Bright Red Research Fellow, 2012
Consultant Haematologist at Newcastle Hospitals, specialising in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
Helen Marr’s Story
Helen’s PhD, supervised by Prof James Allan at Newcastle University, was funded by Bright Red for the first year, before she was awarded funding by the Medical Research Council worth over £200,000.
Helen contributed to the analysis of genes associated with an increased risk of acute myeloid leukaemia and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), published in two papers in Nature Communications in 2021. These tell us more about the causes of leukaemia and how future treatments might be adapted to each individual patient.
She was appointed as a Consultant Haematologist at Newcastle Hospitals in 2017 and is a member of the UK CLL Executive Forum. She was a co-author on a good practice paper in the management of Richter syndrome in CLL in 2022, and on the updated BCSH CLL Guidelines in 2025.
In 2022 she ran the Great North Run with her husband Paul, raising money for Bright Red.
2012
£200k+
2017
Bright Red enabled me to get my research off the ground: without it, I wouldn’t have been able to get started with my PhD.
As well as the scientific work that I was able to develop during my PhD, I was also able to make links and connections with CLL experts around the country, both clinicians and scientists. I work with these colleagues continually now through the UK CLL Forum, which promotes research and excellence in care for CLL patients throughout the UK.
Helen Marr
Research published by Helen and her colleagues, made possible in part by Bright Red funding.
Genome-wide association study identifies susceptibility loci for acute myeloid leukemia
Lin WY, Fordham SE, Hungate E, Sunter NJ, Elstob C, Xu Y, Park C, Quante A, Strauch K, Gieger C, Skol A, Rahman T, Sucheston-Campbell L, Wang J, Hahn T, Clay-Gilmour AI, Jones GL, Marr HJ, … Allan JM. Nat Commun. 2021 Oct 29;12(1):6233. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-26551-x
Genome-wide association study identifies risk loci for progressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Lin WY, Fordham SE, Sunter N, Elstob C, Rahman T, Willmore E, Shepherd C, Strathdee G, Mainou-Fowler T, Piddock R, Mearns H, Barrow T, Houlston RS, Marr H, … Allan JM. Nat Commun. 2021 Jan 28;12(1):665. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20822-9
Richter transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: a British Society for Haematology Good Practice Paper
Eyre TA, Riches JC, Patten PEM, Walewska R, Marr H, Follows G, Hillmen P, Schuh AH; Haemato-Oncology Task Force of the British Society for Haematology.
Common variation at 1q23.3, 2p23.3, 2q33.3, and 2p21 influences the risk of acute myeloid leukemia
Published research into inherited genetic variation and the risk of developing acute myeloid leukaemia.
Ibrutinib as first-line therapy for mantle cell lymphoma: a multicentre, real-world UK study
A multicentre study of real-world outcomes for patients treated with ibrutinib as first-line therapy for mantle cell lymphoma.
British Society for Haematology CLL Guidelines (updated)
Co-authored guidance on the diagnosis and management of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. British Journal of Haematology. doi: 10.1111/bjh.70100
Bright Red funding gives promising researchers like Helen the time and space to get their work off the ground — and keeps world-class blood cancer care here in the north of England.