Announcement of new Chair for Big C
Professor Dylan Edwards will be stepping down as Chair of the Board of Trustees at the end of November, as he relocates to Dorset. We are delighted to announce Big C Trustee Professor Charles ffrench-Constant has been appointed as new Chair.
Dylan’s career in cancer research and higher education spans decades. He came to Norfolk in 1998 as the Big C Chair of Cancer Studies and during his tenure, he coordinated ambitious international research collaborations – this work has been central to deepening our understanding of cancer biology.
When Dylan joined the Big C Board in 2017, becoming Chair in 2022, he brought scientific insight, strategic thinking and commitment to collaboration to the position. He has lent his voice and authority to support our research grant priorities, elevate our profile and promote ambitious partnerships.
We owe Dylan a profound debt of gratitude for his dedication, leadership and the invaluable guidance he has provided over the past nine years, and we wish him and his family all the very best in this next chapter of their lives.
Whilst we will miss Dylan greatly, we are delighted to share that the Board has formally approved the appointment of Big C Trustee Professor Charles ffrench-Constant, as our new Chair of the Board.
Charles joined the Board in June having just retired from his role as Pro-Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Medicine and Health at UEA, a post he had held since 2021.
Prior to that Charles had carried out research at Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities working on developmental neurobiology and multiple sclerosis. He has also served as Dean of the Norwich Medical School and as a non-executive director with the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Trust. Charles will formally take up the role as Chair on 26 November.
He brings a wealth of understanding of research at the national level through involvement with a number of charities; he is currently Chair of the Grants Committee of Alzheimer’s Research UK which oversees around £30M annually in funding for dementia research. He also brings an extensive network of contacts throughout Norwich, UEA, the Norwich Research Park and beyond. He is keen to promote a role for Big C in cancer prevention research, building on regional and national partnerships with Cambridge and Cancer Research UK.
Big C would like to give an enormous thank you to Dylan for his incredible service and warmly welcome Charles to his new role.
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