Former prime minister Lord David Cameron has announced he is taking up the role as chairman of the advisory council for a body aimed at developing new treatments for rare genetic diseases.
The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre is a partnership between the University of Oxford and the Harrington Discovery Institute in Cleveland, Ohio.
Writing in The Times, Lord Cameron said the cause is close to his heart, having lost his son Ivan to a rare genetic disease 15 years ago.
As prime minister, he launched the 100,000 Genomes Project in 2012, where the genomes of 100,000 NHS patients with a rare disease or cancer were sequenced.
He called establishing Genomics England, the company set up to deliver the 100,000 Genomes Project, one of his “proudest moments as PM”, and said out of all the causes he has advocated for: “This one really is personal.”
Lord Cameron wrote that he intends to use his role to help bring together “distinguished experts” in order to “develop 40 new treatments for rare diseases in the next decade”.
“As a father I know all too well the impact of rare diseases,” he said.
“We miss our 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.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here