Nicola Horlick has been a leading fund manager in the city of London for forty years. During that time, she has set up and managed several investment businesses. Along with being a partner in Bramdean Asset Management, Ms. Horlick is also CEO of Money&Co., a peer-to-peer lending platform that lends to subject matter experts, music artists, music publishers and record labels, and small legal firms.
In addition to her role on the advisory council for the UK Focused Ultrasound Foundation (UK FUSF), Ms. Horlick supports several philanthropic ventures. She is the current chair of the Anthony Nolan charity for people living with blood cancer. She is also a trustee in The Childhood Trust and assists in fundraising efforts for The London Clinic. Read on to learn why Ms. Horlick believes in supporting focused ultrasound.
You have had a significant amount of experience fundraising for hospital charities. What is a project you are most proud of?
I was involved with fundraising for an up-to-date breast cancer center at St. Bartholomew’s in the early 2000s. There was a dilapidated wing dating back to the seventeenth century. I was very pleased with that project because it restored a historic building while at the same time providing us with the most state-of-the-art breast cancer unit in all of Europe. We raised 13.5 million pounds to renovate the building and purchase the most up-to-date machines.
What made you interested in getting involved with the UK FUSF?
It is a very exciting technology. I’d heard ultrasound could be used therapeutically and had my own experience with it. So, when I heard it could be concentrated and applied to a specific spot to treat several conditions, it made sense. My main interest is how focused ultrasound can be used in treatment for cancer patients. My eldest daughter, Georgie, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was two and died when she was twelve, and my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018 and died on the first of November in 2022. Anything that helps in the battle against cancer is great.
What impact do you hope to have with the UK FUSF?
The aim is to get as much buy-in from hospitals and get as many machines in hospitals as possible. I was on the board of Hampshire Hospitals for nine years and on the board of the Imperial Hospitals in London. I understand the funding constraints for hospitals when a new technology comes along. You have to determine how much money is needed for new technology, get buy-in from consultants, and show the efficacy of it. For example, you have to show it is going to massively reduce the tremor for a Parkinson’s patient or that it’s effective in treating early-stage prostate cancer. If the efficacy can be proved, funding can be found.