The Lea’s Foundation Center
From the January 2008 issue of UCHC e-link
The Lea’s Foundation Center for Hematologic Disorders of the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center was dedicated on November 1, 2007 at the University of Connecticut Health Center.
This exciting new partnership has established a center of excellence for research and world-class care for patients with benign and malignant blood disorders, ranging from sickle cell disease and clotting disorders to leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and other related diseases.
The center was made possible through a $1.25-million donation from the Lea’s Foundation for Leukemia Research, a prominent Hartford nonprofit that provides support to blood cancer research efforts. Lea's Foundation was established to honor the memory of Lea Michele Economos, who died of leukemia at the age of 28. It was her dying wish to find a cure so that others would not have to face the hardships she endured.
Services at the Lea’s Foundation Center include treatment and diagnosis for patients with non-cancerous blood diseases, including low blood counts (low red blood cell count or anemia, low white blood cell count or leukopenia, low platelet count or thrombocytopenia); sickle cell diseases; transfusion-related complications; certain metabolic disorders, including Gaucher disease; and disorders of thrombosis (blood clotting). In addition, the Center will provide “state of the art” treatment and follow-up for patients with hematologic malignancies. The Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center's participation in clinical trials will ensure that patients with blood disorders receive the benefit of the latest advances and the newest forms of treatment.
The creation of the new center enables the Health Center to recruit and hire a cadre of prominent experts and physician-investigators to build a regional center of excellence in research and clinical care for patients with hematologic disorders.
Biree Andemariam, M.D., who specializes in hematologic blood disorders and hematologic oncology, joined the UConn Health Center this past summer to help build this center. Dr. Andemariam is working closely with Robert Bona, M.D., medical director of the new center, and with many researchers throughout the Health Center, as well as at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.
Profile: Biree Andemariam, M.D.
At the dedication of the Lea’s Foundation Center for Hematologic Disorders, nearly 100 guests heard several speakers discuss how the center will be a regional center of excellence for patients with blood disorders. Among the most moving presentations was a heartfelt commitment to the center’s mission by new UCHC physician and researcher Biree Andemariam, M.D.
“The story of how this center came to be, and the dedication of Lea’s Foundation to their mission, is particularly important to me as I strive to live up to my own expectations for the care we provide and the research we do every day,” she says. “When I came to know Lea’s story, it was striking because I realized that we were of a similar age. I feel indebted to Lea's Foundation for giving me the chance to do my work in her name.”
Andemariam says the private support offered by the Lea’s Foundation was vital to her decision to come to the Health Center and to build a center for people with blood disorders.
“People with blood conditions can get a certain standard of care in their community, but when they have a problem that standard of care can’t fix, they need researchers to come up with novel approaches. Private giving can help support those discoveries.”
She says the services offered at the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UConn Health Center set it apart.
“The field of hematology has made many strides in the development of research into the treatment of many common blood disorders, but its availability can vary from region to region," she says. "Dr. Robert Bona has an established reputation which has enabled us to build this center, develop a regional niche, and attract top investigators to work with him here.”
Andemariam’s own work has recently been focused on several key projects: a clinical trial examining a new oral medicine that can be taken to reduce bleeding in those with hemophilia, a collaboration with Connecticut Children’s Medical Center to help adolescents with blood disorders transition to adult hematologic services at the Lea's Foundation Center, and a translational study to identify new treatments for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
She believes the day will come when those with blood disorders have a wide range of options, and sees the research and care at the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center as having tremendous potential to make life-saving advances and improve patients' quality of life.
"Our goal is to provide state-of-the-art quality care for those living with blood disorders. As the region's only true academic medical center, the UConn Health Center is poised to provide that care," she says.
“Through our center, I hope we come to a point in our investigations and research when we will have a clinical trial available for every patient who walks in our doors. That’s my vision for the future.”
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