- National Children’s Research Centre and CMRF Crumlin welcomes appointment of New Professor in Paediatric Haematology at UCD
- Appointment funded through legacy donation from the late Brendan McGonnell
Dublin, Ireland, 27th March 2018, University College Dublin (UCD), the National Children’s Research Centre (NCRC), and the Children’s Medical and Research Foundation (CMRF) Crumlin today announced the appointment of Jonathan Bond to the newly established Brendan McGonnell UCD Professor of Paediatric Molecular Haemato-Oncology Chair.
The result of an innovative partnership between the three organisations, this new professorship has been developed to advance research into paediatric and adolescent cancers of the blood, with the aim of improving survival rates for those affected.
Based at the UCD School of Medicine, the new Chair is supported, under the NCRC Research Leadership Award Scheme, by a significant legacy donation from the late Mr Brendan McGonnell to CMRF Crumlin.
“The NCRC Research Leadership Award Scheme aims to build research capacity in key areas of child health, and this new Chair at UCD will play a pivotal role in the development of a molecular and translational research programme into childhood blood cancers,” said Dr Jacinta Kelly, Chief Executive of the NCRC.
Child and young adolescent haematological cancers account for approximately 40% of all cancers in children up to the age of 16. Professor Bond’s research programme, which will be carried out at Systems Biology Ireland, UCD, will focus on understanding how normal gene regulation is subverted in acute leukaemia with the ultimate goal of developing new and better treatments for every child and adolescent with this blood cancer.
Professor Owen Smith CBE, Professor of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, UCD School of Medicine said, “We are sincerely grateful to the NCRC and CMRF for their commitment to further research into paediatric blood cancers at University College Dublin which is a truly fitting gesture in memory of Brendan McGonnell and his extraordinary philanthropy. We are delighted to welcome Professor Bond to the University, where he will be a significant asset to our research activities in paediatric haemato-oncology. His appointment will have a major impact in the field of paediatric cancer in Ireland and internationally.”
Professor Jonathan Bond, Brendan McGonnell UCD Professor of Paediatric Molecular Haemato-Oncology said, “I am very grateful that NCRC, CMRF Crumlin and UCD have used Brendan McGonnell’s generous donation to create this position. This is a hugely exciting opportunity to perform research that will improve the treatment of children with blood cancers.”
Lisa-Nicole Dunne, CEO, CMRF Crumlin, said, “We are delighted to be able to support this incredible work with the NCRC. Paediatric cancer is one of the research areas we are proud to fund at CMRF Crumlin. We receive no governmental funding, so legacies left by the likes of Brendan McGonnell really have a wonderful, lasting impact on the treatments available for future generations of sick children.”
Professor Bond has relocated to Ireland following the completion of a research fellowship at the Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris. He completed his undergraduate medical study at Trinity College Dublin and trained as a clinical paediatric haematologist in Ireland before obtaining a PhD in Molecular Haematology at the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre (now the London Institute of Medical Sciences) and Imperial College London.
ENDS
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Public Affairs Manager, UCD Research and Innovation, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: +353 1 716 4003 or e: fomalley@cmrf.org or Alice Coughlan, Research Grants Manager, t: 353 (01) 409 6419 or e: alice.coughlan@ncrc.ie
Editors Notes
Established in 1854, University College Dublin is Ireland’s largest university with over 30,000 students from more than 125 countries worldwide. Founded on the educational principles of its first Rector, John Henry Newman, the university seeks to contribute to the economy and society through the excellence and impact of its research, innovation and scholarship, the quality of its graduates and through its engagement nationally and internationally. www.ucd.ie
The National Children’s Research Centre (NCRC) is over 50 years old and was the first dedicated research centre on the site of an Irish hospital. Today, it offers state of the art research laboratories, research funding through competitive grant calls, and a children’s clinical research unit at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, where clinical trials and studies take place. Together, these facilities allow the NCRC to support full bench to bedside research for children. It has been funded by charitable donations to CMRF, Crumlin, since its inception. www.nationalchildrensresearchcentre.ie/
CMRF Crumlin (the Children’s Medical Research Foundation) was established in 1965 and is the principal fundraising body for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin and The National Children’s Research Centre. We drive fundraising to allow for research into the cause, treatment, care and prevention of children’s illness and disease and to actively support excellence in the care and treatment of sick children by providing additional equipment, facilities and assistance to patients and their families within Children’s Hospital at Crumlin. www.cmrf.org
