The BioResource Leadership Team
Chief Investigator & Co-Chair
Co-Chair
Director
Helena Ahlfors
Head of Research Data and Technology
Governance & Ethics Manager
Business Manager
Operations Lead
Head of Samples
Prof. John Bradley
Chief Investigator & Co-Chair
Professor John Bradley CBE is Chief Investigator & Co-Chair of the NIHR BioResource.
He is a Consultant Physician at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Honorary Professor of Experimental Medicine at the University of Cambridge, and Director of Research for Cambridge University Hospitals and Cambridge University Health Partners.
Prof. Patrick Chinnery
Co-Chair
Professor Patrick Chinnery is Co-Chair of the NIHR BioResource and is Clinical Director of the Medical Research Council, Professor of Neurology, Head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge and clinical neurologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
He is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow with his research lab based in the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit. He is known for his expertise in rare inherited diseases that affect the nervous system.
Dr. Nathalie Kingston
Director
Dr. Nathalie Kingston manages a multi-skilled team leading on the recruitment and recall of volunteers, the collection and storage of biological samples, clinical and genomic data, as well as the IT infrastructure underpinning all BioResource operations.
Nathalie has a PhD in Immunology from the University of Strathclyde and subsequently joined the University of Cambridge to carry out research in autoimmune and infectious diseases. She then worked at the Wellcome Sanger Institute as the Director’s Executive Assistant, before joining the BioResource in 2013.
Rose Eichenberger
Governance & Ethics Manager
Rose Eichenberger leads the Governance and Ethics team, which is responsible for governance and ethics across all the NIHR BioResource programmes. The team reviews all study documents, submits protocol amendments when needed and manages the communication with the research sponsor(s) and ethics committees. The team also manages the development of relevant policies and procedures.
Prior to joining, Rose held various research management and governance roles within the University of Cambridge and in the NHS.
Nigel Seaber
Business Manager
Nigel Seaber manages the Human Resources, Finance, Procurement & Contracts, Facilities Management and Communications departments at the NIHR BioResource.
Prior to moving to the not-for-profit sector several years ago, he worked for Business Software Solution companies in a variety of operational management roles, from software development to customer service and relations.
Hannah Stark
Operations Lead
Hannah Stark leads the Operations team, which is responsible for the coordination of recruitment across all NIHR BioResource programmes. The team support recruitment sites and BioResource Centres recruiting into the BioResource and answers questions from members of the public and volunteers. The team also supports academic and industry researchers in inviting BioResource volunteers to their studies and ensuring they run to time and target.
Dr. Kathy Stirrups
Head of Samples
Dr Kathy Stirrups leads the Samples team, which is responsible for the bio-banking of samples from new participants for future research studies and the extraction and quality control of DNA before generation of genetic data. She also oversees the feasibility and then provision of samples to research groups according to the project specification and manages bespoke projects such as whole genome (WGS) or RNA sequencing to assess the translation of these techniques into health systems.
Kathy has held a number of academic and small biotech roles specialising in assays and bio-banking of DNA, RNA, proteins and biological samples. Her PhD is in Molecular Virology from the University of Reading.