Events

Inaugural Lecture of Professor Paul Telfer

Sickle cell disease in East London. From gene to bedside and back again.

Sickle cell disease is a severe inherited blood disease which is very common in people of African ancestry. In this lecture I will begin by discussing current understanding of the disease through observations of a newborn cohort of patients managed in East London over the past 35 years. I will then cover the trajectory of novel therapeutic development, including gene therapy approaches. Finally, I will describe some of the on-going basic science projects at QMUL to investige disease mechanisms, including stem cell deficits and aberrent inflammatory responses.

Speaker bio
Paul Telfer is Clinical Professor of Haemoglobin Disorders and Haematology at Queen Mary University of London and Honorary Consultant Haematologist and Paediatric Haematologist at The Royal London Hospital, Bart’s Health NHS Trust, London UK.

His undergraduate medical training was at Oxford University Medical School, following which he trained in Haematology at The Royal Free Hospital, University College Hospital and Great Ormond Children’s Hospital London. Over the past 25 years he has been clinical lead for haemoglobinopathy services at The Royal London Hospital and more recently has been clinical lead for the NHS England Specialist Commissioned Haemoglobinopathy Co-ordinating Centres for East London and Essex. He has been a committee member of the Clinical Advisory Group for National Specialist Commissioning in Haemoglobinopathies, the National Haemoglobinopathy Panel, and the Steering Group of the National Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Programmes. He has co-authored national and international guidelines for management of children and adults with sickle cell disease and is co-author of ‘Sickle Cell Disease in Clinical Practice’ published by Springer.

He is chief investigator for the SCAPE trial (Sickle Cell Analgesia Protocol Evaluation), and the East London Newborn Sickle Cell Cohort Study. He has been PI for a wide range of commercial studies of new therapies for sickle cell disease and has advised NICE on implementation of new therapies in the NHS. Current research projects include laboratory studies of haematopoietic stem cell function in sickle cell disease, optimising acute pain management, long-term clinical outcomes and disease severity predictors, and qualitative studies of patient experience.

Please note that this is an in person event only.

Event schedule
5.30pm - Event starts, Introduction of Professor Paul Telfer

5.35pm - 'Sickle cell disease in East London. From gene to bedside and back again.' - Inaugural lecture by Professor Paul Telfer

6.25pm - Reception

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