Our Chair

Dr Rick Lones

Dr Rick Lones is a highly experienced Pharmaceutical Physician with a track record over 20 years in Medical Affairs and Pharmacovigilance in three major multi-national companies and one start up. He has wide experience across multiple therapy areas including Gastroenterology, Cardiovascular, Virology, Oncology, Respiratory, Metabolics, Vaccines and Hepatology. He also has over 10 years’ experience in clinical practice. Rick was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2009.

Other members of the Research Awards Panel

Prof. Daniel Aeschlimann

Daniel is a Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of Research for the School of Dentistry in the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences at Cardiff University. He has conducted pioneering work on transglutaminase enzymes which have a central role in the disease process of coeliac disease. His current work focuses on understanding how people develop gluten related disorders that affect other areas of the body other than the  gut, particularly the central nervous system, with the goal of developing better diagnostic tools and new approaches to treatment.
 

Dr Michael Booth

Michael is a group leader at the University of Oxford. His research is in the areas of chemical biology and biotechnology. He was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2016. 
 

Dr Jenny Epstein

Jenny is a Consultant Paediatric Gastroenterologist in London. She has diagnosed, and cares for, several hundred children with coeliac disease. She has a PhD in mucosal immunology and a special interest in how foods interact with the immune system of the gut.  

 Dr Terri Grassby

Dr Terri Grassby is a lecturer in Food Science at the University of Surrey. Her research interests are focused on plant polysaccharides (such as cellulose and pectin) and their effects on the digestibility of nutrients and food texture. She has run human studies which investigated the digestibility of nutrients from wheat, almonds and other nuts.
 

Dr Silvia Liverani

Silvia is a Reader in Statistics and Head of the Statistics and Data Sciences research group in the School of Mathematical Sciences at Queen Mary University of London. Her research interests are in Bayesian clustering methods, spatial models and applications of these methods to epidemiology and public health. Two of her family members were diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2020.  

Dr M. Jose Oruna Concha

Jose is a Lecturer in Food Chemistry at the University of Reading and has a BSc in Pharmacy and PhD in Food and Nutrition. She was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 1999. Her research work relates to factors influencing flavour formation in healthy and sustainable food production, characterisation of bioactive compounds in food and food products as well as the production of value-added products from waste streams.
 

Dr Nazanin Zand

Nazanin is a Principle Lecturer in Food and Nutrition within the Faculty of Engineering and Science at the University of Greenwich and an internationally acclaimed expert in the field of infant nutrition. 

Our Research Awards Panel (RAP) provides the expert insight and fulfils governance requirements for the review, funding and management of our research grant awards in line with our Research Strategy and the best practice guidelines of the Association of Medical Research Charities. The RAP reports to our Board of Trustees.

Members of the RAP need to comprise of experts, providing a broad range of expertise across a number of disciplines which may include but are not limited to basic science, immunology, gastroenterology, genetics, bioinformatics, epidemiology, neurology, autoimmune disease, food science and technology or plant science.

The RAP meets at least once per year, to align with any funding call or review of funded research. 

For more information please see the terms of reference for the RAP and the Guide for peer reviewers. If you are interested in being involved in our Research Awards Panel, please complete this online form.