News of 2000s Leavers

News of 2000s Leavers

We are hugely excited to share with you that Dr Kim Jelfs (Ch ’01) has been named a laureate in the 2022 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK.

The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom celebrate the past accomplishments and future potential of the UK’s most innovative young faculty-rank (academic staff) scientists and engineers working in the three disciplinary categories of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemistry.

The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK are generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and independently administered by the New York Academy of Sciences.

Every year, one nominee in each category will be named a Blavatnik Awards in the UK Laureate and awarded £100,000 in unrestricted funds, with two Blavatnik Awards in the UK Finalists in each category both receiving £30,000.

“Encouraging and supporting young scientists is essential if we are to successfully address society’s challenges. By honoring these young individuals and their achievements we are helping to promote the breakthroughs in science and technology that will define how our world will look over the next century.” – Len Blavatnik, Founder and Chairman of Access Industries and head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation.

To learn more about Kim’s groundbreaking discovery please visit: blavatnikawards.org/ honorees/profile/kim-jelfs/

We are delighted to announce that Chris Smith (Na ’00), current Managing Partner at Playfair Capital, has graduated from the Kauffman Fellows Program, Class 25, based in Silicon Valley.

Established in 1995, the programme is a 2-year transformative opportunity, designed to radically accelerate innovator success through self-reflection, peer learning, mentoring, and a structured curriculum taught by venture capitalists and global thought leaders.

We’re pleased to announce that on Sunday July 10th David Oakley (SG ’08) married Stephanie Brien, on a glorious summer’s day, at a ceremony in Weston All Saints Church, Bath, not far from where they currently live. The reception, which took place at a lovely venue just south of Bath, was a wonderful affair and included a Ceilidh.

OB Attendees were: Mike Petrie (Best Man) (Sc ’08), Dan Forgan (Sc ’08), Tom Forgan (Ch ’08), Ben Kohnhorst (Na ’08), Aman Kantaria (Na ’08), James Lowe (Bu ’08), Tom Dobson (Bu ’08), Matt Harrison (Sc ’08), Sam Calderwood (Sc ’08) and Claire Organ (Ha ’08).

In January 2022, Dr Clare Hughes (née Neeson, Sc ’02) was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians. The decision was made based on endorsement by her fellow physicians locally, in the West Midlands, and nationally, and in recognition of her important contribution to the profession. FRCP is a mark of excellence for physicians.

Congratulations Dr Hughes. Never has the phrase ‘for she’s a jolly good fellow’ been more apt!

We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to OBs Larry Eaton (Ch ’09) and Emily Tyer (Bu ’09) on their wedding, which took place in May, 2021.

Eagle-eyed viewers may have spotted a familiar face when Rishi Sunak first entered through the door of 10 Downing Street, as Prime Minister. Congratulations to James Nation (Ch ’08) on his appointment to the role of Deputy Head, Number 10 Policy Unit.

Rebecca Cutler (née Blogg, Sc ’05) is proud to announce the birth of Charlie (Charles) Cutler (born on 11th January 2022), little brother to Clara. We’re pleased to hear that he is an absolute delight, and that brother and sister are already thick as thieves!

In July, Matti Nash (Re ’00), completed his bicycle journey from London (his father’s hometown) to Copenhagen (his late mother’s hometown) alongside old friend, Kenny Lee.

The journey took 9 days, covered a whopping 1,100 km(!), and raised £4,800 for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, in honour of Matti’s late mother and all the others affected by cancer.

The duo tactically planned out their route, so that the sweeping flat plains of the Netherlands would allow them to cover maximum mileage, with minimal muscle burn.

That was the hope.

What transpired, in reality, was not quite as idyllic…

A (rather unfortunate) gross misjudgement of wind directions meant the twosome encountered a near gale-force headwind for the 3-4 days across the coastline of the Netherlands, before they could finally enjoy a little respite in the form of the (relatively windless) undulating hills of North Germany.

The concluding stretch, on the final day, came in the form of a long 175km slog, with crosswinds galore, from the top of Germany, across Denmark, to the finish line in the “happiest city in the world”, the wonderful Copenhagen.

We’re thrilled to see that Mother Nature’s windy tantrums were unable to deter Matti and Kenny, and that they were still smiling as they reached their journey’s end!

Some news of further business success from Sarah Cooke (née Rodwell, Ha ’01).

Passionate about supporting women who want to thrive in business and life, business and marketing strategist,

Sarah, who has spent the last 20 years living and working across the world, both in large scale multinational corporate environments, and as an award-winning entrepreneur setting up 3 successful businesses on the way, has now published a new book, “Healthy You Wealthy Business” – and it has already topped the charts upon release as an Amazon Number 1 Best-Seller in several categories.

Sarah, who specialises in providing clarity and strategy to build a business model that increases financial sustainability and profits without burnout, tells us:

“We focus so much on pushing hard to achieve the results we want within our businesses but often forget that our passion and performance can help skyrocket those results.”

In her book she shares invaluable business advice, guidance and high performance habits, including useful tools and actionable steps, all gleaned from her own experience as a business and elite sport high achiever, combined with her ‘Positive Psychology’ coaching and holistic health training, together with her personal highs and lows of hitting rock bottom and burnout.

“Healthy You Wealthy Business” is available on Amazon or for more information visit www.sarahcookecoaching.com/book

Simon Stiel (As ’05) tells us that he has been made Digital Explorations Project Assistant, at the National Paralympic Heritage Trust.

“As well as 3D scanning objects, my role includes conducting tours of Stoke Mandeville Stadium for visitors from schools and helping the Trust out at heritage events. In addition to my work with the Trust, I write for Racing Spirit magazine and am a member of the Autism Buckinghamshire (Bucks) and Autism Berkshire charities.”