Proton Partners International has made two new appointments to its senior executive team.

Lis Neil has been brought on board as chief operating officer and Dr Ian Barwick is the company’s new chief scientific officer.

Neil (pictured, top) was previously an operations director at Nuffield Health and the chief executive of Vale Healthcare. She will be responsible for daily operations, commissioning new facilities and safeguarding the quality of Proton Partners’ services.

Barwick (pictured, bottom) was previously the chief operating officer at Life Sciences Hub Wales and will be involved in patient-led research at Proton Partners.

Mike Moran, chief executive of Proton Partners, said: "Lis and Ian both have decades of experience in health and scientific research, and I am delighted they have joined our team.

"Through our centres, we aim to develop a world-class cancer service as well as contribute to the broader research effort to improve cancer care for patients. We are currently building three UK centres, but we have plans for two more, and therefore Lis will be leading a team of staff to ensure the company's goals become a reality."

Proton Partners is developing three proton beam therapy centres in Newport, Northumberland and Reading. It has also recently announced plans to establish a research centre in Liverpool that will analyse all the data generated by its three proton beam therapy units.