Last year, through Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, we funded some leukaemia research which is being undertaken by Doctors Owen Williams and Jasper De Boer at the University College London (UCL) in conjunction with the Institute of Child Health (ICH) and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Please click here to read about our previous visit.
A few weeks ago, Vicki and I returned to meet the team again, not least because the Team Margot Foundation trustees decided to follow our initial funding with a further grant. It’s our trustees intention to continue to help fund this research, as Team Margot Foundation finances permit.
We were delighted to hear that the research project continues to make good progress and move along well; significantly it may shortly become translational ie be trialled on humans.
The research focusses on the MLL fusion genes and targets those infant leukaemia’s which do really poorly with treatment (Margot’s leukaemia, for example).
One particular mutation has been identified as being the cause of the disease – it has the effect of “turning on” a gene which starts the leukaemia programme – and 80% of infant leukaemia has this mutation.
The aim is to find out what drugs “turn off” these genes, so that the blood becomes normal again.
Importantly, the patients blood would be unaffected after treatment.
We look forward to providing you with further updates, as they are received.
Team Margot
Together, saving lives
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Previous post on this subject:
Last year’s GOSH fundraise goes towards ‘elegant’ research project
Husband to Vicki and father to Oscar (2007), Rufus (2008), Digby (2015), Humphrey (2017) & Margot (2012-2014)
Team Margot’s mission
To help save and improve lives by educating, inspiring and motivating people, especially from ethnically diverse communities, to register as blood, organ, stem cell and bone marrow donors and to provide a range of support to families caring for child cancer patients.
Team Margot also provides secretariat support to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethnicity Transplantation and Transfusion.