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A Day In The Life Of… Alex Hagan, Department of Oncology, Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle

Our research partners at Great North Children’s Hospital are doing ground breaking work.

A day in the life… Alex Hagan

Alex Hagan is a researcher working on childhood brain tumour survivorship at Newcastle. With support from OSCAR’s funding, Alex dedicates his time to improving neurocognitive outcomes for young survivors through clinical data analysis, statistical research, and collaborative work with multidisciplinary teams.

Alex Hagan headshot

09:00-11:00 – Survivorship Clinic Data:

I begin each day reviewing clinical data from our brain tumour survivorship clinic. These specialist clinics focus on improving quality of life and intellectual outcomes for childhood survivors of brain tumour.

I update and refine our research databases using neuropsychological data from these clinics alongside key clinical and demographic data (i.e. age at diagnosis, treatment modality). These databases inform real clinical decisions. They enable us to tailor treatment, monitor cognitive development, and ensure that every child receives evidence-based and personalised care that best supports their long-term development.

“OSCAR’s support makes this work possible,
enabling us to move beyond survival and focus on helping children live well after brain tumour treatment. “

11:00-13:00 – Statistical analyses:

I will use various statistical models to examine our data to explore key questions such as:

  • How much do patients benefit from our survivorship interventions?
  • Which clinical variables predict better outcomes?
  • Does methylphenidate continue to preserve intellectual function years after treatment?

Each trend we discover contributes to improving survivorship care.

13:30-14:30: MDT & Educations Liaison

The work doesn’t stop with our databases. We liaise with our multidisciplinary team (MDT), including neuro-oncologists, neuropsychologists, nurses, social workers, to share our findings and discuss clinical implications.

Our work often extends beyond the NHS: we regularly speak with schools to discuss each child’s cognitive profile and how best to support their reintegration back into the classroom. We also share our findings with national Special Interest Groups, shaping UK-wide survivorship strategies.

14:30-17:00: Writing & Publishing our Work

Most afternoons are dedicated to writing and publishing our research. With OSCAR’s support, we have now published multiple papers demonstrating the long-term benefit of methylphenidate in preserving intellectual development in childhood brain tumour survivors.

Recently, we presented these findings at SIOPE Porto 2025, bringing our survivorship research to the international stage – a direct outcome of OSCAR’s funding.

OSCAR’s support makes this work possible, enabling us to move beyond survival and focus on helping children live well after brain tumour treatment. With continued funding, we can expand our work and ensure that no child’s future is limited by the effects of their tumour or treatment.

Thanks to OSCAR’s support, I am able to spend each day improving the neurocognitive outcome of childhood survivors of brain tumour.

Find all of Alex's papers here
Alex Hagan Department of Oncology Brain Tumour Research
Find out more about OSCAR's research projects
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Rachel James

Community Fundraising Assistant
Rachel will join our team on September 1st and will be doing a wide range of tasks including promoting the charity in the local community, developing relationships with different people and organisations, and finding new fundraising opportunities. She comes from a caring background having been a teaching assistant and emotional literacy support assistant in York for many years, and previously leading a community care team. She has also done many years of work in the voluntary sector.

Matthew Taylor

Trustee

Matthew Taylor is Director of the York Health Economics Consortium at the University of York. He has been a supporter of OSCAR’s since its inception and, through his twenty years of research into the measurement of health-related quality of life, Matthew is keenly aware of the huge benefits that new treatments can bring to people living with brain tumours.

Matthew is actively involved in national-level healthcare decision making, having had former roles as the Scientific Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)’s Economic and Methodological Unit and as a committee member for NICE’s Public Health Advisory Group. He has over fifty peer-reviewed scientific publications, including a chapter in the textbook ‘The Business, Policy and Economics of Neurosurgery’.

Ryan Mathew

Clinical Trustee

Ryan Mathew is an Associate Professor at the University of Leeds and an Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at Leeds Teaching Hospitals.

The Hughes Family story had a big impact on Ryan. He first learnt of the charity when he became surgeon to Oscar’s dad, Ian. After a successful surgery, he continued to show great care and concern for the family when Ian became ill again and when Milo, Oscar’s brother, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Ryan is driven to make life outcomes better for brain tumour patients and their families. His extensive work in both research and surgery is testament to that commitment.

His clinical practice covers the full spectrum of general neurosurgery with a subspecialty in brain tumours. His research focuses on advanced brain tumour models, residual therapy-resistant glioma cell populations, local therapeutic treatments and surgical technologies and devices. He peer-reviews for several journals and grant award committees and has published numerous papers.

More information on Ryan’s work

Lisa Dawson

Trustee

Lisa has been a friend of the Hughes family since 2016 and was honoured to be asked in 2022 to represent OSCAR’s PBTC as Social & Digital Trustee.  Both Lisa and her family have taken part in numerous fundraising events and are dedicated to raising awareness of paediatric brain tumours.  Lisa is a social media content creator, blogger and writer and lives in York with her husband Joe and three children, Ella, Max and Leo.

Alice Beckwith

Trustee

Alice has been involved with OSCAR’s PBTC since 2020. She passionately supports the aims of the charity and believes that if the charity can change one life for the better, then it is a success. Working in the public sector for 18 years, Alice has helped transform Adult and Children’s Social Care Services by ensuring heavy investment in preventative services. This is why the impact OSCAR’s work will have on families is at the forefront of Alice’s motivation to be involved.

As partnerships trustee, Alice is keen to involve businesses, trusts and individuals in the work OSCAR’s does and show them the role they can have in providing the base for the charity to continue to expand its projects to help children with brain tumours.

Sarah Jane Gray

Trustee/Secretary

Sarah has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and surgical sales sector and is very familiar with the importance of medical advancements for better patient outcomes. She believes research is essential for improving diagnosis, treatment and prognosis for all children with brain tumours and hopes OSCAR’s PBTC can offer much needed funding to help push the boundaries in finding better ways of curing this devastating disease. Sarah’s focus as a treasurer will ensure record-keeping and accounts meet the conditions of the statutory bodies and compliance with regulatory organisations.

Holly Dixon

Trustee

Holly is mother to George, diagnosed with an ATRT brain tumour in 2022, and works as a primary school teacher. She believes that action to support others -however small- can make a massive difference.


She brings real-life experience of what it is like for a parent navigating everyday life, the NHS, the education system, questions from people and a lively young child with different needs.

meet the oscar's team

Sam Marino

Trustee
Sam was Headteacher at a school where Alfie Hutchinson died from an ependymoma brain tumour, at the age of 10. After becoming close with Alfie’s family Sam found OSCAR’s and reached out to the charity to help support the family, staff, children and local community. 
 
Sam understands the immediate and long term effects on a community when losing a child to a brain tumour. 
 
‘After seeing first hand the amazing work that OSCAR’s do, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be part of the team. I’d like to help raise awareness in educational settings, for teachers and for parents – to empower them to seek early detection/diagnosis. Phil once said to me, ‘You never expect to become part of the brain tumour community, then all of a sudden you are.’ What an inspiring and powerful community it is.”

Marie Hughes

ChAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Marie founded the charity with her husband Ian, who passed away in 2020. She is the mother of four boys. Two of Marie’s sons have died from different types of brain tumours – Oscar who was 9 and Milo who was 5 years old. She is determined to help find better treatments for brain tumours so other children won’t have to go through what her own sons and her family have.

Marie is Chair of the Board of Trustees, working closely withe the team on strategy and vision. Marie lives in Copenhagen with her two other sons, Sebastian and Lucas, and works as a Risk Manager on the Danish railway.