31.05.17 – The Lions Club La Côte has funded EPFL’s Laboratory of Organometallic and Medicinal Chemistry to research safer treatment of children retinoblastoma.

The Lions Club La Côte is part of Lions Club International, the world’s largest association of philanthropic clubs, with 1.36 million members in more than 46,000 local clubs in over 200 countries. Founded in 1967, the Lions Club La Côte has donated about one million francs to charities for 50 years, focusing on the fight against blindness – a signature cause of Lions Club International – and other areas to support those in most need.

On the occasion of the 50^th anniversary, this year the Lions Club La Côte has raised 150,000 CHF for the fight against retinoblastoma, a rare genetic cancer of the eye that affects children under 4 years of age.

The Lions Club La Côte will donate the money to promote three causes:

1. A retinoblastoma awareness campaign among healthcare professionals and the creation of a Swiss association of parents of children with retinoblastoma.
2. A “support fund” for the rapid management of children with retinoblastoma.
3. A research project that aims to develop an innovative treatment for retinoblastoma that will be less toxic to children and offers them better quality of life.

The research will be carried out in a collaboration between Professor Francis Munier, a retinoblastoma specialist at the Hôpital ophthalmique Jules-Gonin, and

Professor Paul Dyson, head of EPFL’s Laboratory of Organometallic and Medicinal Chemistry (LCOM). The research will build on a revolutionary treatment method developed by Professor Munier, which involves injecting chemotherapy drugs directly into the eye to more efficiently target resistant tumors. The technique, currently used worldwide, is a last-resort strategy to save the eye of a child with retinoblastoma, and it reinforces the existing therapeutic arsenal while pushing the limits of more conservative treatments.

The donation was given on 31 May 2017 at the Hôpital ophthalmique Jules-Gonin.