Dr Amy Hermon-Taylor - raising money for the Crohn's MAP Vaccine & Diagnostic Test.

 

To everyone who has donated towards my Run For Crohns: a MASSIVE thank you! Together we've raised over £16,000 which is a huge achievement. Every penny helps to keep the research team at KCL working on the new test for Crohn’s and takes us a step closer to getting the Vaccine.

 

I've now run 2 marathons:

Chester Marathon 06.10.2013 4hrs 15mins

London Marathon 13.04.2014 5hrs 11mins (completed despite breaking my foot at mile 10!)

Do have a look at my gallery... I’ve added some photos from the day (some more flattering than others!!).

There’s still a way to go to reach the target of £120,000 so my new challenge is... 

Toronto Marathon October 2015!

If you’re new to my page, here’s the story so far:

The problem of Crohn’s Disease:

Crohn’s disease is a particularly aggressive form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, affecting around 250,000 people in the UK, often children. It destroys young lives, impacts on the whole family and can kill. As a doctor, I have seen this terrible suffering first-hand. There is presently no cure; treatments are aimed at suppress the inflammation (often resulting in unpleasant side effects) but this is rarely successful in the long term. Major surgery is often inevitable, in some cases repeatedly.

 

No cause for Crohn’s is currently recognised but there is now very strong evidence of causation by a bacteria called Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP), which is distantly related to TB. There is now a website that will tell you everything you could want to know about MAP in Crohn's Disease:

www.crohnsmapvaccine.com

The Crohn’s Vaccine and the new diagnostic test:

A modern Treatment Vaccine against MAP has been made. Preliminary studies in animals have shown it to be safe and effective. Now a trial in humans is needed to take the vaccine from lab to clinic. If it works in humans as it does in animals then there is every chance it could CURE Crohn’s.

The Vaccine also requires a companion diagnostic test -a simple blood test for MAP. This will allow doctors to tell which patients need vaccination and monitor a patient’s response to the vaccine. This final piece of the puzzle requires £120,000 to complete the lab development and £300,000 to trial it in the clinic.

Where do I come in?...

This research is close to my heart for another reason; it is the culmination of the life's work of my father, Professor John Hermon-Taylor, a Professor of Surgery, Molecular Scientist and internationally renowned Crohn's Disease expert. Based on the evidence from my father's lab and from other experts worldwide, I strongly believe that MAP is the cause of Crohn's. If my father is right then the cure for 4 million people worldwide is just sitting in a freezer in a research institute. As a doctor and as a daughter, I am not willing to stand by and let something with so much promise, which could help so many people, fall by the wayside.

Since starting my awareness campaign in June 2013, I am no longer alone but have a fabulous team of Crohnies Fundraising alongside me. We are the Crohn's MAP Vaccine Heroes!

 

... so I am running to raise awareness of MAP as the cause of Crohn’s and to raise £120,000 to complete the research

It seems a lot of money to raise but every little helps and no donation is too small!

If you cannot support me financially (and I understand not everyone is in a position to do this) then please help me raise awareness!

Here’s what you could do...

• Visit and share our website www.crohnsmapvaccine.com
• Join me on Facebook: Please like and share our pages:
• https://www.facebook.com/crohnsmapvaccine 
• https://www.facebook.com/CrohnsMAPVaccineHeroes
• https://www.facebook.com/RunForCrohns
• Follow me on twitter @RunForCrohns @CrohnsVaccine
• Share this page on facebook, twitter or IBD forums
• Join me in fundraising! Find out more on https://www.facebook.com/CrohnsMAPVaccineHeroes or http://crohnsmapvaccine.com/fundraising/

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you will join me on my journey, 

 

Amy