LARA'S Objectives
-
> Promoting research
Fostering and funding research to discover the cause and cure and better treatment for LAM. -
> Educating physicians
Improving diagnosis and treatment of LAM by promoting knowledge and awareness of LAM to general practitioners and specialists. -
> Supporting women with LAM
Providing information and assistance to women and their families. -
> Fundraising
Raising money to support our objectives - chiefly to fund research. -
> Networking
Collaborating with countries and organisations in our region to exchange information.
Major Donors
Macquarie Group Foundation
Henry H. Roth Charitable Foundation
Hollick Wines
Acknowledgements
LARA thanks the professionals who work pro bono for this not-for-profit organisation. We highly recommend the services of:
Ben Higham, Webhead
Karen Riethmuller, KGR Design
Allan Hughan, Accountant
Peter Kelso, Bartier Perry Lawyers
Contact Us
LAM Australasia Research Alliance
Nevena 0419 185 491
Janet 0411 816 444
PO Box 636 Bondi Junction NSW 1355
Australia
ABOUT LARA
Charitable Status
LARA is recognised as a charity for the purposes of tax deductibility. Funds raised by women with LAM and through the Henry Roth Foundation and Victorian Department of Human Services are essential to our efforts to discover treatments and, ultimately, a cure for LAM.
DONATE THROUGH OUR SECURE LINK TO PAYPAL
OR MAIL YOUR DONATION TO:
LAM Australasia Research Alliance
PO BOX 636, Bondi Junction NSW 1355, Australia
All donations over $2 are acknowledged with a receipt for tax purposes.
Patron: Bettina Arndt
Social commentator, author and feature writer, Bettina Arndt trained as a clinical psychologist and became well known in the 1970s as one of Australia’s first sex therapists. Bettina Arndt has served on government committees looking into family law issues, child support, ageing, IVF and childcare, and spent many years on the ANU Council.
LARA's mission is to seek a cure for LAM, the rare lung disease, lymphangioleiomyomatosis. Based in Australia and working to strengthen links across the Asia-Pacific region and throughout the world, LARA aims to: improve diagnosis of LAM by informing medical practitioners how to recognise the disease; to support women who have been diagnosed: and to fund research to accelerate the discovery of a cure for LAM.
Founded in 2006, the LAM Australasia Research Alliance, LARA, is headed by an Executive and guided by a Medical & Scientific Advisory Board. LARA’s Patron, Bettina Arndt, is a journalist, social commentator, and media personality. Her enthusiastic promotion of LARA’s objectives began with a feature article in The Australian Women’s Weekly (LINK), and inspired an hour-long documentary on women with LAM (LINK). LARA’s President, Heather Telford, and Vice President, Bronwyn Gray (also Director of the New Zealand LAM Trust), represent Australia and New Zealand on the Worldwide LAM Patient Coalition (WLPC), an initiative of the LAM Foundation based in Cinncinati, Ohio. LARA is also represented at international LAM conferences in the USA and Europe.In December 2007, LARA participated in the Asia Pacific Society of Respirology conference on Queensland's Gold Coast.
Current research initiatives are headed by Board members: Prof Judith Black AO, Prof Mervyn Merrilees, Dr Helen Whitford, A/Prof Deborah Yates, Prof David Sonnabend and Dr Jeff Lindenmayer.
LARA is run on a voluntarily basis by a small group of women with close links to LAM or concerns about improving the lives of women with LAM.
FOSTERING LINKS
Focusing on countries in our Asia Pacific region, including Indonesia, China and Japan, LARA is working to strengthen our links with LAM organisations worldwide. LARA belongs to the Worldwide LAM Patient Coalition (WLPC), a recent initiative of the LAM Foundation. (www.thelamfoundation.org/mission-and-history/wlpc.html)
LARA benefits from the experience of Vice President, Bronwyn Gray, who is also Director of the New Zealand LAM Trust. She has worked hard over many years to educate physicians and the public about LAM and to raise funds for research and education.If we can improve rates of diagnosis so more cases are identified, vital research and clinical trials will get a boost. Research may reveal facts relevant to diseases like cancer which are widespread in the community.
LARA's EXECUTIVE
| President Heather Telford | Treasurer Annette Hicks |
| Vice President Brownyn Gray (Director New Zealand LAM Trust) | Patron Bettina Arndt |
| Secretary Janet Neustein | Public Officer Peter Kelso |
| Committee Members Nevena Andric, Michael Neustein, Ros Pollard, Jen Shieff | |
LARA's MEDICAL & SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
LAM experts from Australia and New Zealand. Australia | New Zealand |
| Prof Judith Black AO Department of Pharmacology University of Sydney NSW | Prof Innes Asher Professor of Pediatrics Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences |
| Prof Allan Glanville St Vincent's Hospital Sydney NSW | A/Prof John Kolbe Head of Department Respiratory Services Auckland City Hospital Auckland |
| A/Prof Deborah Yates Respiratory Physician St Vincent's Hospital Sydney NSW | Dr John McLauchlan Respiratory Physician Waikato Hospital Hamilton |
| Dr Jeff Lindenmayer General Practitioner Selby Family Clinic Selby VIC | Prof Mervyn Merrilees Dept of Medial and Health Sciences Division of Anatomy and Radiology University of Auckland |
| Prof Greg Snell The Alfred Hospital Melbourne VIC | Dr Margaret Wilsher Dept of Respiratory Medicine Auckland CIty Hospital Auckland |
| Prof David Sonnabend University of Sydney Royal North Shore Hospital NSW | Dr Christina Forster General Practitioner Freeman's Bay Medical Centre Auckland |
| Dr Helen Whitford Respiratory Physician The Alfred Hospital Melbourne VIC | |