|  |  |  | | | | Fundraisers meet scientists at London Open Day | | | | |
| |  London Open Day
Release Date: 8 October 2008
Leukaemia Research thanks everyone who attended the London Open Day on Saturday 4 October at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, whose enthusiasm made the event both informative and enjoyable for all involved.
Special thanks go to Dr Clare Bennett and Dr Emma Morris for organising the event and to all the Leukaemia Research scientists who put on some great demonstrations to explain the details of their research to fundraisers and supporters.
Former acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patient and Leukaemia Research supporter, Vesna Sokolovska, attended the event and was very pleased with what she saw: “what I expected to be a lecture and slides turned out to be a deep informative session.” Vesna is now organising a jazz concert in support of Leukaemia Research featuring the successful Macedonian group “Tavitjan Brothers” at the popular “London Halo Bar” in Battersea on Saturday 18 October.
Floyd London, who has also been treated for AML and, like Vesna, recently celebrated four years in remission, spent the morning with Dr Ellie Nacheva and her team and learnt how they are using a technique of “painting” chromosomes to identify genetic faults in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia.
Meanwhile, other supporters were given the chance to see demonstrations from other Leukaemia Research scientists in the hospital. Dr Adele Fielding and Dr Bella Patel showed a group how they are developing the minimal residual disease (MRD) test, which has had a excellent results for the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), as a new way of guiding treatment for adults with ALL.
Supporters Erica and John Farmer spent some of the morning in the laboratory with Dr Andy Steele and the other members of Dr Wickremasinghe’s Leukaemia Research team, who are working on finding new drugs to treat chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Erica comments, “we felt welcomed and very well looked after and it was really interesting to hear about the research this group are doing, especially as I have CLL.”
Hazel Staten, another former patient and supporter who has received treatment for AML, was particularly moved by the demonstrations she saw of the work being carried out by Professor Hans Stauss and Dr Emma Morris who are developing a breakthrough gene therapy trial, initially for the treatment of AML. Hazel adds: “I had an incredible day and I would like to thank the researchers at the Royal Free for everything. Everybody involved in Leukaemia Research must feel so proud of all the work we’ve done over the years to fund this remarkable ground breaking research. I'm so glad to be a part of it now.”
The next Leukaemia Research open day will be on 25 October, at the Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow. For more information and to register please contact Tilly Sims at msims@lrf.org.uk
|
|
|
|
|
