FINDING A TREATMENT FOR LAM
The LAM Treatment Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization exclusively dedicated to fostering and funding research to find a treatment for LAM (lymphangioleiomyomatosis) in the fastest time possible. Each year, this progressive multi-system disease, fatal in the lungs, strikes thousands of women in the U.S. and many more worldwide. Since its inception, the LAM Treatment Alliance has grown to become a critical convener for the field, forging relationships with and among academia, other Foundations, industry, government agencies and other private funders.
Every year, the Alliance brings together hundreds of leading scientists from around the globe for Seminars and Summit workshops dedicated to idea generation, problem-solving and mobilization of new expertise focused on finding an effective treatment for LAM in the fastest time possible. The LAM Treatment Alliance also invests in connecting researchers with patients more swiftly and more effectively through efforts including the MIT Media Lab/ Dana Farber Cancer Institute partnership to create LAMsight (a global patient-researcher informatics system) and the BWH Center of Excellence with a focus on streamlined translational research. The LAM Treatment Alliance chaperones science in order to see that barriers to treatment such as researcher access to critical patient tissues, do not stand in the way. Finally, the LAM Treatment Alliance directly funds peer-reviewed scientific research and high-impact collaborations through targeted research grants and fellowships. The LAM Treatment Alliance often, although not always, funds research projects and project-based collaborations that emerge from the ideas generated through seminars, Summits and over 85 ad hoc meetings with researchers that it coordinates per year.
PATIENT ALERT! Please sign-up to donate tissue…
A major limiting factor in making progress in LAM research is the availability of LAM patient tissue. In order for scientists to get the materials that they need to conduct LAM research, we have been working to create systems throughout the world that permits fast and effective LAM tissue procurement. An effective system has been up and running in the US since last March but the system and the committed and proactive team at the NDRI needs your support to be successful.
Please contact us at info@LAMTreatmentAlliance.org with "Tissue" in the subject line if you are interested in learning more about how you can help researchers fast-track treatment research by gaining critical access to your lung, kidney, lymphatic and other tissues or, to learn how to make progress in LAM treatment research possible by becoming an urgently needed tissue donor, click here.
RESEARCHER ALERT!
The LAM Treatment Alliance has been working hard to ensure efficient access to LAM tissues. We have been working to create systems throughout the world that permits fast and effective fresh and preserved LAM tissue procurement, banking and distribution. An effective system has been up and running in the US since March 2007. Please contact us at info@LAMTreatmentAlliance.org with "Tissue" in the subject line if you are interested in learning more about how you can access LAM patient tissues other tissues or click here for more information.
What's New?
Monthly multi-disciplinary research meetings at Harvard Medical School:
Monthly LAM/TSC Seminar Series 2007-2008
Next meeting: May 29, 2008 5:00-7:00 PM EST
Topic: TSC2 and glucose transport: Implications for treating LAM and TSC
The May 29th meeting of the LAM/TSC Seminar Series will feature speaker, Ray Yeung, MD, FRCS (C), FACS from the University of Washington. Dr. Yeung's research focuses on molecular genetics of cancer susceptibility, tumor suppressor gene function, molecular mechanisms of tuberous sclerosis, and the pathogenesis of renal carcinoma. Our discussant, Lewis Cantley, PhD, is Chief of Division of Signal Transduction at BIDMC, Director of BIDMC Cancer Center, and a founding member of the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Cantley will lead a provocative conversation about the talk's implications for treating LAM and TSC and then we will break for dinner and informal networking.
Location: New Research Building – Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Rm. 350
Parking: *Please email charvey@lamtreatmentalliance.org if you will need free parking in the lot below the NRB.
Request a meeting: *Please email charvey@lamtreatmentalliance.org if you would like to request a meeting with Dr. Yeung while he is in town.
Live Webcast/Webchat: *Please email charvey@lamtreatmentalliance.org if you would like to tune into the live webcast/chat of the meeting.
Speaker:
Ray Yeung, MD, FRCS (C), FACS, University of Washington
Discussant: Lewis Cantley, PhD, BIDMC / Harvard Medical School
For more information regarding this seminar Click here...
For more information regarding past seminars Click here...
Information about upcoming meetings:
- June 5, 2008 William Kaelin, MD, Dana Farber Cancer Institute / Harvard Medical School (Speaker); Leif Ellisen, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center (Discussant)
Keep Up With Our State-of-the-Science Summits!
Click here to learn more about our problem-solving summits, information about those currently working on the disease, and leaders in relevant fields who have been recruited to help us find an effective treatment.
Debra Messing endorses LTA as her Favorite Charity!
Daily Variety – 8/13/07
Click here to read more...
Career Opportunities!
*Click on Contact Us to see our latest CAREER OPPORTUNITIES!
WHAT IS LAM?
(Lim FAN jee-o LYE-o MY-o ma TOE-sis)
An ugly name for an ugly disease - in urgent need of research funds.
LAM is a metastatic disease affecting the lungs, the kidneys, the lymphatic system, and at times, the brain. LAM is fatal in the lungs as thin-walled cysts progressively destroy healthy lung tissue. It affects women and those who love them. There is no effective treatment and no cure. LAM frequently attacks women in their childbearing years. It kills women from all races, class backgrounds and countries by suffocating them to death. Pregnancy may accelerate the disease. LAM is not hereditary, but does result from one or more genetic mutations.
LAM is caused by a defect in a cellular pathway that regulates cell growth and has been implicated in many forms of cancer (breast cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, lung cancer, colon cancer as well as atherosclerosis, tuberous sclerosis and diabetes). Scientists believe that advancing understanding of LAM represents a relatively clear opportunity to control this growth pathway, and as a result, to help create treatments for thousands of people affected by cancer.
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