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Charity Trustee

Trustees Unlimited

Job Description

Who we are

The Generation Trust was created in 1982 to raise funds to invest in genetic research, with a particular focus on the work of expert scientists in the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics at Guy's Hospital, London. Initially, the charity raised about £2m and it currently has reserves of £700k. The charity has provided early support for several projects leading to a better understanding of several disabling and life-changing conditions.

The role

The science of genetics continues to make exciting and rapid advances in the knowledge of human disease, helping to inform diagnostic practice and to develop new treatments.

The Department at Guy's has played a key role in helping to move scientific knowledge 'from bench to bedside' in the NHS, advancing new methods of preventing or treating a range of life-changing and disabling conditions in both children and adults.

Modern DNA sequencing techniques at Guy's have advanced understanding of the molecular origins and characteristics of breast cancer, leukaemia, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis and Huntingdon's Disease as well as some of the rarer genetic diseases in children.

Funds raised by The Generation Trust have been used to invest in the early careers of the Department's brightest young scientists, in PhD students or post-doctoral fellows, in pilot studies to 'prime the pump' for successful major grant applications and occasionally in capital projects to enhance the facilities of this world class research centre.

At the end of 2023, the Trust had reserves of about £700,000. The founders of The Generation Trust now hope to find the next generation of charity trustees to succeed them. We aim to recruit a small group who between them will have an interest in or, at least, a curiosity about the development of health science, cell biology, bio-informatics, DNA sequencing and genome analysis.

To sustain and grow the Trust we would like to add some expertise in investment management, charity governance and, ideally, access to wider networks of potential financial support in the City of London and elsewhere.

Good luck with your application