Richard Stephens has survived (so far) two cancers, a heart emergency, and continued co-morbidities and late effects. He has participated in four interventional studies and fourteen others and has donated tissues and samples for research.
Richard is in his third decade as a Patient Advocate, and is currently NCRI's Consumer Involvement Lead. He has chaired and sits on strategic groups in Europe and the UK, including BBMRI-ERIC, NHS England, NIHR, Genomics England and Cancer Research UK, and works with industry and with patient groups in Europe, Canada and the USA.
Richard was the patient co-author of the 2015 Cancer Strategy for England, and was an advisor to the UK government during the pandemic. He was the patient lead for the UK’s Living With And Beyond Cancer research priority-setting project, with a particular interest in late effects, in view of his own heart problems.
Richard is the founding co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Research Involvement and Engagement, the patient co-author of ESC Guidelines on cardio-oncology, and a member of ESC’s Patient Forum.