In 2023, Tania’s brother suddenly passed away at the age of 48 from complications due to Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia (APML), a rare subset of acute myeloid leukaemia that affects around 100 Australians each year and is characterised by an abnormal accumulation of white blood cells called promyelocytes in the blood and bone marrow.
Tania decided to turn the pain of losing her close brother into something beautiful and provided a substantial donation to HMRI to establish a grant in her brother’s memory.
“I wanted to find a research grant that would honour him. This research grant will focus on prevention, early screening and immediate action when APML patients present to ED. Early detection and rapid intervention are critical to improving outcomes for patients with this condition.”
For HMRI’s lead clinical leukaemia researcher, Associate Professor Anoop Enjeti, this grant will allow his team to develop a model of care that will help prevent future deaths caused by APML.
“APML occurs so rapidly and the majority of multidisciplinary teams (MDT) in hospitals occur at fortnightly or even monthly intervals. This is clearly not sufficient to support clinicians when they’re faced with acute leukaemia and APML,” says Professor Enjeti.
“What we’re trying to do in this project with Tania’s support is to get a person who can coordinate for us a real time MDT so that we can review and provide feedback to the clinicians immediately within 24 hours, rather than wait for them to present the patient’s details in a meeting in a fortnight or a month. This support will be critical in the management of patients and preventing fatalities like what happened to Tania’s brother.”
After the initial trials, Professor Enjeti plans to present this model of care at the National Haematology Conference and NSW Cancer Forum to help apply his vision on a national level.
Creating the grant has been an important part of the healing process for Tania and has helped further the legacy of her brother who inspired those around him to make the most out of life.
“I think he would be extremely proud of what we are doing here today, and making an impact on such an important cause,” says Tania.
“This grant has allowed me to keep his spirit and honour alive, and I feel like he still walks with us every day.”
