Clan Cancer Support has appointed two new trustees to its board and 32 new ambassadors to strengthen the work the charity is doing to support local people impacted by cancer.
Dr Deborah O’Neil and Dr Kirsten Cassidy have been appointed to Clan’s board of directors, bolstering the charity’s health sector expertise.
Dr O’Neil trained as an immunologist in internationally acclaimed laboratories including University College London, UC San Diego and University of Ghent before moving to Aberdeen to establish NovaBiotics within the University of Aberdeen’s Rowett Research Institute.
NovaBiotics is a privately held clinical stage company developing immune based therapies for life-threatening and life-limiting-diseases. Deborah was made OBE in the Queen’s 2020 birthday honour’s list for services to biotechnology, industry and charity.
Kirsten Cassidy worked as a GP in Insch, Aberdeenshire. Now retired, Kirsten was the lead GP for cancer and palliative care in Grampian from 2009 to 2024.
During that time she worked at local, regional and national level to improve pathways for cancer patients as well as improving communication between the community, hospital and cancer support organisations.
The new trustees join Clan’s board of directors which is chaired by Katy Gifford.
Dr Kirsten Cassid, left, and Dr Deborah O’Neil.
Katy said: “Deborah is a leading figure in Biotechnology and the founder of a company which has attracted $40million in investment and grant funding. Patients in remote and rural locations of Scotland are often disadvantaged in terms of access to treatments and medical pilots and Deborah’s knowledge of pharmaceuticals will allow Clan to continue to tackle inequalities present in our region.
“Kirsten’s experience as a GP in a rural community means she is also acutely aware of the challenges facing patients who live in a remote and rural locations which will be an asset to Clan as we work to narrow the margin in care and support for those in remote geographies.
“The board is very pleased to welcome both Deborah and Kirsten and we have no doubt that they each will make significant contributions in their respective fields during their tenure.”
The appointments come as the charity relaunches its ambassador programme which offers individuals the opportunity to lend their skills, raise awareness of Clan and support fundraising.
Over the past year the charity has identified 32 new ambassadors across the north-east, Moray, Orkney and Shetland who have agreed to support Clan.
The charity hopes the ambassadors, many of whom are local business owners or longstanding Clan volunteers, will help the charity reach new audiences.
Fiona Fernie, Clan’s CEO, said: “We are proud and grateful to have such a diverse group of individuals who are keen to support our work in their own time, helping us spread the word about our services and how people can get involved in supporting our work.
“While it’s not a board position, ambassadors can choose to become a member and input to our charity governance, so they play a very important role within our organisation and we deeply value their contribution.”
To find out more about Clan’s ambassador scheme please visit: https://www.clancancersupport.org/about/clan-people/ambassadors/