Dear BSBMTCT member,
We hope all is well with you.
There appears to be now some light at the end of this dark tunnel we’ve been in and most units are restoring normal activity. Vaccination has been an important part of progress and, as we write, over 38 million have now received their vaccinations in the UK.
Our BSBMTCT COVID-19 guidelines have been updated on the 18th April and the vaccination guidelines developed by the Vaccination Sub-committee has been updated on the 27th May. All our COVID-19 related documents are available on our website: https://bsbmtct.org/bsbmtct-and-covid/. The national multi-speciality OCTAVE Study of immune response post-COVID vaccination is now recruiting within the core and other IMPACT centres, with around 100 patients recruited to deep immunophenotyping and serology arms. Many thanks to all centres involved.
We had a very successful Scientific Day on the 12th May, Well Done to Professor Matt Collin for his excellent organisation. We would also like to say a Special Thanks to the speakers for their fantastic talks; Dr Martin Pule, Dr Reuben Benjamin, Professor Katy Rezvani and Professor Sattva Neelapu. Also Thank You to the IMPACT Teams and the Clinical Trial Committee for their study updates, and Congratulations to Jenny Byrne, Judith Marsh and Kim Orchard for their BSBMTCT Recognition Awards and to The John Goldman Abstract Prize Winners, Andrew McIntyre (UCL, for scientific award) and Graham McIlroy (Birmingham, for clinical award).
Otherwise, as always, there remains much on the ‘to do’ list…
We hope that you all stay safe and well, mentally and physically – even though the restoration and recovery phases of the pandemic have come with the different, additional stresses of ‘catching-up’. The BSBMTCT will do its best to maintain high levels of support and direction for our community, and help each other deliver our treatments to our vulnerable patient population as the pandemic moves into the ‘endemic’ phase.
Our very best wishes,
John Snowden, Kim Orchard, Fiona Dignan, Deborah Richardson, Eduardo Olavarria, & Julia Lee