Maureen Foulkes-Hajdu
Executive Chairman

Maureen Foulkes(-Hajdu) worked in the Marketing Department of her Father’s very successful scientific instrument manufacturing company (MSE Centrifuges Ltd.) for five years before leaving to change her career path to academia in Montreal, Canada. Initially, she worked for the Dean of Students at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University), and then as Personal Assistant to the Principal of the first English-speaking community college in Quebec, using her fluent French. On returning to the U.K. she worked briefly in the French Department at U.C.L. before landing the job of Registrar of the London Sloan Fellowship Programme at the London Business School (when the Principal was Prof. Sir James Ball, later to become a longstanding Trustee of the Foulkes Foundation). She was a founding Trustee of the Foulkes Foundation when her Father set it up in 1972, and also took on the role of Registrar in 1981; she became Chairman of the Foundation on her Father’s death in 1993. She is dedicated to preserving and enhancing her late Father’s legacy, and is fiercely protective of all the wonderful Fellows the Foundation has had the privilege of supporting over the years. Many of them have made a significant contribution in the fields of science and medicine to the benefit of mankind, and Ernest would certainly have been very proud of the success of his uniquely far-sighted vision. Maureen was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1998.

Georgina Benton
Registrar & Granddaughter of the Founder

Georgina followed her BSc in Geography at UCL with a Masters in International Business at the Grenoble Graduate Business School. On returning to London, she worked for the French Team at HSBC Investment Bank and for the Economic Section of the French Embassy, before embarking on a rewarding career in the conference industry. Georgina developed, project managed and hosted a number of overseas conferences over several years, after which she was asked to manage several event portfolios. She then set up from scratch a new business unit for a large conference company, successfully developing it into a reputed and profitable market brand. More recently, Georgina has been enjoying motherhood whilst using her commercial acumen and operational expertise to support charities. Georgina is a keen saxophonist and currently plays in the BBC Elstree Concert Band of which she is also the General Manager, organising all the concerts and overseeing the management of the 45-piece group. She is also a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers.

Sir Walter Bodmer
Oxford University

Walter Bodmer studied mathematics at Cambridge University where, having become fascinated with genetics through courses taught by R A Fisher as part of the final year mathematics programme, he did his PhD with Fisher in population genetics. He then went as a Post Doctoral fellow in 1961 to work with Joshua Lederberg at Stanford University and to learn molecular biology. While there, eventually as a member of the Faculty for eight years, he initiated the work with his wife, Julia Bodmer, and with Rose Payne, which contributed to the discovery of the HLA system, and also his long standing involvement with somatic cell genetics. In 1970 Walter Bodmer returned to the UK to take up the chair of genetics at Oxford. In 1979 he left Oxford to become Director of Research at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories in London and was appointed the first Director-General of the Fund in 1991. On retirement from the ICRF in 1996, he returned to Oxford University as Principal of Hertford college until 2005, and as head of the ICRF, now CRUK, Cancer and Immunogenetics laboratory at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular medicine where he continues his research. Walter Bodmer was one of the first to suggest the idea of the Human Genome Project and was first a Vice- President, and then the second President of HUGO. He has made major contributions to human population genetics, somatic cell genetics, the development of the HLA system and more recently to cancer genetics, especially as applied to colorectal cancer. Walter Bodmer was elected FRS in 1974, Knighted in 1986 for his contributions to science, is an International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences and is the recipient of more than 30 honorary degrees and memberships and fellowships of scientific and medical societies.

Simon T. Ellen

Simon Ellen FRCP(Hon) has enjoyed a lengthy career in Financial Services. After a period of 20 years in senior roles at S G Warburg in the 1980s and 1990s, he became the Investment Director of United Assurance Co Ltd. Subsequently he assumed the position of Chair of a succession of insurance related businesses owned by Private Equity investors. In parallel he was Chair of the Investment Management businesses of Thomas Miller Ltd. during a period of growth of that business and, subsequently, Senior Independent Director of the parent company. He spent fifteen years as a Non-Executive director of two NHS Trust hospitals and was for many years an external advisor on investments to the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Physicians. His recent charitable interests have included the Chairmanship of a Tennis Charity dedicated to the promotion of young, potentially elite, tennis players.

Nick Hajdu
Grandson of the Founder

Nick began his career at News International working in advertising, syndication and digital strategy for the Times Ed & Higher Ed Supplements, The Times, Sunday Times and Sun newspapers. Following this he entered the world of digital search marketing and online video. Nick started his own business, a digital content agency called Adjust Your Set creating content for brands including M&S, British Airways and HSBC. Following the successful sale of this business Nick turned his head to the challenge of building those organisations that seek to do good in the world. He has advised and worked with numerous NGO's, movements and non-profits, including the B Corp movement and the 4-Day Week campaign. Nick was Marketing Director at carbon accounting firm Net Zero Now, and now works on the campaign team for the Climate Majority Project - finding a way for us all to play our part in mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis. Nick brings the entrepreneurial spirit of his Grandfather to everything he does, has a keen eye for growth opportunities and an inherent drive to create a better world.

Andrew Hall
Secretary, Sarasin & Partners

Andrew Hall worked as both a banker and an investment manager for Barclays Bank, before spending ten years with Royal Trust Co. of Canada. After a period as Managing Director of a new company in the Isle of Man he returned as associate director of Royal Trust in London. In 1980 he moved to Aitken Hume Ltd. as investment director. He joined Sarasin Investment Management in 1985 as a director with responsibility for expanding investment services, and was appointed Managing Director in 1989. In March 2002 he was appointed Executive Deputy Chairman and is now a retired partner.

Professor Muzlifah Haniffa
Newcastle University & Wellcome Sanger Institute

Muzlifah Haniffa is a Wellcome Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Interim Head of Cellular Genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Professor of Dermatology and Immunology at Newcastle University. She graduated from medical school in Cardiff, trained as a junior doctor in Cambridge and received her dermatology specialist training in Newcastle. Muzlifah is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Member of EMBO. Her work has been recognised with numerous awards, including the Academy of Medical Sciences Foulkes Foundation Medal and the European Federation of Immunological Societies ACTERIA Prize in Immunology and Allergology. She has pioneered the application of single cell genomics to decode the developing human immune system across organs and developmental stages, and to understand cell and tissue dynamics in human skin in health and disease. This work includes the landmark discovery that developmental programmes are co-opted in two common adult inflammatory skin diseases, atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.

Muzlifah has also made fundamental insights into other diseases such as infant and childhood leukaemia and COVID-19. Muzlifah is a leading member of the Human Cell Atlas (HCA) international consortium, and as co-ordinator of the HCA Development Network she plays a critical role in supporting this growing network of international scientists aiming to understand human development. She participates widely in the scientific community, including current roles as Sectional Committee Chair at the Academy of Medical Sciences and Chair of the Wellcome Career Development Award.

Professor Sir Alex Markham
University of Leeds & 1980 Foulkes Fellow

Alex Markham completed a Chemistry PhD at the University of Birmingham in 1974 and has undertaken postdoctoral work in Japan, London, Cambridge (UK) and Boston (USA). He entered the commercial sector and had some 15 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industries in both the UK and the USA, with GD Searle and then ICI Pharmaceuticals (now Astra Zeneca). His commercial experience includes both drug development (Gefitinib) and the worldwide introduction of DNA Fingerprinting for forensic and medico-legal applications. This was recognised by the Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement in 1990. He has made contributions to medical science in various fields. On the basis of his expertise in nucleic acid chemistry, he developed research programmes in medicinal chemistry then molecular biology from the mid ‘70s and was one of the pioneers of molecular genetics research in the UK in the 1980s. For the last 17 years in Leeds, his group has studied autosomal recessive Mendelian disorders in the highly inbred, immigrant communities of West Yorkshire, leading to an understanding of the causes of a variety of inherited neuro-developmental and malignant diseases. He qualified clinically in 1985, training at London and Oxford, and is accredited in pathology and internal medicine. He is the Professor of Medicine in the University of Leeds and directed the Molecular Medicine Institute at St James’s University Hospital. He has undertaken a range of administrative duties at national and international level, including the chairmanship/membership of numerous committees for the Medical Research Council, the Department of Health and the Wellcome Trust, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the Deutsche Krebshilfe, the Singapore Government Agency for Science Technology and Research (A-STAR), the Li Ka Shing Institute of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the American Association for Cancer Research. A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Board Director of the International Union against Cancer (UICC), he was, until recently, chairman of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI). He continues to chair the NCRI Informatics Initiative and the National Cancer Intelligence Network. He has been a founder member of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) Board and the National Institute of Health Research Advisory Board. He remains a member of the Government’s Cancer Reform Strategy (2007) Advisory Board, and chaired its Clinical Outcomes Group. Alex was Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK for 4 years from 2003-2007. He then returned to academic work at Leeds University but continues as Senior Medical Advisor to CR-UK. He serves on the Department of Health Ministerial/Industry Strategy Group and is Chairman of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR), Translational Medicine Board. He is also the Department of Health Senior Responsible Owner and Board Chairman of the ‘Research Capability Programme’ in NHS “Connecting for Health” and Chairman of the Arthritis Research Campaign Scientific Strategy Committee. He was knighted for ‘Services to Medicine and to Healthcare’ in the Queen’s 2008 New Year Honours List.

Professor Colin Self
University of Newcastle upon Tyne & 1977 Foulkes Fellow

Professor Self’s career started with a Chemistry degree, followed by a PhD in Metabolic Biochemistry. After completing a book on Immunology and research in the USA and Germany in immunology, he then took a medical degree at Cambridge University during which his research led to one of the first successful Cambridge biotechnology companies – IQ(Bio) Ltd. After hospital appointments at the Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge he continued his clinical research at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, before being appointed to Departmental Head and Chair of Clinical Biochemistry at Newcastle University, heading the large joint University-NHS Department. He remains very active in research in areas such as the development of next generation high performance diagnostic systems to increase speed and sensitivity. Along with his therapeutic work in which he pioneered the development of a new therapeutic field aimed at increasing the specificity of antibody-based therapies to decrease the side-effects of immunotherapy. For this, therapeutic antibodies are rendered inactive until illuminated, where or when in the body they are required. By such regional targeting, antibody specificity can be dramatically increased at the tumour site to leave the rest of the body unharmed.