AIL - GIMEMA. Together in the name of Research.
GIMEMA (Gruppo Italiano Malattie EMatologiche dell'Adulto - the Italian Group for Haematological Disease in Adults) is a non-profit Foundation for the development of and training in scientific research into haematological diseases, which conducts clinical research protocols in the field of haematological diseases in adults. Research into haematological diseases is an objective shared also with AIL, the Italian Association against Leukaemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma which supports a number of studies both in terms of funding and organisation. Indeed, AIL is today our main fund-raiser. GIMEMA is on the front line of this collaboration, carrying out research and coordinating the Italian centres taking part in the protocols; it is an operating structure at the disposal of any Italian researchers wishing to carry out independent research.
Once again we find AIL and GIMEMA working together in an area that is new to research, in improving the accuracy and efficiency with which data is collected at the Centres. We are, in fact, trying to involve local sections of AIL through their volunteers, in particular in those studies aimed at evaluating the "Quality of Life", something which is being greatly appreciated, most of all by patients themselves. It is something new in Italian research, and it is far more cost-effective than if "profit" structures were to be involved.
The Collaboration budget.
150 haematology centres belong to GIMEMA, which is virtually all centres in Italy. On average, around twenty clinical trials are active at any one time, and these involve the majority of centres participating in group activities. Hundreds of patients are recruited in each study, sometimes thousands. They will be followed not only while the experimental treatment is taking place but also afterwards for the rest of their lives, through follow-up visits. This activity, as you can imagine, requires a very complex management system involving dozens of people with different fields of specialization for many years, from the design and preparation of the study to its completion. All this work is carried out by the Data Centre and the GIMEMA Foundation.
AIL supports and funds all of this, and it does so, as always, in the interest of patients who have a real chance of benefiting straight away from these studies.
AIL funding is targeted at both the Data Centre in its operations and at specific research projects which may be of particular and immediate general interest. In both cases, AIL and GIMEMA work together on different potential solutions and in close collaboration to maximise funding.
Dr. Marco Vignetti
GIMEMA Data Centre Coordinator
Pr. Franco Mandelli
GIMEMA Foundation President
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