The Brain Tumour Charity has announced its new chief executive, who will lead the organisation from next month.
Michele Afif, who will start on 17 July, was the chief executive at Rays of Sunshine, a charity supporting seriously ill children, until late last year.
She said: “It’s my great privilege to take up the CEO role at The Brain Tumour Charity and to join such a capable and dedicated team which is relentless in its search for a cure for this devastating group of conditions and tireless in its support for all those who have experienced this most difficult of diagnoses.”
Set up in 1996, The Brain Tumour Charity is the biggest dedicated funder of brain tumour research worldwide, according to its website.
Afif will take over from Beth Worrall, who has been interim chief executive since May this year and will return to her role as a trustee of the charity.
“Michele brings a wealth of fantastic and hugely relevant experience alongside excellent leadership credentials,” said Worrall.
The charity’s last permanent chief executive, Alex Lochrane, left the charity in July 2022 after seven months in his position.
Graham Norton, a trustee of The Brain Tumour Charity, was appointed interim chief that same month, but handed over the reins to Worrall earlier this year as he is approaching retirement.
At the time, a spokesperson for The Brain Tumour Charity told Third Sector that Lochrane’s departure was a “personal decision taken by Alex, following a period of careful consideration and reflection”.
Lochrane has been chief executive of Canine Partners, a charity partnering assistance dogs with people who have physical disabilities, since December 2022.
Cheryl Tissot, meanwhile, was announced as the new chief of Rays of Sunshine in February this year, after a stint as interim leader of the charity.
Jack Morris, chair of trustees at The Brain Tumour Charity, said: “It’s taken the charity a long time to find our new chief executive.
“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.”
Afif previously worked as a consultant paediatrician, including in haematology and oncology, and has a masters in medical law.
She said her past experience “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”.
The charity’s income rose by 38 per cent to nearly £11.5m last year, according to its accounts for the financial year ending March 2022.
Its total expenditure was £10.6m for the same period.
The Brain Tumour Charity is made up of 86 employees, 16 trustees and 1,000 volunteers.