Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Phil, Rose, Danny and I will be doing a 12-hour Xmas Movie Marathon on the 20th Dec 2020 to raise money for research into a possible cure for Crohn’s disease. 

Crohn’s disease is a life-threatening form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. It affects 4 million worldwide, and numbers are increasing, especially in children. The lives of most are blighted by multiple hospitalisations, surgeries and immuno-suppressive therapies, which can have nasty side-effects. As a result, many people have difficulty holding down a job or attending school. There is no cure for Crohn’s and no cause is officially recognised. However, there is some evidence suggesting that MAP might be the cause of Crohn’s disease. MAP is a type of bacteria: Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). It belongs to a family of bacteria called ‘Mycobacteria’, which also includes Tuberculosis. 

Professor Hermon-Taylor has invented a therapeutic vaccine against MAP. A Phase I trial of the vaccine in healthy human volunteers was completed by The Jenner Institute, Oxford in 2018. The study showed that the vaccine had a good safety profile and stimulated good levels of immunity against MAP. A second trial of the vaccine, in patients with Crohn's disease, is due to start shortly, after being delayed due to the covid pandemic. An essential element of this trial is a 'companion diagnostic test'—a simple, accurate test for MAP in blood and tissues which has been developed at King's College London.

We are aiming to raise funds to support the laboratory at Kings College London in running MAP testing of patients during the upcoming vaccine trial in Crohn's patients as well as continuing to investigate the wider role of MAP in human disease.

Thank you so much for your support. 

Paula