On Monday 23rd March, President of Lions Club International, Al Brandel and his wife Lion Maureen Murphy visited King’s College Hospital to learn more on the Lions International Blood Research Appeal (LIBRA). Past International Director Lion Howard Lee organised the visit and he attended with his wife Claire.
They were accompanied by the Past International Director Lion Ronal Luxton and his wife Janet, alongside Chairman of Council Lion Bryan Riley and his wife Lion Margaret. PCC Lion Chris Iles and his wife Lion Yvonne also took part with District GovernorLion Jacquie Prebble and her husband Lion Bob.
On arrival at King’s, the International President received refreshments and a welcome from PCC Lion Chris Iles who commenced the proceedings with an introduction about the historical roots of LIBRA and its progress over the last 30 years. He then introduced Professor Swee Lay Thien, Professor Ghulam Mufti and Professor Farzin Farzaneh.
The three Professors work in the laboratories at King’s and have been associated with LIBRA for many years. They each spoke in turn about their specialities, detailing the amazing work that they carry out. Professor Thien spoke about the Database Project funded by LIBRA. The Professor explained that a database of information has been created and it is set for a major expansion which will include integration into the NHS database. She also discussed her particular clinical interest in sickle cell disease.
Professor Mufti, who is the head of the department, focussed on the Acorns to Oaks Appeal and the Cellular Therapy Unit at King’s. He spoke about the work of the laboratories, the successes with current research into the use of donor stem cell therapy and their confident expectations for the future.
Professor Farzin Farzanah gave a more in-depth and technical presentation on the work. This gave rise to some well informed questions from both the International President and Lion Maureen Murphy who has a medical background. The President discussed a similar genetic medicine project that he and his wife had visited in France. The President and Professors were fully conversant as he expressed great interest in the whole subject of medical research.
The visit concluded with a tour of the “LIBRA” corridor at the hospital. The Lions party were able to visit rooms which house the Haematology Department and Research Laboratories. They also viewed specialist laboratories for stem cell research and the Blood Sciences Laboratory which contains an automated blood test and sampling facility of which the Professors are rightly proud. These haematological research facilities are the largest in Great Britain and its research has worldwide significance in the field of blood disorders.
For more information on LIBRA and the Acorns to Oaks Appeal, please visit the LIBRA web site.
