York unveiled as 'Centre of Excellence' in blood cancer research

Posted on 12 October 2010

Original WI 'Calendar Girls' Tricia Stewart and Lynda Logan joined researchers and doctors today (Tuesday, 12 October) to help unveil York and Leeds as a 'Yorkshire Centre of Excellence' of the national blood cancer charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research has £7.5 million currently invested in 11 research projects in the University of York and the University of Leeds. Researchers at the two institutions collaborate on several groundbreaking projects.

Thanks to investment from Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, the University of York is leading the way in uncovering the causes of blood cancers

Professor Eve Roman

One such project is the 'Yorkshire & Humberside Haematology Research Network', which is studying data on every newly diagnosed blood cancer patient across the region. The resource, a partnership between the University of York and Leeds Teaching Hospitals, is providing vital information to improve diagnosis and guide treatment for patients. It is also helping to identify risk factors for certain blood cancers.

The unveiling of the 'Yorkshire Centre of Excellence' is part of the charity's plans to focus investment in leading research institutions across the UK.

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research fundraisers and WI 'Calendar Girls' Tricia Stewart and Lynda Logan attended the plaque unveiling at St James's University Hospital. The ladies have raised over £2 million for the charity to date and their story went on to inspire a Hollywood film. They started fundraising after fellow WI member Angela Baker lost her husband to the blood cancer non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Professor Eve Roman, of the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York, said: "Thanks to investment from Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, the University of York is leading the way in uncovering the causes of blood cancers. By collaborating with institutions around Yorkshire, the accurate data we have collected on blood cancer patients gives us a unique opportunity to guide treatment for patients and discover any genetic, environmental or lifestyle factors which may be contributing to these terrible diseases."

Dr David Grant, Scientific Director of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, said: "York and Leeds have an outstanding record of research and our scientists at these institutions have made a huge contribution to improving diagnosis and treatment for blood cancers in recent years. The benefit it has delivered and continues to deliver to patients in Yorkshire truly makes it a 'Centre of Excellence'."

Notes to editors:

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research is the only UK charity solely dedicated to research into blood cancers, including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. These cancers are diagnosed in around 28,500 children, teenagers and adults in the UK every year. Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research was previously known as Leukaemia Research and has changed its name to raise awareness of its longstanding commitment to research into all the blood cancers - not just leukaemia. Further information, including patient information booklets, is available from www.llresearch.org.uk or on 020 7405 0101. Media Information: Henry Winter at Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Press Office on 020 7269 9019 or 07824 375880
The University of York's Department of Health Sciences is large and multidisciplinary, offering a broad range of taught and research programmes in the health and social care field, including nurse education (for which it was ranked the top department in the country for nursing education, by the 2011 Times Good University Guide). It aims to develop the role of scientific evidence in health and healthcare through high quality research, teaching and other forms of dissemination.