Alcon adds new members to the UK and Ireland team

Alcon has made a number of leadership changes to its UK and Ireland team.

Chantelle Cook, previously vision care country franchise head for the UK & Ireland, has moved to a global role within Alcon, while Jonathon Bench, previously head of professional affairs, has moved to an international role.

Karen Stoddart has been named as successor to Cook, taking on the position of vision care country franchise head for the UK and Ireland.

Stoddart joined Alcon in 2020 as customer operations head for Alcon UK and Ireland. In her new role, she will continue collaborating with key customers in bringing the company’s products to market. The company suggested this will be an exciting period for the product pipeline, with the upcoming launch of Total30.

Before joining the contact lens company, Stoddart had more than 20 years of experience in healthcare as a leader of change for patients, with her most recent role as head of the cardiovascular franchise for the UK and Ireland at Sanofi. 

Rebecca Stoner succeeds Bench as head of professional affairs for the UK and Ireland. She joins from Topcon Healthcare, where she spent four and a half years as clinical affairs specialist and global trainer.

Having qualified as an optometrist in 2008, Stoner aims to combine her practice-based experience and understanding of the industry, gained through her involvement with the British Contact Lens Association, with her knowledge of contact lenses, having taught undergraduate and postgraduate students in the subject.