Dear BSBMTCT member,

We are delighted to announce that we have appointed David Reynolds as half time Interim Chief Executive of BSBMTCT for a fixed term period. David has been working part-time as a Consultant with BSBMTCT for 3.5 years and has 30 years’ experience as a Charity Chief Executive Officer, non-executive director (NED), Consultant, Chair, Deputy Chair and Treasurer within the charitable sector and NHS. David was Deputy Chair/Joint Acting Chair of NHS Charities Together, the national membership body that received and managed the £150m of Covid-19 donation income supporting the NHS at a very difficult time in our history. He was Chief Executive of the NHS Charity for Sheffield for a little under 11 years. He has an MBA and an MA and holds the highest qualification from the Institute of Fundraising. He was also a part of a small group of CEOs that spearheaded the deregulation of NHS Charities nationally.

The Trustees and Executive Committee agreed the appointment of an Interim Chief Executive, taking into account the feedback and ambition expressed by members during our strategic review and strategic planning processes. Working in partnership with the Trustees and Julia, David will actively engage potential BSBMTCT partners, seeking to propel our collective work forwards, achieving more for members. We expect to appoint a permanent Chief Executive in due course. David can be contacted on  David.Reynolds@bsbmtct.org

The Trustees and Executive Committee would like to thank Henny Braund MBE, Chief Executive, and Hugh Allen, Chief Strategy Officer with Anthony Nolan for their expertise and committed help over the last year with the production of our strategic review and Strategic Plan. More information about our Strategic Plan will follow shortly.

A huge congratulations to Dr Fiona Dignan as the new BSBMTCT President Elect and Dr Francesca Kinsella as Chair of the BSBMTCT Complications Sub Committee. We wish them the best in their roles within the BSBMTCT.

This has created a new vacancy for a new BSBMTCT Secretary, and nominations have gone out to the membership, with a deadline of Friday 29^th November. Voting will commence shortly after. We hope to announce our new Secretary before the end of 2024.

We would like to make you aware of the third and final publication of the data from the OCTAVE and OCTAVE DUO studies. This has been a fantastic effort from all those involved, full paper can be viewed here https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjh.19874

Dr Charles Crawley, Chair of the BSBMTCT JACIE Sub Committee is asking for direct comments regarding the 9th Edition of the Haemopoietic Cell Therapy Standards and 3rd addition of Immune Effector Cell Standards. These are the standards that centres will be inspected over the next 4 years and now is an opportunity to comment and make sure these are relevant, appropriate and reflect best practice in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy. Details can be found here Public Comments | FACT. Comments that come from organisations provide greater weight and Charles will submit on behalf of the BSBMTCT. Please email charles.crawley@nhs.net directly and send all comments by 15^th December 2024.

The 2024 Annual BSBMTCT Executive Summary of Transplant and Cellular Therapy Outcomes in UK_ROI_ A Report for Commissioners_15th_Edn and the individual centre reports is progressing well, and we will be able to share the main and centre reports with you shortly. Please note this year’s reports will be simplified and will not be as comprehensive as previous years this is due to the ongoing issues with the EBMT registry. We are sorry for any inconvenience that this has caused.

Dates for your Diary for 2025:

• BSBMTCT Scientific Day – Wednesday 21^st May 2025
• BSBMTCT Scientific Showcase Day – Wednesday 25^th June 2025
• BSBMTCT Education Day – Tuesday 4^th November 2025

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