Trust Board

Ellen Schroder was appointed Chair at a meeting of the Council of Governors in May 2023 and took up her post in November 2023.

Until October 2023 Ellen was the Chair of East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust and brings a wealth of public sector experience to the role, including over 20 years at board level for large, complex NHS organisations. She was previously Vice Chair and lay member of the Camden Clinical Commissioning Group and, before that, a Non-Executive Director of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and its predecessor St Mary’s NHS Trust, where she chaired both the audit and finance committees. Ellen holds various other Non-Executive positions including chairing the PFI companies which built Amersham and part of High Wycombe hospitals. She is also a trustee of the Radcliffe Trust, one of Britain’s oldest charities.

Prior to her roles in healthcare, Ellen spent 25 years in the City working in corporate finance for the investment banks Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and Wood Gundy Inc.

Ellen also has experience of Great Ormond Street Hospital, being both a parent of a child treated at the hospital and previously serving as a member of GOSH’s Clinical Ethics Committee.

Ellen chairs the Trust Board, Council of Governors, Board of Directors' Nominations Committee and Council of Governors' Nominations and Remuneration Committee.

Mr Matthew Shaw was previously the Trust's Medical Director and joined GOSH in March 2018 before becoming the CEO in December 2018.

Matthew is a highly experienced clinical leader. He is an orthopaedic surgeon and was Clinical Director of the spinal unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) for seven years until 2018. He was also the Medical Director and Deputy Chief Executive of the RNOH for five years. Before joining GOSH Matthew was Medical Director for Health Provision in BUPA UK.

Matthew attends the Audit Committee; Quality, Safety and Experience Committee; Finance and Performance Committee and the People and Education Assurance Committee.

Kathryn is a qualified solicitor and was, until April 2017, a partner at the leading international law firm, Linklaters. Over a 30 year career with Linklaters, Kathryn handled major litigation and investigations, and is a well-regarded expert in dispute resolution. Her professional expertise has crossed many sectors including accountancy, banking, mining and telecoms.

A pioneer in CSR, Kathryn was Linklaters’ first Global Pro Bono Partner and also Chaired the firm’s Corporate Responsibility Committee as well as being a trustee of legal advice charities, including the Royal Courts of Justice Citizens Advice Bureau.

She is the founder of Kathryn Ludlow & Associates dedicated to providing internal investigations services and until 2024 was a director of the Hall for Cornwall Trust and the International Rescue Committee UK.

Kathryn chairs the People and Education Assurance Committee and is a member of the Quality, Safety and Experience Assurance Committee.

Gautam is a chartered accountant and spent most of his career at KPMG. He was a partner in KPMG London from 1990 to 2010. During this period, he helped establish KPMG’s practice in India and was its Chairman and CEO from 2000 to 2003, based in Mumbai. On his return he was Founder-Director of the UK India Business Council and a member of the Asian Business Association. He was a trustee of the National Gallery and Chair of AMREF Health Africa in the UK and a director of the International Board of AMREF Health Africa, an NGO headquartered in Nairobi.

Most recently, Gautam became a Non-Executive Director of Hoptroff London Ltd and is a Trustee of Booktrust, the UK’s largest children’s reading charity and he is a governor of the Purcell School, Britain’s oldest music school. He also has previous experience working in healthcare as a Non-Executive Director of Barts Health NHS Trust from April 2012 until March 2022. Gautam was previously Non-Executive director of Moxico Resources Plc and Camellia plc.

Gautam chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Finance and Performance Committee.

Suzanne has over 20 years’ experience in transformation and change in Health and Pharma and is currently Partner in Mergers and Acquisitions for PwC. Previously, Suzanne had a 20 year career at GSK and Haleon during which she led the separation management office for the demerger of GSK and Haleon, launching a new standalone consumer healthcare company onto the UK stock exchange (£32bn market cap). She also headed up strategy, portfolio and transformation for Digital and Tech, ran various Supply Chain Transformations, led two major company integrations, and has been Head of New Product Innovation Introduction.

Suzanne holds an MSc in Information Management from Brunel University and an MA in Geography from the University of Cambridge.

Suzanne chairs the Finance and Performance Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee.

Adrian is a Board member, public speaker, and AI Advisor with extensive senior leadership experience in data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Until August 2023, he served as the Chief Data and AI Officer at BT Group, leading a team of professionals in these fields. Before joining BT, Adrian was a senior Partner at Ernst & Young, heading the Data and AI practice for Financial Services in the UK. His career at EY followed over a decade of experience in cloud, digital and data science in executive roles at Google.

As a Non-Executive Director, Adrian has contributed to various boards, including the UK government's Home Office Board, the Cabinet Office People Board, and Business in the Community, where he chaired the Race Equality Board for five years. He also served as an Expert Member of the UK AI Council, advising on the national AI strategy and was a Trustee of the Aleto Foundation, a charity which helps young people from non-privileged backgrounds.

Currently, Adrian is a Non-Executive Director at Direct Line Insurance Group plc and Allwyn Entertainment (UK National Lottery operator). He also sits on the Technology Advisory Board of NatWest Group. A passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Adrian's contributions were recognised with an OBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours List.

Adrian is a member of the Finance and Performance Committee and the People and Education Assurance Committee.

Professor Helen Cross joined the Board in March 2024. She is The Prince of Wales’s Chair of Childhood Epilepsy, and Director of UCL-Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health as well as Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Neurology Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London and Young Epilepsy, Lingfield, UK. Her research has been targeted at improving outcomes in early onset epilepsy, specifically in assessing the role of surgery and ketogenic diet. She has held key leadership roles both nationally and internationally. She is currently President of the International League Against Epilepsy 2021-2025, and Clinical Advisor to the National Children’s Epilepsy Surgery Service. She developed, as Coordinator, the European Reference Network for Rare and Complex Epilepsies (EpiCARE) launched in 2017. She has published >400 peer reviewed publications, reviews and book chapters (H index 90). She received an ILAE Ambassador for Epilepsy award in 2007, and is a recipient of the American Academy of Neurology Sydney Carter Award, The International Child Neurology Association Frank Ford Award and the American Epilepsy Clinical Research Award. She received an OBE for contributions to childhood epilepsy in 2015.

Helen is a member of the Quality, Safety and Experience Assurance Committee and the People and Education Assurance Committee.

Camilla is a consultant neonatologist at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital and has worked there since 2000. She graduated with an MBChB from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and undertook her Paediatric training in London. Until March 2024 she was President of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health (RCPCH). She has an MA in Medical Careers Management and was Head of the London School of Paediatrics and Child Health for 5 years from 2014.

Camilla has recently been appointed to chair the Children and Young People’s Gender Services National Provider Network for England. In this capacity she is leading the implementation of the Cass Review into Children’s Gender Services which has the holistic care of gender questioning young people at its heart. She also chairs the National Multidisciplinary Team for Gender Services.

Camilla is especially interested in the impact of climate change and air pollution on children globally. She chairs the UK Healthy Air Coalition which is a group of transport, health and environmental groups all focussed on improving air quality in the UK.

Camilla chairs the Quality, Safety and Experience Assurance Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee. She is also the Board Sustainability and Mental Health champion.

Tracy joined GOSH in February 2022 from Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where she had been Director of Nursing and Allied Healthcare Professions since 2011. Tracy began her nursing career in North Wales at Wrexham Maelor Hospital and worked in several trusts including Homerton University Hospital, where she was a senior nurse leader responsible for children and women’s services. Her commitment to nursing was recognised when she was presented with a prestigious Gold Award from the NHS chief nursing officer, Ruth May.

Tracy attends the Quality, Safety and Experience Assurance Committee and the People and Education Assurance Committee.

Dena joined GOSH in 2024 with more than 20 years’ experience at executive level across the NHS. Recent roles have included Managing Director for Group Clinical Services at Barts NHS Heath Trust and Hospital Chief Executive of Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and North Manchester General Hospital. Dena joins us from Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust where she is the interim Managing Director of Southend Hospital Division. Dena has worked as a Director of Commissioning and Performance and has also chaired the UK Children’s Hospital Alliance.

Dena attends Audit Committee, Quality Safety and Experience Assurance Committee and Finance and Performance Committee.

Margaret joined GOSH in January 2025 from the University of Nottingham where she was Chief Financial Officer for 8 years. Margaret has also previously worked at Staffordshire University, Nottinghamshire Police, The National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services and Boots and has held a number of non executive roles including being a governor for a further education college, the lead higher education sector pension scheme negotiator for UCEA and an independent member of the Officer for Students Audit Committee. She is currently the Chair of the NOVA Education Trust and a Non Executive Director at University Hospital North Midlands NHS Trust.

Margaret attends Audit Committee and Finance and Performance Committee.

Dr Sophia Varadkar is a Consultant Paediatric Neurologist and is currently the Acting Chief Medical Officer at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, having previously held the roles of Co-Medical Director for the North Thames Genomics Medicine Service & Deputy Medical Director at GOSH. Sophia is an Honorary Associate Professor at University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London,

Sophia completed her undergraduate degree at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and her postgraduate medical training in Dublin and London. Her clinical work focuses on complex epilepsy, the Children’s Epilepsy Surgery Service, and MR-guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LiTT).

Her clinical research training and PhD were in GOSH UCL Institute of Child Health. Since then, she has been site principle investigator and co-investigator on a number of clinical studies and co-applicant on an NIHR Programme Grant: Transforming the mental health treatment of young people with epilepsy.

Currently Sophia sits on the NHS England Paediatric Neuroscience Clinical Reference Group, and she is Chair of the British Paediatric Neurology Association Paediatric Epilepsy Training Programme Steering Committee. Previously she has been a member of the NHS England Genomics Ethics, Equity and Legal Advisory Group.

Caroline joined GOSH in March 2018 having worked at senior and Board level, in a range of Public Sector organisations before joining the NHS. In her current and previous roles, she has led and delivered complex organisational people change programmes, which have focused on culture, staff engagement, EDI, and wellbeing, which remain her passions.

Caroline is a member of the People and Education Assurance Committee and the Quality, Safety and Experience Assurance Committee and chairs the People Planet programme which oversees delivery of the People Strategy on behalf of the Trust.

Jason joined GOSH in October 2022 as Interim Director of Space and Place.

A Chartered Quantity Surveyor by background, Jason is an experienced healthcare director as well as a qualified property and commercial professional.

Jason worked at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust from 2008 to 2019 during which time he led the construction and delivery of the UK’s first High Energy Proton Beam Therapy Centre before becoming Chief Operating Officer of The Christie Private Care until 2021.

Jason attends Trust Board.

Dr Kiki Syrad joined GOSH as Director of Research and Innovation in November 2023 coming to the hospital from the charity sector where she held senior leadership positions for more than 15 years. Most recently she was the Director of Grants and Impact at Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity where she led on the development of two five-year research strategies which led to £120m of investment in research across the UK.

Prior to her this, Kiki was Head of Research and Funding at Breast Cancer Now. Kiki did her PhD at Melbourne University, Australia, focusing on cancer therapies. As a researcher, she was part of the Angiogenesis group at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford, working on a potential therapeutic cancer target and identifying novel cancer markers.

Kiki attends Trust Board.

Cymbeline is a trained journalist who has worked in communications for the NHS for the last 12 years.

After working for the Trinity Mirror group of newspapers as a news editor she moved into NHS communications at Hammersmith Hospitals. During her time there she became head of public relations and then director of communications for the newly-formed Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

Cymbeline has headed up communications, and press activity for GOSH since 2012. Between 2012 – 2021 she also oversaw press, family stories and celebrity activity for GOSH Charity.

Cymbeline attends Trust Board.