Author Archives: loumacc

  1. Marren family donation transforms cancer diagnostics at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in memory of the late Kathleen (Kay) Marren

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    Mr Val Marren, a Mayo man, and family joined Prof Ray McDermott, Dr Adrian Marino and their teams to present a portrait of the late Kathleen (Kay) Marren, honouring her memory and commemorating the family’s support for life-changing care at the hospital.

    In presenting the portrait to the teams her husband, Mr. Val Marren, said “…Kay, who was a microbiologist, was always happy when she was in the lab, so she and I decided to donate to St Vincent’s University molecular pathology laboratory.  The team there do excellent work and we wanted to support a part of the hospital that isn’t always seen, but the difference they make for patients and their families is extraordinary.”

    Dr Adrian Marino, Associate Professor of Pathology, said” Thanks to this incredibly generous donation, St. Vincent’s University Hospital is now home to a world-class precision diagnostics service.” This investment has directly supported the expansion of the Laboratory, which is now named Kathleen Marren and family laboratory.  This enables us to acquire cutting-edge equipment, including an Illumina next-generation sequencer and a Hamilton robotic liquid handling instrument.

    Professor Ray McDermott said, “These advanced tools are critical for the precision oncology programme at SVUH and the St. Vincent’s/UCD Cancer Centre. The new technology allows our laboratory to analyse more than 500 genes simultaneously from a single biopsy sample, a massive leap from the previous capacity of just 5-10 genes. This powerful capability means that we can provide complex diagnostic results for up to 40 cancer patients every week.”

    Thanks to the Marren family’s extraordinary support the oncology team are enabled to make highly informed decisions, ensuring that every patient receives the most effective, personalised treatment possible, according to the highest international standards

    Helen McVeigh, St Vincent’s Foundation, said “we are touched and honoured to have received this generous support from the Marren family in memory of the late Kay (Kathleen) Marren.   We know how much Kay meant to them all and hope there is great comfort in knowing their gift in her memory is already transforming patient care and will continue to do so for many years”.

    Photo shows L-R

    Prof Kieran Sheahan, Consultant Histopathologist (SVUH),Prof Ray McDermott, Consultant Medical Oncologist  (SVUH),Val Marren, husband of the late Kay Marren,Prof Adrian Marino Enriquez, Associate Professor of Pathology (SVUH),Karen Marren, daughter of Val, John Marren, son of Val

     

  2. Freezebury Challenge 

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    On a morning when “Storm Amy” brought dark skies, wind and rain,  in blew Charlotte Walsh, her mum and friends to bring some brightness to St Vincent’s University Hospital.   Their smiles and laughter were a real treat on a grey weather day!

    Charlotte was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma last year and in support of her and her journey, her friends set up the “Freezebury Challenge”.    This was a daily sea-swim through the month of February, starting with a 1-minute plunge on day one and growing by a minute a day until reaching the final 28-minute swim on the last day.    The team wore ordinary swimming togs (no wetsuits allowed) and had to duck their heads under the ice-cold water each day – all to raise funds for St Vincent’s Foundation.  And raise them they did!   We were presented with a huge €28,510.00, which will be allocated to the hospital’s work with Haematology, given that Charlotte received her treatment from the team there.   We subsequently received a further €120 off-line donations, which brought the overall total to a magnificent €28,630.  Charlotte and her mum, Vanessa, reunited with some of that team, who were greeted like the great friends they have become over the past year.

    Charlotte faced some very difficult times but was all smiles and laughter during her visit to see us.  She is an inspiration and we pay tribute to her as well as to her wonderful family and friends who have done so much to help others in a similar situation.   St Vincent’s Foundation sends a huge “thank you” to one and all and of course,  we send continued best wishes to Charlotte.

    Pictured L. to R. are:

    1. Dr Liam Smyth, Grace Mullin, Sarah MacMahon, Erinn Hourican, Charlotte Walsh, Nicoletta Borza, Sophie Lynch, Helen McVeigh, Deirdre Cleary, Dr Maryse Power and Dr Claire Andrews
    2. Erinn Hourican, Sarah MacMahon,  Grace Mullin,  Leo Ortiz, Charlotte Walsh & Vanessa Hamilton, Marie Tafalla, Samantha Morelli and Nicoletta Borza.

  3. St. Vincent’s Hospital Rugby Club – 2025 Ball Committee Fundraising

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    Rugby players are accustomed to ball throwing, but back in spring, St. Vincent’s Hospital Rugby Ball Committee was put together to throw a ball of a different kind; a fundraising Ball in aid of St Vincent’s Foundation.  The black-tie event was a sell-out evening and the committee’s chair, Robbie Gallagher, popped into St. Vincent’s Foundation to present €5,000 as proceeds raised.

    These funds will be allocated to help patient care, research and medical education and we are very grateful for them.

    We hope all that attended had a great time socialising in the knowledge that others will benefit.   Our particular thanks go to Robbie and all on the committee who worked so hard to ensure the evening was a success.

  4. Sunflower Fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Unit 

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    Our great friends Philip Dunne and Elaine Timmins presented St. Vincent’s Foundation with a blooming fantastic €12,121.30 as funds raised from their Sunflower selling days. Subsequently they added further donations, bringing their total to €12,771.30.

    This is the third year of their special event and proved to be the biggest and best yet with an acre of flowers enjoyed by all, along with family games, refreshments and ice creams all organised by Philip and Elaine. We are so grateful for the incredible work that has, once again, gone into the event and to everyone that attended and so generously donated and supported it.

    The funds will be used in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Unit at St. Vincent’s University Hospital which has now received over €30,000 from Philip and Elaine.

    Our picture shows Elaine and Philip with the cheque, along with Helen McVeigh from St. Vincent’s Foundation and colleagues from the C.F. Unit, Mary Clarke, Clodagh Landers, Catherine O’ Grady, Dr Suzanne Carter, Clare Reilly, Grace Miller, Jo Doyle & Mel Shanley.   

    Thank you for bringing your sunshine to us all Philip and Elaine!

     

  5. Another Tee-Rific Day for Pan Can Golf Classic 

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    The annual Pan Can Golf Classic at Blainroe Golf Course, Co Wicklow, was another great success with over 170 people supporting day in sunshine across the stunning course.   Our supporters, the wonderful Liam and Ray, worked extremely hard behind the scenes and put in a very long shift on the day itself, to ensure everyone was looked after, had their goodie bag and had plenty of snacks and refreshments between lunch and dinner.  Nothing was left to chance, with the pair even appearing on local radio to spread the message.

    Both have lost brothers to Pancreatic Cancer,  so the day was organised to raise funds for St Vincent’s Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer work and is their 3rd such outing, and biggest yet.

    We are extremely grateful to them both and to all their family, friends and supporters, including fellow Blainroe Golf Club members who came out in force.     Watch this space for details on how much was raised.

  6. Friends of St. Vincent’s 2020 & 2021 Newsletter

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    Needless to say the last two years have been extraordinarily challenging for all healthcare staff. We took the decision not to publish our normal biannual donor’s magazine “Friends of St. Vincent’s” during that time because Covid-19 restrictions meant that there were virtually no visitors to the hospital and the bulk of the magazine would have been wasted.

    A positive impact from the whole Covid-19 situation, was the phenomenal response from fundraisers and donors, not just enabling the hospital deal with it, but assisting with virtually all medical disciplines. We continued of course, to post all updates of donations and grants on our website as they occurred.

    You can find our bumper 2020/2021 newsletter on our website under News & Events – Donor’s Newsletters or at this link https://www.stvincentsfoundation.ie/events-and-news/donors-newsletter/

    We hope you enjoy reading this “bumper” edition.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  7. Robbie & Claudine Keane supporting our Hospital Heroes

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    Robbie and Claudine Keane, recognising the massive contribution of frontline staff to the Covid Challenge, spearheaded a fundraising effort for the 12 hospitals primarily involved with patient treatment.

    The link to their GoFund Me page is https://ie.gofundme.com/f/ourhospitalheroes

    We were delighted to see that Ryan Tubridy featured this fundraising on the final Late Late Show of this year, on Friday 29th May last. As one of the hospitals benefitting from this great initiative we are deeply grateful to Robbie & Claudine for their generosity

  8. Jim Eustace Memorial Fundraiser in Aid of Pancreatic Cancer Research and Care at St. Vincent’s Hospital – Silent Auction

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     To register via browser

    1. Visit: https://app.galabid.com/jim

    2. Click on the ‘Register’ button

    3. Enter your details and click ‘Register’

    4. You will then receive a text to your mobile phone with a verification link. Clicking the link will take you to the auction where you can log in with the password you entered during registration. You are now ready to bid.

    To Register via SMS

    1. Text: jim followed by your full name

    2. To: +353861803786

    3. Example: jim John Smith

    Follow the registration link you are sent from GalaBid to log in and place bids.

  9. My Legacy Month  

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    My Legacy.ie, of which St Vincent’s Foundation is a partner, is prompting people to make a will.  Ireland has a low percentage of adults who have made a will and often this leads to problems after their death.  During this month there is a national appeal to people to make a will and ensure that their wishes are carried out when they are no longer there.

    The promotion, spearheaded by Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, will also encourage leaving something to a favourite charity to make a continuing positive contribution.

    If anyone would like guidance on this please contact John Hickey, Voluntary CEO St Vincent’s Foundation, on 01-2215035.

  10. St Finbarr’s Ladies GAA Club fundraising in memory of Karen Jackson

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    12 members of St Finbarr’s took part in the Women’s Mini Marathon in memory of Karen Jackson; their much-loved and sadly missed, former clubmate.

    Wearing their specially commissioned club jerseys which commemorate Karen, the group raised the extraordinary sum of €3,625 for the Liver Unit in St Vincent’s. We are deeply grateful to them.

    Photographed below are Oonagh Daly, together with Karen’s family, presenting the cheque and the team taking part in the Women’s Mini Marathon.