Thanks for taking the time to visit my justgiving page. As most of you are probably aware the thought of running anywhere other than to the East Hill for a pint is not something I like doing!! but please take the time to read the below story and you'll see just how worth while this cause is. So please empty your pockets!!

Julian Starmer-Smith was 19 years old when he was diagnosed with an aggressive T-cell lymphoma.  He fought this bravely, but medical science did not have the answer to his cancer at that time, for not enough is known about T-Cell Lymphoma which affects some 12,000 people in the UK every year. A team of expert scientists in Oxford, led by Chris Hatton, are already making great strides but they need more funding to continue their criticial research into this terrible disease which targets young people, in particular.  Many are cured, but this group of conditions still poses a significant challenge to haematologists around the world. 
In Julian’s memory, his parents, Nigel and Ros, and brother, Charlie, founded the Julian Starmer-Smith Lymphoma Fund.  This Fund actively supports the work of the scientists of the University of Oxford who are trying to understand more completely the ways in which lymphoma arise as well as mechanisms which might be used to treat them.  

Below, is more infromation about the work the Julian Starmer-Smith Lymphoma Fund is supporting, and outlines ways in which you can help. The object of the Julian Starmer-Smith Lymphoma Fund is to support research into biological and clinical aspects of lymphoma (a diverse group of cancers of the lymphatic system).

The Fund continues to support Dr Charles Lawrie, Starmer-Smith post-doctoral fellow. Dr Lawrie's group continues to be successful generating a number of publications and has had productive collaborations with other scientific groups both in the UK and overseas.  

Since the beginning of 2009, the Fund has supported a research assistant within Dr Karen Pulford’s  Lymphoma Antigens Programme. He works in colon July 18^th, 2010aboration with the international Children's Oncology Group and the European Inter-Group Committee on non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and the aim is to identify high-risk patients. This support will continue until the end of February 2010. 

The Fund continues to part support Bridget Watson, a Research Administrator and part funds a lymphoma tissue banker. Both of these posts play an essential part in supporting the clinical and research programmes. 

Support will be available for a minimum of 3 months to pay for the salary of a tissue bank co-ordinator. After this time, it is expected that support will be available from another source. 

The Fund has provided two one-off payments – one for a -80°C freezer, essential for storage of tissue and blood that is used for research, and the other to pay for consumables for Dr Andy Campbell in Dr Alison Banham’s Haemato-oncology group who is supported by the BRC and a Sturdy Fellowship to investigate the role of the FOXP2 transcription factor in multiple myeloma. Only salary support was provided and support for consumables was needed to cover the cost of his experimental work. Previous support for Dr Campbell has already led to two publications that acknowledge his support from the Starmer-Smith Fund.

donating through justgiving is simple, fast and totally secure. your details are safe with justgiving - they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure gift aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a uk taxpayer. so it’s the most efficient way to donate - i raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

so please dig deep and donate now.