑Dean for Student Admissions (1990‑1997) required me to meet and interview large numbers of young men and women, many of them outstanding individuals. The ability of some of them to reach the highest level despite having to handle the most adverse circumstances is a source of wonder to me and I am fortunate that I can still mix with young people through my appointments at UCL and Cambridge.
My career has been somewhat hybrid and this breadth emphasises to me the critical role of research and education orientated charities. I was a Special Trustee to The London Hospital (now Barts and The London Charity And Related Charities) and I continue with The St Peter’s Trust, The Astor Foundation and Kidney Research UK.
Spare time? A blend of family, music, sport and current affairs."
Simon Davies
Simon is Emeritus Professor of Nephrology and Dialysis Medicine at Keele University. He completed his medical training at King’s College Hospital and earned his research degree at Guy’s Hospital in London. Simon later moved to the North Midlands, where he recently retired as a consultant nephrologist based at the University Hospital of North Midlands.
For many years his research has focussed on peritoneal dialysis, especially the role of the peritoneal membrane in determining the success of this treatment for kidney failure. This led to an increasing focus on the management of fluid status in both peritoneal and haemodialysis and the understanding of centre-level practices in improving the experience of dialysis treatment.
From 2010 to 2012 he was president of the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis, a role which spurred his interest in the problem of equity of access to treatments for kidney failure. He currently co-leads the International Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Failure Strategy and is developing their toolkit for dialysis in resource-limited settings in conjunction with the WHO, as well as leading health services research on access to home therapies closer to home.
Music is his lifelong passion outside work. He conducts the Border Singers, based in nearby Shropshire, and sings regularly with the Manchester Chamber Choir. He has recently completed a research degree in music composition at the University of Birmingham.
Ian Dodd
Ian is a commercial accountant with over 30 years' experience across a variety of sectors mainly within the travel industry but also with time in financial services, manufacturing, leisure and utilities.
Whilst at Thomas Cook, Ian spent a short period of time as a trustee for the Thomas Cook Children's Charity and also combined his love of sport by working on several sporting and Olympic projects.
Ian's finance career has primarily been centred around partnering non-finance leaders, helping them to understand their performance, improve decision making and deliver against budgets.
Ian lives in Northamptonshire with his wife and two sons. Outside of work, Ian enjoys walking the dog, watching all sports especially football & cricket and attending music concerts. When feeling more energetic he can be seen mountain biking, running or doing a bootcamp at the gym!
John E. Milad
John E. Milad is a life sciences executive and investor who dedicated 14 years of his career to making dialysis more accessible to patients. As co-founder, investor and former Chief Executive Officer of Quanta Dialysis Technologies, he helped develop and launch a portable haemodialysis system that enables more patients to dialyse at home. He is now Chief Executive Officer of ERS Genomics, which licenses foundational CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing intellectual property worldwide, and a non-executive director of Northern Venture Trust PLC.
He has an extensive background in venture capital and innovation in the healthcare and life sciences sectors through roles at Atlas Venture, NBGI Ventures and Downing LLP. His contributions include being a member of the selection committee for the National Institute for Health Research's (NIHR) Invention for Innovation (i4i) program, which focuses on advancing translational research.
In addition, he has held positions on the boards of eight life sciences start-ups working to transform healthcare. Beyond board participation, he also shares his expertise as a business mentor at the Enterprise Hub at the Royal Academy of Engineering. John was named in the Sunday Times Maserati List as one of the UK's "Top 100 Game Changing Innovators and Entrepreneurs" and is a recipient of the prestigious MacRobert Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Victoria Panormo
Victoria is Head of Client Relationships for Aviva’s Workplace Pensions Business, where she leads strategic relationships with some of the UK's largest workplace pension schemes.
With more than 20 years' experience in pensions and financial services, she has extensive expertise in leadership, governance, stakeholder engagement and helping organisations deliver better outcomes for their members and customers. Alongside her executive career, Victoria is Chair of NextGen Pensions and a Trustee of Fitzrovia Youth in Action.
Victoria has a deeply personal connection to kidney disease through her husband, who has received two life-saving living donor kidney transplants. Having witnessed first-hand the impact kidney disease can have on patients and families, she is passionate about supporting research, raising awareness and improving outcomes for those affected by kidney disease. She is also an active fundraiser, mentor and advocate for charitable causes.
Sir Stephen Huw Powis
From January 2018 to July 2025 Sir Stephen Powis was the National Medical Director of NHS England, during one of the most challenging periods in the history of the National Health Service. In this role he was the most senior doctor within the NHS in England.
At NHS England Stephen’s leadership team consisted of senior clinicians including England’s Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Chief Dental Officer, Chief Scientific Officer, Chief Allied Health Professions Officer and the National Director of Patient Safety. He was the executive lead for the NHS national cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes and prevention
programmes. He was also the senior responsible officer in England for the human health workstream of the UK government’s antimicrobial resistance strategy. He cochaired the National Quality Board with the Chief Inspector of Hospitals and worked closely with colleagues at NIHR and NICE to ensure that research and guideline priorities were aligned with the needs of the NHS. He has led several national reviews, most recently of postgraduate medical training. He has given evidence to parliamentary committees on eighteen occasions.
Sir Stephen played a key role in the NHS response to the covid-19 pandemic. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and advised senior government ministers throughout the pandemic, including the prime minister. He was also the NHS England national director responsible for the deployment of covid antiviral therapeutics. During the pandemic he appeared at over thirty live Downing Street press briefings.
Prior to his role at NHS England Sir Stephen was Medical Director (and latterly Group Chief Medical Officer) of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. He held the Moorhead Chair of Renal Medicine at University College London from 1997 to 2017. Upon leaving UCL he became an honorary professor. Stephen is also an Honorary Fellow of St Johns’s College Oxford. In addition to his medical degrees and immunogenetics PhD, Stephen has an MBA from Warwick University.
Sir Stephen was knighted in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to the NHS, particularly during covid-19.
Moin Saleem
Professor of Paediatric Renal Medicine, University of Bristol
"I trained as an undergraduate at University College, London. I am a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. My PhD was in transplantation immunology at Institute of Child Health, London. After paediatric nephrology training at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, I set up my independent laboratory programme in glomerular cell biology in Bristol, as well as holding a post as a consultant paediatric nephrologist since 1999, with an international reputation in management of nephrotic syndromes, and a pioneer of the field of podocyte biology.
"I'm now head Bristol Renal, a glomerular research group of approximately 45 researchers, covering all areas from cell biology, transgenic models and population cohorts and genetics (H index 82).
"I was the originator of the UK Renal Rare Disease Registry (RaDaR), and am currently leading the UK nephrotic syndrome study (NephroS), as well as a major industry-academic collaboration termed NURTuRE (National Unified Renal Translational Research Enterprise). I am principal investigator on several MRC projects, including Precision Medicine, laboratory project grants and a Global Challenges program to establish international NS cohorts, which includes India and Sri Lanka.
"My gene therapy program commenced in 2014, and is focused on targeting the podocyte in order to radically change the treatment of kidney diseases. I am now Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of Purespring Therapeutics, the world’s first renal gene therapy biotech."
Professor Claire Sharpe
Consultant nephrologist Professor Claire Sharpe became Dean of Education at the University of Nottingham School of Medicine in 2022. Her research has focused on how scarring (fibrosis) causes kidney failure and she received funding from institutions including Kidney Research UK, the National Institute for Healthcare Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC).
In continuing her 20-year career as a clinical academic, she also supervises a PhD student at King’s College London and continues to do clinical practice at King’s College Hospital. Claire also served on Kidney Research UK’s grant review committee for six years and she played a key role in the formation of the UK Kidney Association as treasurer and trustee.