Our Team
Our Trustees
Munther Haddad, MB, BCh, FRCS, FRCPCH
Chair of Trustees
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Pioneering surgeon focused on clinical excellence
Munther joined us as a Trustee in 1997 and became Chair in 2000. In his role as Chair of the Board, he brings together the skills of our Trustee Team whilst taking a leading role in presenting our charitable aims to donors, partners and beneficiaries.
Until his retirement in 2025, Munther was the Senior Consultant Paediatric and Neonatal Surgeon at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Recognised nationally and internationally as a pioneer of paediatric minimally invasive surgery, Munther remains an active member of the medical community and shares his focus on clinical excellence by lecturing new generations of doctors and advising hospitals across the world.
Munther is a past President of the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons (BAPS) and the British Association of Paediatric Endoscopic Surgeons (BAPES).
He is the father of three adult children (two of whom are also doctors) and is a very proud grandfather.
Julia Fishman, MBBS, BSc, MRCS
Trustee
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Julia is a digital healthcare senior executive with a unique breadth of experience gained in global MedTech companies, the NHS and management consulting firms.
She is an exceptional communicator, leveraging a 17-year-long career as an NHS surgeon, Managing Director, Chief Medical Officer and McKinsey consultant. Currently, Julia is Head of Digital and AI EMEA for Johnson and Johnson MedTech, where she is renowned as a dedicated and supportive leader with strong creative thinking and a record of delivering sustainable transformation.
Julia hopes that the charity will accelerate the democratisation of healthcare, support the equal access agenda and improve patient care by forging closer relationships with professional bodies across the medical sector.
Outside of work, Julia likes to cook and travel with her husband and two daughters.
Caroline Pardy, MBBS, BSc, FRCS
Trustee
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Providing expert insight and driving exceptional clinical practice
Caroline provides the Board with vital clinical insight and contributes to the Foundation’s strategic vision. She is a Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital with an active interest in clinical education and research, focusing on neonatal and upper gastrointestinal conditions.
Through her active clinical role, Caroline facilitates an effective network with paediatric surgical centres nationwide, as well as our collaborative work with the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons (BAPS). These critical relationships sit at the heart of our ability to work alongside the NHS and make tangible improvements to the experience of paediatric care across the UK.
Caroline has a keen interest in how we can support the NHS in implementing technology and disseminating education to underpin the innovation that is fundamental to the future of best practice and patient care.
Caroline is the mother of two spirited children, an 8-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy. She lives in the heart of London and sings as a soprano in the British Gospel Arts Choir and in collaborative productions with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Richard J Stewart, MD, MB, BCh, BAO, FRCS
Trustee
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A lifetime commitment to enhancing paediatric surgery across the globe
Richard is a retired Consultant Paediatric Surgeon. Following his training at Queen’s University Belfast and the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Richard spent much of his career as a Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, where he also held the position of Assistant Medical Director.
During Richard’s long career, he served as a Council Member of the Royal College of Surgeons and as Chair of the Children’s Surgical Forum. He is also a former president of the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons (BAPS), our key partner.
Richard is a director of the District Hospital Training Programme for paediatric doctors and nurses in lower- and middle-income countries supported by Kids-OR. He is also kept busy with his four adult children (one of whom is a doctor) and twelve grandchildren.
Thomas Watkins,
BA, MA
Trustee
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Specialist insight into working alongside the NHS
Tom brings expert insight into working alongside public sector bodies (including the NHS) to Children’s Surgery Foundation. He is passionate about driving real, long-term value for the public sector, and his knowledge helps us better partner with hospitals delivering paediatric care across the UK as we strive to enhance outcomes and help deliver a stronger future for paediatric surgery.
Before joining EY, where he is a Manager for Government, Health and Infrastructure, Tom’s career was focused intensively within the NHS, having worked for almost a decade within Trusts including UCL, Guys and St Thomas’s, Great Ormond Street and the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, where he led the Paediatric General Surgery, ENT and Ophthalmology teams.
Tom is a dad to two small children (a boy and a girl). He lives in North London with his doctor wife, and they enjoy spending as much family time together as possible.
Adrienne Cohen,
LLB, MA
Trustee
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Strategic leader driving commercial and operational success
Adrienne brings a sharp focus on our strategy, commercial delivery and engagement outreach following 25 years of guiding leadership teams to grow their operations and achieve their broader organisational goals. Her expertise lies in spearheading strategic development and delivering complex, compliant transformation and organisational change, enhancing commercial BAU operations whilst placing critical stakeholder engagement, brand and reputation management at the heart of successful outcomes.
Adrienne has a long history of working with charities in a voluntary capacity. She previously led community engagement for a campaign that successfully secured two new secondary schools for families in the area where she lives, served as a board member of her synagogue and regularly volunteers for the homeless charity, New Hope.
A mum of two, Adrienne understands first-hand the impact of paediatric surgery on children and their families. Her daughter has endured tremendous chronic health challenges since childhood, requiring numerous operations and lengthy stays in hospital. In her spare time, she enjoys the arts, frequently attends live music events and – in her own words – cannot be left alone and unsupervised in a bookshop!
Our CEO
Helen Ison, MA
Chief Executive Officer
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Helen works in close tandem with our Trustee Board to steer our strategy. As the only paid member of our team, she is responsible for managing our day-to-day operations and ensuring our vision and plans come to fruition.
An experienced charity professional with more than 20 years of experience working with education and health charities, Helen brings expertise in fundraising and communications.
Helen joined in 2020 as we transitioned from a local hospital charity to serving children and their families across the UK. Her passion for improving the health of children and young people, alongside her deep understanding of the charity, means we remain laser-focused on delivering a brighter future for unwell children.
Mum to a beautiful little girl, Helen enjoys walking her dog and indulging her passions for theatre and music when time allows.
Our Patrons
Jane Asher
Patron
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Patron
Jane Asher is a prolific actress, author and businesswoman. In the public eye since she was five years old, Jane’s repertoire across film, television, theatre and radio positions her as one of the industry’s most respected professionals. In addition, she is a renowned businesswoman who ran Jane Asher Party Cakes, her highly-regarded cake business, for 25 years. She has also written more than a dozen books, including three best-selling novels.
Alongside her acting and business careers, Jane devotes much time to supporting the voluntary sector. Jane joined our Foundation in its early life, becoming one of our very first patrons in 1983 and has remained a devoted supporter of our work ever since.
Jane also holds roles with numerous other organisations. She is President of Parkinson’s UK and the National Autistic Society, a Vice President of Autistica, and a Patron of several different charities. In past years she has been a Governor of the Geffrye Museum and of the Molecule Theatre of Science; a member of the Council of WWF UK (later appointed to the Board of Trustees and the conservation committee); a member of the BBC General Advisory Council and of its steering committee and a Trustee of BBC Children in Need and Chairman of the Central Committee. She has honorary degrees from Bristol University and the Open University in recognition of her work with autism and Parkinson’s disease.
