Roger Kockelbergh - ChairHonorary Professor of Urology (Cancer Studies) University of Leicester, Consultant Urologist and lead clinician in Uro-oncology, Leicester General Hospital
Roger qualified in 1983 from Birmingham University - MB ChB. He trained in general surgery then urology in the East Midlands and Norfolk. FRCS1987. Research fellow in Urology, University of Nottingham 1990. DM thesis "Monoclonal antibodies to bladder cancer" in 1994.
He was appointed as a Lecturer at the University of Melbourne in renal transplantation and urology - 1991 - 1992. Higher urological training Norwich and Leicester. FRCS(Urol) 1995.
He has been a Consultant Urologist and lead clinician in Uro-Oncology in Leicester General Hospital since 1996. Honorary Professor of Urology (Cancer Studies) University of Leicester since 2017.
He has been Clinical Director, Secretary and Chairman of the BAUS Section of Oncology, National Clinical Lead for Urological Cancer and Chairman of the NCINSSCRG and has held the following posts:
Executive committee BAUS (The British Association of Urological Surgeons) section of oncology 2001-2011
National lead in urology for the Cancer Services Collaborative
Secretary BAUS section of oncology 2005 - 2007
Chairman BAUS section of oncology 2008 - 2010
His outside interests include skiing, hill walking and cycling.
Consultant Medical Oncologist - Guys, Kings and St Thomas Hospital 1997-2011, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Founder - Leaders in Oncology Care
Peter trained at University College and University College Hospital (MB BS 1970) and has been a leading consultant at Guy's and St Thomas Hospital, London for over 25 years. He is both an accredited physician and a medical oncologist. One of the four founder partners of the London Oncology Clinic, Peter's vision was of a clinic dedicated solely to cancer treatment offering the highest international standards of care in a state-of-the-art supportive environment, also providing the support including all the ancillary care required by patients and their families.
Author of more than 400 papers and chapters in peer reviewed publications, he is acknowledged globally for his work in researching new drugs and developing improved forms of cancer treatment. Peter has been the chair, or a member of, many international executive committees investigating new approaches to cancer treatment, editorial boards for professional publications and is currently a member of eight pharmaceutical company advisory boards and a member of sixteen professional bodies from around the world, including board membership of a committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO).
In 2002 Peter was awarded the prestigious Cino del Duca Medal in 2004 in recognition of his work in developing new anti-cancer and vaccine therapies. For his role in advising the French Government in strategic cancer care (Board Member French National Cancer Institute) he was appointed a Chevalier of the Legion D'Honneur, a rare distinction for a foreign national. He remains on the board of INCA, the strategic committee for cancer treatment in France, and is currently the Chairman of the Toulouse Cancer Centre and holds the Medaille D'Or of that city.
Allen Knight - TrusteeBladder Cancer Patient
Allen was first diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2010, aged 49, having never smoked or worked with industrial chemicals. He was lucky in that it hadn't gone too far and he was successfully treated. But bladder cancer can come back and it returned after 9 months. Allen is still under surveillance.
This was a real wake up call. Allen decided to get involved with Action Bladder Cancer UK and also sold his business shortly after. Although he had trained as a rocket scientist, Allen had set up and been running a successful management consultancy business for nearly 20 years. It is these skills and a passion to improve bladder cancer diagnosis and treatment that he brings to ABC UK.
Allen is also a patient representative on a number of bladder cancer clinical trials and an advisory board member for the Bladder Cancer Research Centre.In his spare time Allen loves to fly light aircraft, walk and travel.
Jeremy Crew - TrusteeConsultant urologist and honorary senior lecturer- Oxford University Foundation Hospital Trusts
Qualified from Cambridge University in 1989 (MA, MB, BChir) Jeremy undertook his surgical and urological training in London, Oxford & Reading achieving his FRCS in 1993 and his FRCS (Urol) in 1999.
During his training he undertook a period in full time research with a Royal College of Surgeons Fellowship at Oxford University 1995-1997. His MD thesis (‘Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Bladder Cancer') was awarded the Sir Walter Langdon Browne Prize (Cambridge University) 1998 and the European Association of Urology thesis Award 1999. He continues to have an active role in research locally in Oxford and nationally.
Appointed as Consultant Urologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Oxford University Foundation Hospitals Trust in 2001 and remains in this post to date. Within the Trust he has led and developed the bladder cancer service from both clinical and managerial perspectives.
Jeremy's clinical experience has been supplemented by Bladder Cancer Fellowships at: the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York; the Urology Department, Berne, Switzerland; and the Urology Department, Mansoura, Egypt.
Actively involved in management, teaching and training both locally and nationally, he has held the following positions:
A leading Urological Nurse and Psychosexual Therapist with over 29 years of clinical expertise championing bladder cancer care and survivorship. Throughout her career, she has been a tireless advocate for bladder cancer patients, focusing on improving early diagnosis, clinical outcomes, and long-term quality of life.
Pioneering Advocacy and Innovation
Paula’s impact began with her founding of NaBC (Nurses Against Bladder Cancer), a platform created to empower nurses to share best practices. After 18 months, Paula transitioned this work into ABC UK, ensuring her vision for specialised nursing support had a permanent national home. She continues to lead the annual national teaching and networking event through ABC UK, a cornerstone for the UK urology nursing community.
With an executive MBA in Health Care (Distinction), Paula has spearheaded major service improvements, including the implementation of ‘A New Survivorship Pathway’ in two of the UK’s busiest urology departments. This initiative created a seamless transition for bladder cancer patients, supported by her educational work with GPs to embed recovery and psychological support into long-term treatment packages.
Holistic Care and Sexual Health
As a qualified psychosexual nurse specialist, Paula addresses the often-overlooked aspects of bladder cancer recovery. She supports individuals and couples navigating changes to intimacy and confidence post-treatment, ensuring "survivorship" encompasses both physical and emotional well-being.
Leadership and National Recognition
Paula’s contribution to urological nursing has earned her 13 national awards for leadership and service development. These include:
The Chief Nursing Officer’s Gold Award (2023) for outstanding service to nursing.
Winner of Urology Nurse of the Year (2018) BJN Awards
Winner - Macmillan Professionals Award: Quality Excellence Awards
National Quality in Care (QiC) Awards for excellence in oncology and patient experience.
The Civil Service Diversity and Equality Award for her community-based clinical work.
Award-winning research on Understanding the Barriers to Presentation and Treatment of Bladder Cancer.
A Past President of the European Association of Urology Nurses (EAUN), Paula currently Chairs the Educational Framework for Urological Nursing (EFUN) and Co-Chairs the Sexual Health Special Interest Group (SIG). Through these roles, she continues to influence global standards, keeping bladder cancer care and patient survivorship at the forefront of healthcare innovation.
Professor of Urothelial Cancer Research, Director - Bladder Cancer Research Centre, Institute of Cancer & Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham
Rik Bryan qualified in Medicine at the University of Birmingham and subsequently entered surgical training. After completing a PhD in bladder cancer biology he became a Specialist Registrar in Urology. After 4 years as a Specialist Registrar, Rik left clinical urology to assist with the set-up of the Bladder Cancer Prognosis Programme (BCPP) at the University of Birmingham, and was subsequently appointed as a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Cancer Sciences. Rik is now the Chief Investigator of BCPP which incorporates the SELENIB clinical trial, and is also a member of the Trial Management Group for the POUT trial with responsibility for biospecimen collection and translational research. Rik sits on the Council of The Royal Society of Medicine Section of Urology, and has been elected as Section Secretary for the 2015-16 session.
Rik has an interest in all aspects of bladder cancer, from optical technologies and endoscopic surgical techniques to biomarker discovery and molecular pathways. His particular interests are narrow band imaging cystoscopy, urinary biomarkers, and genomics, and he has a track record of publication in these specific areas.
Mark Page - TrusteeBladder cancer patient
At 65, I am about to retire from part-time research and lecturing at University College London. I specialise in the management of projects in the construction sector and my research experience includes two research projects concerning the planning and design of hospital buildings. However, I never expected to become a participant observer of the hospital built environment until I was diagnosed with HRNMI bladder cancer in June 2015 and became a patient at St James's Hospital, in Leeds, where I live with my wife Karen.
At the time of my diagnosis and first surgery, I became aware of the problems around the shortage of BCG, which was the recommended treatment for me. St James's have been consistently committed to offering complete courses of BCG to patients, where appropriate, and I have benefitted from this. But the unfairness and arbitrary nature of the post-code lottery for BCG therapy made me concerned to try and do something about making this problem more visible.
Around this time, Phil Kelly from ABC UK very kindly got in touch with me and his support and friendship has been most valuable personally. I realised the importance of such contact with other patients to share the experience of living with bladder cancer. There was no bladder cancer patient support group in Leeds, despite the fact that over 900 bladder cancer patients receive treatment every year in St James's and I have been involved, with ABC UK, in setting up a new group. I have also become a member of the BRAVO Trial patient advisory group, which is being led from Leeds University.
I was born in Lincolnshire and grew up in and around Birmingham. I went to grammar school in Aston (still an Aston Villa supporter) and won a place at St John's College, Cambridge, where I studied social and political science. After leaving university, I moved to London where I spent the next twenty years in local government working in housing development in urban renewal areas and eventually moved into managing a design and build organisation within Haringey Council's direct labour organisation. In the early 1990's, I took a year out of work to complete a PhD at the Bartlett School, University College London, and then moved into academic work, first at London South Bank University and then at UCL. I moved from full-time into part-time work in 2005 after deciding to move to Leeds from London.
I like developing projects, enjoy working in teams and my working life has been varied and interesting. Amongst other interests outside work, I am a singer with Leeds Philharmonic Chorus.
Bladder cancer patient
Caroline Raw, was diagnosed at 51 with bladder cancer after noticing small amounts of blood in her urine. Caroline has two grown-up children and now helps care for her partner Jonny's teenage son, and works for a charity in Leeds.
Caroline has spoken at many events for ABC UK.
Consultant Urologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge
Alex studied medicine at the University of Leicester before subsequently training in Urology in the East Midlands. She then headed to Toronto for two years to undertake further specialist training in urological oncology obtaining membership of the American Society of Urologic Oncology.
She was appointed as a Consultant Urologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge in 2011 and has a specialist interest in the treatment of bladder cancer.
Urology Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Jenny Akins is an urology Advanced Nurse Practitioner at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. Jenny qualified in 1999 with her first posting on a urology ward. Jenny started a secondment post with the urology Advanced Nurse Practitioner's in 2003, she has subsequently completed a BSc Degree and Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Nursing Practice. She is trained in stoma care and stoma siting and has been a nurse cystoscopist for over 10 years. The central component to her role is in diagnosing, supporting and treating patients with bladder and prostate cancer. Jenny is also a nurse prescriber and is the lead for teaching and education of intravesical agents for bladder cancer within her Trust.
She has facilitated a very successful bladder cancer support group in Wolverhampton since 2012. She is passionate about improving the provision of care for bladder cancer patients locally and nationally.
Jeannie Rigby
ABC UK's Chief Executive is Jeannie Rigby.
A charity professional with many years experience, Jeannie runs the charity, leading on strategy and programme development and policy, manages our team and represents ABC UK.
Follow us:
