|  |  |  | | | | SIR WALTER BODMER TAKES ON KEY ROLE AT LEUKAEMIA RESEARCH | | | | |
| |  Professor Sir Walter Bodmer.
Release Date: 9th September 2002
Leukaemia Research Fund announced today that Professor Sir Walter Bodmer will succeed Professor Dame Barbara Clayton as Chairman of its Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel next year. Dame Barbara Clayton will retire in June 2003 after 14 years as Chairman.
Sir Walter is Principal of Hertford College, Oxford. He was Director of Research at Imperial Cancer Research Fund from 1979-1991 and then the charity's Director-General from 1991-1996 and thus has vast experience of cancer research and management. A leading international expert in cancer genetics, Sir Walter is Head of the CRUK Cancer and Immunogenetics Laboratory at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford. His group helped to localise the gene for inherited susceptibility for colon cancer, adenomatous polyposis coli.
Dr David Grant, LRF Scientific Director said: "We are delighted that Sir Walter has accepted the Chair of our Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel. Sir Walter is known and respected worldwide by the cancer community and his knowledge and understanding of the research world is second to none. He will help ensure LRF maintains its high standards that bring us closer to our goals of better treatment and more cures for people with leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma and the related diseases."
Dr Grant acknowledged the tremendous debt owed by the Fund to Professor Dame Barbara Clayton, who steps down after 14 years as Chairman. She has steered the Fund through exciting years of research, during which time its annual research spend has risen sharply and the pace of research, propelled by new technology, has increased enormously. Dame Barbara retires as many of the fundamental projects the Fund has supported over the past years are beginning to have real clinical application and an impact on the lives of people with leukaemia.
"Dame Barbara has been an absolutely outstanding Chairman and ensured that LRF only supports research of the highest standard and relevance to our goals. Her commitment to the Fund more generally and our supporters in particular has been inspiring. Her knowledge of leukaemia and the research environment will be missed," said Dr Grant.
Sir Walter Bodmer commented: "Advances in leukaemia research are a paradigm for other areas of cancer research. The combination of laboratory and clinical research is starting to deliver new approaches to treatment which are truly promising.
"I am looking forward to helping LRF maintain this momentum and to ensure that the research portfolio is translated into clinical benefit for the 24,500 new patients diagnosed each year with a leukaemia or related blood disorder."
Sir Walter was knighted for his service to science in 1986. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, Hon Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians and is the recipient of the William Allan Memorial Award from the American Society of Human Genetics, the Neil Hamilton-Fairley Medal from the Royal College of Physicians, the Michael Faraday Award from the Royal Society and many other awards of distinction.
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