Sad loss for the ECIBC team

Sue Warman, member of the ECIBC's Guidelines Development Group, passed away this month. She worked passionately to empower women to make informed decisions.

Sue, a biochemist by training, spent most of her career in Further Education, first as a lecturer in health-related subjects and later moving into college management, as Dean of Faculty, Director of Curriculum, Deputy Principal and finally Vice Principal of Quality and Human Resources. For 10 years she also worked as an educational consultant, particularly helping colleges to improve the quality of their post-16 teaching of science subjects. Committed to the principle of evidence-based medicine and to the right of patients to make informed decisions, Sue edited a group submission from “Advocates of Honesty and Transparency in Breast Screening” to the 2014 Parliamentary Enquiry into Screening.

As a patient representative, Sue worked with us on the development of the European guidelines on breast cancer. Her contributions in all discussions were essential to guarantee that the guidelines consider the real values and preferences of women in Europe. Offering insights on a vast range of topics, from screening tests to training of healthcare professionals, Sue was heavily involved in the translation of the guidelines into plain language, making the information available to the general public and always ensuring women could make an informed decision about their health.

We have admired her, both as a person as well as a colleague especially for being so determined in the fight against breast cancer not only at individual level but also at a community level. We will never forget her engagement and passion in looking for and trying to implement better solutions in healthcare.

All the members of the European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer are honoured to have had Sue as a colleague for so many years.