north east regional extra | March 13 - 19, 2024
nemedia.com.au
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March 13 - 19, 2024
Raising money for an important cause By CHLOE JAENICKE
INNER Wheel Wangaratta is holding an event to raise funds and awareness towards cord blood research. Cord blood refers to the blood that remains in the placenta and attached to the umbilical cord after childbirth and the cells of this are often collected because it contains stem cells, which can be used to treat a range of genetic disorders. According to Inner Wheel secretary, Patti Stafford, one of the major points of research is leukaemia.
“They take the DNA out of the cord and with those cells they’ve done wonders with leukaemia,” she said. The fundraiser in Wangaratta will feature Professor Graham Jenkin, who has been returning to Wangaratta for many years, and Dr Courtney McDonald who are both from the Monash and Ritchie Institute. The researchers will discuss their research into leukaemia as well as new research on the collection of pre-term infants who are born at 27 weeks.
“The main thing is the presentation by the researchers, they’ll speak about how cord blood cells are collected and what they’re doing with them,” Ms Stafford said. “There will be a PowerPoint presentation on how they store the cells and how they put them back into the babies, especially at the 27 weeks. “Somehow the cells seem to help, it’s amazing.” There will also be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions at the end of the presentation. Studies into cord blood cells
also surrounds how they can help treat other conditions including auto immune diseases, cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer and many blood disorders. “They’re doing wonders with ovarian cancer, they’re using the stem cells for that,” she said. “When we went to Monash last year they did touch on how they’re using the stem cells but the funding for them is so hard and they’re looking for overseas manufactures to fund it.”
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◆ IMPORTANT CAUSE: Dale King, Patti Stafford, Heather Ward and Shirley Wohlers are raising money for cord blood research.
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