Humanimal Trust names new trustee

Humanimal Trust, a charity dedicated to advancing One Medicine, has appointed Laurie Dennard as a new trustee.

Laurie Dennard, recently appointed Humanimal Trust trustee (Photo courtesy of Humanimal Trust).

“On behalf of all Humanimal Trust trustees, staff, volunteers and supporters, I would like to welcome Laurie Dennard as a trustee,” said chair of Humanimal Trust’s Board of Trustees, Roberto La Ragione, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, FRSB, CBiol, FIBMS, CSci, AECVM, FRCPath, HonAssocRCVS, professor of veterinary microbiology and pathology, head of the school of biosciences at the University of Surrey, in a release.¹

“Her professional experience across multiple sectors, and determination to help Humanimal Trust engage and inspire new audiences will be a very welcome addition to the board, particularly as we approach the Trust’s 10th anniversary,” he added.

Dennard’s career started with BT, with 15 years in diverse commercial roles, including head of marketing for BT Entertainment and head of portfolio strategy at BT Group. She pivoted into the charity sector after a career break and became an individual giving and extreme challenge fundraising specialist. A significant milestone in this career was managing an expedition to play the Guinness World Record breaking highest ever game of rugby on Mount Everest and raising £250,000 (or around $300,000 USD).¹

In 2018, she became an independent marketing consultant, advising clients throughout the charity, technology, and commercial real estate realms. She couples consultancy work with her role as a Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) tutor.¹

“I’m delighted to join Humanimal Trust as a trustee and hope that my marketing and fundraising experience will balance the depth of medical and veterinary expertise on the board, expressed Dennard in the release. “The opportunity to support the team to broaden awareness of One Medicine and engage professionals and supporters with our work is really exciting.”

The charity’s work covers 5 areas of activity to make its mantra I-CARE1:

• Influence - Uniting everyone who knows and cares about One Medicine to develop a road map for change in public policy and at the clinical coalface.
• Collaboration - Creating opportunities to unite human and veterinary professionals and students to learn from one another by displaying One Medicine at work.
• Awareness – More individuals should be informed and understand the benefits of One Medicine for humans and animals, about non-animal alternatives to laboratory models and how much human and animal medicine can learn from one another’s clinical practice.
• Research - Funding it, encouraging it, supporting it, shouting about it – that could benefit humans and animals without the use of laboratory animal models.
• Education - Every child learning about the connections between humans and animals; about veterinary and human medical students learning together and from one another; about professionals learning continuously from their peers.

Most recently, the Humanimal Trust was funding research to support One Medicine that offered eligible researchers the opportunity to pursue small, multi-disciplinary projects in infection control and antimicrobial resistance, oncology, musculoskeletal disorders, neurology and neurosurgery, regenerative medicine, and potentially other projects that support One Medicine.²

References

1. Humanimal Trust appoints Laurie Dennard as new trustee. News release. Humanimal Trust. September 26, 2023. Accessed September 26, 2023.
2. Humanimal Trust to fund research supporting One Medicine. dvm360®. June 14, 2023. Accessed September 26, 2023. https://www.dvm360.com/view/humanimal-trust-to-fund-research-supporting-one-medicine