Charity funds landmark stem cell trial
An organisation set up in memory of a Jewish woman who died from myeloid leukaemia has funded the UK’s first clinical trial using stem cells from umbilical cord blood to treat blood cancer.
A charity set up in memory of a Jewish woman who died from myeloid leukaemia has successfully funded the UK’s first clinical trial using stem cells from umbilical cord blood to treat blood cancer.
Distinguished guests gathered to hear from Dr Rachael Hough, consultant in haematology and stem cell transplantation at UCL Hospitals, who presented her results last Thursday at a Sue Harris Trust event at the Royal Society of Medicine.
Those on the trial were diagnosed with advanced stages of various blood cancers and had a low chance of survival. However, as a result of the trial’s success, more than half are still alive after five years.
A generous donation of £150,000 enabled Dr Hough to undertake her groundbreaking research. She praised the Jewish charity and explained that “without this funding, these trials would never have happened”.
The Trust has previously co-funded the health economics study that underpins the UK national strategy on cord blood collection, and opened the Sue Harris Cord Blood Collection Centre at the Royal Free Hospital in 2012.
Law student Sue Harris died of chronic myeloid leukaemia in 1997, aged 34. The Sue Harris Trust was set up in her memory, and held the event to mark 20 years since her death.
After suddenly being diagnosed with the cancer, Sue learnt she needed a compatible bone marrow donor to save her life and that her donor was most likely to be Jewish. But in 1993, there were just 48 Jewish donors on the Anthony Nolan register.
Consequently, Sue and her friends launched a remarkable campaign to recruit donors from the Jewish community: 200,000 leaflets were placed on synagogue seats that Yom Kippur and full-page advertisements were placed in the Jewish press. Sue helped add more than 15,000 donors to the national register and the campaign to sign up Jewish donors continued on a global scale, forming part of the foundations of today’s Ezer register.
Sue’s friend Lionel Salama, who helped organise the event, said: “We came together to celebrate what her legacy has achieved.”
Legacy: Sue Harris died aged 34
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
