NEWS
Fundraising target of £1 million to support leukaemia research
Cure Leukaemia helps to bring pioneering drug and transplant treatments to blood cancer patients throughout the Midlands. The charity helps to finance The Centre for Clinical Haematology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, which performs life-saving clinical trials to treat terminally ill leukaemia patients. Cure Leukaemia’s high-profile
roster of supporters includes Deloitte, Pinsent Masons, OGL Computer, Aston Villa Football Club and Warwickshire County Cricket Club, and this was expanded recently by the addition of IBMS Company Member The Binding Site – the first charity partner to introduce payroll donations. James McLaughlin, Cure Leukaemia’s
CEO, said: “We’re delighted to have been recognised by a company that is achieving global excellence. The company’s charity
Joining in the battle against leukaemia; James McLaughlin of Cure Leukaemia and The Binding Site’s CEO Charles de Rohan.
committee has some fantastic fundraising activities lined up and we’re very much looking forward to working with its members to help us reach our £1 million fundraising target for the year ahead.”
www.cureleukaemia.co.uk
Clinical research and chartered status
The Institute of Clinical Research (ICR) recently ceased its function as a Licensed Body of The Science Council for the award of Chartered Scientist status. However, ICR members are now able to maintain their chartered status through the IBMS, and Raza Dewji, director of clinical development science at GSK, recently became the first Chartered Scientist to transfer from the ICR to the IBMS. Following discussions with The Science Council and the IBMS, Mr Dewji rejoined the IBMS as a Fellow in order to maintain his chartered status, and commented: “The process of transferring from the
ICR to the IBMS was handled very efficiently and in a timely manner. The interactions I have had with IBMS staff have been very friendly and supportive. For other colleagues who are in the same situation, I would be happy to vouch for the efficiency of the process and the organisation.” Further information about the process above or about becoming a Chartered Scientist is available from Christian Burt (
christianburt@ibms.org) or can be found on the IBMS website below.
www.ibms.org/go/practice-development/ chartered-scientist
Diabetes research into generated β-cells
Researchers in Belgium have successfully generated insulin-producing β-cells from other pancreatic cells in mice with type 1 diabetes. The mice were then able to control their own glucose levels without additional insulin. The study, part-funded by JDRF, the type 1 diabetes charity, was published recently in Nature Biotechnology. In those living with type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the pancreatic β-cells, leaving the person unable to produce insulin. This means they cannot control their own blood glucose, and must rely on insulin injections to stay alive. However, the other pancreatic cells remain functional, and
692 THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENTIST
reprogramming these to produce insulin is a potential pathway to treating the condition. The Belgian researchers simulated type 1 diabetes in mice. After five weeks, some of the mice received a course of epidermal growth factor and ciliary neurotrophic factor proteins that are known to stimulate β-cell growth in the laboratory. Principal investigator Dr Harry Heimberg said: “Acinar cells can be reprogrammed to β-like cells in the laboratory. Several characteristics make acinar cells ideal candidates; they are the most abundant cell type, their microenvironment is identical to that of β-cells and they are not affected by diabetes.”
Specialist diagnostic tests:
a European update Plans in new EU legislation that threatened to prevent NHS organisations from continuing to produce their own specialist diagnostic tests have been removed. When first proposed, the new regulation would have removed the current exemption that allows NHS organisations to produce their own devices in-house for specialist tests. Specialist NHS organisations, such as NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), produce various diagnostic tests in-house for special patient groups where suitably sensitive commercial devices are not available. Examples include tests to screen for viral and parasitic transmissible agents, blood tests for clinically significant rare complex blood groups, or to assess suitability for blood transfusions and donor transplants. The European Parliament in Strasbourg
voted recently on a new EU law to regulate the manufacture and use of devices to conduct diagnostic tests such as blood glucose monitoring or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests.
Bariatric surgery and premature birth
Babies born to women who have undergone bariatric surgery are more likely to be premature and to be small for gestational age, according to a large registry study carried out at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and published recently online in the British Medical Journal (Roos N, Neovius M, Cnattingius S et al. Perinatal outcomes after bariatric surgery: nationwide population-based matched cohort study BMJ 2013; 347: f6460 [Epub ahead of print]). The researchers believe that these pregnancies should be considered risk pregnancies and that prenatal care should monitor them with extra vigilance.
The number of bariatric operations has
increased dramatically in recent years, most of which are performed on women, and as a result the number of babies born to women with a history of bariatric surgery is also increasing. The Swedish researchers have now examined how the operation affects pregnancy, and the study is the most extensive ever performed in the field. The study compared over 2500 babies born between 1992 and 2009 to women who had previously undergone bariatric surgery with 12,500 babies born to mothers who had not. The pregnancies were matched individually so that the mothers’ BMI, age, educational background, smoking habits, and previous births were comparable in both groups.
DECEMBER 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58