Peaches Womb Cancer Trust was founded in 2020 by a team of enthusiastic and dedicated researchers, doctors and nurses working alongside Professor Emma Crosbie. Since then, the original founders have been joined by invaluable volunteers and 2 staff members to ensure we can raise awareness, support patients, fund and promote womb cancer research.
Our President
Professor Emma Crosbie
Professor Crosbie is Professor of Gynaecological Oncology at the University of Manchester and Gynaecological Cancer Surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital.
Her clinical practice focuses on the surgical and fertility-sparing management of womb cancer and its precursor lesion, atypical hyperplasia. Her research into the prevention and early detection of womb cancer was recognised through a prestigious National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinician Scientist Fellowship award in 2013 and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists William Blair Bell Memorial Lectureship in 2017.
She led the James Lind Womb Cancer Alliance Priority Setting Partnership that identified the top ten most important unanswered research questions in womb cancer, according to patients, carers and healthcare professionals. She was Chair of the Endometrial Subgroup of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Gynaecology Group, Deputy Chair of the NCRI Screening, Prevention and Early Diagnosis (SPED) committee, Prevention and Early Detection Co-Lead for the Manchester NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and Chair of the Research Advisory Committee for the Eve Appeal.
Her research team, Team Womb, has won numerous accolades and awards, including the NCRI Cancer Research Excellence in Surgical Trials (CREST) award in 2019 for outstanding recruitment to surgical trials, the University of Manchester Making A Difference (2021) and PPIE (2021) Awards, the Greater Manchester Cancer Research Award (2022), and the American Association of Cancer Research Team Science Award (2024) and was Highly Commended in the BMJ Cancer Care Team of the Year Awards (2021) for embedding evidence-based Lynch syndrome testing into routine clinical practice.
Our Trustees
Dr Helen Clarke, Chair and Advocacy Lead
Dr Clarke is a National Institute of Health Research Clinical Lecturer at the University of Manchester, balancing her research with clinical training in Gynaecological Oncology at St. Mary’s Hospital.
Following completion of an undergraduate BSc honours in Biomedical Science in 2007, she graduated from medical school with MBChB honours in 2012. In 2014 she commenced her specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She was awarded an £18,000 Wellbeing of Women scholarship for research based at the University of Liverpool in 2016. In 2019 she was awarded a £250,000 clinical research fellowship with Cancer Research UK. Her research focused on a clinical trial evaluating dietary interventions and calorie restriction for the risk reduction of breast and endometrial cancers. She was awarded her PhD in cancer sciences in 2023 from the University of Manchester. Her research interests include attitudes towards preventative or risk reduction treatments for endometrial cancer and the use of weight loss therapies for the treatment of pre-cancerous conditions of the endometrium.
Dr Eleanor Jones, Deputy Chair
Dr Jones is a Specialist Registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She undertook her medical training at the University of St Andrews and then the University of Manchester and she began her specialist training in 2015.
In 2023 she completed her PhD into the early diagnosis of endometrial cancer, under the supervision of Professor Crosbie. Her research focus was the DETECT Study, a large multicentre study which tested a new, less-invasive diagnostic test for endometrial cancer detection. Following on from this, her research has aimed to reduce the burden of invasive investigations on women with postmenopausal bleeding by identifying those who are most likely to have an underlying endometrial cancer.
Dr Helena O’Flynn, Deputy Chair
Dr O’Flynn is a General Practitioner working in Manchester following the completion of an Academic Clinical Fellowship training programme and a Masters in Public Health.
She has an interest in the early detection of gynaecological cancers in Primary Care and women’s health. She graduated from medical school at the University of Manchester and was subsequently awarded an NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship in 2018 and is undertaking a PhD at the University of Manchester investigating methods of early detection of endometrial cancer as well as awareness of symptoms of endometrial cancer.
Dr Chloe Barr
Dr Barr is a subspecialty trainee in gynaecological oncology within the North East Deanery. She was awarded her PhD in 2023 from the University of Manchester.
In 2010, she graduated from the University of Liverpool with MBChB honours and commenced the Obstetrics and Gynaecology specialist training programme in 2013. Her PhD research evaluated novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for gynaecological malignancy.
Malcolm Pike
Malcolm Pike is a Solicitor who, having recently retired from private legal practice, now enjoys a portfolio of wide-ranging voluntary and commercial interests.
Malcolm qualified as a Solicitor in 1984 and had a long and successful career in private legal practice (including 28 years as a Partner at International law firm, Addleshaw Goddard, where he was Head of the Manchester Office (from 2014 to 2018), Divisional Managing Partner and member of the Executive Board (from 1997 to 2014), and Head of the Employment Law Team (from 1992 to 2002)).
He is currently a Vice President and Non-executive director of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the Rugby Football League’s Independent Employment Tribunal, a member of the ACAS panel of Independent Arbitrators, Chair of Governors at Withington Girls’ School, and Associate General Counsel – Employment (EMEA) at Associated British Foods plc.
Sharon Senn, Finance Specialist
Sharon Senn is a Chartered Accountant who has worked as the
Finance lead in the Charity and non-for-profit sectors for almost 30 years. Having retired from full-time work in 2021,
Sharon is a Trustee of a Charity and a non-executive Director of a Community Interest Company.
Sharon qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in 1986 having trained and worked in North-West offices and Auckland, New Zealand. She moved into Education in 1994, taking on the role at Sir John Deane’s College, Northwich, as Assistant Principal, before becoming the first Bursar and Clerk to the Governors at Withington Girls’ School, Manchester. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, Sharon took on a broad range of roles including financial management and income generation. Throughout her career, Sharon has supported her local community by leading a lottery application for the High Legh Tennis Club.
On retirement from the full-time role in 2021, Sharon maintained her link to Withington Girls’ School by becoming a Trustee of the WGS Trust (a registered charity). She is also a Non-Executive Director (NED) for Edsential Limited, a Community Interest Company, owned by Cheshire West and Chester Council & Wirral Council. The company provides key support services to the Education sector including Catering, Residential courses, Music lessons and holiday courses.
Our Staff and Volunteers
Louise Brimble, CEO
In a nutshell Louise has spent her career listening to what people want or need and helping them to get it.
She has worked with private and public organisations, individuals, and non-profits. She is motivated by making a difference, knowing where a person or an organisation wants to be and taking the steps required to get them there.
Through coaching and developing individuals and teams Louise has seen first-hand how creating the right environment can positively impact on any performance. Lousie is an avid fan of personal development, and you will often hear her say, “ I was listening to / reading something the other day and it got me thinking about……….”
Her favourite quote is… “When you know better you do better.” Maya Angelou.
Julia Benning, Marketing & Communications Manager
Julia joined Peaches in 2023 with 16 years of third sector experience delivering successful communications, building engagement and campaigning for change.
Julia has experience working with various health and environmental charities at local and national level, including Sue Ryder Care and Royal Voluntary Service. She is passionate about delivering communications across different disciplines that will raise awareness, provide support and offer those with womb cancer a voice.
Harriet Hirst
Harriet studied Mathematics at the University of Leeds and her first job was working for Heywood Pension Technologies as a graduate software developer for 4 years. She then moved to boohoo.com to work for the Development team for a year, before taking a new role at a business called GB3 Limited as Development Manager.
As a new department, she wore many different hats every day and got exposure to many different sides of a business. She worked at GB3 for over 3 years before returning to Heywood to join the Customer Relationship team.
In the summer of 2022, she was promoted to CRM Leader and is now responsible for providing support to the CRM team and working with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) on strategic initiatives.
After learning about Peaches, Harriet initially supported by volunteering to maintain the website. As the charity has grown, she has become involved in other initiatives to grow the charity, raise funds and awareness of womb cancer.
Anne Lowry, Clinical Nurse Specialist
Anne is a Macmillan Gynaecology Clinical Nurse Specialist at St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester. Anne qualified as a nurse and graduated from the University of Northumbria with BSc (Hons) in Nursing Studies in 1997.
She has worked within the speciality of gynaecology for most of her career in a variety of roles before becoming a nurse specialist in 2007. This role allows Anne to support women and their families who are affected by gynaecological cancers.
Anne has always had an interest in womb cancer. She completed her MSc in Nursing Studies in 2019 with distinction and focused the modules of this degree towards learning more about the experiences of women with womb cancer and how best to support them.
Anne facilitates the Peaches coffee morning group, a monthly virtual support group, which provides a safe space for those affected by womb cancer to share their experiences.
Debby Nott
Debby is a pharmacist and was diagnosed with womb cancer in 2020, just a few weeks after Peaches Womb Cancer Trust was launched.
Debby has over 30 years experience in healthcare. Her career started with a national chain of pharmacies where she developed community-pharmacy led clinical services to support early detection of common health conditions that could be improved or managed with lifestyle changes and medication to help prevent complications from late diagnosis.
The latter half of Debby’s career has been spent in the pharmaceutical industry where she led a small team developing the strategies and evidence submissions for health technology assessments to improve patient access for new medicines in the NHS.
Since her diagnosis, Debby has benefitted from the support offered by Peaches Womb Cancer Trust and has been involved in a number of research projects and other patient involvement opportunities through Peaches Patient Voices.
Debby has taken a holistic approach to her own recovery, with a focus on lifestyle changes and emotional wellbeing. She is passionate about empowering others with evidence-based information and accessible tools to improve their health and quality of life.
Rosemary Pike
Rosemary is a retired solicitor and was a magistrate for 18 years.
Over the years she has been involved in a number of charities, including as trustee of a large Northwest children’s charity. Rosemary provides invaluable support to Peaches and hosts magnificent Peaches & Cream Tea fundraisers.
Dr Madeline Poulton
Madeline is an HR professional experienced in working with regional, and global HR teams for more than 20 years. Offering a proven track record in partnering with and acting as trusted advisor to senior executives in commercial, public sector and third sector organisations. Thrives on building and leading HR teams, demonstrating a creative but pragmatic approach to HR delivery and helping shape organisations.
Previously, Madeline was Head of HR for the EMEA region of a global mining services company. She led the People Services operational delivery for 26 countries and up to 3000 employees and managers as well as delivering the operationalisation of a new HR system and the associated process standardisation.
She was also integral in setting up the HR aspects of Global Business Services when she worked for a global energy company, including responsibility for employees in five global service centres, and building and implementing the associated policies and processes.
Madeline has deep experience in resourcing and graduate recruitment and held Head of Resourcing positions at two previous employers.
Madeline has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Biological Sciences from Liverpool and Cardiff universities, is trained in psychometric testing and assessment tools and is an experienced investigator.
Grace Teeling, Policy and Advocacy
Grace has been living with an advanced cancer diagnosis for the past 5 years. She is a passionate advocate for improving experiences of people living with womb cancer.
Grace has worked across both academia and policy with a focus on energy and water services. She currently works in policy and advocacy for essential services, such as energy affordability.
Grace has worked on some varied and interesting roles including community participation in rural wastewater, equality in small town water supplies in Ethiopia.
Helen White, Peaches Patient Voices
Helen’s experience of womb cancer, combined with her passion for patient and public involvement (PPI), led her to join forces with Peaches in 2021 to establish Peaches Patient Voices, which she now leads.
Helen’s interest in PPI was first sparked when she joined the Participant Panel at Genomics England in 2018, and it grew even further when she became patient representative for the womb cancer research group that analyses data donated by 100,000 Genomes Project participants. Since then, Helen has contributed to a wide range of PPI activities covering prevention, early detection, and treatment of womb cancer. These include her membership of the CanGene-CanVar Patient Reference Panel and the Cancer Research Advocates Forum, UK, formerly known as the NCRI Advocates Forum. Additionally, Helen is a member of the Advisory Committee for the RAINBO trial and serves as a patient expert when new womb cancer treatments are being considered for use in the NHS.
Helen has co-authored a number of publications, is a co-applicant on several research projects, and was awarded a Masters in Research in Public Health in 2022. In 2023, she was appointed Participant Panel Vice Chair for Cancer at Genomics England.
