Our Trustee Board and Medical Advisory Team
Our loyal band of 20 volunteers support sufferers with: up to date information and signposting to more sources; advocacy and translation; helping patient-doctor communication; referrals to doctors expert in the field; building on the organisation’s connections; emotional support, and cultural awareness sessions for IBD medical professionals. Feel free to contact us if you can help out in any way.
Advisory Board and Steering Group
We are honoured to be able to include our esteemed Rabbi and Rebbetzin AD Dunner who support our users emotionally, and act as a sounding board for proposed new activities. Rabbi Dunner gives halachic and other guidance to the charity, partly as a result of his own personal knowledge of IBD and its effects.
Mr Motty Friesel from Refuah Diagnostics, a phlebotomist who has helped CCR speed up diagnosis for IBD patients.
Mr Isaac Kohn is a governor at UCLH and the founder of Ozer Umagen. He specialises in Special Educational Needs and he works with children of all ages, which enables him to support weak and vulnerable students and their families, often encountering patients with IBD. Since 2004, he has been volunteering in hospitals throughout Greater London. These years of caring for IBD patients and their carers, families and visitors gave him a deep appreciation of their needs and how to support them.
Dr Adam P. Levine BSc (Hons), MBBS, PhD – medical advisor to CCR, who obtained his doctorate in genetics from University College London for research undertaken investigating Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Ashkenazi Jewish families. Adam obtained a first-class honours degree in Molecular Medicine, also at UCL, and was awarded the Faculty of Life Sciences Medal and Prize. Adam has published and given presentations on methods for analysing genetic data, the mechanisms by which white blood cells kill bacteria and the causes of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Adam is currently completing his medical studies at UCL while continuing to research IBD amongst the Jewish population and might be joining as a trustee shortly.
Rabbi Shmaya Low - an expert in medical ethics and Jewish law. He provides the charity with insight and guidance in Jewish law and is a tremendous support to IBD patients and couples who are facing infertility challenges. He is also a specialist in financial management.
Mr Eli Kernkraut has many years of experience and knowledge in clinics, specialists and treatment procedures. He is the founder of Hatzola as well as a hospital chaplain at both Homerton Hospital and UCLH. In a voluntary capacity, Mr Kernkraut assists patients in the community to research information specific to their medical situation and empowers them to liaise with appropriate specialists.
Mrs Channah Rapaport is the parent of a child with Crohn’s and she is part of the IBD Patient Panel at the Royal London Hospital. The Patient Panel acts as a tool to discuss and improve the patient journey. It provides an opportunity for discussion between healthcare professionals and patients to enable them to understand each other’s situation and move towards a mutually beneficial service improvement or solution. She has built an excellent reputation as a CCR patient advocate within the charity's medical and development team to create awareness about barriers and stigma that children and young people, especially from the Charedi community, face. She also supports parents of children during the difficult period before patient remission.