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.
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.
Our Chair Elect – Paul Hardaker
Paul has held a number of roles in academia and industry as a research scientist working in weather and climate, in science policy as an advisor to government and the research councils and working with a number of organisations to encourage more people from under-represented backgrounds to come into science and engineering. Paul is also a Trustee of Sense about Science, an organisation that campaigns for the use of scientific evidence in public policy making and holds Honorary Degrees from the University of York and the University of Essex. Paul was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2012.
Paul is Visiting Professor of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Reading. He retired in 2022 from his role as the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Physics (IOP), a post which he held for 10 years. Prior to that Paul was the Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society and the Deputy Chair of NHS Berkshire West Primary Care Trust. Paul is also a past Chair of the Science and Engineering Community’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Progression Framework.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.