Sara is Alice's Mother. Alice was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, aged three, in March 2015. After extensive treatment in Europe, the UK & US, Alice died in October 2019, two weeks before her eighth birthday. Alice's experience transformed Sara's life and work. Six months after Alice's diagnosis, driven by the shock at the lack of research and absence of a family/scientific community for rhabdomyosarcoma, she co-founded Alice's Arc with her husband, David. Sara is now the CEO of the charity, with Alice as her boss. Sara is also a patient advocate on various initiatives such as NexTGen (Cancer Grand Challenge), EpSSG parent group and the FaR-RMS clinical study. She also holds various Patient, Public & Involvement roles (PPI) on pediatric cancer clinical trials and other research projects. Prior to rhabdomyosarcoma, Sara had a career in marketing, where she undertook roles in the media and legal industries. She also has an interest in psychology and has a Certificate in Counselling & Counselling Skills from Birkbeck College, London. Sara will always be the mother of four girls, Alice being the eldest, her sister Sophie and twins - Rosie (named by Alice) & Emily born whilst Alice was on maintenance chemotherapy.
David is Alice’s Dad and, together with Sara, co-founded Alice’s Arc in 2015. David is a member of the UK and US Boards. David has parented Alice through cancer and has experience of managing treatment protocols in the UK, the US and the EU over several years. David has also lived through the realities of remission, relapse and loss. David is proud to have conceived the Arcs concept as a way of pooling resources to find a cure and less harsh treatments for rhabdomyosarcoma. David is a partner at A&O Shearman, international law firm. His practice is focused on innovation within the legal sector and he has received various awards, including from the Financial Times. He heads a team of lawyers which deploy technology to solve for dislocation events, such as Brexit, climate change, insolvency and new regulations. For specific client projects, David has led teams of as many as 500 lawyers, developers and other personnel across 40 jurisdictions. He was the first to pull together a formal joint venture between a large law firm, a management consultant and technology company to deliver better outcomes for his clients.
Natalie is a Chartered Child, Adolescent and Educational Psychologist, a double oncology parent and vilomah (bereaved parent). Her two sons, Freddie and Arthur were diagnosed with cancer in 2017. Arthur was first when the family discovered he had medulloblastoma (a brain tumour) which was removed by surgery and treated with chemotherapy. He was followed by Freddie who was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, just three months after Arthur. Freddie tragically died in 2018 on relapse. Natalie is passionate about helping families bare the unbearable journey that is childhood cancer and work together with them to find kinder treatments and ultimately a cure. She has been a trustee at Alice’s Arc since 2020 and coordinated Freddie’s Arc, one of the first Arcs in the family of Arcs.
Dr. Melvin L.K. Chua is a Trustee and leads the Scientific Advisory team for the charity. He is a Clinician-Scientist at the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and Duke-NUS Medical School, specializing in head, neck, and thoracic cancers. Dr. Chua’s laboratory is at the forefront of therapeutic and biomarker discovery, aiming to overcome resistance to radiotherapy and improve patient outcomes. Dr. Chua’s commitment to the oncology community extends beyond his clinical and research duties. He is heavily involved with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), currently serving as the Chair of the ASCO Breakthrough Program Committee and Chair of the Asia Pacific Regional Council. Dr. Chua’s academic contributions are complemented by his clinical research fellowship at the University Health Network in Toronto, where he focused on prostate cancer genomics and biomarkers of radiation sensitivity. Dr. Chua holds a Ph.D. in Cancer and Radiation Biology from University College London, where he also completed his clinical research fellowship. His medical training was completed at the National University of Singapore, followed by a fellowship with The Royal College of Radiologists (Clinical Oncology) in the UK.
Nick is Alice’s uncle and has been involved in the charity since it started in 2015. He qualified as a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales and a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, and has twenty years' experience in governance, strategic planning, finance and accounting. Nick also has a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Bristol and an MBA from the University of Navarra, IESE Business School in Barcelona.
Abbe Pannucci was diagnosed with stage 4 embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, aged 10, in November 2010. The tumour was located on the abdominal wall with metastatic lesions on the pelvic bones and sacrum. Abbe was treated with 54 weeks of vincristine, irinotecan, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, ifosfamide, etoposide and dactinomycin at Children’s National Hospital, Washington DC as well as five weeks of radiation therapy to each of the metastatic locations at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Abbe is now 24 years old and has been cancer free for over a decade. She lives with the side-effects of the treatment she received. Abbe is passionate about advocating for improved treatments for children diagnosed with cancer. She serves as a patient advocate on the Cancer Grand Challenges team, NexTGen, whose mission is to create CAR T cell therapy for childhood solid tumors. Since graduating from college, Abbe has worked as a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Hillman Cancer Center. As a board member of Alice’s Arc US Inc, Abbe will help build a network of RMS families across the US and connect with RMS researchers which the charity hopes to invest in.
Karen is a mother of 2 teenage boys and a partner at A&O Shearman where she works in the Markets Innovation Group. She also devotes a significant amount of her business time on pro bono work for various institutions and educational programs. Historically, Karen was heavily involved in planning committees for major events and fundraising associated with women’s cancer and educational programs for under privileged children. She also volunteered a significant amount of time to her sons school fundraising and programs. A couple of years ago she decided to focus on her career and resigned her posts for various charities. However, for her it truly was kismet as right when she had decided she wanted to dive into charitable works again she was approached by David Wakeling, father to Alice, to consider joining the board of Alice’s Arc. Having known David both professionally and as a friend she said yes on the spot. She is proud to bring her experience in finance and contractual law to the board of directors for Alice’s Arc US.
Caroline is a partner in the US tax group of A&O Shearman, advising on the US tax aspects of cross border transactions and a focus on investment funds. She is also active on matters affecting diversity, equity and inclusion with hands-on experience advising on many of our U.S. initiatives and was a recipient of the firm's US Diversity and Inclusion Champion award in 2021. She is a US hiring partner on the A&O Shearman US Recruiting Committee and is a member of the US Benefits and Pro Bono Committees. She and her three children and husband live in the Bay Area. Caroline regularly advises pro bono clients on matters relating to their tax exempt status.
Gavin Lindberg is President and Co-Founder of the Evan's Victory Against Neuroblastoma Foundation. Based in Maryland and established in 2011, The EVAN Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in memory of Gavin's only child who passed away from neuroblastoma in 2010 at the age of 7. The Foundation supports the childhood cancer community through its patient & survivor wellness, research, and advocacy & education programs. In addition to his work with The EVAN Foundation, Gavin serves as a Patient Advocate on the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Pediatric Immunotherapy Network, the NCI Pediatric & Adolescent Solid Tumor Steering Committee, the New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Research Consortium, the Cancer Grand Challenges award-winning NexTGen and KOODAC pediatric teams, and the St. Baldrick’s Foundation Empowering Pediatric Immunotherapies for Childhood Cancer (EPICC) Team. Gavin is a frequent speaker at domestic and international pediatric oncology meetings, and the Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus Summit held each September on Capitol Hill. Gavin has authored three Letters to the Editor on childhood cancer in the Washington Post and New York Times and has been published in the medical journal Pediatric Blood & Cancer. He spent 25 years as a government relations and patient advocacy professional in Washington, DC, prior to transitioning full-time to The EVAN Foundation. Gavin is originally from Michigan and has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Michigan State University. He & Wendy live in Germantown, MD.
A children’s cancer charity dedicated to funding research into finding a cure and less harsh treatments for Rhabdomyosarcoma.
Alice’s Arc: Registered in England & Wales
Charity Number : 1164253
Alice’s Arc, US Inc: A registered 501(c)(3) public charity under the US Internal Revenue Code EIN: 88-4312752
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