The Cure Parkinson’s Trust has seven trustees chaired by Sir Richard Nichols:
Sir Richard Nichols - Sir Richard served his National Service with the Royal Engineers spending time in Germany, Chatham and Aldershot. He qualified as a Solicitor in 1963 and then practised in Hong Kong returning to be a Partner with Norman E. Kelly & Son in Watford. Meeting Shelagh on the ski slopes in Austria, (a tumultuous experience from which he has never recovered), they were married in 1966, have 3 children and 9 grandchildren. Richard was elected Lord Mayor of London in 1997/98. Retiring from his professional career in 2002, Richard has taken on the role of Chairman of the Trustees. Both Richard and Shelagh lead impossibly busy lives and are involved in local and National Charities.
Peter Berners-Price - Peter started his career in hotel management, before founding specialist conference management service and corporate communications company Spectrum Communications in 1976. The company grew to employ 150 people with an extensive blue-chip and government client list, handling such high profile events as the EU Presidency Conferences and the Hong Kong Farewell Ceremony. Peter handled negotiations for two subsequent business mergers which eventually created Jack Morton Worldwide which organsised high profile events such as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Athens, the G8 Conference in London and Gleneagles, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Melbourne and the New Year’s Eve Firework Display in London. Peter's hobbies include garden design (6 acres at home), golf (Brocket Hall and Bearwood Lakes), walking (anywhere), tennis (at home), reading (whenever) and photography (too much!)….and a house in Portugal.
Richard Cawdron - Richard has worked for a private company, Sanderson Asset Management, since December 2000 as a Director and Chief Operating Officer. The company provides specialist international equity fund management services principally to North American investors. He previously worked at Hill Samuel for thirty-two years retiring in September 2000. Richard is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales having qualified in 1968 with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell, now part of KPMG. Richard is married with two grown up daughters and is a keen golfer and supporter of a number of activities at Merchant Taylors’ School where he was educated. For eleven years between 1992 and 2003 he was treasurer of a local branch of the Pony Club where his daughters learnt to ride.
Dr Joy Duffen - Joy's work experience is principally as an investment professional with wide-ranging experience in academia, venture capital, start up companies and the commercial exploitation of healthcare and other technologies. Joy studied Clinical Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge, where she also completed a PhD and later there followed a Diploma in Toxicology. Joy was a founder and Investment Director of VC Fund Avlar BioVentures Ltd; where she raised over £60m. She was founder and director of Inca Therapeutics and CeNeS Pharmaceuticals (floated in 1999), as well as a founding executive of Vanguard Medica Ltd (now Vernalis) where she contributed to a very successful flotation in 1995. Joy has served as a NED on a number of biotechnology healthcare companies, co-founded Zapaloid in January 2008, a company developing novel peptides for misfolding diseases and took over the role of CEO of Manta Neuroscience (focussed exclusively on Parkinson's)in late 2008.
Sir David Jones - David was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1982 the year after he became the Chief Executive of Grattan Plc (a home shopping business with market capitalisation of £25m). Four years later, he had steered the company to a value of £330m and a merger with NEXT Plc. But this was only the start of his success. David became Chief Executive of NEXT Plc in 1988 and under his stewardship NEXT became the retail success story of the 1990’s – its market capitalisation growing from £25m in 1990 to over £3b in 2001 then he retired as CEO. It was only then that he revealed that he had Parkinson’s, having previously only told family and close friends. David retired as Chairman of NEXT in May 2006. Since leaving NEXT he has served on the boards of Morrison Supermarkets PLC and Littlewoods Shop Direct and is currently Non Executive Chairman of JJB Sports. David has raised substantial funds for Parkinson's research.
Sir David Penry - Davey - David read law at King’s College London in the early 1960s and some years ago to his delight and his contemporaries’ amusement was elected a fellow. He practised at the common law and criminal bar for 32 years becoming a Crown Court Recorder in 1986, Queen’s Counsel in 1988, Leader of the South Eastern Circuit in 1992, and Chairman of the General Council of the Bar in 1996. In 1969 he met Judy and 40 years on there are 3 children Matthew, film director, Caroline, television producer and James, lawyer, and 4 very lively grandchildren. In 1997 David became a High Court judge, in 2000 Presiding Judge of the Northern Circuit and in 2004 deputy chairman of the Security Vetting Appeals Panel. With a very full time work schedule he has limited spare time but enjoys music, theatre, golf, cycling , fell walking and the laughter of grandchildren. He became a trustee in 2008.
Dr John Scadding - John is honorary consultant neurologist to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London. Previously, he was consultant neurologist at Whittington Hospital, honorary Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Neurology, and honorary consultant neurologist to the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Society of Musicians, and St Luke’s Hospital for the Clergy. Since 2003 he has been a trustee and member of the Board of Management of the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, Putney. He was appointed Dean of the Royal Society of Medicine in 2006. He has a career-long clinical and research interest in the mechanisms and treatment of chronic pain related to neurological disease. He was a co-convenor of the James Lind Alliance, an organisation formed in 2004, dedicated to the effective involvement of patients in research on treatments.
Graeme Thomson - Graeme is an entrepreneur and business strategy consultant. A New Zealander, he has had many years’ experience throughout Asia in business consulting and investor relations. He began his career in business journalism in New Zealand, the UK and the US, after graduating from the University of Otago. Part of the project team that conducted the winning Yamaha campaign in the 1993-94 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, Graeme also has an interest in cricket, having played for New Zealand in the late 1970s. He is married to Jo Dicken (daughter of our co founder Air Vice Marshall Michael Dicken) and has two young daughters.