Our governance & people

BNA Council

The Council is the main governing body of the BNA and includes the Trustees/Directors of the Association.

Council members meet at least four times per year.  They are charged with defining and managing the strategic plan, setting policy and making operational decisions on behalf of the membership.

Current members of the BNA Council

	Rik Henson -  President 2021-2023 Trustee Cambridge University
	Tara Spires-Jones - President-Elect 2021-2023 Trustee University of Bristol
	Annette Dolphin - Immediate Past-President 2021-2023 Trustee University College London
	Zoe Kourtzi - Honorary Secretary 2019-2023 Trustee Cambridge University
	Catherine Harmer - Honorary Treasurer 2017-2022 Trustee University of Oxford
	Alan Palmer - Independent Trustee 2017-2022 Trustee Neuroscientst and entrepreneur (positions at UCL, University of Reading, University of Bristol; Cerebroscience Ltd, One Nucleus Ltd; Elixa MediScience Ltd; The Brain Tumour Charity; The Cancer Awareness Trust)
	Kevin Cox - Independent Trustee 2017-2022 Trustee SynDermix AG, Biorelate Ltd, Biotaspheric, ValiRx Plc and the BioIndustry Association. .
	Manfred Berners - Independent Trustee 2017-2022 Trustee Berners-Chapman, strategic consultancy for life science companies
	Narender Ramnani - Research Policy 2017-2022 Trustee Royal Holloway, University of London
	Anne Lingford-Hughes - Professional Liaison 2017-2022 Trustee Imperial College London
	Volko Straub - Groups Co-ordinator 2020-2024 Trustee University of Leicester
	Anthony Isles - Communications 2017-2022 Trustee Cardiff University
	Sarah Guthrie - Meetings Secretary and Co-Chair for the BNA2021 Programme Organising Committee University of Sussex
	Hugh Piggins - Meetings Secretary and Co-Chair for the BNA2021 Programme Organising Committee University of Bristol

BNA Committee

The BNA Council is advised and supported national committee members who, between them, have research interests spanning the breadth and depth of neuroscience and are affiliated with academic institutes and industrial centres across the UK.  Appointment to a Committee post is for four years. Council members also sit on the National Committee.

Any member is welcome to raise an item for Committee meeting discussion. To do so, please contact the BNA Office at office(at)bna.org.uk, or one of the Committee members listed below.

Current members of the BNA Committee

	Crawford Winlove - Education & Engagement Secretary 2018-2022 University of Exeter
	Membership Secretary - currently vacant
	Emma Soopramanien, Students & Early Careers Representative 2020-2024 Queen Mary University London
	Emma Yhnell - Representative for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion 2019-2023 Cardiff University

BNA Representatives

Duncan Banks - Royal Society of Biology Animal Science Group Representative Duncan Banks represents BNA members in the ASG - a Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Royal Society of Biology, representing the broad spectrum of UK bodies actively involved in supporting, formulating policy or directly involved in research involving animals.

BNA Executive

	Anne Cooke - Chief Executive anne.cooke(at)bna.org.uk
	Sophie Sykes-Jerrold - Development Director sophie(at)bna.org.uk
	Alex Campbell - Head of Communications and Marketing alex.campbell(at)bna.org.uk
	Joseph Clift - Head of Policy and Campaigns joseph.clift(at)bna.org.uk
	Louise Tratt - Executive Officer; Marketing & Events office(at)bna.org.uk
	Hannah Thurgur -  Executive Officer office(at)bna.org.uk
	Dana Visnitchi -  BNA Placement Student dana(at)bna.org.uk

Governing documents

The BNA's governing documents form the Association's constitution define its charitable objects, the kind of activities to be undertaken, the appointments and responsibilities of the Trustees, Council and Committee members, and the means by which the organisation is run.  The Articles and Rules of the BNA were reviewed in 2016 and new versions voted in by the membership in April 2017. They can be downloaded in full here:

• BNA Articles of Association 2017
• BNA Rules of Association 2017

If you have any questions about BNA governance please contact the Association Secretary.