Our People
Our Team
CoMO's core team works to support our members, coordinate World Meningitis Day and other projects. The team consists of CoMO's Head Office staff and Regional Coordinators and we operate out of the UK, Spain, the U.S. and Australia.
Sam Nye, Joint Head of CoMO (Bristol, UK)
Sam's career began in scientific communications, and she has been an integral part of the development of the CoMO network for the last 10 years. She oversees key projects for CoMO members, including World Meningitis Day and the annual member conference, and is responsible for maximising the value of membership for existing members.
Please contact Sam with any enquiries.
Laura Ross, Joint Head of CoMO (Bristol, UK)
Laura has a background in global marketing and communications, and is focused on building CoMO’s profile, increasing membership, and developing the new member offer. She manages our regional coordinators and oversees fundraising liaison.
Please contact Laura with any new member enquiries.
Sam Brightbart, Member Development and Engagement Manager (Bristol, UK)
Sam B is responsible for managing CoMO's membership scheme, communicating with all CoMO members about key issues, and improving the member experience. His background is as a linguist and translator, and he has volunteered for a variety of campaigns in areas including health, environment, animal rights and ethical banking.
Contact Sam for any questions you have about membership in general.
Kim Dowman, Administrator and HR Assistant (Bristol, UK)
An experienced manager of people, property and processes across a whole range of industries, Kim provides support to CoMO admin and HR tasks part-time.
Contact Kim for related enquiries.
Linda Gibbs, Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator (Perth, Australia)
Linda is responsible for the management of all Asia Pacific activities and planning, she is also Office Manager at the Meningitis Centre in Perth, Australia.
Contact Linda for all Asia Pacific member and activity enquiries.
Phone +61 8 6457 7399 or email Linda.
Elena Moya, Europe Regional Coordinator (Madrid, Spain)
Elena supports CoMO to establish new relationships and opportunities in the Europe region and is also the Vice President of Asociación Española Contra La Meningitis (AEM).
Contact Elena for all Europe member and activity enquiries.
Omorodion Rhoda Omoile, Africa Regional Coordinator (Rivers State, Nigeria)
Omorodion Rhoda is a social entrepreneur as well as a patient advocate based in Nigeria. She is highly committed to humanitarian, social works and services that aid in ameliorating the plights of the vulnerable of the society. Growing up as a vulnerable child exposed her to the reality of vulnerability; especially among the disadvantaged in a society.
Contact Rhoda for all Africa member and activity enquiries.
Patsy Schanbaum, Americas Regional Coordinator, (Austin, USA)
Patsy is committed to leading the fight against meningitis through education, community awareness and advocacy. She served for 10 years on our Advisory Council before becoming regional coordinator.
Contact Patsy for all member and activity enquiries in the Americas.
Patsy’s daughter Jamie lost both her legs below the knee after contracting meningitis and septicaemia in 2008 at 20 years of age. Patsy, Jamie and their family subsequently created the Joint Advocacy for Meningococcal Information and Education (J.A.M.I.E.) Group, which successfully campaigned for mandatory meningitis vaccination for students in Texas. Read Patsy and Jamie’s story.
Our Advisory Council
CoMO’s work is governed by Meningitis Research Foundation's (MRF) Board of Trustees and overseen of by an Advisory Council, made up of elected CoMO members from each region.
Jane Plumb MBE, Chair and Europe Regional Representative, Group B Strep Support (Sussex, UK)
Jane Plumb MBE is the Chief Executive of GBSS, which she founded in 1996. GBSS supports UK families affected by group B Strep and health professionals by providing relevant, evidence-based information and education about group B Strep.
Jane is Women’s Voices Lead at the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists and chair of their Women’s Network, a member of the Pregnancy & Baby Charity Network and a member of the World Health Organization’s Extended Technical Taskforce on defeating meningitis by 2030. She has worked on NICE guidelines and quality standards, including the Antibiotics for Neonatal Infection, Preterm Labour & Birth and Neonatal Infection guidelines. She is currently a coapplicant on several GBS research trials.
Jane is chair of the Advisory Council and is also a trustee of the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF).
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Christine Bennborn, Europe Regional Representative, Meningokockfonden (Sweden)
Christine started the Meningokockfonden (Meningitis Foundation) in Sweden when her son Mathias died in the summer of 2019 after contracting meningitis and septicemia. She set up the Foundation after becoming aware of how little information and understanding on meningitis there is in Sweden. The primary goal with the foundation is to share information and raise awareness to the public about the symptoms and the possibility of getting vaccinated so that other children and young people can be saved in the future.
Christine has a professional background as a CFO and top-level manager including board positions, with experience of working on strategic issues, overseeing processes, making decisions, evaluating business cases, creating and evaluating budgets etc. Read Christine’s story.
Prof Dr Ghulam Mustafa, Asia Pacific Regional Representative, Helping Hands Foundation (Multan, Pakistan)
Dr Ghulam Mustafa is Professor of Paediatrics and the Chairman department of Paediatrics at Nishtar medical university, Multan, Pakistan. He is Chief Executive Officer of the Helping Hands Foundation (HHF), a not-for-profit organisation working on health, education and community empowerment in Pakistan.
He has been proactively involved in vaccination campaigns for children, through print & electronic media, to prevent meningitis and other infectious diseases. HHF have organised activities to mark World Meningitis Day every year for the last few years.
Dr Ravi Kumar. Asia Pacific Regional Representative,
Brain Child Trust (Bengaluru, India)
MRCPCH, CCT in Paediatrics (UK), Fellowship in Paediatric Epilepsy (London), Fellow in Paediatric Neurology (London) and Consultant in Paediatric Neurology. Dr. C. P. Ravi Kumar is a highly qualified specialist in the field of Paediatric neurology, currently working as the Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at Aster Women and Children Hospital in Whitefield, Bengaluru, India. With years of experience in the field, Dr C. P. Ravi Kumar is well known as one of the best paediatric neurologists in Bangalore, offering comprehensive care to patients.
He has worked for some good private hospitals and has gained expertise in paediatric neurology. He did an MBBS from Bangalore University in India, later attending MRCPCH in RCPCH, UK in 2009 and obtaining a CCT in Paediatrics in 2013.
John B. Grimes, Americas Regional Representative (Texas, USA)
One of the lucky ones, John is a survivor of meningococcal disease. In 1998, as a sophomore at Texas Tech University, he was a typical healthy student. Life seemed to be following an ordered path until one day, he woke up in a hospital bed. Miraculously, eight days prior, a friend had found John unconscious on his bedroom floor.
Neurological dysfunction and blindness are permanent reminders of his battle with meningitis. To spread awareness John shares his unique survival story and journey through life with sight loss and invisible disabilities on his podcast, Destiny is Debatable.
Suelen Caroline Santiago Magalhães Rosalino and Antonio Carlos Ramos e Silva, Americas Regional Representatives (Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
Suelen is the president of Associação Brasileira de Combate à Meningite (the Brazilian Association to Combat Meningitis / ABCM). She began her fight against meningitis in 2017, when her son João Marcos contracted the disease and had to have one of his legs amputated below the knee, half of the other foot and eight distal phalanges. Today João Marcos lives well, with the necessary adaptations.
Suelen is a social entrepreneur focused on disseminating information to raise awareness of vaccine-preventable diseases. She is a pastor and has always been an active participant in community and social support work. She has fifteen years of experience in commercial representation within the civil construction industry.
Antonio Carlos is the Director of Organizational Relations and Projects at ABCM. He has always been active in coordinating people and leadership, valuing respect for human beings. A businessman focused on mentoring people and on business consultancy, he has 22 years of national and international experience as an executive in a large company. He has knowledge of the evolution of Industry 4.0 and strategic business management. He was also president of a large sports association for three years, and currently leads community and social support work.
Antonio has a degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration.
Brian Nambale, Africa Regional Representative, Medicure Trauma Centre (Nabumali, Uganda)
Brian has worked in HIV/AIDS, TB (Prevention, Care, Treatment & Research) with the Infectious Disease Institute, Makerere University at the Prevention, Care & Treatment Clinic at Mulago National Referral Hospital up to 2021 when he Joined Private Practice and Politics for a Mbale District Policy Maker with Health Advocacy as his passion.
He studied Clinical Medicine & Community Health at the School of Clinical Officers Mbale (2007-2010). He later graduated in Both Nursing & Midwifery studies at Soroti School of Registered Comprehensive Nursing (2012-2015) sponsored by the government of Uganda.
Currently, he is pursuing specialised training at Makerere University for Palliative Care Medicine at the Institute of Hospice & Palliative Care Africa in Uganda. He is: a member of Uganda Nurses and Midwifery Council; Corporate Member of the AIDS Support Organisation; on the Mbale District Health & Education committee; and a member of the International Hospice & Palliative Care Association. Medicure Trauma Centre is a member of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations and the centre leads on meningitis community awareness programs in Eastern Uganda as part of a Village Reach Community Health program.
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Claytone Musungu, Africa Regional Representative, Meningitis Information, Care and Research Foundation (Nairobi, Kenya)
Claytone is a qualified professional with dynamic leadership skills and extensive experience in Sales and Marketing since 1990. He has worked in various fields which include book publishing, events organisation, marketing research and telecommunication.
Claytone co-founded Meningitis Information, Care and Research Foundation in 2018 to create awareness, advocacy and research as well as supporting the victims and survivors in Kenya, after he realized there was very little knowledge of meningitis and its effects.
His work experience started as field marketing research interviewer at McCann Erickson Research Company in 1991, Business Trend review magazine as a sales and marketing executive, The Agricultural Society of Kenya as head of marketing in charge of outdoor advertising and events, Chesco Communication limited as deputy head of planning and marketing, Mvule Africa Publishers as head of sales and marketing and finally general manager at Ideal Markets Development Company Tanzania Limited in 2017. Claytone also offers marketing consultancy services for construction companies.