West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Lions Club and The NSW Lions Public Health Foundation has donated a total of $15,000 to enable the Westmead Children’s Cancer Research Unit (CCRU) to upgrade equipment used to treat childhood cancer.
This project was jointly funded by The Club, $10,000 and The Lions Health Foundation providing the balance of $5,000 to complete the $15,000 upgrade.
Lions International answered the Research Unit’s call to upgrade its existing Leica BOND RX thus providing research scientists with a powerful tool to benefit all cancer sufferers. This unit upgrades old equipment.
The Leica Bond RX is a specialised piece of research equipment developed specifically to support scientists to improve cancer diagnostics, i.e. help speed-up the breakthrough of discoveries, and advance new cancer treatments.
Tissue based diagnostics play a crucial role in cancer research. Behind every laboratory sample there are researchers, cancer patients and families in search of answers and solutions. Researchers need clear results to discover new treatments.
The Leica BOND RX is a fully automated assay platform and staining system for sophisticated immunohistochemistry (IHC), in situ hybridisation (ISH) and emerging cancer research tests. The Children’s Cancer Research Unit uses this specialist instrument in a broad range of research projects assessing the significance of gene and protein expression changes within cancer tissues.
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead cares for several hundred young cancer Behind every laboratory sample there are researchers, cancer patients and families in search of answers and solutions. patients every year. Of these, more than half are enrolled in clinical trials that provide access to drugs that have been shown to work. This gives young children and their families new hope using the latest treatments.
The Lions Club’s raises the funds to alleviate the scourge of cancer through its annual charity raffle, which is conducted at various local shopping centres. President Sunil Amaratunga, said that his Club is dependant upon the generosity and support of shopping mall centre managers and shoppers to continue the fight against cancer. Every dollar raised goes to a Lions project in full, i.e. there are no admin charges and members serve the community on a 100% voluntary basis.
