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Dr Melita Irving- The DNA Doc at RAREfest20

Dr Melita Irving- The DNA Doc at RAREfest20

by | Oct 1, 2020 | Community, Events, Genomics, Healthcare, Raising awareness, RAREfest, Research

Known as the DNA doctor, Melita Irving is passionate about … well, DNA! She works as a consultant in clinical genetics at Guys and St Thomas’s Hospital, specialising in conditions that affect the skeleton. Last year Melita’s book ‘The Human DNA Manual’ was published by Haynes, covering everything from how DNA catches killers to identifying long-dead kings! Who’s the book for? Anyone with DNA!

DNA Doctors Melita Irving RAREfest20

At RAREfest20 Melita will be doing a live DNA extraction, not on a human (phew!) but on a strawberry. She’ll be interviewed by Dr Lucy Mackay from Medics4RareDiseases, a charity that drives an attitude change towards rare diseases amongst medical students and doctors
in training.

We caught up with Melita ahead of  RAREfest20 to talk all things DNA…

What does a genetic scientist actually do?
Genetics impacts upon every system in the body and affects everybody! The most common type of referral into the clinical genetics service is a child who is not meeting their developmental milestones. Maybe they’re not growing as expected. Maybe they look different. Maybe they have an abnormality, like a hole in the heart. The question needs to be asked: Is this child just unlucky or could there be one single explanation that accounts for everything – and could it be genetic? Being a genetic scientist is exactly like being a detective, looking for that key clue that leads you down the right path and not being confused by any red herrings that are thrown in the way.

How has technology changed the way rare diseases are diagnosed?
There are 20,000 genes, all of which can go wrong, and there are 8000 listed genetic disorders that are classed as rare diseases. Up until very recently we’ve been absolutely hamstrung by our ability to do genetic testing for diagnostic purposes. We used to put all the clues together, do our ‘best guess’ diagnosis, see if there’s a test available and then get that test done. After all that, you find you’ve been on the wrong path the whole time. So, you’d have to come back up that path and go down another one. Rinse and repeat. It could be a very long drawn out process that never led to any answers.

However, we are now in an era where we can do high throughput genetic testing. We are able to look at all the genes in one go and focus all our attention on those we think are relevant to the story. You can go down ten different paths at the same time! We are anticipating that in the next year or so the speed at which we get to diagnosis through genetic testing will be much quicker. That’s all down to technology and whole genome sequencing.

Why are rare diseases so hard to diagnose?
Not many people know about rare diseases and there are so many of them, plus there’s no one type. You might have the same diagnosis as someone else, but the format of your rare disease is completely different.

Another problem is at medical school we are frequently told not to worry about rare diseases and concentrate on more common conditions. This means rare diseases are never fully appreciated and that bit of the ‘doctor brain’ never gets to develop. Medics4RareDiseases are pushing for more learning at medical school and in early stage careers, so rare diseases become something you must think about.

Melita Irving DNA Doc

Technology has opened up the door for a much more rapid diagnostic system for rare disease, which will mean they will be pushed up the agenda and that will encourage greater awareness.

Who is your hero and why?

Rosalind Franklin. An unsung hero who doggedly worked away at discovering the structure of DNA, didn’t get recognition for her amazing work, but didn’t make a fuss about it. I’ve seen the photograph she took that led to the understanding of DNA as a double helix. It’s a wonderful thing to behold.

Where’s your favourite place in the world and why?
This year I didn’t get to go to any the events I usually do, but I did manage to get a holiday! I went to Rhodes in Greece and it reminded me how much I love all things Greek! The sky, the sea, the food, the language. Just lying on the Mediterranean in the sunshine with the prospect of a delicious lunch on the beach is probably one of my favourite places to be.

What is your greatest achievement?
The book! I’m delighted with how it’s turned out. It looks so pretty and is accessible to people who might not know anything about DNA. If I can impart my love of DNA to other people, that would be a very fine achievement.

What are your hopes for the future of rare disease?
With all the improvements in how rare diseases are diagnosed, it would be really great if the next step was finding treatments that will make things better for patients with rare diseases. That’s where I’d like to see the future going.

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Journey of Hope: Ceridwen Hughes at RAREfest20

Journey of Hope: Ceridwen Hughes at RAREfest20

by | Oct 1, 2020 | Community, Events, Genomics, Patient Groups, Raising awareness, RAREfest, Technology

“The importance of diagnosis cannot be underestimated. Not only do you feel like you have something you can put a name to, but it opens doors, not least the ability to connect with others who have that shared experience and knowledge.”
– Ceridwen Hughes, Same but Different

RAREfest saturday speaker Giles Yeo

Founder of Same but Different, Ceridwen Hughes, will lead a webinar at RAREfest20 all about the diagnostic journeys faced by parents of children with rare diseases. It’s based on the critically acclaimed film ‘Journey of Hope’, which Ceridwen directed. Here she talks to us about the importance of diagnosis, her hopes and her heroes.

RAREfest20 logo

As a parent of a child with a rare disease, what does RAREfest20 mean to you – and your child?
Awareness about Rare Diseases and the celebration of this wonderful community is really important. RAREfest is a brilliant opportunity to bring people together and share experiences, whilst also educating one another and the wider community about all things rare!

From your research and your own experience, what frustrations do parents face in their diagnostic journey? 
In our film, ‘Journey of Hope’, I think Iggy’s mum, Sarah, explained it perfectly. She said, “The diagnosis certainly doesn’t give us simplicity, but it gives us a starting point. It gives us a starting point to begin to understand what Iggy needs. Before that, we had nothing.”

 Our own diagnostic journey was relatively short. It took 11 months, but this felt like a long time to us. Sadly, for so many, it can take many more years.  The importance of diagnosis cannot be underestimated. Not only do you feel like you have something you can put a name to, but it opens doors, not least the ability to connect with others who have that shared experience and knowledge.  When I chat with parents as part of my work, we immediately have that shared bond, even if our child’s rare disease is very different. You just ‘get it’. 

There are so many barriers in place before you get a diagnosis, including from some medical professionals.  We recently gave a talk to medics. Whilst grabbing a coffee, a consultant said that he often saw patients in his clinic and, even if he knew what their condition was likely to be, he did not see a value in telling them.  This arrogance and lack of understanding needs to be addressed.  It is one of the main drivers for creating the ‘Journey of Hope’.  We wanted to open up dialogue about the importance of a diagnosis whilst also highlighting it is not the answer to all your problems. 

Does life become easier with a diagnosis?
From our experience one of the things that is important when you get a diagnosis is that you don’t only look at disease-specific information.  The answer to a problem often comes from other sources and other diseases.  Through our Rare Navigator service, we support families with any rare disease. It has been helpful in sharing ideas or solutions that others, often with very different diseases, have found works for them.  The knowledge within the rare disease community is vast and it is important it is shared across the spectrums.

 

You have spoken to and photographed numerous people with rare diseases. What have you learnt about the rare disease community?
Over the years I have spoken to so many people affected by rare disease, including parents, individuals affected and other close relatives. The word that jumps out is resilience.  The strength to keep on getting back up, even after the most incredibly difficult times, is awe inspiring. The rare disease community is always on hand to provide information, support and a big hug when needed.

Dr Giles Yeo says the biggest challenge is convincing people that understanding rare diseases benefits the whole of society. Do you agree?
Absolutely. Finding treatments for rare diseases that can be used for more common ailments is just one example.  In a world where people are often judged on what they look like rather than accepted for who they are, it makes it even more important that society is aware of rare diseases. Recognising the challenges people go through will ultimately lead to a kinder, more compassionate community. 

 One of the reasons I set up ‘Same but Different’ was to capture the person behind the condition rather than simply show their disability.  We use photography, video and written narratives that give the individual a stronger voice in their community.  Often, it’s the first time they have shared their very personal experiences. It has really helped others understand their challenges.

Who is your hero and why?
I am incredibly lucky that each day I get to work with my heroes. I know it sounds a bit corny, but my heroes are each and every parent whose child gets a rare disease diagnosis and has to carry on and fight for their child to access the treatments and support they need.  These are the parents who have to smile when they are condescended to. These are the ones who have to smile when their heart is shattering because, once again, their child is overlooked or underestimated. 

Where’s your favourite place in the world and why?
It has to be Finnish Lapland, a small ski village called Levi which is far above the arctic circle.  We had the most magical week’s holiday there.  It was the first time we went on a husky ride through the snowy forest at -21 and Isaac fell asleep on a sledge whilst we looked for northern lights.  A close second would have to be Tromso in Norway, again a magical place in the winter.

What is your greatest achievement?
Picking up the camera for the first time and having the courage to follow my dreams and change career in my 40s.  I would also say setting up an MDT for Moebius syndrome when one did not exist before.

What is your hope for rare disease?
I would hope that one day it is recognised for not being rare and, with that, people may be more willing to look at the overall impact these diseases have on health, education and the community as a whole.

Cambridge Rare Disease Network - Journey of Hope: Ceridwen Hughes at RAREfest20 1

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New Scientist magazine: Rare disease campaign 2020

New Scientist magazine: Rare disease campaign 2020

by | Sep 28, 2020 | Collaboration, Community, Drugs and pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Raising awareness

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CamRARE were delighted to recently take part in a new Rare Disease campaign in the New Scientist Magazine published on 24 Sept. It is dedicated to raising awareness of rare diseases featuring exclusive content from key thought leaders (including CamRARE!). It discusses the importance of collaboration in rare disease and the potential silver linings that can be found in the midst of a pandemic. You can pick up your copy in shops now or read our article and the full the rare disease campaign online here at Health Awareness.

Lucy McKay M4RD image
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“Dr Lucy McKay from M4RD, Rebecca Stewart from Rare Revolution and I came together in March 2020 with a mutual concern about how devastating the impact of COVID-19 an the global response to it was on rare disease. Concerns focussed around delayed diagnosis as genomic and medical  services were halted,  patients medical and social care crumbling around them and the prospect of  cancelled research and delayed clinical trails and drug approvals as resources were diverted away.  We shared a collective drive to make sure we learned everything we can about how the pandemic has affected those with rare diseases and rare disease services – the risks, but also opportunities such as the overnight opening up of networks by using digital communication.

From some initial discussion Action for Rare Disease Empowerment (ARDEnt) has grown – a collaborative multi-stakeholder group from across different sectors and industries. Because if we can’t all come together for rare disease now, when will we?”

Jo Balfour (Managing Director) 

Jo Balfour CamRARE New Scientist Magazine

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RAREsolutions 2020: Change by Design – STEM poster Competition for young people

RAREsolutions 2020: Change by Design – STEM poster Competition for young people

by | Aug 27, 2020 | Community, Events, Raising awareness, RAREfest, Technology, Unique Feet

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Hannah & Nicole, the winners of the RAREsolutions competition 2018 with Jonathan Milner

Enthusiasm, Curiosity, Initiative

Winners of RAREsolutions poster design competition 2018 share their insights for this year’s challenge!

If you take a sprinkle of artistic talent and a splash of passion for medicine and health, you have a winning formula for success! Nicole and Hannah pooled their talents to produce a brilliant entry for our first ever RAREsolutions STEM poster competition, impressing the judges with their creativity and determination for making a difference.

 

RAREsolutions20 poster design competition logo

RAREsolutions is a poster competition with a conscience, pushing for change by design. It’s part of the RAREfest20 rare -disease inspired festival and is open to anyone in Years 7-13.  All you have to do is watch the RAREsolutions challenge videos, pick the one that inspires you most, and go for it.

As we launch our new and exciting RAREsolutions 2020 STEM competition, let’s hear from the dynamic duo who scooped the prize last time.

Hannah & Nicole share their thoughts about the RAREsolutions design competition

Why did you enter the competition?

Hannah: We found out about the RAREsolutions poster competition in our school bulletin. I was immediately drawn to take part as it really struck a chord with me, having recently learnt about genetics in biology. I have a real passion for medicine and health! I knew instantly I wanted to take part with my friend Nicole, who is really good at art and design. Combining our talents and being able to work collaboratively really appealed to us. It’s not often we get to work as a team!

What inspired your design?

Nicole: The first steps was to decide which challenge we wanted to design a poster for. On the CamRARE website there were three different challenges set from people with rare conditions. They asked us to create innovative solutions to help them live more independent lives.

Hannah: The one that really resonated with us came from Eilidh. The quest to make playtime more fun and accessible. Eilidh has KAT6A syndrome, an extremely rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder. This can impair or alter growth and development of the brain and central nervous system.

What research did you do?

Nicole: We had a few weeks to research the condition, contact Vaila (Eilidh’s Mum), find a solution and design the poster. It was amazing to take part in a project that combined science, research skills and design.

Hannah: RAREsolutions was not dry like the usual essay writing competitions and gave us the change to come up with a real-world solution. Life can throw up all sorts of accessibility challenges for those living with sensory and physical disabilities, but actually they are people just like you and me. They want to live life to the full, but the environment makes that tough.

I’d recommend taking part in this competition to anyone. It not only helps patients with rare diseases live better lives, but also changes your own life!

Hannah

Winners of the RAREsolution 2018 competition

You presented your winning idea at RAREfest18. How did that feel?

Nicole: We were hugely proud of our achievement but also daunted at the idea of presenting to an audience of genetic experts, having only previously made presentations at school!

Hannah: It really helped having each other for support. We put together a presentation and also produced a tri-fold leaflet. It was a fantastic opportunity to stand up in front of an audience of people from the rare disease community, ranging from genetic scientists to patients and their families. It was an incredible experience!

How has this competition changed your lives?

Nicole: It has really inspired me to find out more about how rare disease affects patients, not only the biology aspect also the social implications and how people can be marginalised. Taking part in the competition gave me more confidence and led me to focus on eugenics for my Year 12 project.

Hannah: On the day itself, we met some great people and made some really useful contacts for the future. I found myself having a conversation with someone from the Stem Cell Institute, which prompted the subject for my Year 12 research project about stem cell treatment and therapies for Type 1 Diabetes.

The RAREfest20 RAREsolutions poster competition is now LIVE!

RAREfest20 logo
Click here to watch this year’s STEM challenge videos and ENTER!

RAREsolutions poster competition is part of RAREfest20, a vital, vibrant, virtual festival that champions the rare disease community, bringing together the brightest scientific minds, the most innovative tech, the medical pioneers and, of course, the patients, who are as unique as the festival itself.

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Meet two of the beating hearts behind CamRARE

Meet two of the beating hearts behind CamRARE

by | Mar 3, 2020 | Collaboration, Community, Healthcare, Raising awareness

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For third sector organisations, trustees are the beating hearts behind the scenes sharing ultimate responsibility for governance and direction. 

CamRARE is proud to have such a talented board at its helm and  we caught up with two of our Trustees, Dr Sarah Leiter and Ilan Chaitowitz, who each bring their individual skills and insight to the charity, to find out more about what attracted them to the role, what they hope to bring to the charity an their hopes for the future of CamRARE.

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Being involved in CamRARE has been fantastic! 

Dr. Sarah Leiter

CamRARE Trustee – Dr Sarah Leiter

Sarah was born and raised in Germany before moving to the UK where she studied medicine at the University of Cambridge. Sarah explains, “I first got involved with CamRARE at on of their rare disease lectures in 2017.”

At the time she was studying at medical school and was in the process of launching a student rare disease society. Sarah not only has a personal connection, she is a rare disease patient herself, but also as a scientist and medical doctor this combination has further piqued her interest and she offers a uniquely broad perspective. Sarah says of being a trustee at CamRARE, “…when I was asked to join the board it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get more involved!”

Sarah’s passion and enthusiasm to help people is one of the driving forces behind her becoming a trustee. Living with a rare disease, Sarah can bring her own experiences and insight, understanding first-hand the frustrations that patients and their families can experience. In addition, having completed her PhD studies on a rare syndrome,  Sarah also understands how research is carried out. Now a young medical doctor based at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge she aspires to pursue a career in medical genetics.

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 Sarah making DNA models at the CamRARE Rare-i-tea party
on Rare Disease Day 2020

Sarah describes how through her work as a trustee at CamRARE,  she has had the opportunity to learn a lot more about the industry around rare diseases and be part of some fascinating collaborative projects. As a trustee Sarah has had the chance to meet regularly with others involved in the rare disease community, further inspiring her to continue with her medical and scientific career.

Sarah’s hope for the future is to see the network grow and flourish,  engaging more individuals, organisations and companies from across different sectors to work together to improve the lives of those affected by rare conditions. She strongly believes, “It’s not all about a cure but life more broadly.”

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Trustee & TREASURER – Ilan Chaitowitz

Ilan, our newest trustee, joined the charity at the end of 2019 as Treasurer.  Ilan has over 20 years of experience in the finance industry and it was this experience and the passion to spend his spare time, “in the pursuit of others’ wellbeing,” that led him to become a trustee at CamRARE.

CamRARE appealed to Ilan because, “It seeks to champion the causes of those most in need – the majority are children often with severe disabilities and terminal illnesses. There are usually no treatments and, given the small populations, weak incentives for governments or industry to develop them. CamRARE attempts to address these issues through local meetings and activities, public awareness and stakeholder networking events.”

Ilan admires the other trustees’ energy and dedication and hopes to bring this same level of commitment that the others already do, “Their tireless effort has seen CamRARE grow from nothing to a real presence in the UK’s rare disease landscape that has touched many lives already.”

Having been involved in the healthcare sector from a corporate perspective throughout his career, Ilan will use this experience and his familiarity with corporate developments on rare disease to drive fundraising efforts for CamRARE. His experience in accounting and assessing business strategies also put him in good stead in the role of treasurer.

It (CamRARE) seeks to champion the causes of those most in need

Ilan Chaitowitz

talks about why he joined CamRARE

First and foremost, Ilan hopes that in his role as a trustee he will earn a sense of accomplishment and make a positive impact on the lives of others. Having spent his career in the world of finance, by contrast, he was raised in a family of carers and doctors. He feels that one thing he has missed out on is the reward of helping others in an immediate and personal way and as a trustee, he intends to fulfil this.

Ilan thinks that the rare disease landscape is at a pivotal point and goes on to explain that “it is incredibly interesting with new scientific tools showing some early promise; gene editing, machine learning and single-batch drug manufacturing. I have also never acted as Trustee in a charity, so look forward to working with others with very different backgrounds to myself to take the charity to the next level.”

Ilan is still new to the role but is already looking ahead to CamRARE’s future.  His initial focus is to understand the activities and finances in greater detail. He hopes to further strengthen the organisation’s financial foundation which will facilitate even more creative and mid-term planning.

Ilan is already impressed by how well CamRARE is doing and the path that it is on. He explains that he wants to, “continue the current range of activities and then broaden them to impact more lives to an even greater extent, in a sustainable way, I would consider that a job well done.”

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Unique Feet: Life may not be the party we’d hoped for …

Unique Feet: Life may not be the party we’d hoped for …

by | Dec 10, 2019 | Community, Activities, Patient Groups, Unique Feet

” Life may not be the party we’d hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance! “

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In 2015, in response to an invitation to take part in a charity ball, CamRARE took the step to create a small Cambridge based dance group for children with a range of rare conditions as a place where they could express themselves. Little did we know just how powerful this group would become, not only for the young people who take part,  but for the whole family. Human connections really are what makes the world go around and our Unique Feet are leading the way.

Since Oct 2017 we have been supported through funding from the People’s Health Trust and Health Lottery and in 2020 by Healx, local drug repurposing company for rare diseases, to build the group to 10 families. Twelve fabulous children and young people strong, we have branched out into all sorts of fun activities including horse riding, cycling, canoeing, yoga, climbing, trips to the seaside and picnics at National Trust parks. We annually go to the Panto and have family meals out allowing our children safe experiences they can share together, sometimes accompanied by extended family and siblings making for a true family affair. 

We spoke with a CamRARE Trustees and Unique Feet members Sue Berry, Alison Omand-Lewis and Tracey Murray to find out more…

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I got involved when Jo Balfour (CamRARE Ops Manager) contacted me, knowing my son had a rare genetic condition, with an idea to gather a group of similar children to dance at the SOBI Ball in Cambridge. My son agreed (even though he has huge coordination issues and was the only boy). We became one of the 4 original families involved. The children were all very different but really pulled together with their teachers to shine at their performance in April 2016. The children really got along and enjoyed each other’s company, as did the parents sitting chatting during rehearsals. 

 It’s been great to see the group grow since 2017 when we received grant support.

Both my son and I have found friendship, understanding and non-judgemental support. We have a like-minded group of families that, although all the children have different needs and strengths, understand the challenges that rare conditions can place on a family. Socialising and having others at the end of a phone allows confidence and self-esteem to be built, or we can just have a chat when it is needed. Eric has been able to try new activities and experience new challenges. Unique Feet has also allowed me to be educated and increase my knowledge about rare diseases and the complexity of how others have to deal with them.


My son is more confident and willing to try things that he would never have dreamt of doing. He is sociable within the group, in his own way, and looks forward to the meetups. He attends the Unique Feet ‘You Can Bike too’ sessions at Milton Country Park. Amazingly someone saw the photos on social media and contacted me……… after discussions they agreed to help fund a trike for Eric! We now regularly cycle as a family, something we were never able to do before which has been life-changing for us.


Now I am helping with organising, coordinating and facilitating family activities for Unique Feet both in the school holidays and during term time. These are usually fortnightly, although during rehearsals for performances it can be daily/weekly. There are also occasions when a family might need different support, for EHCP/education matters or general family support and I’m always happy to help out then too.

Alison and Eric Omand-Lewis

My daughter Eleanor was one of the first group of dancers that formed Unique Feet. The children were highly anxious at the beginning and we struggled to even get them into the room! However, by the end of the first session, a wonderful warm friendship had begun which has continued to blossom. The group is truly inclusive with everyone really having the opportunity to learn how to express themselves within their own abilities.


The big takeaway from this group, however, is the benefit to the whole family. We found the support from other parents an enormous help, especially during Eleanor’s transition to secondary school where we faced a big battle. Having other parents who had been through a similar process, guide us was invaluable.


It is wonderful to watch our young people forming friendships and supporting each other and being able to benefit from friends who see them for who they are and who don’t see the disabilities in one another.

Tracey & Eleanor Murray

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We got involved with Unique Feet around 18 months ago after Jo contacted me for probably the 10th time. Originally, I didn’t think the group was for us, but Jo is very persuasive, and we decided to come along to take part in the performance for RAREfest18. This is when we realised what else the group was involved with and all the amazing support it has to offer. My daughter Charlotte has really enjoyed the cycling and horse riding, but it has also been a great opportunity to be involved with other families in the local area.


The benefits go much further than just enjoying the dancing and activities, having that opportunity to connect with other mums and dads and boost moral or get advice is brilliant. When you spend a lot of time battling with schools or medical professionals you can run out of energy and the group have this ability to give you the courage to keep going. It gives you time to work through things and form a plan for moving forward.


There is also great sense of humour and banter and it is important to remind each other we aren’t just mums but are also working people, wives and of all the other things we are and to have that perspective so you don’t get caught up in only your child and their condition all of the time.


It is nice to have the regular and local aspect to it. It can be important to find others that have the same conditions to understand the disease more or its progression, but in reality, these families can be widely spread meaning regular interaction isn’t easy to achieve. This group is not about that. We want to be able to meet up regularly and do things with families local to us who understand our family.

Sue & Charlotte Berry

Now that our People’s Health Trust funding has come to an end, we have been organising fundraising activities and applying for new grants and we  will continue to offer activities and days out for the families. As the group has a wide age range, we will be spending time this year finding out what our young people want to achieve and may split the group to allow the older members the opportunity of more independent outings (although an adult will be close by). This could be the theatre/bowling/meals out etc. We feel that this is vital in helping them develop life skills and have the chance to do so in a group they are comfortable with.

More than fun activities and friendship!

Our Unique Feet group has grown to be an impressively empowered group of children, young people and parents. Over the last few years they’ve taken up opportunities to spread the word about rare disease and champion the unmet needs of those affected. Four families have told their story on BBC Look East, three have been featured in the Cambridge Independent newspaper, one appeared on BBC Cambridge Radio at a BBC Children in Need event and others have championed the cause through talking in school assembly and running fundraisers. Mum’s are actively involved in learning and networking by attending our educational events and conferences whilst two have become trustees, one of CamRARE and the other of our spin-out organisation the Rare Disease Nurse Network. Allison now co-ordinates the Unique Feet group too. This is community involvement at its best!

Although some of our children are less mature than other teenagers, we are looking at ways that they can experience outings together with a degree of independence. They are such a lovely support for each other and help keep each other out of trouble.

Sue Berry

We also hope to be able to expand our educational programme, spreading the voice of rare disease within schools and the community.

I personally would like to be able to advocate for families who have a rare child, when they are in need of help with schooling/applying for an Education Health Care Plan.

Alison Omand-Lewis

One thing is clear that the benefits of Unique Feet go much further than an opportunity for young people to express themselves though dance. The holistic benefits to the wider family are just as important as is the opportunity for life-long friendships between the young people who take part.
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Bios

Tracey Murray is a trustee and part of the Rare Disease Nurse project. an organisation founded and spun out to independence by CamRARE. As a qualified nurse Tracy brings invaluable experience to this project.

Joining the CamRARE team as a trustee in July 2019 Sue Berry brings many years of product development for a leading retail brand as her background, supporting the development of our future focus and strategy.

Alison Omand-Lewis is one of the founding members of Unique Feet, now leading the coordination of the group activities. Alison is passionate about supporting families with the challenges of education and health care plans.

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RARESummit 2019 – Patients as partners

RARESummit 2019 – Patients as partners

by | Oct 7, 2019 | Artificial Intelligence, Community, Drugs and pharmaceuticals, Events, Healthcare, Patient Groups, Raising awareness, Research, Summit, Technology, Treatments

Wellcome Genome Campus hosts CamRARE RARESummit 19

PASSION LED US HERE 
A crisp, bright September morning in the calming woodland setting of the Wellcome Genome Campus, Cambridge welcomed a chattering, excited collection of rare disease stakeholders from across the UK and Europe for the long anticipated CamRARE RAREsummit19. 

For the team at CamRARE, September 23rd was the culmination of a busy year of planning and creating,  a process  driven by a passion to move towards a world  where rare disease is at the top of the mainstream agenda and patient are involved as partners in the many design and development processes which impact on their lives. RARESummit19 brought together patients, patient advocacy groups, researchers, health care professionals, tech and pharmaceutical industries,  all leading the way in pioneering partnerships to accelerate change. This year’s venue, the prestigious Wellcome Genome Campus, was a move from our central Cambridge location and a fitting new venue for RARESummit19. We needed more space to cater for a growing number of  attendees – a 58% increase on our inaugural summit of 2015, a brighter and more welcoming exhibition space to showcase more organisations and companies and better accessibility features which sometimes only a modern setting can bring. Home to some of the world’s foremost institutes and organisations in genomics and computational biology, WGC is committed to delivering life-changing science and we felt was the perfect location to make progress in rare diseases.  

Delegate feedback on this change in location was encouragingly positive “Absolutely superb venue and facilities, plenty of room for exhibitors, delegate interaction in breakout sessions and of course, first class auditorium and AV – so important to clearly hear and see every speaker”. But of course, that doesn’t mean we’ll rest on our laurels and we appreciate the feedback about tweaks we could make within the venue to improve things.

We welcomed a number of returning exhibitors and some who were exhibiting for the very first time. The quality and wealth of information, education and support was outstanding – a real testament to the work being done day in and day out by  passionate stakeholders within the rare disease field.

It’s always a pleasure to see representatives from all stakeholder groups in attendance. Diversity in attendance is vital to the success of collaborative and open discussions. The buzz over lunch was testament to the great networking taking place and audience participation was at its highest ever via our event technology Glisser. 199 people logged in to download slides on their devices, ask questions and respond to polls. An astonishing 155 questions came flooding in and 1227 votes were placed during polls.  Thank you to all who attended and contributed so meaningfully in so many different ways. 

MORNING SESSION: Patients as partners in searching for treatments and cures 

Patient engagement and partnership is crucial in the development of drugs and products for the bio- pharmaceutical industry. There has been a move towards a more patient-centric approach by industry over the last few years to varying degrees of success. During the morning session we wanted to shine a light on those relationships that were leading the way and discuss what the future might hold for rare disease patient collaborations.

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Dr. Jonathan Milner
© CamRARE 2019

Opening remarks

 Dr. Jonathan Milner, CamRARE Trustee, Abcam founder and biotech entrepreneur opened the summit and set the scene for an “exciting day ahead”. Dr Milner praised the wealth of expertise that had come together in one room and stated, “it is the motivation of making a difference to patients which unites us.” With the enormous rate of scientific progress and patients taking their health care into their own hands it is an exciting time for genomics and Dr Milner impressed on the audience that for CamRARE, an important part of their work was to incubate networks to allow for meaningful collaborations.  

Keynote Speaker

Alastair Kent, OBE presented  ‘From the margins to the centre: A personal reflection on progress for rare disease patients and families’, walking us through the history of scientific progress to demonstrate the speed at which science has advanced rapidly over the last 25 years. He highlighted the 100,00-genome project as a “research milestone” and provided this poignant quote by William Harvey to demonstrate how “rare diseases provide key insights into how our bodies work.”

“Nature is nowhere accustomed more openly to display her secret mysteries than in cases where she shows traces of her workings apart from the beaten path; nor is there any way to advance the proper practice of medicine than to give our minds to the discovery of the usual law of nature, by the careful investigation of cases of rarer forms of disease.”  William Harvey.

Rare diseases provide key insights into the way our bodies work.

William Harvey

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Alastair Kent
© CamRARE 2019

Panel Discussion
No patient left behind, patient group partnering

Panellists representing a wide range of rare disease patient advocacy groups provided valuable insight into disruptive innovations and the importance of including patient voices at every step of the drug development journey.

Dr Ana Mingorance (CDO Lou Lou Foundation) gave a brilliant visual, accessible whistle-stop tour of the drug development process emphasising the importance of patient groups in this. Charity leaders then shared their successes in working within this process, and the barriers they faced. Carina Thurgood (Co-Founder of Maddi Foundation) battled against the isolation experienced when her daughter was diagnosed with SPG15 and was the only known case in the UK. She has since partnered with a research team at Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience and raised thousands through public appeals and TV appearances to fund their research into a gene therapy. Next steps are to develop a natural history study.

 Allison Watson (Co-Founder of Ring 20 Research) described the challenges she faced finding a large enough cohort when working with an ultra-rare disease. She emphasised the importance of becoming a team player and how the voice of Ring20 has been raised by being involved in the ERN for rare epilepsies and being an EPAG rep. Tanya Collin-Histed (CEO at International Gaucher Disease) inspired the audience with their work ensuring that no Gaucher patient is left behind through their international efforts to support patients across the globe, their international registry development and willingness to embrace wearable health tech to gather much needed data.

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Dr. Paul Wicks
© CamRARE 2019
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Dr. Nick Sireau
© CamRARE 2019

Moderated Discussion
Disruptive technologies  

Dr Tim Gulliams (Founder of CamRARE, and CEO & Co-Founder of Healx), Dr Andy Richards (Digital Health Entrepreneur), Dr David Brown (Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Healx), Elin Haf Davies (CEO at Aparito) and Dr Pete Chan (Head of Research at Raremark).

Here the importance of technology was discussed including how the internet allows patients and science to connect more readily than before and how Google has been an agent for empowerment. Their discussion covered wearable technologies and their role in collecting “real time” real world data and how it is essential to listen to patients and families in order to document real world evidence beyond the consultation room. The panel discussed the pros of using technology to do the “heavy lifting” in data sorting to relieve the current burden from Doctors and nurses and improve outcomes for the rare community.

The Rare Summit was once again a great opportunity for patients, industry, academia and clinicians to come together to hammer out new ways of developing treatments for rare diseases.

Dr. Nick Sireau

CEO and Chair, AKU Society

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Elin Haf Davies
© CamRARE 2019

The Google and Genomics are two technologies that have changed the understanding and opportunities available to people living with rare diseases. Moving forward with rapidly changing innovation we need to make sure that just because “we can” doesn’t mean “we should”. Ethics and patients, and not technology should drive what and how we do next.

Elin Haf Davies

Founder and CEO, Aparito

Moderated Discussion
Disruptive Innovation and Transformation – Patients at the heart of the drug development process

Dr Joanna Segieth (Takeda), Professor Chas Bountra (Uni of Oxford), Steve Rees AstraZeneca), Dr Daniel O’Connor (MHRA), Neil Dugdale (SOBI), Thomas Ogorka ( Orphan Reach) and Dr Nick Sireau (AKU Society).

This was a lively debate on the importance of working with patient groups and of open and transparent collaboration and working practises within the pharma industry.

Questions flooded in from delegates for this talk with the most upvoted question being “How do we get regulators, researchers and industry to work together to agree standardised endpoints that can be measured remotely?” followed closely by “Having worked bridging pharma with patients for 25 years, I’ve never seen Pharma behave poorly towards patients but I’ve seen ‘big’ patient orgs reject working with Pharma. Can we eradicate Pharma as the ‘panto villain’ and rewrite the collaboration story?” and “Is it only about the drugs? What about life science companies ‘developing’ health services for people in parallel to drug development?” If you were at the summit, the film of this discussion will be available to you soon to re-listen to the debate and we’ll be circulating some of the many unanswered questions for people to continue the discussion and share ideas.

Through partnerships, we hope that together we can build a better future with medicines that make a real difference to patients.

Dr. Joanna Segieth

Biosynetix Ltd, Rare Drug Development Solutions

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Dr. Joanna Segieth
© CamRARE 2019

AFTERNOON SESSION: Patients as co-designers of technology and care 

Shining a light on some of the successful patient partnerships and collaborations that are making improvements in technology design, personalised care and clinical settings which improve accessibility, symptoms and lived experiences.

Short Talk
Co-creating genetic reports that are understood by
non-specialists

Dr Gabriel Recchia (Research Associate, Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, University of Cambridge), Dr Gemma Chandratillake (E & T Lead at the East Midlands & East of England Genomic Laboratory Hub) and Menna Hawkins (Polyposis Nurse Specialist).

This team have been working on a collaborative project with patients to redesign genetic reports and the way they are presented to patients to ensure they are patient friendly, thus allowing greater understanding from patients and families of their own genetic circumstances. 

Gemma asked the audience how useful a genetic report would be to them as a patient – 94% answered reasonably to very important showing a clear need for a more accessible design.

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Menna Hawkins
© CamRARE 2019
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RARESummit demonstrated the power of patient-centred approaches [in technology, service-design, research, and drug development] to move things forward for those affected by rare disease

Dr Gemma Chandratillake

Education and Training Lead, East Midlands & East of England Genomic Laboratory Hub

CamRARE Trustees, Dr. Sarah Leiter & Dr. Gemma Chandratillake
© CamRARE 2019

Short Talk 
Patients as partners in assistive technology design – Collaboration and customisation is the key to success

Dr. Cecily Morrison and Dr. Sarah Leiter presented the result of their collaboration to our audience. Using assistive technology, they have created a new educational computer programming system for tactile learners. It was fascinating to see how Sarah’s lived experience of visual impairment gave the researchers a unique insight into the true needs of end users with low vision. 100% of the audience responded to the live poll asking if they felt end users should be included in the design yet only 34% had actually had that opportunity. Of those who had, 85% had a good experience. Cecily shared the inclusive design principles they use at Microsoft Research – recognise exclusion, solve for one,  extend to many, learn from diversity. 

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Laurence Wollard
© CamRARE 2019

Short Talk
“Peer-Led to get ahead!” – Developing an education and self-management programme for and with young people affected by haemophilia

Laurence Woollard delivered a passionate presentation of his journey with haemophilia highlighting the lack of support when transitioning between paediatric and adult services and the challenge of becoming responsible for your own health care at a time of significant physical change. Laurence shared his belief that early intervention with peer led programmes could be the key to tackling this growing problem.

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Baroness Nicola Blackwood at RAREsummit19
© CamRARE 2019

What matters to you?
What matters most?
We need a national debate on rare diseases

We were delighted to welcome the UK’s Minister for Innovation in Health, Baroness Nicola Blackwood, a passionate are disease advocate and the minister leading on the ‘National Conversation’ which will gather the views of all stakeholders to set the priorities for the UK Rare Disease Strategy 2020 framework. The Minister delivered a powerful and heartfelt talk drawing on her on experience of the diagnostic odyssey before being diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Baroness Blackwood introduced the Hackathon Challenge, a cross sector team activity brainstorming their priorities for the new Strategy, inviting people to share their views. 

 

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Hackathon teams at RAREsummit19
© CamRARE 2019

the RAREsummit hackathon

The final session of the day saw cross-sector teams thrash out ideas on problem areas in rare disease such as diagnosis, care coordination, research acceleration, early access and reimbursement and patient empowerment. Discussions were vibrant ad filled with knowledge and passion  culminating in five winning ideas being pitched to the whole audience. We were impressed with the far-reaching ideas the teams came up with and have gathered all of these, alongside all other suggestions made,  and will be presenting these as a report to the Minster in early December. Watch this space. … . 

 

Networking and Takeaways

As with all our events we see huge value in networking and we hope attendees found plenty of opportunities to  build on  established relationships and that doors were opened to new connections through this event. The rare disease community is a powerful one  and CamRARE really felt this during this event.
While it by no means dominated the event the inevitable topic of Brexit rose its head and it was clear to see that this is already impacting our health service with shortages in health care professionals and a reduction in overseas talent both in health care and research applying to work here in the UK. Open collaboration was the call from the day and something patient groups want to see improve across industries.

A huge thank you to all who attended and to our sponsors, speaker and exhibitors! 

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CamRARE teams up with Findacure to bring a sip of RARE to Pint of Science Festival

CamRARE teams up with Findacure to bring a sip of RARE to Pint of Science Festival

by | Apr 3, 2019 | Community, Events, Genomics, Research

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For the second consecutive year, CamRARE is hosting 2 rare disease themed evenings for the Pint of Science Festival. We’ll be based at the Panton Arms in Cambridge on 21 and 22 May inspiring the general public to be curious about the science and research taking place locally into rare diseases.

We’re excited to have teamed up with local rare disease charity Findacure to bring you a great selection of speakers undertaking research, delivering education programmes and raising awareness about rare disease.

“Effectively communicating science and linking it to the ‘real world’ has important benefits for both scientists and society” POS

Our speakers will explore the potential for rare disease research to help us better understand and treat more common diseases and learn about the plans for rolling out the technology and lessons learned from the 100,000 Genomes Project into the NHS.

Join in our pub quiz to win a POS pint glass and test out your own pain threshold…!

The scientists have paired with local artists who’ve created an artistic interpretation of the science. Artworks will be presented by the artist following each talk and be on display at the Creative Reactions event on 24 & 25 May at St.Barnabas Church, Cambridge 

21 May, Panton Arms, Cambridge – The Genomic Revolution: Finding a Cure for the 1 in 17

Click for tickets

Cambridge Rare Disease Network - CamRARE teams up with Findacure to bring a sip of RARE to Pint of Science Festival 37

Your DNA Your Say!

Dr Anna Middleton (Head of Society and Ethics Research, Wellcome Genome Campus)  ‎@Genomethics 
Big Data and DNA now go hand in hand. This is pivotal for exploring the link between genes and disease. The bigger the datasets the better. Most DNA data is ‘de-identified’, i.e. names and addresses have been removed but it will soon be possible to identify a person from their DNA alone. Would this stop you donating your DNA data for research? What harms can come from this? We explore what public across the world have said and how their views are shaping policy.

Solving the Unsolved

Dr Gemma Chandratillake (Course Director, ICE Genomic Medicine programme; Education and Training Lead, East of England Genomic Medicine Centre; Clinical Genomics Specialist, Cambridge Rare Disease Network Trustee)    @GemmaChand 
On 5 Dec 2018 Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that the 100,000 Genomes Project had reached its goal of sequencing 100,000 whole genomes uncovering new diagnoses and improved treatments for patients with rare inherited diseases and cancer.
This marks the end of a chapter rather than the end of the story and earlier this year a new target was announced for the NHS to sequence one million genomes over the next 5 years. Will delivering genomic medicine in the NHS enable better outcomes for patients and contribute to a wealth of information to drive the treatments of the future?

22 May, Panton Arms, Cambridge – Researching the Rare to Understand and Treat the Common

Sold Out

Cambridge Rare Disease Network - CamRARE teams up with Findacure to bring a sip of RARE to Pint of Science Festival 38

Can we turn back the clock on rare premature ageing diseases?

Dr Delphine Larrieu (Group Leader at Cambridge Institute of Medical Research) 
Rare genetic premature ageing syndromes called progeria trigger the appearance of ageing signs in early childhood causing many changes to the body over time, including heart disease, bone changes, hair loss, joint and skin changes, and early death around 14 years old. Unfortunately, there is no current cure and therapies just improve the symptoms. Hear how Delphine’s team is tackling this and suggesting new treatments and how the lab’s work could also open up new perspectives into improving normal age-related pathologies.

Everybody hurts sometimes … or do they?

Dr Mike Nahorski (Cambridge Institute for Medical Research) 
Chronic pain is a debilitating condition that affects 14 million people in England alone. But scientists think the have come a step closer to understanding it – by studying a rare group of people with congenital insensitivity to pain, who feel no pain at all. Cambridge University researchers have identified a faulty gene that seems to switch pain off in some people and it is hoped the discovery could lead to new treatments for those who live with pain every day.

Creative Reactions

Elizabeth Fraser  (Printmaking/graphic design) 
Eri Ikuno (Illustrator) 
Eithne Fisher (Painting/drawing) 
Kate Grant  
(Medicine/resin/acrylic/printmaking) 
As part of the Creative Reactions project, these artists will be presenting their artwork inspired by the research of speakers in this talk series. The artwork will also be on display at our Creative Reactions Exhibition at St Barnabas Church, 24 – 25 May.

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2019 Rare Disease Day Cambridge Lecture

2019 Rare Disease Day Cambridge Lecture

by | Mar 1, 2019 | Community, Events, Healthcare, Raising awareness, Rare Disease Day, Research

Put over 150 passionate and motivated people together to talk about rare disease research and you can expect a fascinating evening. 

That’s just what happened at the recent public evening, hosted by Cambridge Rare Disease Network in collaboration with the NIHR BioResource for Translational Research at Addenbrooke’s Hospital to mark International Rare Disease Day 2019.

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Cambridge Rare Disease Network - 2019 Rare Disease Day Cambridge Lecture 40

Short research talks were followed by a Q+A panel facilitated by Dr. Gemma Chandratillake, CamRARE Trustee (pictured left)

Full agenda and biographies from the day. Click on the links below to view the audio and presentation slides for each talk.

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Welcome Address
Prof. Patrick Chinnery
NIHR BioResource Co-Chair, Head of Department for Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge

Cambridge Rare Disease Network - 2019 Rare Disease Day Cambridge Lecture 42

Improving Patient Health in CNO and SAPHO
Dr. Jagtar Singh Nijar
NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Rheumatology, University of Cambridge

Cambridge Rare Disease Network - 2019 Rare Disease Day Cambridge Lecture 43

Whole Genome Sequencing for susceptibility to infectious disease
Dr. James Thaventhiran
Consultant Clinical Immunologist, University of Cambridge (slides and audio not available)

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Next Generation Children Project – Rapid Genome Sequencing for critically ill children
Dr. Isabelle Delon  Clinical Scientist, EMEE Genomic Laboratory

Cambridge Rare Disease Network - 2019 Rare Disease Day Cambridge Lecture 45

Imaging in the diagnosis of Rare Diseases
Dr. Tomasz Matys
University Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Radiology, University of Cambridge

Cambridge Rare Disease Network - 2019 Rare Disease Day Cambridge Lecture 46

Closing Address
Dr. Nathalie Kingston
NIHR BioResource Director

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RAREfest18 “heartwarming, uplifting, informative”

RAREfest18 “heartwarming, uplifting, informative”

by | Jan 11, 2019 | Activities, Community, Events, Med tech, Patient Groups, Raising awareness, RAREfest, Research, Technology

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Heartwarming, uplifting and informative, RAREfest18, the world’s first-ever festival on rare diseases drew huge crowds to the Guildhall over the weekend of November 30 & December 1.

 RAREfest18 was the first of its kind; a rare disease inspired festival, created and delivered by Cambridge Rare Disease Network, bringing passionate and inspirational people together to change the rare disease landscape for the better.

The event set out to raise awareness, share information and dispel some of the myths about rare diseases and the plight of those living with them. Rare diseases affect around 3.5 million people in the UK. Despite this, rare diseases are not consistently diagnosed, treated or supported, effectively and knowledge amongst health care professionals, educators, social care and the public is limited. The need for a powerful emotive programme was identified; speakers, exhibitors and performers at RAREfest had one goal in mind: change the rare disease landscape. Annual summits and events by CamRARE have consistently been milestone events in the rare disease community but bringing a rare disease event to an already invested community has a certain security. This time we wanted to tackle the more challenging issue of public perception of rare disease.

RAREfest was to be our most ambitious event to date!

This year’s unique RAREfest event was created for the public, in part due to the disparity between actual facts and public awareness of rare diseases. For example, while research has shown that only 38% of people think rare diseases have no treatment, in reality this figure is 95%. The aim of the festival was to bring about meaningful and positive change in as many ways as possible for the rare disease community – from raising broader awareness and promoting understanding, to providing practical support. Over two free days, RAREfest provided a stimulating mix of science, technology and the arts, with motivational speakers from academia, industry, the media and all importantly, patient advocates.

The educational programme was enriched with interactive exhibits, demos and film, all public-facing, promoting inclusivity to widely raise the profile of rare disease. CamRARE created a platform from which the rare disease community itself was in charge of their own narrative with which to educate and engage a public audience.  Read the glittering review from Cambridge independent newspaper here https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/rarefest-brings-life-sciences-to-guildhall-9056317/

Friday night launch event

On the evening of 30th November 2018 over 200 attendees listened attentively as Alastair Kent, OBE, former Chairman of CamRARE, opened the world’s first rare disease festival with a poignant observation:

“A few years ago, it would not have been possible to have filled a hall like this (Cambridge Guildhall)”

Attendees were subtly educated whilst being entertained during AbbiBrown’s presentation, Growing up with a Galapagos Tortoise: and other funny stories. Abbi, a founding member of CamRARE who, by her own admission left Cambridge University with two degrees and wheelchair, explained what life had been like for her growing up with osteogenesis imperfecta (Brittle Bones) relaying stories of her time as cox for her college rowing team.

Adam Pearson, award winning campaigner, actor and presenter and sculptress Dagmar Bennett talked about the process of creating Adam’s life size bust to raise awareness about Neurofibromatosis, a rare genetic disorder that causes tumours to form on nerve tissue, and to champion face equality.

We are bombarded every day by media images of how we should look, for people with disfigurement it can be absolutely paralysing

Adam Pearson

The audience were captivated by an enchanting dance performance from Unique Feet, CamRARE’s local community group of 10 children, each with a different rare disease, and the talented classical musician James Risdon who gave a mesmerising recorder performance. James lives with a rare eye disease, Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, and learns all his repertoire through braille.

The evening ended with an awe-inspiring talk by Michael McGrath who led polar expeditions to both North and South poles to raise awareness of Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative disease which has led to Michael himself being the proud owner of a technical masterpiece of a power chair to enable him to take on such challenges and be as independent as possible. Michael’s work through The Muscle Help Foundation ensures children affected by muscular dystrophy can experience life changing adventures of their own.

The evening was a resounding success, bringing together a diverse public audience mixed with rare disease advocates to walk in the shoes of those living with rare conditions through humour, dance, music and inspiring presentations. Read the Cambridge Independent news coverage of the event here.

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Cambridge Rare Disease Network - RAREfest18 "heartwarming, uplifting, informative" 57
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Saturday’s Roundup

Saturday saw around 800 curious people weaving their way through the Guildhall to engage with all that RAREfest had to offer. Families with small children, teenagers who’d taken part in the CamRARE RAREsolutions design competition, local students, health professionals and business representatives alongside a tribe of rare disease patients and advocates from across the UK.

Nine incredible speakers enthralled audiences. Dan Jeffries told the colourful story of life with not one, but two rare diseases, Acromegaly and Wyburn-Mason Syndrome. Rebecca Pender shared a heart-breaking account of her struggle to persuade medical professionals believe her accounts of her daughter’s illness, a rare chromosome deletion and duplication syndrome called 8p. The Cambridge Independent captured the power of Rebecca’s story here. Dr Crystal Ruff, a scientist from Illumina delivered a fascinating talk on changing the future with stem cells, a TED talk she has had thousands of hits on, Prof Anna Middleton from the Wellcome Genome Campus tackled the ethical considerations of ownership of DNA data playing on the topical story of the announcement only 2 days before of the Chinese scientist who had gene-edited twins. Read more about her talk in this newspaper article here.

Film Festival
Over 25 charities and research organisations entered our very first film festival gathering over 3500 upvotes between them and the highest scoring fourteen being shown on a big screen over the Saturday.

Exhibitors
Twenty-two interactive exhibits took over the Guildhall bringing rare disease inspired cool technology, arts and science to the public. With demos of robots and technology, fun science experiments, sculpture exhibits and rare disease charities showcasing some of the amazing work they do, the diverse audience was treated to a packed day of hands on activities to help educate and inspire.

Networking
There were many opportunities throughout both events to network with peers. The post RAREfest VIP reception drew together eighty leaders from science, healthcare, technology, business, charity and philanthropy to network with exhibitors, speakers and the CamRARE team. Dame Mary Archer, a fierce advocate for a Cambridge Children’s Hospital, Julian Rayner, Director of the Wellcome Genome Campus and Daniel Zeichner our Cambridge MP attended, to name a few.

So how did we do?
After the dust has settled and we are now and truly well into the count down for RAREsummit we wanted to look back and digest the impact of our very first public facing event. 

 

Here are some stats from RAREfest 2018

RAREfest in Numbers

  • Four new industry partners joined our Companies Forum for biotech, pharmaceutical and related industry partners
  • 25% increase in Twitter followers
  • 8000 people reached via Facebook event
  • 11 newspaper and magazine feature articles
  • 1 TV feature
  • 1 Radio Feature

The event was absolutely fantastic. It was obvious how much hard work had gone into it and gaining the balance between industry and public interest must have been a tough navigation, which was pulled off unbelievably well.

Steve Smith

Head of Rare Diseases & Gene Therapy

Lots of people we’ve spoken to today are passers-by. They’re out doing their Christmas shopping. That’s wonderful because it means the topic is broadening out to the wider community.

Harriet Gridley

Head of business development UK at No Isolation

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Healx raise funding to repurpose drugs for rare diseases

Healx raise funding to repurpose drugs for rare diseases

by | Jul 26, 2018 | Artificial Intelligence, Community, Drugs and pharmaceuticals, Front page news, Fundraising

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Congratulations to Cambridge start-up, Healx, co-founded by founder and trustee of CamRARE, as it raises $10m to help repurpose drugs for rare diseases.

Forbes and the Telegraph today report that the co-founders of Healx, Tim Guilliams – founder and trustee of CamRARE, and British inventor of Viagra – Dr David Brown, have raised funding of $10m for their Cambridge start-up that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to find medicines to treat some of the world’s rarest diseases.

The Telegraph states “Dr David Brown, the scientist who developed the blockbuster treatment for erectile dysfunction for Pfizer, is the co-founder of Healx, a UK medical tech startup that uses machine learning to find treatments for 7,000 rare conditions that do not currently have an approved method of treatment”.

 

It goes on to explain why Healx believe that the lengthy traditional drug discovery process isn’t economic for rare diseases and how they hope to accelerate the time to drug discovery and reduce costs through their AI technology driven systems which search for drugs that can be repurposed. 

Dr Brown’s work with Viagra, which was developed originally to treat heart patients, proved that drugs intended to help one condition can sometimes be adapted to treat others. To read the full article click here.

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Medics 4 Rare Diseases Red Flag Survey

Medics 4 Rare Diseases Red Flag Survey

by | Jul 23, 2018 | Community, Guest posts, Research

Medics4RareDiseases are excited to announce the launch of their new research project: The M4RD Red Flags Survey.

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The purpose of the survey is to find out what different rare diseases have in common during the time before diagnosis, a period often called ‘the diagnostic odyssey’.

This is a piece of research that M4RD have wanted to do for many years as they have attended conferences listening to similar stories from patients and families irrespective of their specific rare disease. The final survey is the culmination of many hours of discussion and design.

The survey opens on Monday 23rd July and closes at the end of August 2018.

Please get involved and share your views so we can all support Medics4RD in driving change within the medical profession in terms of rare disease diagnosis. It is an online survey that takes 10 minutes to complete and can be accessed via this link: http://bit.ly/M4RDredflags.

If you need to access the survey in any other format or have any issues don’t hesitate to contact info@m4rd.org.

 

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