IMPACT OF FUNDED RESEARCH: Other Grants
CLLGRF provided a "seeding grant" for the establishment of a CLL
Australian Research Consortium (CLLARC). CLLARC was formed to develop and conduct
CLL clinical trials in Australia and to foster research and scientific collaboration
and support for CLL projects in Australia. Through facilitation of communication
and collaboration between study groups, physicians, patients, government bodies,
pharmaceutical manufacturers and the public, the CLLARC aims to ensure coordinated
and effective support is recruited to achieve the best possible outcomes of CLL
patients through research, clinical care, and education. With the streamlining
of research projects and funding opportunities, patients will be provided with
tangible benefits in a time frame relevant to their disease.
Current and planned projects of the organization include clinical trials, research
and scientific studies, laboratory standardization in CLL and the establishment
of the CLL Australian Research Foundation (a non-profit organization founded on
the creation of a sustainable base for ongoing CLL research in Australia). Dr.
Mulligan is the Principle Investigator of the project. CLLARC is maintained by
an executive Steering Committee consisting of Drs Stephen Mulligan (Chairman,
Sydney), John Seymour (Melbourne), Ken Bradstock (Sydney), Devinder Gill (Brisbane)
and Bryone Kuss (Adelaide).
CLLGRF's support has had a ripple effect. All of our grants are intended to
accelerate research efforts. After we provided seed funding, the Australian group
received a gift of $1 million (AUD) from Mr. Jim Selim to support the Australian
initiatives.
Dr. Michael Keating (left), CEO and founder of CLL Global Research Foundation
provides Dr. Stephen Mulligan (center), the chairman of CLL Australian Research
Consortum, and Adrian Collins, the CEO of the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia,
with a check of $100,000 to help seed the newly established organization.
A CLL Israeli Research Consortium (CLLIRC) has recently been established with
funds provided by CLLGRF. The organization will provide a national resource for
CLL researchers is Israel that will include a national CLL database and familial
CLL database of collected patient samples through which the present and future
research proposals and can be undertaken.
Accelerating CLL Research in Israel provides a unique opportunity to study
the genetics of CLL. Israeli populations maintain close communities, thus preserving
their ancestry and gene pools. Due to this unique environment, it is ideal for
studying the effect of ancestry on the clinical, biological and genetic characteristics
of CLL. The CLLIRC plans to research and elucidate the genetic basis of CLL in
specific ethnic groups in Israel which could potentially lead to a better understanding
of the etiology/biology of CLL.
Dr. Rosa Ruchlemer, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, affiliated with
the Hebrew University, is the Principle Investigator of this project. Collaborating
institutions include the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Sourasky Tel
Aviv Medical Center, Beilinson Medical Center in Petach Tikvah and other centers
in Beersheba, Afula, and Nahariya in the north of Israel as well as the Weizman
Institute in Rehovot, Israel, the Institute of Pathology, University of Wuerzberg
in Germany (Dr. Andreas Rosenwald), Experimental Therapeutics & Cancer Genetics
at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA (Dr. George Calin), among others.
Specifically, Drs. Rosa Ruchlemer, Ephrat Levy-Lahad, Andreas Rosenwald, George
Calin and Aaron Polliack are working on identifying genes for inherited susceptibility
to CLL by whole genome association studies. Dr. Rosenwald is also helping establish
the Israel National CLL database and setting up laboratory and workforce for IgVH
gene mutation status. Dr. George Calin's research contribution will concentrate
on the molecular characterization of CLL, focusing on miRNA's. Identifying predisposition
genes could assist in defining patients at high risk for developing CLL and direct
future research towards targeted therapy for this disease.
|
