Marrika is a Lung Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist at Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. She has worked in cancer care since she qualified in 1998, working at St Georges and The Royal Marsden hospitals before taking up her current position at Guys and St Thomas’ in 2009.

Whilst in her current role Marrika has developed a keen interest in Thymic malignancies and supporting this rare cancer patient group within her caseload. She feels that this group of patients benefit significantly from the input of a specialist nurse due to the complex nature of their cancer journey and the often limited knowledge and awareness of thymic cancers.

She was involved in helping to set up an initial meeting of thymic patients at a cancer survivor day held at Guys hospital in June 2018 and this was the start of journey towards development of the ThymicUK group. Marrika feels very privileged to be involved as the specialist nurse linked to this group and promote its awareness. She is excited for the future and how we can impact change for patients and their care.

Outside of nursing Marrika enjoys spending time with family and friends, sunny holidays and is a keen foodie. She has recently taken up running and finds this a great way to unwind and keep fit.