Dr Swee Tan wins Medicines New Zealand Award for research The

Newsletter / ISSUE #3, December 2014
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The Wellys honour
Dr Swee Tan
It’s not just Gillies McIndoe Research Institute
supporters who acknowledge the wonderful work of
our founder and executive director, Dr Swee Tan - he’s
now been publicly recognised by the prestigious annual
Wellingtonian of the Year Awards.
Dr Tan was recently named as the winner of the
2014 Wellingtonian of the Year Awards’ Science and
Technology category and was described as being
“greatly respected by the international
medical and science community and
his patients and their families for his
pioneering work in vascular birthmarks
and cancer”.
The Wellys, as the awards are affectionately known,
recognise members of the Wellington community who
have made outstanding contributions in their field.
This year’s supreme award was won by basketballer
Steven Adams.
“Those of us who work closely with Swee know this
award is richly deserved,” said the GMRI chair, Paul
Baines.
“It’s a privilege to be part of the GMRI community
which he founded.”
Dr Swee Tan (left) receiving the Science and Technology
Award from Ray Wallace (right), Mayor of Hutt City.
Photo credit: John Nicholson, The Dominion Post,
Fairfax NZ.
Swee, himself, says the real credit lies with his team and
their collaborators. “It is an acknowledgement that also
belongs to the team at the GMRI and my colleagues in
the medical and science communities who, over a long
period of time, have been part of the quest to find a
better way to relieve human suffering.”
The Wellys honour comes hot on the heels of the Value
of Medicines Award (see story in this issue) which was
presented to Swee recently by Medicines New Zealand.
Dr Swee Tan wins
Medicines New Zealand
Award for research
Dr Swee Tan has scooped the Medicines New Zealand
2014 Value of Medicines Award for his outstanding work
treating newborn babies suffering from disfiguring and
life-threatening strawberry birthmarks.
From left, Hon Heather Roy, Chair of Medicines New
Zealand, Dr Swee Tan and Hon Peter Dunne.
Medicines New Zealand’s $20,000 award aims to
stimulate research and advance understanding,
effectiveness or safety of the use of medicines or vaccines.
Work nominated for the award must be of direct
relevance to the current or future provision of healthcare
in New Zealand. – Continued over page.
Hon Heather Roy, Chair of Medicines
New Zealand, said “Dr Tan’s work is an
exemplary piece of medical research
and is precisely the type of nomination
we look for in the Value of Medicines
Award.
“New Zealand is home to a wealth of medical knowledge
and expertise which deserves to be celebrated. Through
this award we are shining a light on the research heroes
who are advancing medicines and vaccines that can
improve the health of New Zealanders and potentially
save lives.
“Dr Tan’s outstanding and tireless research into the
treatment of problematic strawberry birthmarks in
babies met all the criteria for the award and it is with the
greatest pleasure that we are able to celebrate with him
in the success of his work.”
Dr Tan’s team at the GMRI found that strawberry
birthmarks are caused by stem cells regulated by a
hormone system. Their discoveries underscore the new
treatment that leads to dramatic shrinkage of strawberry
birthmarks within months, negating the need for the
traditional treatment using high-dose steroids, and
lengthy and complicated surgery over several years.
The GMRI’s ground-breaking research into, and
discoveries of, strawberry birthmarks has potentially
enormous implications for the treatment of other
tumours, including cancer.
“It is an honour to be recognised with this prestigious
award,” Dr Tan said.
“However, the real tributes should go to all the brave
children and their families whose lives have been so
affected by this condition. Credit also goes to the team
at the GMRI and all my colleagues in the medical and
science communities who have been involved in the
quest to find a better way to manage this tumour.”
He said the $20,000 funding associated with the award
will be used for furthering research into cancer at the
GMRI, building on current work.
Hon Peter Dunne presented the Value of Medicines
Award to Dr Tan at a function at Parliament in November.
Cherise Tan.
percent of patients treated with the
'standard’ dosage.
“Hopefully this will improve patient
outcomes because it will lead to
lower doses of the drug being used
around the world,” Cherise said.
“At the very least, I
hope it generates more
research on this issue.”
New research benefits babies
Parents of babies with strawberry birthmarks could have Cherise Tan
to thank for making their children’s treatment safer.
A fourth year medical student at
the University of Otago, Wellington,
Cherise (22), has recently published
her research in the prestigious
Journal of Paediatrics and Child
Health.
Cherise’s article presents the results
of using a low-dose propranolol
regime for the treatment of
strawberry birthmarks.
Her research shows that halving
the dosage of the drug is just
as efficacious, but reduces the
incidence of side-effects.
Of the 44 patients in the study, just
three had minor side-effects. One
developed constipation and two had
sleep disturbances.
Cherise says this is a complication
rate of just 6.8 percent of patients,
compared to a rate of up to 61.2
Propranolol, a drug normally used
in the treatment of certain heart
conditions and high blood pressure,
was found to shrink strawberry
birthmarks in 2008. However,
various studies have shown relatively
high complication rates at the
‘standard’ dosage of 2-3mg/kg/day,
used worldwide currently.
New Zealand babies were first
treated with a lower dose of
propranolol by Dr Phillip Leadbitter,
a paediatrician, and Dr Swee Tan,
founder and director of the Centre
for the Study and Treatment of
Vascular Birthmarks, based at Hutt
Hospital.
Cherise’s results are based on a
study of patients treated between
2009 and 2013. She conducted the
research and wrote the research
paper over the summer of 20122013, as one of five summer
– Continued over page.
students at the Gillies McIndoe
Research Institute.
She was supervised by Dr Tan, also
the executive director of the GMRI,
and Dr Leadbitter of Hutt Hospital.
“People my age don’t usually get
the chance to do research like this
so it was a wonderful opportunity,”
Cherise says.
“The paper was actually published
on my birthday in September so that
was a very nice present.”
Cherise says one of the best parts
about the summer studentship was
meeting some of the children and
their families involved in the study
One of the cases in Cherise’s paper - a three month old girl with a large,
rapidly growing strawberry birthmark on her cheek and ear before (left) and
at 13 months (right) following low-dose propranolol treatment.
when she sat in on the patient
consultations at the clinics run
by Drs Tan and Leadbitter at Hutt
Hospital.
Cherise undertook the studentship
with the support of a scholarship
provided by Sir Roderick and Lady
Gillian Deane.
Is there something in the water at the GMRI?
Frederica Steiner.
Frederica’s research found both treatments are beneficial,
providing positive quality of life outcomes and patient
satisfaction levels.
They both reduce pain, swelling and skin discolouration,
while generating a limited number of complications.
“My research indicates that the
preferred treatment option depends on
the specifics of the case, and to some
degree on patient preference,” she says.
To complete her research, Frederica surveyed 50 patients
who underwent surgery, and 54 patients who received
alcohol injections between 1996 and 2011.
There must be something in the water at the GMRI –
Frederica Steiner is the second summer student to have
the research she conducted at the Institute recently
published in prestigious medical journals.
She designed the survey questionnaire herself and
contacted the patients over the summer of 2011-2012
to have them complete it. In some cases she interviewed
the patients by phone. – Continued over page.
Frederica (23) is in her final year studying medicine at the
University of Otago, Wellington.
She has had two papers published, one in the Journal
of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery and the
other in the ANZ Journal of Surgery.
Her papers assess the effects of treating venous
malformation (VM), a type of vascular birthmark, with
alcohol injections or surgery.
Frederica describes VM in layperson’s language as a
condition in which the affected veins have thinner and
weaker walls that ‘blow out’ and cause blood to pool
rather than flow efficiently. The condition, affecting one
percent of the population, causes disfigurement, pain
and loss of function.
One treatment option is to inject pure alcohol directly
into the VM, causing the affected veins to scar-up and
close. Another option is surgery, which generally aims to
remove the entire VM.
One of the cases in Frederica’s paper - a six year old girl
with a venous malformation on her face before (left) and
after (right) alcohol injections.
Frederica was offered the summer studentship at the
GMRI after hearing Dr Swee Tan speaking at a university
presentation.
She contacted Dr Tan and asked if she could do research
for him, and was subsequently given the VM research
assignment.
How does she feel about being published? “A bit of
relief actually,” she says.
“I am really happy to be published. It took a lot of effort
and I’m proud of what I have achieved.
“Without Dr Tan’s help this wouldn’t have happened and
I’m very grateful to have been given the opportunity.”
Aspiring to be a paediatrician and graduating this year,
Frederica was supervised during her summer studentship
by Dr Tan and Dr Trevor FitzJohn of the Centre for the
Study and Treatment of Vascular Birthmarks, based at
Hutt Hospital.
New health partnership to progress cancer cure
The GMRI has established a
new health partnership with
the Wairarapa, Hutt Valley, and
Capital & Coast DHBs in a move
that will translate laboratory
research into radically improved
treatment of diseases, including
cancer.
Capital & Coast and
Hutt Valley DHBs’ chair,
Dr Virginia Hope.
The DHBs have signed a formal
memorandum of understanding
with the GMRI to promote
close interchange, collaboration
and sharing of ideas between
leading DHB clinicians and the
GMRI’s scientists.
“With persistence and the right
environment, more effective treatment
of many conditions can be found in the
future,” Dr Swee Tan says.
“The agreement signifies that this is a view shared by
the GMRI and the DHBs. Our organisations already have
much in common. With a closer working relationship
we will be able to enhance research and improve
educational, business, health and social outcomes.”
Wairarapa and Hutt Valley DHB chief executive, Graham
Dyer, is pleased to formalise the relationship the GMRI
has had with the DHBs for many years.
“During much of this time, the team
was based at Hutt Hospital and various
clinical groups have collaborated with
the GMRI on many research projects.”
Interim chief executive, Debbie Chin, says Capital &
Coast DHB is thrilled to be able to accommodate the
Institute in a new purpose-built laboratory next to
Wellington Hospital.
“Our close working relationship with our neighbours
in the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa already enables us to
provide more convenient care for our patients and our
aim is to extend these benefits further.”
Capital & Coast and Hutt Valley DHBs’ chair, Dr Virginia
Hope, says many highly-regarded international experts
and organisations understand the immense potential
of the discoveries made by Swee’s team, and their
implications for the treatment of cancer.
“This MOU enshrines the collaboration and cooperation that has been a feature of Swee’s and the
GMRI’s work,” she said.
Be part of our journey
Dr Swee Tan and his team at the GMRI have achieved remarkable success in
advancing knowledge relating to strawberry birthmarks and other tumours. This
work has the potential to lead to fundamental advances in the understanding and
treatment of cancer. Our scientists are committed to building on the important,
internationally-recognised progress they have made to date. It is an exciting journey,
made possible, in large part, due to the support and involvement of many people and
organisations. Please continue to support the GMRI, which depends on the generosity
of donors. Please contribute to our Paua Butterfly Campaign - the Donate Now button
(www.gmri.org.nz) will take you to a range of options to make a donation.
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