Well done Stephen and Phillippa!
Wishing Suganya all the best on her wedding day!

We’re really sorry that we couldn’t make it to celebrate with you in person. We hope you had a wonderful day!
Wishing you all the best for your marriage and looking forward to collaborating in the future
- Kasia, Ella and Mike

A lab trip to Beamish!
Sharing our industrial heritage with Suganya. We should all dress up more often! 🙂

Save the date – Genetics Matters 29th of February 2020

Our popular Genetics Matters event is back!
Save the date and come see us on Saturday the 29th of February for a fun afternoon filled with science and cake, as part of the International Rare Disease Day. Please email katarzyna.pirog@ncl.ac.uk if you’d like to take part and present and please spread the news amongst your friends and colleagues, the more the merrier!
From the International Rare Disease Day website:
“When the challenge of raising awareness for people affected by a rare disease still looms. On Rare Disease Day we must re-double our efforts. Re-think, re-envision, reimagine. Reframe what it means to be ‘rare’. In fact – rare isn’t scarce, rare isn’t infrequent, rare isn’t remote. Rare is not as rare as you think. The statistics speak for themselves. There are more than 300 million patients, each supported by family, friends and a team of carers, that make up the rare disease community worldwide. Over 6,000 different diseases. Collectively, they make up the third largest country in the world. Rare is many. Rare is strong. Rare is proud. The likely truth is that you know one of the 1 in 20 people affected by a rare disease. We need society to understand that millions of people living with a rare disease around the world face inequitable access to diagnosis, treatment and care. It’s time to take action for people living with a rare disease to have equal opportunities to realise their potential. [..] We need everyone to get involved and join the movement to reframe rare!”
Join the National Conversation on Rare Diseases
In July, the Minister for rare disease at the Department for Health and Social Care, Baroness Blackwood, announced a ‘national conversation’ on rare disease. This conversation aims to gather a range of views from the rare disease community. The views collected from patients, families and carers, healthcare professionals (including GPs, specialist rare disease clinicians, clinical academics) and industry will be used by government to inform a rare disease framework to improve the lives of people living with rare diseases. This will follow on from the current UK Rare Diseases Strategy which expires at the end of 2020.
To start the conversation, a survey has been launched to understand the major barriers that healthcare professionals working with rare diseases face. Make sure your voice is heard by completing this short survey by Friday 29th November 2019.
Lab trip to Hadrian’s Wall
Suganya is going back to Chennai next week (time flies when you’re having (oxidative stress research) fun), so we took advantage of a lovely autumn afternoon to show her the wonderful Northumberland countryside.




















