News
Blood Synergy Open Meeting 2024Thank you to all participants in the Blood Synergy Open Meeting 2024 held on February 26th. With almost 200 registrants, we were joined in person and online by guests from across Australia and the world to hear about the latest research addressing evidence gaps in transfusion medicine. A special thank you too to our community and consumer panellists for sharing their perspectives on the importance of community engagement in research. Welcome to Professor Cécile Aubron, visiting TRU in FebruaryProf Aubron is an academic intensive care specialist with the Centre Hospitalier Régional et Universitaire de Brest, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest. Cécile holds an adjunct professor appointment at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, where she has been involved in research with the ANZIC-RC and collaborated with TRU on transfusion research for over 10 years. She is visiting SPHPM in February and March 2024. TREATT trial results presented at ASH Annual MeetingProfessor Zoe McQuilten presented the results of the UK-Australian TREATT trial at the ASH Annual Meeting in San Diego on behalf of the TREATT investigators. We thank all participants, investigators and staff and the trial steering committee for their enormous efforts to undertake this important study. The Australian arm of the trial was funded by NHMRC project grant #1085062 and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion. Welcome Jenny Le-NguyenA warm welcome to Jenny as she joins the TRU as part of the RMIT Pharmaceutical Sciences program. She will be spending her professional placement with us in 2024, working with the clinical trials and registry teams. TRU has participated in this valuable industry placement scheme since 2017, preparing students for careers in research. T4P trial funded by the Medical Research Future FundTRU is delighted to support the T4P Threshold for Platelets trial – a prospective randomised trial to define the platelet count below which critically ill patients should receive a platelet transfusion prior to an invasive procedure. This trial, managed by the UK Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) and funded by the UK NIHR will expand to Australia, with pilot funding from the Blood Synergy now to be supplemented by support from the Medical Research Future Fund, in a collaboration led by Dr Elissa Milford at the University of Queensland, through the International Clinical Trial Collaborations scheme. 7,000 Patients on the LaRDRCongratulations to the Lymphoma and Related Diseases Registry (LaRDR) who have now recruited 7,000 patients! The registry provides an important resource for multidisciplinary researchers to access real world data and improve the care of lymphoma and related diseases. You can read more about the Registry here. | Transfusion in Trauma MeetingThe Blood Synergy team was proud to facilitate a Transfusion in Trauma Meeting in February. The meeting brought together experts in transfusion, trauma medicine and prehospital care to hear about current clinical trials, discuss contentious topics in trauma resuscitation, and start a conversation around trial design and future research priorities. Thank you to all the participants who joined us for a productive day of discussion. ASH CTRI Trainee Day and Highlights of ASH in Asia-PacificDrs Allison Mo and Briony Shaw, haematologists and TRU PhD students, along with A/Prof Eliza Hawkes and Prof Erica Wood were invited to participate in the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Clinical Research Training Institute Trainee Day held in Sydney. Erica also presented the transfusion medicine and apheresis highlights update to the conference (13–17 February 2024), which was attended by participants from around the region. Rare Disease DayFebruary 29 marks Rare Disease Day – the globally-coordinated movement on rare diseases, working towards equity in social opportunity, healthcare, and access to diagnosis and therapies for people living with a rare disease. TRU manages a number of clinical registries and research projects that facilitate research for investigating the best possible treatment outcomes for patients with rare blood disorders. Find out more about Rare Disease Day. First patients from China recruited to APAC MRDRBeijing Chaoyang Hospital, a participating site in the Asia-Pacific Myeloma and Related Diseases Registry (APAC MRDR), have enrolled the registry’s first patients from China! The hospital, along with Renji Hospital in Shanghai, are recent additions to the APAC MRDR and the team at TRU are trilled the registry has achieved this milestone. We thank our colleagues at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital for their work and look forward to ongoing recruitment of patients in the region. Haemoglobinopathy Registry data published, and informs MSAC decision on newborn screening for sickle cell diseaseSickle cell disease is an important inherited blood disorder affecting communities around the world. It can result in multisystem complications, including painful vaso-occlusive events, and some patients require transfusion support. Data from the Australian Haemoglobinopathy Registry were recently published in the RACP Internal Medicine Journal, and used by the Medical Services Advisory Committee in their consideration of whether to incorporate sickle cell disease into the national newborn bloodspot screening program. |