Clinical trials will be carried out in Wagga as a result of a merger of the Amie St Clair Melanoma Trust and Melanoma Institute Australia.
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The merger was announced at the 10th anniversary celebrations for the Amie St Clair Melanoma Trust, which was formed by Annette and Peter St Clair in memory of their daughter Amie who passed away from melanoma when she was just 23.
Mrs St Clair said the newly merged organisation would retain Amie St Clair in its name, with the Melanoma Institute Australia title also being added.
The St Clair family will be continuing its work with the merged organisation, with Mrs St Clair to take on a role as a community events co-ordinator.
"This has been in the pipeline for a while. It's a really positive thing," Mrs St Clair told The Daily Advertiser.
The merger will provide immediate benefits by doubling the level of services provided to melanoma patients in the Riverina, she said.
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There will be more free melanoma nursing services, as well as the establishment of the clinical trials in Wagga and opportunities for melanoma patients within the region to contribute to MIA research.
Additionally, there will be melanoma education opportunities both for medical professionals and the community through the SunSafe Student Ambassador program.
"Pete and I just can't believe we will have clinical trials established here and we are really excited that MIA is using the Amie St Clair Trust model as the framework to increase services in other parts of regional Australia," Mrs St Clair said.
"Our wonderful volunteers have worked so hard to build the Amie St Clair Melanoma Trust over the last 10 years, and this partnership with MIA will significantly increase melanoma services for the next 10 years."
Melanoma Institute Australia chief executive officer Matthew Browne attended the 10th anniversary celebrations and paid tribute to the work of the St Clair family, plus the all the volunteers, in raising awareness of melanoma and supporting local patients and their families.
"We love what the Amie St Clair Melanoma Trust has been doing and together we have built a strong relationship over the past few years. Our shared vision is zero deaths from melanoma, no matter where you live, and this is a fantastic opportunity to enhance the effective delivery of treatment and support services to melanoma patients in this region," he said.
"We can then go to government with a proven collaborative model and hopefully extend melanoma support services to other regional centres as well."
The newly merged entity will be officially launched at an event in Wagga on February 27, 2020, and its first major fundraising event will be Melanoma March Wagga on March 15 at Apex Park, Lake Albert.