Rupert Earl (Vice Chair)

I have been an SIA member for 30+ years having been injured whilst a student at Oxford University. After a year out (mostly spent in a Spinal Injuries Unit), I returned to Oxford where I gained a First in Biochemistry, before studying for a PhD in novel drug delivery technology at Nottingham University Medical School.  Thereafter, I worked full-time as a Medical Writer and Information Manager in the pharmaceutical industry until being forced into premature retirement by a spinal cord cyst (syringiomyelia). In 2008 I was elected to SIA’s governing Council, and currently serve as Vice Chair.  I campaign on disability issues on behalf of SIA and also help lobby Government Ministers, MP's, and my local authority using my many years’ experience of independent living with tetraplegia, higher education and employment. I am based in the East Midlands.