Our trustees

Nick McNally (He/Him)

McPin Chair and Managing Director, Research at UCLH/UCL

Nick has been in leadership roles in clinical research and experimental medicine since 1999, most recently as the Director of Research Support at University College London and Chief Operating Officer for the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre. He is also chair of the UKRD leadership team. Nick has extensive experience of research management and support, and is passionate about the importance of mental health awareness and support from early to old age.

He has a PhD from the University of Nottingham and Queen’s Medical Centre, and has published widely, including articles in The Lancet.

Amy Meadows

Communications Consultant

Amy is a communications consultant providing research, stakeholder management and branding advice to a range of clients working on social and environmental issues. She spent over 14 years at social change agency Forster before establishing her own agency, Meadows Communications, in 2012. She has worked with the Department of Health, local NHS Trusts and Time to Change to help raise public awareness and understanding of mental health problems. In 2009, following the death of her mother, she founded the Judi Meadows Memorial Fund to help save lives threatened by suicide. She is a founding member of the Alliance of Suicide Prevention Charities.

Clair Chilvers

Co-founder of Mental Health Research UK

Clair was a cancer epidemiologist, first at the Institute of Cancer Research, then at the University of Nottingham where she was Professor of Epidemiology and Dean of the Graduate School. Clair joined the Research and Development Directorate at the Department of Health in 1999. There she had responsibility for the Mental Health Research and Development Portfolio and Director of the Forensic Mental Health Research and Development Programme. She was Chair of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 2006-10. In 2008 Clair co-founded the charity Mental Health Research UK. She has also held diverse trusteeship and chair roles and is a published poet.

Colby Benari (She/Her)

CEO of In2ScienceUK

Colby Benari is a passionate leader and CEO of In2scienceUK, a charity dedicated to empowering young people to choose education and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

She has over ten years’ experience developing organisations that promote diversity in higher education and research, as well as building career pipelines to increase access to the full range of opportunities available in STEM.

Mental health research is especially close to Colby’s heart because of her experiences supporting close friends and family with mental health conditions.

Emma Harding (She/Her)

Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Emma Harding is consultant clinical psychologist at South West London & St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

She completed her PsychD at the University of Surrey and previously co-chaired the South London and Maudsley (SLaM) Psychology Service User Involvement Group.  

Emma has personal experience of psychosis and has published papers on this, as well as on service user involvement in treatment guideline development, and stigma and discrimination.

She was also a media volunteer for Rethink, appearing in print and broadcast media to tackle discrimination and campaign for equality.

Laura Anstey (She/Her)

Chief of Staff, NHS North East London

Laura is a Chief of Staff in the NHS, working in north east London and has over a decade of experience working across health and social care in communications and operational roles.

She has experience as a carer of a close family member with serious mental illness and is an advocate of mental health research, particularly where the lived experience of people is at the heart of this – ensuring things are done with people, not to them - which is why she is thrilled to be a trustee for McPin.

Lex Karageorghis (He/Him)

Researcher and Inclusion Consultant

Lex is an experienced researcher and inclusion consultant who joined McPin’s Trustee Board in 2021.

As someone with lived experience of mental health conditions, Lex is passionate about McPin’s mission of furthering inclusive mental health research; Lex brings particular expertise in the fields of equality law, disability inclusion, and LGBTQIA+ inclusion.

Outside his work as a Trustee, Lex represents the McPin Foundation at meetings of the Diversity and Inclusion Practitioners’ Network, a forum for discussing inclusive practice in the charity sector.

Naheen Ali (She/Her)

Lived Experience Advisor

Naheen has a decade of experience in the charity sector, working on the frontline with diverse groups, from the homeless, to those in criminal justice, and young people in care, as well as in community advocacy.

She holds a BA in Social Sciences and, having lived experience of mental health issues, she has also been a Peer Support worker in a mental health ward.

Naheen has held several research roles and worked for various mental health charities, including as an Assessor for Think Ahead, for the National Strategic Group for Together, and as an Advisor at NHS England.

Nathan Cope (He/Him)

Chief Operating Officer, Otsuka

Nathan is responsible for a range of operations and activities in his role as chief operating officer for Otsuka, a pharmaceutical company with a heritage in mental health.

He is a trained management consultant and has held senior roles across the healthcare sector in scientific research, consulting and pharmaceuticals.

He has previously led digital health teams exploring how technology could be used to assist clinicians and individuals with serious mental illness in their recovery. Nathan has served as a judge for the UK Positive Practice in Mental Health, is a Mental Health First Aid England practitioner and previous SANEline volunteer.

Rhys Dore (He/Him)

NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Paediatrics

Rhys is a paediatric doctor at Barts Health NHS Trust and an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow at University College London.

He is a recipient of the Michelle Zalkin Scholarship for research into child protection and safeguarding and has a particular interest in the mental health of children and young people.

He has previously been a young trustee with The Archway Foundation and was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Social Impact Award for this and further charitable efforts at the University of Oxford.

He became interested in mental health research after seeing family and friends’ experiences of mental health issues.

Rose McCabe (She/Her)

Professor of Clinical Communication at City, University of London

Rose is Professor of Clinical Communication at City, University of London.

Her research focuses on how meaning and shared understanding is negotiated between healthcare professionals and the people they treat. She records professional-patient encounters and uses conversation analysis to identify how meaning is socially produced.

She also works on translating these findings into interventions to improve communication and patient experience and outcomes in mental healthcare.

Rose uses patient and public involvement approaches in her work, including involving young people in research on crisis support in A&E and self-harm.