We are aiming to raise £280,000 to buy an Illumina NextSeq 2000 Sequencing System for Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals’ genetics and genomics team.

The team tests patients’ and their families’ DNA to find out if they have inherited heart or lung conditions. The hospitals’ genetics and genomics team perform tests for patients from many hospitals across the South East of England. Demand for these tests has increased and they require new equipment to manage the volume of tests they are conducting. Currently, they handle a third of all tests nationally for inherited lung conditions and a quarter of all tests for inherited heart conditions.

These tests can provide vital clarity to patients and can help with the anxiety of being unwell. They also mean that once an inherited condition is identified in a patient, their whole family can be tested to see who has the condition and whether they are likely to pass it onto their children.

Help families like Jody’s 

By raising funds for the Next Generation Genetics appeal, you will be helping families like Jody’s. Jody’s 14-month-old daughter Sienna was playing at the park when she suddenly became very poorly and fell unconscious. On the way to the hospital, she suffered a seizure and upon arrival her heart rate was beating dangerously high at around 300bpm+.

Royal Brompton Hospital was able to diagnose Sienna with Brugada Syndrome, a rare inherited heart condition that affects the way electrical signals pass within Sienna’s heart. It means she is at high risk of dangerous heart arrhythmias, cardiac arrests and sudden cardiac death.

The genetics and genomics team tested Jody’s family to see who else had Brugada Syndrome and might be at risk of serious heart problems. Jody said:

Knowledge is power, so it's definitely helped us. We can take preventive steps to reduce the risk of dangerous and potentially life threatening arrhythmias, which is of course what we're doing.

Improve testing for patients’ and their families

By purchasing an Illumina NextSeq 550 Sequencing System for the genetics and genomics team, we aim to expand the number of tests that the genetics and geonomics team can do so that many more families like Jody’s can find out if they have inherited heart or lung conditions.

To find out more about the appeal, donate or fundraise, click the link to the Next Generation Genetics appeal below.

Donate to the Next Generation Genetics appeal