On 15th June 2015, Andi lost her long and courageous battle with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), aged only 43, leaving Henry and their two young kids, Holly and Freddie. Her journey was deeply personal on many levels. As a haematologist specialising in acute leukaemia at UCLH, and a friend of Henry’s from way back in our rugby days, it was incredibly frustrating watching drug after drug fail for this devastating disease. Unfortunatley, this is a scenario we see in about a half of our young AML patients. While we can win some battles with the drugs we have, the war can only be won in the laboratory, and that is what drew me to research.    In order to develop new ways of treating AML, we first need to understand its biology much better i.e. what causes it in the first place, what makes it tick, what are its vulnerabilities? These are the sorts of questions we have been trying to address in my research laboratory in
the UCL Cancer Institute https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cancer/research/department-haematology/leukaemia-biology-group

When Henry decided to create the Andrea Firebrace Foundation (http://www.andreafirebracefoundation.com), we  spent a good deal of time thinking of the most effective use of the money raised, one that would leave a real legacy. We thought about pieces of research equipment, or perhaps supporting a specific project, but ultimately we decided that sponsoring a PhD in AML would make the most impact. This has the potential to launch a scientist into a life-long career in AML biology. They in turn will train other scientists in this area, and Andi’s legacy goes on. Sponsoring PhDships do not come cheap, costing somewhere in the region of £150,000, so anything we can raise through this Sepentine Swim will go towards that ultimate target.

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