Lord Cameron will lead international efforts to drive the OHC’s mission of delivering 40 new therapies for rare diseases into clinical trials over the next ten years
OXFORD, UK and CLEVELAND, Ohio, US, 15th October 2024 – The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre (‘OHC’), a partnership between the University of Oxford, UK and Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio, aimed at delivering cutting-edge rare disease breakthroughs, is delighted to welcome Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron as Chair of its Advisory Council. Under his leadership, the OHC aims to deliver 40 new potentially life-changing therapies for rare diseases into clinical trials over the next ten years, while providing scalable solutions to address the rare disease challenge globally.
Lord Cameron returns to the Advisory Council, having originally joined in October 2023 prior to his appointment as Foreign Secretary in the UK Government – a position he held between November 2023 and July 2024.
As Chair of the OHC Advisory Council, Lord Cameron will lead the international efforts of the OHC in its philanthropic mission, build partnerships, expertise and networks, while also focusing on extending global awareness of the OHC and its objectives.
Lord Cameron said: “Of the causes I have advocated, this one really is very personal. Setting up Genomics England and establishing a world-leading database with hundreds of thousands of genomes is one of my proudest achievements as Prime Minister. Yet, to be truly transformational, genomics requires the best of academia, life sciences, pharmaceutical companies, philanthropy and venture capital from around the world to come together. That is what the Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre sets out to do, convening those key players and uniting around a bold mission: to deliver 40 new treatments for rare diseases in the next decade.
“As a father I know all too well the impact of rare diseases. We miss our son Ivan every day – all these years on our loss is still so raw. But the steps we are taking now means that, in the not-too-distant future, families like ours will have hope. It is vital that we try to give it to them.”
Lord Cameron is a passionate advocate of rare disease research and development as a parent of a child born with a rare and incurable disease. His family’s experience of caring for their son Ivan, who had a rare condition known as Ohtahara syndrome, made the issue of rare diseases deeply personal to him. While in Government, this personal connection inspired him to establish the 100,000 Genomes Project in 2012, working with leading scientists, healthcare advisors and agencies, including the UK National Health Service (NHS) and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), all with the aim of accelerating progress in treating the millions of people affected by rare diseases. Genomics England has since helped position the UK as a leader in rare disease research, fostering collaboration and supporting the development of ground-breaking treatments.
Matthew Wood, Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the OHC, added: “The OHC is aiming to make a global impact on the treatment of rare diseases by advancing pioneering science and driving the development of breakthrough therapies. Our Advisory Council plays a pivotal role not only in guiding our actions but also in bringing together the rare disease community with leading decision-makers to raise awareness of and address the key challenges being faced. We are proud to welcome Lord Cameron back as Chair of the Advisory Council, as he brings the passion and commitment from real world experience alongside a global profile. We are confident that his leadership, alongside the other members of our Council, can enable the progress needed to make a meaningful difference to patients and their families.”
Jonathan S. Stamler, MD, President and co-Founder of Harrington Discovery Institute, said: “Rare diseases represent a global health issue that faces unique challenges. Individual disorders may affect very few patients, but collectively more than 400 million people worldwide are living with such a disease, about half of which are children. The OHC was created to make meaningful progress in changing the rare disease landscape for patients, their families and society. We will shortly announce the first class of Oxford-Harrington Scholars representing ground-breaking rare disease research programmes in the UK, US and Canada. We will need deep expertise and access at the highest levels if we are to have real impact and are privileged to be working with globally recognised leaders like Lord Cameron on our Advisory Council.”
Lord Cameron joins Professor Sir John Bell (President, Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford, and former Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University from 2002 to 2024), Baroness Nicola Blackwood (Chair of Genomics England and of Oxford University Innovation), John F. Crowley (President and CEO of the US Biotechnology Innovation Association), Ronald G. Harrington (a renowned entrepreneur and philanthropist, and co-Founder of the Harrington Discovery Institute), and Jonathan S. Stamler, MD (President and co-Founder of the Harrington Discovery Institute), on the OHC Advisory Council.
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Notes to Editors
About Rare Diseases
More than 400 million people worldwide are living with a rare disease, and approximately 50 percent are children. There are about 7,000 known rare diseases, with new diseases being discovered every day. A rare disease affects 10 percent of the US population. Similarly, Europe has approximately 30 million people who suffer from a rare disease. The majority of rare diseases are genetic in origin, which means they are present throughout a person’s life. Only five percent of rare diseases have a treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and similar estimates have been made for treatments approved by the European Medicine Agency (EMA). Therefore, someone with a rare disease today faces a lifelong, often life-threatening, condition with little hope for a cure, or even an effective treatment option.
About Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre
The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre (OHC) is a partnership between the University of Oxford, UK and Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals, in Cleveland, Ohio, US. The OHC combines world-leading strengths in research and therapeutics development from across these organizations to set the science and innovation agenda and drive cutting-edge rare disease breakthroughs to address the unmet need in rare diseases across the globe to deliver major clinical impact for patients. For more information, visit: OxfordHarrington.org | LinkedIn | X
About the University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is rated the best in the world for medicine and life sciences, and it is home to the UK’s top-ranked medical school. It has one of the largest clinical trial portfolios in the UK and great expertise in taking discoveries from the lab into the clinic. Partnerships with the local NHS Trusts enable patients to benefit from close links between medical research and healthcare delivery. The University of Oxford’s Medical Sciences Division, which includes the Department of Paediatrics where the OHC is based in Oxford, is one of the largest biomedical research centres in Europe. For more information, visit: www.ox.ac.uk
About Harrington Discovery Institute
Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio aims to advance academic discoveries into medicines to address unmet need. It was created in 2012 with a $50 million founding gift from the Ronald G. Harrington family and has supported more than 200 scientists throughout the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Harrington Discovery Institute uses an innovation model that surrounds scientists with drug development and business expertise and employs both philanthropic funding and catalytic investment capital to advance projects into the clinic and through commercialization. For more information, visit: HarringtonDiscovery.org| LinkedIn | X
Media contacts:
UK/ EU – MEDiSTRAVA
Sylvie Berrebi / Mark Swallow
OHC@medistrava.com
US – For University Hospitals
Ansley Kelm
ansley.kelm@UHhospitals.org
