The GAMBIT medical research program being undertaken by the Blood Stem Cell and Cancer Research Unit at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, is the largest study of it’s kind. 

A population-based study of blood mutations in Australian adults GAMBIT researches the “Genomics of Aging-acquired Mutations in Blood to Identify Therapeutics for Cancer, Cardiopulmonary, Metabolic and Blood Disorders in Australia” 

This year Arrow has donated nearly $1 million to the GAMBIT project on behalf of key donors. This has resulted in significant strides being made in the past 12 months. The blood DNA of over 3,800 adults has been obtained and gene sequencing performed on over 1,000 of these samples. 

Priority has been given to groups in which it is suspected that blood mutations play a key role in the disease outcome, including individuals who have undergone bone marrow transplantation. Ninety one of the samples that have been analysed are of patients who have received a bone marrow transplant for malignant and non malignant disease, an area of keen interest for Arrow. 

This large scale medical research project has the potential to impact so many Australians, particularly within our ageing population. By being able to better understand which blood mutations contribute to which diseases as we get older, scientists have the potential to discover new tests to predict and detect diseases as well as better treatments. 

Professor David Ma from St Vincents Centre for Applied Medical Research says, “Arrow has been instrumental in allowing us to undertake this Australia first and world class research which we anticipate will lead to improvements in the care of patients with blood diseases. Our research team and collaborators would like to sincerely thank Arrow for their crucial support.”

We in turn would like to thank the very generous donors who have contributed to this important medical research program and who continue to champion its success.