Dear BSBMTCT member,

In this July edition, we thought we would we make a special feature of all the wonderful reports and feedback we have received from those that we have funded to attend the 2024 EBMT Congress in Glasgow earlier this year. In 2024 we funded 33 members to attend congress, we supported a range of roles from data managers to donor coordinators to nurses to physician associates. It is always a privilege to be able to fund our members to attend such events, because we know how difficult it can be to get funding for education and training, we also understand the value and importance of education, training and networking in a niche community such a BMT and Cellular Therapy.

Firstly some important news regarding the registry..

Due to the continuing challenges with the new EBMT registry, the delivery of the 2024 Annual BSBMTCT Executive Summary of Transplant and Cellular Therapy Outcomes in UK_ROI_ A Report for Commissioners_15th_Edn will likely have some further delays. Things may be slightly different this year during this first transition period, and we ask you all to be patient and understanding with the registry team while we work on a solution to deliver our usual high standard reports. The registry team will communicate further what changes may be expected and timelines in due course.

Below are a few selected excerpts from feedback we have received. We hope you enjoy reading and feel inspired by them, and it encourages you to attend yourself or helps you to encourage your colleagues and junior staff to attend the EBMT congress in future years. Thank you again to those that have sent in feedback.

Towards the latter stages of my training, I started to gain an interest in transplant. But my exposure had been limited to this point. One of the transplant consultants in Leicester, Dr Anna Tsoulkani, made me aware of the BSBMTCT grants that were available to apply for to attend EBMT 2024. EBMT coincided with me starting the last 3 months of my training in transplant at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Receiving the grant enabled me to attend the conference which I would have struggled to afford otherwise (no study budget remaining after final exams). I started the conference not certain as to whether I wanted to pursue a career in transplant but was interested to attend as many sessions as possible and really throw myself into it. I left after the 4 day conference realising that I had to do transplant and having really ‘found my tribe’.

Since this I have completed my training, gained my CCT and applied for and accepted a consultant job working with the transplant team here in Leicester Royal Infirmary.

The grant made this possible and really set me off on my transplant journey. Thank you.

P P, Haematology SpR, Leicester

Firstly, can I say how amazing attending EBMT @ Glasgow was and that I would have never managed to go without the grant; so, a big appreciative thank you to BSBMTCT for the funding.

Having come from a trials background, EBMT gave me the networking opportunity to explore how other hospitals manage the same trials and also with the pharmaceutical companies involved as for the last few years since the Covid pandemic, many of the SIVs and face to face meetings have all been online.  

Notably one of the standout sessions from the Nursing section of EBMT was not about the latest innovations/wonder drug but was a conversation between a former patient and his psychologist following transplant. It took a lot of courage for him to stand in front of a large room of medical personnel and discuss what would have improved his transplant journey and his feelings/psychological well-being post-transplant.  If it hasn’t already been done yet, this particular unscripted and adlib presentation of the individual’s experience would make a fantastic pod cast as an educational aide for the entire MDT and future students.

I cannot recommend enough for someone to attend EBMT in the future. I will be always grateful for this opportunity.

L J, BMT Research Nurse, Cardiff

I attended EBMT on behalf of the donor team. It provided me with the opportunity to submit an Abstract and present a Poster. It also counts towards my continuing professional development and will count as evidence for my next revalidation.

As the availability of study days for Donor Coordinators is limited, I was particularly interested in attending the donor sessions and hearing from other centres that look after donors. I found the sessions on related donors and the donor experience particularly interesting.

My time at EBMT has inspired me to continue to make improvements to the Donor service. I left the conference with numerous future poster, presentation or project ideas to share with the rest of the Donor Team!

One area I am keen to look at raising awareness of and improving is helping related donors with the funding and logistics of donation when they live abroad or a significant distance away. Our centre does not currently provide funding for the donor to cover the cost of the donation or allow for them to be harvested where they live. I have attached my EBMT poster which I made to highlight this issue and will continue to explore what can be done to improve the experience for related donors. Thank You for providing me with the opportunity to attend EBMT 2024.

H M, Donor Coordinator, The Christie

I attended the EBMT 50th Annual Meeting in person in Glasgow from 14th-17th April 2024 funded by a grant provided by BSBMTCT. During the meeting I was able to attend several sessions focused on patients, families & donors, transplant/cellular therapy co-ordination and data management. The patient, family and donor day was very insightful in giving the perspective from a non-clinical point of view and understanding how transplant/CAR-T cell therapy impacts patients. Working in the busy nature of transplant/CAR-T, it can be easy go into auto-pilot and so it was really nice to hear the patient advocates share their personal experiences. I also have a personal interest/curiosity in the use of artificial intelligence and the EBMT programme always includes a couple of sessions on how AI could be used in the world of transplant/cellular therapies which I found very interesting although quite technical!

I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting and learnt a lot from the speakers. I am very grateful to BSBMCT for the opportunity to attend EBMT 2024 with this grant and I look forward to hopefully being able to attend next year.

J L, Stem cell transplant & CAR-T cell co-ordinator & data manager, Bristol

Thank you for supporting me for the EBMT conference event from 14th-17th April. The trip was highly informative from a physician associate point of view. There was a wide scope for me to cover from psychological, research outcomes to the expansion of haemopoietic transplants into non-malignant conditions such as sickle cell disease. Another objective for me to attend the conference is to see how our role can expand in the transplant industry.

From a unique position as a physician associate attending EBMT is to see how our role can expand in the transplant world. Apart from the educational aspect of transplant, I believe physician associates would have an impact on the continuity of care and being a ‘familiar face’ for the patient throughout their transplant journey and bridge between the nursing and the medical aspect. Being a continuity compared to rotating doctors, physician associates are in a good position to be engaged in research data collection and be a point of contact for also the pharmaceutical companies. Also we will be able to follow through on their post -transplant complications i.e GVHD and contribute research behind this.

Thank you again for my funding application for this event. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the conference.

S Y, Haematology Physician Associate, St George’s Hospital

I was really pleased to have received the bursary money to enable me to attend the EBMT conference. I found the lead up to the event a bit overwhelming as the amount of information to take in was large! A colleague advised me to download the app and try to plan which talks to go to, this proved invaluable. The amount of professionals all involved in providing transplants was astounding and I felt honoured to be in their company. Seeing people come from so far around the world was very inspiring.

The lecture that had by far the most impact was a talk by a patient, detailing along with her medical team, her transplant journey.

The time away from work to gain more knowledge and to reflect on the job we do was so beneficial and I will promote attending to other colleagues and hope to come again myself.

Thanks you for again for the opportunity.

S S, TCT CNS for stem cell transplant, The Marsden

We would like to remind you of the upcoming events:

• BSBMTCT Education Day – Thursday 7^th November 2024 – Hybrid
• BSBMTCT DM Training Day – Thursday 14^th November 2024 – Virtual
• BSBMTCT CTSC Meeting – Monday 18^th November 2024 – Virtual

More information is available on our website: www.bsbmtct.org

Our Very Best Wishes, Eduardo Olavarria, John Snowden, Deborah Richardson, Fiona Dignan, Harpreet Kaur & Julia Lee