The Centre for Blood Transplant and Cell Therapies (CBTCT) brings together the largest allogeneic stem cell transplant units in Australia with a focus on identifying transplant and cell therapy strategies to reduce graft versus host disease and improve patient and disease outcomes after transplant. In this webinar series, investigators from the CBTCT will review major topics in stem cell transplantation and cell therapy, highlighting how the activities of the CBTCT are addressing current challenges in stem cell transplantation. In the third seminar of this series, Professor James Ferrara will outline research highlighting biomarkers in graft vs host disease and the role of the MAGIC Consortium, while Dr Siok Tey will review novel cellular therapies for the treatment of graft vs host disease.

Speakers:

Professor James Ferrara - Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai

Dr Siok Tey - Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital / QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

When: Thursday 3 September 2020, 8am AEST

Link to webinar: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/92998014030

Link to CBTCT website for all webinar recordings:

https://bloodcelltherapy.org.au/

For the PDF flyer, click here

The Centre for Blood Transplant and Cell Therapies (CBTCT) brings together the largest allogeneic stem cell transplant units in Australia with a focus on identifying transplant and cell therapy strategies to reduce graft versus host disease and improve patient and disease outcomes after transplant. In this webinar series, investigators from the CBTCT will review major topics in stem cell transplantation and cell therapy, highlighting how the activities of the CBTCT are addressing current challenges in stem cell transplantation. Following on in this series, Professor David Curtis from the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne will review the role of post-transplant cyclophosphamide for the prevention of graft versus host disease following allogeneic blood transplant. Mr Mingdi Xie, who is the current MAGIC Australia Project coordinator for the CBTCT, will then present an introduction to the MAGIC consortium, including its functions and importance in allogeneic blood transplant research

Speakers:

Professor David Curtis – The Alfred Hospital and Monash University

Mr Mingdi Xie – The Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

When: Thursday 20 August 2020, 8am AEST

For more information and the link to the webinar click here

Website: bloodcelltherapy.org.au 

The Department of Health will be hosting an Introduction to Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) Webinar on

Thursday 27 August 2020
3-4pm AEST

This webinar aims to provide basic information on the role of MSAC.

Please register here: Introduction to MSAC Webinar Registration

MSAC website
HTA website
Email

You are invited to the Myeloma and Related Diseases Registry webinar

- this is a free double event as it forms part of the National Myeloma Workshop (NMW) this year. 

Please join MRDR for an update on registry progress, projects and Q&A.
Date: Saturday, 5 September
Time: 4:00 – 5:00 pm AEST – NMW sessions stream through to the MRDR webinar
You need to register for this dual free event: MRDR webinar and NMW, at  https://www.trybooking.com/BKMLT 

For full details of the NMW go here

MPN Alliance Australia established a website in 2018 for MPN patients and their families. 

They work in partnership with the Leukaemia Foundation and aim to provide high quality, evidence-based MPN information.

They have invited us to raise awareness amongst haematologists of their website and patient treatment information available for download in PDF in English and Arabic.
Please see attached letter.  

The Centre for Blood Transplant and Cell Therapies (CBTCT) brings together the largest allogeneic stem cell transplant units in Australia with a focus on identifying transplant and cell therapy strategies to reduce graft versus host disease and improve patient and disease outcomes after transplant. In this webinar series, investigators from the CBTCT will review major topics in stem cell transplantation and cell therapy, highlighting how the activities of the CBTCT are addressing current challenges in stem cell transplantation. In this first webinar of the series, Professor Geoff Hill from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle will review the pathogenesis of graft versus host disease and discuss approaches to its prevention and treatment. Professor David Gottlieb will review the evidence for use of anti-T cell antibodies for prophylaxis of acute and chronic graft versus host disease in allogeneic stem cell transplant 

Speakers:

Professor Geoff Hill - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre

Professor David Gottlieb - Westmead Hospital and University of Sydney

When: 6 August 2020 8am AEST

To register: download flyer 

For more information: bloodcelltherapy.org.au

As you may be aware the RACP recently released the results of their survey of the use of new MBS  telehealth items by members. 

They are currently developing a short paper on policy options to optimise the use of the new telehealth items beyond the COVID-19 pandemic which has been refined following consultation with members of the College Health Reform Reference Group (here). This paper is still a draft and would be finalised following extensive consultation with all specialties. Can you please provide any feedback on this paper to RACP by COB 4 August? 

If you would prefer to send your feedback to Valerie in the office, by COB 3 August, she will collate and send this to RACP.

Are you a longer term member of HSA / NZ? 

Do you have any photos of the early years?

Would you like to tell us your story?

If so, please contact Valerie Orton in the office who would love to talk to you.

We'd like to pull together more stories of the history of HSA and HSANZ

Friday 28 August 2020, from 9am-12pm Attend virtually via livestream login

OR in person (COVID-19 restrictions pending) Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre,
7th Floor Lecture Theatre B,
305 Grattan Street, Melbourne

Register at mrv.org.au

Registration is FREE

for more information click here 

Press release from ASH

(WASHINGTON, May 13, 2020) — The ASH Research Collaborative (ASH RC) COVID-19 Registry for Hematologic Malignancy has reached the critical milestone of surpassing its first 100 clinical cases submitted. 

The ASH RC COVID-19 Registry, a global public reference tool with de-identified data on people with COVID-19 and a current or past diagnosis of a hematologic malignancy, launched on April 1 to provide near real-time observational data summaries to health care providers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our analysis of the preliminary data in the Registry suggests that roughly 75% of reported patients with blood cancer and COVID-19 experience mild to moderate illness; however, preliminary information that we are seeing about death rate in this population is concerning. Based on reports to the Registry so far, the death rate among patients with COVID-19 and blood cancer may be as high as 25%,” said Lisa Hicks, MD, Co-chair on the COVID-19 Registry for Hematologic Malignancy Task Force, and a hematologist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada. “While these insights are preliminary and require further study, they highlight the need for robust planning, advocacy, and action to minimize the risk that our patients are exposed to this virus, and the need to respond quickly if they are infected.”

Clinicians and other health care providers can enter patient data into the Registry via a data collection tool on the ASH RC website. Data are analyzed on an ongoing basis and summaries are posted on the ASH RC’s publicly available dashboard, which now enables users to filter by hematologic malignancy. Later this month, the Registry will expand to include non-malignant hematologic diseases and complications associated with COVID-19, such as blood clotting.

This observational registry is a new addition to the ASH RC Data Hub platform; the ASH RC Data Hub was launched in 2018 and designed to accelerate scientific discovery by gathering and facilitating the sharing of clinical data on rare blood diseases. In addition to housing data captured to better understand clinical practice and patient outcomes of COVID-19-positive patients, the Data Hub also includes data on multiple myeloma and sickle cell disease.

For more information about the Registry, visit www.ashresearchcollaborative.org/covid-19-registry