New Chief Executive announced for Women’s Cancer Research Charity   The Eve Appeal

Athena Lamnisos has been appointed as Chief Executive of leading gynaecological cancer research charity The Eve Appeal. She will start her new role in October and will work closely with Chair of Trustees Helena Morrissey.

Athena has held senior positions in both the charity and private sectors. Her roles have included Director of Communications and Fundraising at Friends of the Earth, 14 years as a board director for ethical PR agency Forster Communications and, most recently, bringing together a new External Affairs Directorate at social action charity, Community Links. 

Career highlights include developing the name and brand for the mental health anti-stigma initiative, Time to Change; leading national public awareness health programmes most notably FRANK, the drugs awareness programme; and Know Your Limits, the alcohol misuse campaign. She has held a number of non-executive Board roles and is currently Trustee of Fareshare, the poverty and food charity. 

Athena has relevant experience of encouraging people into screening through health behaviour change campaigns and has worked with health think tanks and policy organisations on research and innovation programmes.

Athena Lamnisos said: “This is an exciting time to be joining the organisation. Our Awareness Month has been an incredible success and The Eve Appeal has reached over 500,000 women with life-saving information about the symptoms of the too-little talked about five gynaecological cancers. With the fantastic team of committed staff, Trustees and world class researchers at our core research unit at UCL, we’re ambitious to reach wider audiences with our messages and overcome the stigma and embarrassment of talking about these cancers.’

Helena Morrissey, Chairman of The Eve Appeal welcomed the appointment: “Increasing both the profile and funding for the five gynaecological cancers is vital. These cancers must not be side-lined any longer so I’m looking forward to working with Athena and her team who will be addressing the stigma head-on, raising awareness of symptoms and supporting medical research into screening and early detection.”

Athena concluded: “There is a huge amount of funding going into other cancer research projects and I want to ensure that women’s cancers move up the agenda.  The programmes that The Eve Appeal supports in research into screening and early detection for the five gynaecological cancers will have the greatest impact in terms of saving women’s lives. Every day in the UK, 55 women are diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer and 21 will not survive.  That’s 21 families losing their mother, daughter, sister every single day.  We are determined to change these statistics.”

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Notes to Editors:

• Athena Lamnisos is available for interview – contact liz.engel@eveappeal.org.uk  or 07812 150832 to arrange
• High res photo of Athena Lamnisos is immediately available from liz.engel@eveappeal.org.uk
• The Eve Appeal provides support in a truly targeted way – investing funding where it will have the greatest impact in terms of saving women’s lives. 40% of women in the UK with a gynaecological cancer will not survive. Each year in the UK alone that is almost 7,700 mothers, daughters and sisters. Worldwide almost half a million women die from these five cancers. The ground-breaking research that we fund in earlier detection and risk prediction can change this.
• The Eve Appeal was set up to save women’s lives by funding groundbreaking research focused on developing effective methods of earlier detection, risk prediction and detection of gynaecological cancers.
• The Eve Appeal has grown and developed in parallel with the Department of Women’s Cancer at University College London (UCL) and has played a crucial role in providing seed funding, core infrastructure funding and project funding in addition to campaigning to raise awareness of women-specific cancers. Much work remains to be done and the kind of support provided by The Eve Appeal is vital in funding targeted research where it can save the most lives.
• A report by an independent panel reviewing the Department's work and progress (the Pattison Review Report 2009) acknowledges the importance of The Eve Appeal's role: "The Eve Appeal has consistently contributed about 15% of the total research income. However, its contributions have been disproportionately important because they have pump-primed new projects, supported highly innovative work and covered gaps in funding allowing projects to maintain momentum. The national and international standing of the projects to which it has contributed is testament to the effectiveness of The Eve Appeal support."
• The world-class research that we fund is complicated and challenging but our vision is simple:  A future where fewer women develop and significantly more women survive gynaecological cancers. Our programmes are totally focused on earlier detection and risk prediction.
  
• During Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month (September 2014) The Eve Appeal released research which revealed that young women in the UK are less educated than their elder counterparts about the symptoms and issues around gynaecological cancers; and worryingly, more embarrassed to discuss them than older women. Research published this week in the British Journal of General Practice (http://bjgp.org/content/64/627/e602) echoed our findings and reported that young women with cervical cancer "frequently" delay seeking help from their doctors.

Gynaecological Cancers

• There are five gynaecological cancers – ovarian, cervical, womb, vulva and vagina. Together, these cancers are the world’s fourth largest cancer killer of women and the second most common women’s cancers in the UK.
• In the UK there are over 20,000 new cases of gynaecological cancer per year and over 7,600 deaths.  This equates to 55 women per day receiving the agonizing news of a diagnosis of a gynaecological cancer and 21 families organizing a funeral for a woman they love.
• Despite these shocking statistics, gynaecological cancer remains an under-funded and under-profiled cause. At The Eve Appeal, our ambition is to change this.

Liz Engel, Press Office
The Eve Appeal

Tel: 07812 150832 / 020 7605 0100
liz.engel@eveappeal.org.uk
www.eveappeal.org.uk

The Eve Appeal was set up to fund groundbreaking research into all gynaecological cancers at the Gynaecological Cancer Research Centre, UCL.

Our vision is a world where more women survive and significantly fewer women are diagnosed with gynaecological cancers.

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