​Dr Mark Morris and colleagues at the University of Wolverhampton recently hosted a tour of their laboratory, welcoming a family of supporters onto campus to give insight into the day-to-day reality of bone cancer research.
Pictured left to right: Lesley Saul, Jack Clarke-Saul, Jeremy Saul, Shalini Kumarasamy, Lynda Birch, Dr Mark Morris, Aaliyah Masih-Mattu and Dr Hafid Omar.
Jack Clarke-Saul and Lesley & Jeremy Saul, alongside family members, friends and many other supporters, are helping to drive forward pioneering adamantinoma research through the Liz Clarke-Saul Fund in memory of Liz.
By stepping into the laboratory, they were able to witness this research first-hand, gaining an appreciation of the progress Dr Morris and his team are making in improving our understanding and recognition of adamantinoma. Together, the group are taking steps towards more timely diagnosis and better treatments — ultimately improving the lives of patients.
Jack, Lesley and Jeremy also learned about the difficulties of carrying out research into rare diseases such as primary bone cancer due to the limited availability of patient samples. Viewing living cancer cells down the microscope and learning about the researchers' efforts to culture adamantinoma cells from patient samples brought home the importance of overcoming barriers to research advancement.
Lesley reflected how meaningful these insights are to members of the bone cancer community:
We greatly appreciated Mark's skill in explaining the work that he and his team are carrying out in a way which made it accessible and meaningful to us as lay visitors. We were so grateful for the kind and sensitive way in which we were welcomed to the university, never losing sight of the fact that we as a family are indelibly affected by primary bone cancer. They are clearly absolutely passionate about their research, and we left feeling that there is indeed hope for future progress in timely diagnosis and the treatment of adamantinoma.
Kathleen Kane, Research and Engagement Officer at the Bone Cancer Research Trust, added:
We're so grateful to Mark and his colleagues for sharing the realities of their research and the much-needed advancements they are striving towards. These insights bring home the vital importance of primary bone cancer research, made possible thanks to the amazing fundraising efforts of Liz's family and friends & our wider community. For anyone inspired by Jack, Lesley and Jeremy's experience, please do get in touch to find out more about our future lab tours near you!
We wish Dr Morris and his team all the best with their ongoing research and thank Lesley, Jeremy and Jack for sharing their experiences.
At the Bone Cancer Research Trust, we host a number of lab tours throughout the year. If you are interested in visiting a lab local to you, or if you are a primary bone cancer researcher and would like to learn more about hosting a tour, please contact us below: