Meet The Team
Allyson Arnold
Chief Operating Officer
With over 20 years’ experience in a variety of health care and research settings, Allyson has worked alongside a variety of national and international organisations including WHO, CDC, USAID, NHS England, Public Health England and Academic Health Science Networks. Following a career in nursing and midwifery, Allyson obtained a Masters in Development Management and started work in international development, first as Director of the Mater Hospital Cardiac Programme in Nairobi, Kenya and subsequently as Assistant Director for the International Medical Corps Midwifery Programme at the Rabia Balkhi Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. After returning from overseas, Allyson specialised in third sector management, holding various management posts with Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation (BHF). Her roles with the BHF include Diagnostics and Innovations Manager and most recently Health Services Engagement Lead, where she was responsible for leading the development of communities of practice networks at a locality and national level.
Professor Rod Stables
Clinical lead
Prof Rod Stables is a consultant cardiologist and is the Director of the Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratories at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (LHCH), UK — a specialist cardiothoracic unit and, in terms of procedure volume, one of the largest cardiac units in Europe. He was the Chair of the Academic and Research Committee at the British Cardiovascular Society and holds academic appointments at the University of Liverpool and Imperial College, London.
Prof Stables graduated in medical sciences from Churchill College, Cambridge, and read clinical medicine at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He trained in cardiology at The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, completing specialist training in 1998.
His clinical interests include coronary intervention including emergency Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PPCI), TAVI, and non-surgical septal reduction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He founded the Clinical Trials and Evaluation Unit at the Royal Brompton Hospital and led its initial flagship ventures.
His research interests are focused on the democratization of clinical research, seeking to simplify the design, conduct and reporting of clinical trials, and other forms of outcomes analysis. This is exemplified in the conduct of the HEAT-PPCI trial (the largest ever single-centre trial and the only study to recruit 100% of eligible patient presenting with the clinical syndrome of interest).
Elizabeth Proos
PROGRAMME COORDINATOR
After completing a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition) and a Master of Public Health, Elizabeth worked at Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care (Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) as a Programme Coordinator focussing on drug and alcohol treatment and recovery and homelessness and rough sleeping workstreams.
Mariana Montoya Rodas
RESEARCH GROUP COORDINATOR
Mariana Montoya is a Communications Officer with a Master’s degree in Gender Studies. She has worked with multiple charitable organisations, focusing on causes such as education rights, drug prevention, and women’s rights. Her work is driven by a passion for human rights, and she is dedicated to supporting projects that enhance societal well-being and foster positive change.