DELEGATE BIOGRAPHIES Isabelle Abbey-Vital, Research Involvement Officer, Parkinsons's UK (
[email protected]) After studying Neuroscience at Manchester University, Isabelle decided to move into the charity sector with the hope of working closer with patients and the public to encourage better understanding of and engagement with neurological research. In 2014 she joined Parkinson’s UK as Research Grants Officer, where her role has involved helping to coordinate the grant funding review processes and recruiting, managing and training a group of 90 people affected by Parkinson’s to help in the charity’s funding decisions. Isabelle has recently moved into a new role as Research Involvement Officer, which involves working with the organisation, volunteers, people affected by Parkinson’s and external stakeholders to develop initiatives to encourage and support the involvement of people affected by Parkinson’s in research. This includes training, volunteer roles and resources for both researchers and people affected by Parkinson’s. Joyce Achampong, Director of External Engagement, The Association of Commonwealth Universities (
[email protected]) Joyce is Director of External Engagement at the Association of Commonwealth Universities and is responsible for member engagement, communications and the delivery of the organisation's external relations strategy. Originally from Canada, Joyce has worked in various aspects of educational management and development for almost ten years. Holding degrees in International Business, Political Economy and European Policy and Management she moved to the UK in 2003, subsequently working in the Campaigns and Communications team at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. Previous to this Joyce worked for the international development agency CUSO/VSO and as a consultant for United Nations Association (Canada) on community engagement, fundraising and running high profiled events.