Charity News
On NF2 Awareness Day we announced our new research initiative.
NF2 BioSolutions UK & Europe together with NF2 BioSolutions are excited to announce a new transatlantic partnership with researchers at the newly opened Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre (GJBRC) to support research into the role of inflammation in NF2 tumour growth (Schwannomas and Meningiomas)
There is a real potential that this research will lead to new treatments for those affected by NF2 by repurposing existing anti-inflammatory & immune-modulating drugs.
The GJBRC is a partnership with the Northern Care Alliance NHS group (incorporating Manchester Cancer Research Centre, The Christie Foundation & the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital) & the University of Manchester where the UKs National NF2 service is based.
The research led by Mr Omar Pathmanaban (Strategic Development lead, Neurosurgeon) and Dr Gareth Evans (World renowned NF2 expert and NF2 BioSolutions UK & Europe charity trustee), will be conducted by 2 PhD studentships funded by NF2 BioSolutions UK & Europe and the initiative will cost £200.000 which we will need to raise. We are absolutely delighted that we were approached by the team to accelerate this treatment and bring to fruition much needed NF2 research already taking place into the microenvironment surrounding Schwannoma and Meningioma NF2 tumours.
Please see the following press release for further information
https://www.ncaresearch.org.uk/news/charity-supports-research-incurable-genetic-condition/
We have published 3 papers and have 2 on the way in the manuscript stage. The published papers are all open access and can be found here :-
The NLRP3 inflammasome as a target for sensorineural hearing loss – ScienceDirect
Tumour-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs)
On rare disease day 2022 we announced our second project at the University of Manchester utilising a new immunotherapy approach to treat NF2 tumours.
TILs are a type of immune cell that has moved from the blood into a tumour. Tumour-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) can recognize and kill cancer cells. In cancer therapy, Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes are removed from a patient’s tumour, grown in large numbers in a laboratory, and then given back to the patient to help the immune system kill the cancer cells.
Objectives of this project:
In this project, we aim to investigate the potential for TIL immunotherapy for NF2 associated tumours by:
- Developing a method to isolate and expand TILs from freshly resected NF2 associated tumors
- Determining if these expanded TILs have anti-tumoural properties on NF2 associated tumour cells in vitro
Research Lab: Principal Investigator: Omar Pathmanaban, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre. Co-applicants: Claire O’Leary, Gareth Evans, Richard Edmondson, Federico Roncaroli, Fiona Thistlewaite, Andrew King, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK & GJBRC, Manchester
Our donation campaign link is
https://wonderful.org/charities/1189618
To read all updates go here Sponsored Research and Updates – NF2 BioSolutions