The 12th Joyce Niblack Memorial Conference for MPN patients is being held as a virtual conference on 20 February this year.
Featuring many of the world’s leading MPN experts and researchers, it is a brilliant opportunity for MPN patients to stay up to date with the latest evidence and information on MPNs.
The conference is patient focussed and free to attend. All that is required is to register.
To view videos from the conference, see HERE.
2020’s virtual ASH conference hosted some fascinating and ground breaking findings on MPNs.
This information is all courtesy of MPN Hub.
Dr Jyoti Nangalia and a team of researchers from the Wellcome Sanger institute and Cambridge University in the UK will be presenting some fascinating findings at this years virtual American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting.
Extensive genetic mapping by the team finds that MPNs “originate from driver mutation acquisition very early in life, even before birth, with life-long clonal expansion and evolution, establishing a new paradigm for blood cancer development. Early detection of mutant-JAK2 together with determination of clonal expansion rates could provide opportunities for early interventions aimed at minimising thrombotic risk and targeting the mutant clone in at risk individuals.”
Information about this presentation is available HERE courtesy of MPN Hub.
Dr Ann Mullally’s lab in the US has recently announced similarly fascinating findings. This research which further explores the cellular origins and development of mutations giving rise to JAK2 and MPNs, provides further evidence that mutations can develop decades prior to clinical presentation of MPNs, and can arise from a single hematopoietic stem cell.
More information on this important research is available HERE
The day prior to the MPNAE&I Patient Program in Melbourne, Australian MPN clinicians and researchers met with some US counterparts to share knowledge and ideas. In the photo below, Dr Ruben Mesa speaks about the unmet needs of MPN patients, particularly those with Myelofibrosis. He discussed the role of Ruxolitinib, Interferon and clinical trials. He addressed the question of what would constitute failure of Ruxolitinib treatment, and when it might be appropriate to continue Ruxolitinib despite suboptimal symptom or spleen control, or hematological toxicity in this group of patients. Thanks again to Ann Brazeau and MPNAE&I for making this possible.
By Ann Brazeau, CEO, MPN Advocacy and Education International
MPN Advocacy and Education International hosts several patient/caregiver educational programs per year. Although most take place in the United States, their goal to expand to other countries where MPN groups are interested in partnering to benefit their MPN Communities has been a priority.
Through collaboration with the MPN Alliance Australia, the first patient/caregiver program was held in Melbourne on the 28th April, 2017. MPN specialists from Australia joined U.S. specialists to share up-to-date, relevant information to over 150 patients and caregivers.
Empowering patients with the knowledge they need to better understand the complexities of MPNs, is what MPN Advocacy and Educational International hopes to achieve at these events. Partnerships are essential to the success of these very important programs. Imparting valuable, reliable information to the MPN Communities around the world helps bridge the gap to understanding what is being done, and identifying unmet needs.
In the early days of my work in MPN little was being shared among researchers and academic institutions. Today, it is a common practice. Recognizing the importance and value in collaborating, researchers and clinicians are much more amenable and grateful for opportunities to share their experiences and findings. Thus, a physician/researcher meeting was held the afternoon before the patient event.
A half-day strategy meeting with the MPN Alliance Australia proved to be meaningful and productive. Their dedication and commitment to the patients and caregivers in Australia is evident in the many hours they volunteer each week.
We are proud to have been a part of this experience and were happy to pull this event together with our partners, MPN Alliance Australia.
Jolanda Visser attended and presented at the inaugural MPN Horizons Conference in Serbia in early November 2016. The conference provided an opportunity for MPN Patient Representatives and Advocates to meet, discuss the issues facing MPN patients around the world and to share best practice from local groups.
