2024 Patient and Family Educational Session – Gene editing for inherited Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes 

We are excited to announce that registrations are now open for the 2024 Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision Patient and Family Educational Session on ‘Gene editing for inherited Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes’.

This session will be held virtually via Zoom on Wednesday 18 September, 7.30pm – 8.30pm.  

We are delighted to have secured the following gene editing experts who will provide an overview of these innovative technologies and the research currently being undertaken in Australia via ‘PAGETURNA’ (Pioneering Application of Gene Editing to Transplant Using RNA) to develop new gene therapies to correct disease-causing mutations in blood stem cells. 

Associate Professor Andrew Deans, St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research. 

Associate Professor Andrew Deans is the Head of the Genome Stability Unit at St. Vincent’s Institute (SVI) in Melbourne, Australia. Andrew completed his PhD studies with Professor Grant McArthur at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, where he developed expertise relating to role of the cell cycle and DNA repair development and treatment of breast cancer.

From 2006 to 2011, he undertook postdoctoral research with Professor Steve West at the London Research Institute, publishing several papers on the role of DNA repair proteins in familial cancer syndromes such as Fanconi anaemia and Bloom Syndrome. Andrew’s research now focuses on the cellular process of DNA repair, particularly related to genome instability disorders that cause bone marrow failure and cancer in children and young adults.

He also leads PAGETURNA (Pioneering Application of Gene Editing to bone marrow Transplant Using RNA), a group of Australian gene editors and bone marrow transplant physicians funded by the Medical Research Future Fund, and Maddie’s Vision.  

Dr Lorna McLeman, Royal Children’s Hospital and St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research. 

Dr McLeman is a Paediatric Oncologist trained at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne with a special interest in bone marrow transplant and advanced stem cell therapies including gene editing.

Dr McLeman is a PhD candidate with the University of Melbourne and a member of the Genome Stability Unit at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research where she is investigating precision gene editing for Fanconi Anaemia. She is also a research fellow with reNEW Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Stem Cell Medicine. 

The event will include two presentations from our guest speakers, followed by a 30-minute question and answer session to address patient and family queries regarding gene editing and its role in the treatment of inherited Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes.  

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 18 September!