Back in 2015, AREF was established as a charitable trust by the Medical Research Foundation. Since then we have been on our pathway to independence, by incorporating as a charitable company in early 2021. This means we have nominated our own Board of Trustees, who are responsible for the governance and oversight of AREF.
Our Board includes trustees with expertise in science and funding science in Africa, as well as governance, finance, fundraising and communications. Our trustees act in a voluntary role and do not get paid for the work they do for us.
We are delighted to welcome the following experts to the Board:
- Professor Nick Lemoine – Chair of the Board and Medical Director of the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network for England.
- Dr Angela Hind – Chief Executive of the Medical Research Foundation with over 30 years of researcher development and research management experience.
- Ms Ratna Kakkar – Founder and CEO of Magellan Wealth Management and an experienced business leader in the banking, financial services and wealth management industry.
- Mr Richard Lackmann – A finance, strategy, governance and commercialisation consultant with over 30 years of experience in commercial and not-for-profit entities.
- Professor Charles Mgone – Vice Chancellor of Hubert Kairuki Memorial University in Tanzania and former Executive Director of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP).
- Ms Pauline Mullin – Deputy Director of Strategic Communications at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and communications and engagement expert.
- Dr Majdi Osman – A physician-scientist and founder of the Nubia Health Centre in Sudan, Chief Medical Officer at OpenBiome, and Head of Health Research at the CRI Foundation.
- Mr Soloman Soquar – Previous CEO of Barclays Investments Solutions Limited with 30 years of experience across investment banking and wealth management.
Full profiles for all of our trustees are available here.