We are here to support NHS and healthcare colleagues to use genomics safely, effectively, and appropriately within their clinical practice, providing supported learning and adoption of genomics into patient care, for all.
Our team
Professor William Newman
Clinical Director
Dr Catherine Breen
Deputy Clinical Director
Professor James Hill
Deputy Clinical Director
Professor James Hill is a Clinical Professor of Colorectal Surgery.
He is the Past President of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.
He has a long-standing interest in the genetics of colorectal cancer and familial colorectal cancer and has co-authored the recently published national guidelines on the management of these patients. His research collaborations have included establishing techniques for the diagnosis of Lynch syndrome and the international Prospective Lynch Syndrome database.
Stuart Bayliss
Alliance Director
Barbara Coleman
Communications and Engagement Lead
Monaza Choudry
Patient Experience and Equality Lead
Glenda Beaman
Workforce Development and HEE Liaison Lead
Bernard Keavney
Research and Innovation Lead
Genomic educators
Lisa Dowell
Kate Dack
Zahra Enteshari
Stacey Walker
Scott Watson
Chief Information Officer (interim)
Mike Parkinson
Technical Project Manager
Gill Moss
Lead Nurse
Gill is the Lead Nurse for the NHS North West Genomic Medicine Service Alliance. Prior to joining the Alliance in 2021, Gill was the Lead nurse of Genomic medicine at Saint Marys Women’s Hospital in Manchester and the Lead Nurse for Rare diseases at the Genomics unit NHSE, also holding the position of Ambassador for the 100.000 Genomes project from 2016- 2018.
Gill ensures the smooth running of the nursing and midwifery team and provides a strategic overview of the nursing and midwifery transformation projects across the North West.
Gill also holds the post of Nurse Director for the NHS North East & Yorkshire GMSA and prior to joining the Alliances, Gill worked within Manchester Children's Hospital, where she started her combined RGN/RSCN training.
From 2000 Gill was the Lead nurse of the Willink Biochemical Genetics department/ paediatric metabolic team that manages all the metabolic patients from the North of England and beyond, becoming the clinical lead between 2014-2018.
Gill is passionate about genomics and its use in modern medicine and is very keen to upskill the current nursing and midwifery workforce. Her specialist interest is in learning disabilities and the use of genomics testing in the underserved community.
Waheeda Abbas
Midwifery Lead
Waheeda is the Midwifery Lead for the NHS North West Genomic Medicine Service Alliance.
Her role is to provide operational leadership to midwives across the North West, in support of the development of genomics in healthcare and delivery of transformational projects within midwifery practice.
Waheeda has over 20 years of experience in midwifery practice as a midwife, and more recently as a Specialist Cultural Liaison and Specialist Haemoglobinopathy midwife and counsellor.
Jessica Keen
Lead Pharmacist
Jessica Keen is the Pharmacy Lead for the NHS North West Genomic Medicine Service Alliance.
Her role is to engage the pharmacy workforce across the region; supporting them to access genomics education and training so that they can embed genomic medicine into routine clinical pathways and ensure equity of access to genomic testing and treatments for patients. She is the pharmacy lead for the PROGRESS programme (Delivering Pharmacogenetics for the NHS).
She has recently completed an MSc in Genomic Medicine at the University of Manchester, with particular interest in the role of pharmacy teams and the wider workforce in the implementation of pharmacogenomics in the NHS. Her background is as an oncology pharmacist prescriber, where she has seen the benefit of genomics to inform treatment from diagnosis through to stratification and medicines optimisation.
Marie Kirwan
Genomic Nurse Lead (Adults)
Marie is the Genomic Nurse Lead for Adults and has a longstanding focus and commitment to patients and families affected by lung diseases, including fungal lung disease (Aspergillosis), lung cancer, and lung transplantation.
A caring & compassionate nurse she is committed to improving patient experience and outcomes through her passion for safe, effective, high-quality integrated care. She values patient partnership and insights to ensure transformational change is responsive to patient and family needs. She recognises patients as ‘experts through experience’ and their stories and voices the bedrock and motivation for quality improvement initiatives.
Marie is also the Genomic Nurse Lead for the NHS North East & Yorkshire Genomic Medicine Service Alliance.
Mandy Darbyshire
Regional Lynch Syndrome Nurse
Mandy is the Regional Lynch Syndrome Clinical Nurse Specialist and Genomic Educator for the North West. Mandy's role is to provide support, education, and leadership to professionals to help embed Lynch Syndrome genomic testing into everyday clinical practice.
Prior to working alongside the Alliance and embarking on embedding Lynch Syndrome testing for patients with Colorectal and Endometrial Cancer, Mandy worked for 14 years as a Colorectal Nurse Specialist. Mandy has a passion for improving patient outcomes and implementing genomic testing into standard cancer care pathways.
Through her role, Mandy endeavours to provide clinicians with the knowledge, skills, and competence to provide emerging genomic-based medicine within their localities through local germline testing of patients. Enhancing local Trusts' abilities to provide an equitable service to patients through the emerging technologies and treatments that genomic-based medicine brings.
Ben McIntyre
Senior Pharmacist
Anthony Sutcliffe
Senior Programme Manager
Anthony is our Senior Programme Manager. Anthony has worked in the healthcare industry for over 7 years, previously working for the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), leading the training programme in asymptomatic testing for Test and Trace workforce across the UK. In addition to his work for UKHSA, Anthony has previously worked in project management roles with high-profile pharmaceutical companies both at home and abroad.
Salim Ahmed
Project Manager
Reinis Jones
Project Manager