Blackpool Show Report - 2020
REPORT ON THE BRITISH PIGEON FANCIERS MEDICAL RESEARCH TEAM AT THE RPRA/BHW SHOW OF THE YEAR BLACKPOOL WINTER GARDENS 18TH 19TH JAN. 2020.
The Show of the Year was once again a very busy and successful research exercise with many thousands of fanciers and their families attending the event and enjoying the Show over a pleasant and sunny weekend.
THE TEAM
Dr Mark Spears Consultant Respiratory Physician Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Dr Annabel Spears, Dr Charles McSharry senior immunologist University of Glasgow, Dr Alison Lawson, Yuan Ji Biomedical Scientist Glasgow University, Prof. Louise V Wain University Leicester respiratory genetics researcher supported by the British Lung Foundation, Dr Richard Allen, Dr Olivia Leavy, Dr Stephen Bourke Consultant Respiratory physician Royal Victoria Infirmary Newcastle, Dr Felix Woodhead Consultant Respiratory Physician Glenfield Hospital Leicester, Dr Gavin Boyd, Ken Boyd Research coordinater, Dr Emma Johnson respiratory registrar Glasgow, Respiratory Physiologists - Kevin Hay, Elliot Young, Lorrayne Kellock, Christine Gall. Andrew Allen intermedical respiratory rep. Dr Will Henderson clinical development fellow Western General Edinburgh, Jamie Ingram medical trainee West of Scotland, Cecillia Rafique medical trainee, West of Scotland, Dr Philip Lynch chair BPFMRT.
The research team thank our sponsors the NHS Forth Valley Royal Hospital and the British Lung Foundation who have taken the research to a higher level with state of the art equipment and genetic studies involved.
We thank British pigeon fanciers in general and the RPRA and the BHW SHOW of the Year committee in particular for the excellent and spacious location they again arranged for the team in the Olympia Balcony at the Show. They also ensured all our needs were in place for the creation of a very effective and functional Medical Research facility at the Show.
The Research Team had a busy and very successful research exercise over the weekend. The team paid attention to the questions and concerns of the pigeon fanciers and were able to provide much information, advice and reassurance to the active pigeon fanciers who went through the research process. This was set up as previously in the format of several stations where research activities took place in a sequential fashion :-
Signing in procedure, Consent form procedures, Health questionare, Body mass assessments, (height and weight ) Blood sample for pigeon reaction/sensitivity levels and other biomarkers and genetic data for the (BPF GILD study) British Pigeon Fanciers Genetics in Interstitial Lung Disease. State of the art computer linked breathing tests including oscillometry breathing tests. The Research Team continue to be encouraged by the cooperation, enthusiasm and support it receives from the many fanciers and their families attending the Research Stands. We are extremely grateful for the continued support of the RPRA and the BHW Show of the Year Committee.
Ian Evans CE of the RPRA and Dave Trippet Show chairman and their staff as usual ensured all our requirements were in place on the day. We are also indebted to Dorothy Hadely and Karen James and staff at the RPRA Office and also to the staff at the Blackpool Winter Gardens for their help with our plans and preparations over the months prior to the Show. Thank you one and all.
We were pleased and honoured to receive a cheque for £ 3,000 for the research from the Show Committee and also to witness the wonderful help the RPRA gives to non pigeon related charities and worthy causes where there is a need in these difficult economic times.
On behalf of the Research Team and the Trustees I thank all British Pigeon Fanciers and their families for their support and wish them all good health and every success in the forthcoming 2020 racing season.
Yours sincerely,
Dr PP Lynch
Chairperson British Pigeon Fanciers Medical Research Trust ( BPFMRT )
PS EXCITING NEWS from Dr Mark Spears lead researcher of Team: Some of our research findings have been accepted for presentation at the American Thoracic Society meeting in May of this year. Our research shows that a blood test which measures a molecule from the lung known as Krebs von den Lungen 6 ( KL6 ) appears to be more specific for pigeon fanciers lung than the currently available test, with levels being much higher in fanciers who develop symptoms following exposure to pigeon dust. Ongoing research with the help of British pigeon fanciers, will allow our team to determine whether this test should replace the current blood test offered for pigeon fanciers lung.