Our Trustees

In 2019, Carol exited Polarn O Pyret, a Swedish childrenswear company, after leading the retail division for 12 years and contributing to its growth from a start-up business to a multi-channel operation of solus stores, concessions, and website. The role involved defining a brand ambassador approach to build brand awareness, through a network of contacts across the UK and Ireland, along with change management and development of an entrepreneurial culture of trust and loyalty across the retail teams and customers.

Alongside holding various positions within the retail sector over the last 20 years, Carol also supported the growth and development of the Blue Cross animal charity over a similar length of time. Carol has also held officer roles for her local political party, which involved communication, strategic planning and organisational development. Carol has been a donor to Sight Research UK since 2002. She joined the Board of Trustees in January 2020 and was elected as the Board's new Chair in June 2021.

Philip is currently the Product Director for Specsavers, a privately held optical business. In this role Philip holds the responsibility for the product offering across the Specsavers operations in Europe. His experience stretches from operations, supply chain, marketing and commercial delivery. With over 25 years’ experience working with consumer facing organisations, Philip’s focus is on helping businesses build their brand and deliver the best possible customer proposition. A Trustee of Sight Research UK for over two years, Philip is excited about the prospect of supporting the charity to develop its own proposition and ultimately improve eye health for all. Philip joined the Board of Trustees in July 2018 and was elected Vice-Chair in September 2021.

Simon is a qualified accountant who has worked in senior roles in the public, private and charitable sectors. He is currently the Finance Director of a community charity in Bristol. Simon’s career has focused on improving financial results, sustainability, governance and business partnering. He has wide-ranging experience in devising financial strategies for organisations and is also a qualified business coach.

Simon joined the Board of Sight Research UK in February 2021 as Trustee and Treasurer.

Dolores has a degree in Biochemistry and a PhD in Pharmacology and spent her research career studying the role of inflammation in asthma at University of Sherbrooke, Canada, and Imperial College London. In 2004, she took the post of Principal Scientist at Mercia Pharma Inc. working on the development of disease-specific immunotherapeutic vaccines for autoimmune and chronic diseases.

In 2008, Dolores joined Fight for Sight where she became its first Director of Research shaping the charity's research strategy and overseeing its implementation. Since January 2018, Dolores has been the project manager for the ORNATE-India study, which aims to build research capacity and capability to tackle the burden of blindness due to diabetic retinopathy in India. She is based at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and is responsible for the day-to-day management of this UK-India collaboration.

Dolores became a Trustee of Sight Research UK in January 2019.

After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, John worked in a variety of financial roles for multinational companies in the UK, Canada and Belgium. He then consulted on technology enabled business change and associated project and risk management, firstly with Deloitte Consulting and then with Ernst & Young. He joined Nationwide Building Society initially as a Head of Internal Audit, before being appointed a Head of Operational Risk Oversight. 

Since leaving Nationwide he provided independent programme assurance to the Board of the UK's largest online mortgage broker. With a deep knowledge of risk appraisal and project methods, John is pleased to be able to support Sight Research UK as it expands its reach, and fully implements the Translational Research Strategy to accelerate the delivery of beneficial research outcomes to patients and those at risk of sight loss. John is also a Trustee for a charity which is one of the largest providers of social housing in London.

John has been on the Board of Trustees since August 2023.

Originally from the Wirral, Clive graduated from The University of Hull and spent 33 years with Lloyds Banking Group the latter 16 years as Regional Director of Corporate Banking in the South West working with most of the regions major business. He led teams based in Bristol, Yeovil, Exeter and Plymouth and was recognised by several external individual and team awards. He left Lloyds in 2016 to follow a portfolio career and has since worked for a number of organisations including KPMG, Foot Anstey, Invest Bristol & Bath and was a NED at a start up Challenger Bank. He was a trustee at the RWA for 6 years and sat on the regional advisory boards of BiTC and The Bristol Business School (at UWE).

Clive joined the Board of Trustees in August 2023. 

Rosie is a pharmaceutical physician and ophthalmologist with more than a decade of experience in Ophthalmology, with sub-specialty training in Medical Retina and Inflammatory Eye Disease (Uveitis) at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Alongside her PhD research in translational immunology at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, she initiated an ‘Eating for Eye Health’ public engagement project to address unmet needs of patients with age-related macular degeneration, in collaboration with Moorfields Eye Hospital NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. This project won an NCCPE national public engagement award and a UCL Provost’s Award. 

She has undertaken additional General Internal Medicine training at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge and is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. Since January 2023, she has been working as a Senior Medical Advisor In Ophthalmology (UK Medical Affairs), Pharmaceuticals Division, Bayer Plc, leading on their portfolio of Ophthalmology “real world evidence” clinical studies.

Rosie joined the Board of Trustees in November 2023.

Serena is the Clinical Lead in Medical Retina at the University Hospitals of Bristol and Weston. Serena's journey in medicine began with her graduation from a University of Rome, La Sapienza (Italy) followed by specialised training in retina in Italy, USA and UK. Her passion for retinal diseases led her to complete a fellowship at The Chicago Lighthouse for People who are Blind and Visually Impaired. 

At the University Hospitals of Bristol and Weston, Serena has not only excelled in clinical care but also in academic research, contributing significantly as principal investigator in numerous clinical trials. Beyond her clinical and research roles, she is deeply committed to patient advocacy and public education about eye health. She regularly participates in community outreach programs, sharing her knowledge and raising awareness about preventable eye conditions. Serena aims to leverage her expertise to further the mission of translating research into patient-centric solutions.

Serena joined the Board of Trustees in November 2023.