This month I took a look at how our fundraising support for The Brain Tumour Charity is being used in practice at Newcastle University. Dr. Martina Finetti shows me around the University research labs. In for a...
This month I took a look at how our fundraising support for The Brain Tumour Charity is being used in practice at Newcastle University.
Dr. Martina Finetti shows me around the University research labs.
In for a penny: understanding the impact of our fundraising
On 1st March, The Brain Tumour Charity invited myself and other supporters to kick off brain tumour awareness month with a tour of The Institute of Child Health at Newcastle University. The University’s labs are part of INSTINCT, a major research programme exploring new ways to treat some of the most lethal childhood brain tumours, which is being led by The Brain Tumour Charity. The team aims to save lives by developing tailored and targeted treatments.
As a fundraiser for The Brain Tumour Charity with my supporter group – The Brain Tumour Warrior Fund – I’m aware that the money my friends, family and I raise funds a wide and holistic range of activities run by the charity and much needed by those affected by a brain tumour – including offering us support, advice and guidance when diagnosed and going through treatment, representing us in policy decisions and being a voice for us in parliament, and of course, funding vital research into brain tumours and their treatments. With a personal aim to raise at least £10,000 by the end of this year, I was keen to see where that money is being spent and the difference it is making. As a blogger, I’m also excited to share what I saw with my readers; as no doubt many of you will also have given to or be regular fundraisers for The Brain Tumour Charity.
Touring the labs
After an intro and a cup of tea with Dr. Dan Williamson and the rest of the team working on the INSTINCT grant, I was taken around the labs by Dr. Martina Finetti, who is a Research Associate at the University. As Dr Finetti showed me around the labs, I was impressed by the breadth and range of equipment, machinery and facilities.
Exploring the dark room.
The team have a dark room to develop imagery of cell types. The fluorescence of bands shown on developed film indicates the presence of protein, allowing the scientists to understand tumour cells in greater detail. Just like a photographer’s dark room, the room must allow for blackout conditions – and does so with a cylindrical doorway to block out light from the outside. Understanding the different cells contained within a tumour means that we can better understand which treatments and drugs it will and will not react to – meaning the patient can be given the most effective treatment to target their specific tumour biology; whilst avoiding potentially harmful treatments which may be unlikely to prove successful.
Incubators replicated both the temperature and CO2 (carbon dioxide) conditions cells experience within the body, allowing scientists to work under as close conditions as possible to those a cell would experience in the body.
Dr Finetti also showed me a new machine which studies tumour samples against intended antibodies, and has reduced time needed to do this from a day to only 3 hours – ultimately, allowing results and therefore the right targeted treatment to reach the patient who needs it, earlier than before. Even to a layperson like me, it’s not hard to see how lives will be saved as a result of these advances.
Interestingly, one of the most valued pieces of equipment in the research labs is the freezer room, which stores samples at temperatures as low as -152 Degrees Celsius. This is for a very good reason: scientists have great respect for their tissue samples, and for the patients who donated them. They want to make sure they store them carefully to maintain their integrity, in a secure environment which will best preserve their integrity. This really brought home to me the importance of donating tissue samples if you can, making sure your wishes are known, and of supporting The Brain Tumour Charity’s national biobanking initiative to ensure availability of samples to inform future research.
A compelling story
And so I left the tour with a compelling story to tell: the story of us fundraisers doing crazy, daring and inspiring things to raise money to fund these amazing, world-leading pieces of research – in my case, just down the road from where my fundraising is taking place. With it being Brain Tumour Awareness month, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to shout about this wonderful story and so, through my contacts at the charity, contacted BBC Look North – who jumped at the chance to cover this fantastic news in a special feature in their evening programme.
Here it is if you’d like to give it a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrPlY6LtufE&t=3s
*****
To donate to Natalie’s skydive (Natalie is featured in the video above): www.justgiving.com/natalie-sweeney1
For more on fundraising and The Brain Tumour Charity supporter groups: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5_E6qIOjFw
Behind the scenes – exploring the labs with BBC Look North’s health reporter, Sharon Barbour, and my friend Natalie Sweeney. Natalie is also fundraising for The Brain Tumour Charity and herself has a grade 3 oligodendroglioma.
