Our Trustees

ELLIOT CHOUEKA

Elliot and Rosie were married for more than 10 years. They had two beautiful children, Natalie and Joseph, and were a close family. Their home was filled with laughter and love.

Rosie’s breast cancer diagnosis and her 11-month battle with the disease brought Rosie and Elliot even closer. It was Rosie’s wish in the final weeks of her life that a charity should be set up for secondary breast cancer research. Since her death in June 2015, Elliot’s time has been devoted to raising his children, focusing on his career and ensuring Secondary1st is a success. Elliot has since remarried and now is step-dad to another wonderful girl.

Elliot has worked in media production for close to 30 years. After 10 years working in news and documentaries at the B.B.C. he founded his own communications company. He now works as a head of broadcast studios and film at LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group).

MARALYN KALMAN

Maralyn is Rosie’s mother.

She read French with Latin at King’s College London before joining the advertising agency Leo Burnett as an account executive working on big-brand toiletries and new product development for a major pharmaceutical company.

At the time she had to choose between career and family. She chose to look after her family and raise her children, Rosie and Laurence.

Maralyn has undertaken several voluntary roles over the years. These include working in a school library, helping to raise funds to buy medical equipment and running a charity appeal.

She was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2009 and was treated by Mr. Al-Dubaisi and Dr. Ostler, both of whom were consulted by Rosie five years later.

JEFFREY KALMAN

Jeffrey is Rosie’s father. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1967. He spent 30 years in commercial roles, the majority of which were in publishing. These included market-leading consumer and business magazines and legal publishing.

He was closely involved in copyright protection, which resulted in a landmark case at the European Court of Justice. This was the spark that lit Rosie’s interest in competition law when she was a teenager.

Since retiring in 2001 Jeffrey has been a trustee of an inner city charity and has had major roles in several community organisations.

LAURENCE KALMAN

Laurence is Rosie’s brother.

He is a solicitor specialising in large-scale commercial and technology transactions.

Laurence is a partner in the CMS commercial team.  He advises on the IP and business separation aspects of mergers and acquisitions transactions and on the exploitation of intellectual property rights.

Laurence trained and qualified at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Before becoming a lawyer, Laurence graduated from Merton College, University of Oxford with a double first in history.

HANNAH RUSSELL

Rosie and Hannah were best friends for more than 25 years.

Hannah is Chief Executive at the Association for Science Education (ASE) and has spent many years working in the field of biological and biomedical science.

She has a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford and a PGCE from the University of Cambridge. She trained as a secondary science teacher before moving to the Wellcome Trust as an education manager. Over the years she has worked on a number of major projects in science and engineering education and professional development, most recently as Director of Society Programmes at the Biochemical Society.

Hannah was also diagnosed with breast cancer. Her hope for Secondary1st is that it will raise enough awareness and money for research so that families of breast cancer sufferers do not have to face the agony of losing their loved ones.

PAT TREACY

Pat was Head of Competition Law at Bristows LLP, the practice area in which Rosie was a partner: they worked closely together.
Pat read law at Cambridge University and qualified as a solicitor in 1986.  She became a partner at Bristows LLP in 1996 and retired from private practice in 2022.  While in practice, she specialised in European Union law and competition law, advising on the complex legal and policy issues arising where competition law and intellectual property law intersect. In 2024 Pat’s  practitioners textbook ‘EU Competition law and Intellectual Property’ was published by Edward Elgar.

Pat was appointed as Deputy High Court Judge in 2018 and sat in the Chancery Division, dealing with business and property disputes, until September 2024.

DAVID GRIEF

David Grief retired as senior clerk at Essex Court Chambers after 38 years. He was CEO for Duxton Hill Chambers in Singapore from 2018 until August 2021 when he established his own consultancy David Grief International Consultancy Pte, Singapore. With a career in managing barristers’ chambers spanning almost 50 years, David is one of the most experienced in his field and that experience continues to serve him well as he clerks for barristers in London, assists lawyers around the globe, and supports independent legal sole practitioners.

In 2007, David’s wife, Joanne, was diagnosed with breast cancer and bravely fought the disease for 10 years. Sadly, Joanne passed away in 2017 leaving David and their courageous three children behind. Since Joanne’s passing, David has dedicated himself to supporting his family and fundraising in her memory. Such endeavours include republishing Joanne’s successful cookbook in aid of the Hospice in the Weald, who made Joanne comfortable in her final days, and cycling 140 miles to Amsterdam on behalf of Secondary 1st. In 2021 David undertook a new challenge and cycled 1219 km in 30 days in July through the heat and humidity of Singapore, again on behalf of Secondary 1st.

Eternally grateful for the support he and his family received throughout Joanne’s treatment, David is delighted to bring his expert knowledge and years of experience to Secondary 1st as one of its Trustees to ensure its continued success in raising funds for secondary breast cancer research.