Patient Advocate

Lesley lives in Edinburgh and was diagnosed de novo with metastatic Her2+ breast cancer in 2014.  Prior to receiving that diagnosis she was a self employed communications consultant, but gave up work during initial treatment.   She is fortunate to have been living well on a phase 1b trial for 7 years, and that has enabled her to focus on patient advocacy work. During this time she has been involved with a range of cancer organisations as a patient representative, including the NCRI, Edinburgh ECMC, CRUK, and BCN.  She is also a member of ICPV and a Trustee of Make 2nds Count, a charity which supports women and men with advanced breast cancer.  Based on her own positive experience of a clinical trial, her strong interest is in raising awareness of the importance of research and trials amongst MBC patients.  Through Make 2nds Count she set up a service which educates those patients about research, empowers them to discuss trials with their clinician and also matches them to eligible UK trials.  She also was the co-lead on a survey with the Universities of Warwick, Liverpool and Southampton to look at the experiences and needs of patients and clinical trials, and the results of that patient led survey are now being published.