The Brain Tumour Charity has appointed Dr Michele Afif as its next chief executive.

Afif is a former consultant paediatrician with a masters in medical law and joins from Rays of Sunshine, where she was also CEO.

“It’s taken the charity a long time to find our new CEO,” said Brain Tumour Charity chair Jack Morris.

“This is because we’ve been looking for someone with very special, almost unique, qualities to lead it into the future. In Michele, the Trustees and I feel we’ve found that person.

“Michele’s wide professional experience in the medical, legal and charity sectors is almost unparalleled and her empathetic style fits well with the caring and understanding culture we promote amongst our staff and within the brain tumour community we serve.”

She replaces interim CEO and former trustee Beth Worrall in July.

Worrall took on the role at the charity temporarily in May. The post had previously been held on an interim basis by another former trustee Graham Norton.

The Brain Tumour Charity’s last permanent CEO was Alex Lochrane, who left last year, seven months after joining.

Former Royal Navy officer Lochrane had taken on the role in January 2022 after spending more than six years as chief executive of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.

Afif said: “A doctor by training and background, my experience as a consultant working in the field of paediatric haematology and oncology for more than 10 years meant I regularly looked after children who’d been diagnosed with a range of different brain tumours and so saw first-hand the cruelties associated with this most difficult of conditions.

“Contact with this extraordinary and courageous group of patients – and the family and friends around them – was both humbling and inspiring. It left an indelible mark on me as a clinician and ignited a deep desire to find more ways to do more for more – in honour of those I have met along the way. I came to the Brain Tumour Charity as part of that search.

“I’m passionate about the need to address the inequalities of access, care and outcome, which affect a group of people already dealing with the immediate challenges associated with a brain tumour diagnosis.

"I’m excited to join in the Brain Tumour Charity’s drive for change by way of ground breaking research and patient support. “

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