Jon joined Autistica in 2015. A consultant specialising in innovative policy, public affairs and media campaigns, he previously advised senior leaders in charities, pharmaceutical firms and biotech in areas including lung cancer, leukaemia, genomics, HIV, meningitis, infectious diseases and ADHD. As Head of Public Affairs and Campaigning at Cancer Research UK he led the campaign for smoke-free legislation in England and Wales, a policy hailed as “the biggest step forward in public health for fifty years". With over 400,000 campaigners recruited, he successfully lobbied for national cancer plans, investment in cancer screening and putting tobacco out of sight in shops. He graduated in Linguistics from Cambridge University and served as RAG President for a year.

Sarah Bissell, Director of Fundraising

Sarah has more than 16 years fundraising experience as a practitioner, manager and consultant at small and large charities. Previously, she was Global Partnerships Director for SeriousFun Children’s Network working across the US, Europe, Africa and Asia. While living in Asia, she worked with WWF on institutional and foundation donors. As Head of Corporate Fundraising for The Red Cross, she grew corporate fundraising. She's consulted widely for the Red Cross, Greenpeace, WWF and other agencies on market entry studies, creating fundraising strategies and budgets and fundraising training.

Dr James Cusack, Director of Science

James Cusack joined Autistica in September 2015 following a career in autism research at the University of Aberdeen. From a young age James has also worked directly with families affected by autism, as well as having experience in clinical, educational and social care settings. James has sat on a number of advisory panels discussing the role of research in autism, and was vocal in the production of the report, 'A Future Made Together'. He was part of a core stakeholder group which successfully campaigned for Scotland’s first ever autism strategy. James has also been a member of Autistica’s Science Review Panel since January 2014. He is proud to lead on Autistica's strong, community-driven research strategy.

Rebecca Sterry

Rebecca is Senior Communications at Manager at Autistica, joining the charity in 2014. She completed a degree in English Language and Literature and went on to work for a direct marketing company before joining the charity sector at the National Migraine Centre where she worked for 4 years. Having grown up with two parents working in special education Rebecca joined Autistica with an understanding and fascination of the complexities of autism. She is keen to pass on her excitement for the potential of research to families and autistic people. When she's not crafting words at Autistica, she volunteers with local children's literacy charity, The Hackney Pirates.

Aimée Rebbeck

After studying History at Cambridge University, Aimée returned home to Northern Ireland in 2010 where she worked for four years at a local children’s cancer charity. Starting off as a Fundraising Administration Assistant, Aimée soon began working with trusts and foundations to maximise income for the charity. She has been successful in securing funds for major capital appeals, as well as core costs.

Aimée moved to London in September 2014 and began working for Autistica as Trust Fundraising Manager. She is excited to be working for a medical research charity for the first time and is looking forward to developing her knowledge of the trusts and foundations sector in the UK and internationally.

Giorgia Molinari

Giorgia began her UK career working in diplomacy for the Italian Embassy in London. After gaining significant experience in consular issues and event management she decided to transition into the charity sector where she further developed her relationship management and fundraising experience by working with small and medium sized charities and NGOs supporting various different causes, from national social issues such as homelessness and unemployment to environmental projects in developing countries. She joined Autistica in April 2016 from Cancer Research UK, where she was responsible for managing high value relationships and corporate partnerships within the City and Canary Wharf area.

Having recently become a mum herself, the life-long struggles that many children with autism and their families face because of a lack of research strongly resonates with Giorgia. Her ambition is to strengthen Autistica’s relationship with the commercial industry to help parents of children with autism find the answers they so desperately need.

Mateusz Przybysz

After studying hospitality and tourism in Poland, Mateusz moved to London in 2014 and gained considerable customer service experience from his time spent in some of the most elite hotels in the country, including the Ritz and the Shangri La Hotel. Having always had an interest in charity, Mateusz regularly volunteered at one of the biggest annual fundraising events in Poland. Mateusz joined Autistica in 2016 to support a growing fundraising team. He acts as the front of house for the charity, dealing with calls and email enquiries as well as supporting the team with financial administration and donor care duties.

Delroy Jones

Delroy left school at 16 to join BP Oil as an accounts junior for a North Sea Oil project. He then continued his career in finance, working in public practice for nearly 20 years before moving into the fields of real estate and then health.

Delroy joined Autistica in August 2016, with a role involving finance, office management, HR and governance administration. He is married with 2 children and lives in London.

Ed Smith

Ed joined Autistica in 2017 from the consultancy sector, where he provided public affairs and public relations insight to leading global pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Ed began his career in the third sector, working as an intern at the Neurological Alliance. He later joined the National Osteoporosis Society, where he grew to lead the charity’s political engagement activities and successfully secured a position for fracture prevention services within prominent NHS policy initiatives. Ed graduated with first class honours in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Manchester in 2013.

Tahera Kadir

Tahera joined Autistica in Sept 2017 as Senior Fundraising Officer. Previously she worked for three years at Muscular Dystrophy UK as part of the community fundraising team. Tahera completed a degree in Law at the University of Westminster. It was through this she discovered her passion for making a difference in the world and entered the charity sector working for a number of smaller organisations. Tahera looks forward to building and strengthening relationships with Autistica's supporters.

Heather Cooper

Heather joined Autistica as Trusts and Foundations Fundraising Officer in 2017, after assisting the charity whilst studying Physiology at King’s College London. During her studies, she developed a keen interest in neuroscience and especially autism and mental health. At University she volunteered as a Bedside Play buddy at Evelina’s Children’s Hospital. Heather is excited to use her skills in scientific writing as part of a medical research charity that puts autistic people at the heart of everything they do.

Emma Chappell

Emma is our Corporate Partnerships Executive. She previously worked in corporate sales at Centaur Media in the new business team and before that in recruitment. Emma’s interest in autism began working as a personal care assistant for children with physical and learning disabilities whilst at school. She went on to study Psychology at Coventry University where she started working as a fundraiser for the University’s charitable foundation. Emma continues to volunteer with children with autism. Her experience in care and education motivates her to build excellent corporate partnerships to support Autistica’s life changing research.

Georgina Warner

Georgina is the Research Manager at Autistica. She completed a degree in Psychology at the University of Cambridge and went on to work in mainstream, SEN and hospital schools in educational and clinical roles. Georgina completed a PhD at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, where she studied Down syndrome and co-morbid autism. Prior to joining Autistica, Georgina worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Dartington Social Research Unit, where she led on several trials of behavioural interventions and worked on methods of evaluating social work for children. She was also the Co-Editor of the Journal for Children’s Services. She is excited to support the delivery of Autistica’s ambitious research strategy.

Sarah Bayjoo

Sarah looks after our major donors. She started her career working in finance in the banking and advertising sectors. She then made a proactive move to the charity sector, where she has gained 14 years fundraising experience, specialising in securing and managing high-value, partnerships with philanthropists and companies. Most recently, she was Major Gifts Manager at the international education charity PEAS, and before that Leonard Cheshire Disability and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Sarah volunteers for Age UK’s Befriending Service. Sarah is excited to meet and excite donors about Autistica's life-changing work, helping them to understand the incredible impact of their support.

Abigail Thompson

Abi manages our national research network Discover. Abi gained experience working with autistic people whilst studying Psychology and went on to complete a PhD in autism research at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IOPPN), after working as an Assistant Neuropsychologist in the NHS. Alongside her PhD Abi volunteered with the charity Resources for Autism, taught on the IOPPN’s Neuroscience MSc and spoke internationally about autism research. She is excited to see Discover enable researchers achieve bigger and better research with the voices of autistic people embedded at all levels.

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