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In a UK first, Pakistani doctor treats thalassaemia patients through gene therapy
LONDON: British-Pakistani paediatric consultant Dr Sher Bahadur Anjum has successfully treated two young thalassaemia patients through gene therapy, transforming their lives to complete normality — for the first time in the UK.
Dr Anjum, who specialises in haematology (blood disorders) at Newham Hospital in East London, part of Barts Health NHS Trust, led a team of carers at the Newham Hospital to treat the two young boys, now aged 11 and 13, of Bangladeshi background.
Thalassemia is a genetic condition that is most common in those who are Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi. It is a blood disorder, and people with thalassemia have low iron and oxygen levels in the body. This can make them severely anaemic — tired, short of breath, and pale.
To treat their thalassemia, the two patients needed to go to the hospital for blood transfusions every month, which had a major impact on their quality of life. The only cure is a stem cell or bone marrow transplant, but this is not done very often because of the risks involved, and it can be difficult to find donors.
Thanks to an innovative new gene therapy administered by Dr Anjum and his team, working with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), the two young boys, now aged 11 and 13, are now living healthy, happy lives without further hospital visits or regular blood transfusions.
Before getting the 4-week treatment at GOSH, Dr Anjum and the healthcare team at Newham Hospital conducted extensive pre-gene therapy care over three months, which included blood testing, vaccinations and maintaining the correct haemoglobin levels. Their care at Newham also continued long after the treatment, with monitoring, blood counts and managing the side effects.
When Dr Anjum first approached the families, they were both hesitant to start this therapy as it was new, and requires an initial longer hospital stay. However, after almost 12 months of speaking to them, listening and answering their questions and concerns, they were reassured to start the treatment for their children.
Now their lives have changed forever thanks to the treatment, and they want to encourage other South Asian parents to take up the offer if doctors find them eligible.
Dr Anjum, who originally studied in Gilglit Baltistan’s Astoria village and then Abbottabad Medical College (AMC) told Geo News: “Gene therapy is a new treatment that aims to fix the problem at its root. Doctors take some of your child’s own blood stem cells, add a healthy copy of the gene needed to make haemoglobin, and then return these cells to the body after special preparation. The goal is that your child’s body starts making enough haemoglobin on its own, so they no longer need regular blood transfusions. In many children, this has already worked successfully.
“Both of my patients had grown up knowing nothing but hospital visits and transfusions. Their parents had shouldered years of emotional and practical struggles, doing everything possible to keep their children well. When Barts Health NHS Trust was asked to identify patients for the new gene therapy programme, we saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“But convincing the families was not simple. Gene therapy is new, complex, and frightening to parents who have already endured so much. Understandably, both families were hesitant and fearful of risks. It took almost a year of continuous conversations, reassurance, and building trust before they agreed. At the Great Ormond Street Hospital, I was given an honorary contract so I could support the children and their families before, during, and after the procedure. The therapy itself was intense, requiring months of preparation, but the courage of these families carried them through.
“Six months on, the transformation is extraordinary. These children, once tethered to hospital beds and transfusion schedules, are now living normal lives without the need for blood transfusions. Their energy has returned, their futures are brighter, and their families have finally been released from the unending cycle of hospital visits.”
Dr Anjum said that for the first time, families affected by thalassaemia can imagine a future where their children are free from the shadow of chronic illness. “It shows the power of gene therapy to turn despair into hope, and it highlights what collaboration within the NHS can achieve when we put patients and families at the heart of care.”
Sarah Ferguson may be no stranger to reinvention, but losing the Duchess of York title has reportedly hit hard.
A source told Gb News that the former royal is “in a very bad way” following the removal of the York titles, describing the moment as emotionally bruising even for someone long accustomed to life outside the Firm.
Still, those close to Ferguson insist resilience remains her trademark.
“She’ll dust herself down and attempt to reinvent herself again somehow,” the insider said suggesting the familiar Fergie comeback may already be in motion.
The comments came as Sarah and her ex-husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, stepped back into the public eye for the first time since the title change.
The pair were seen attending the christening of their granddaughter, Athena, on Thursday morning.
This intimate baptism was held at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace, with Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, hosting close family and friends to celebrate the arrival of their second daughter.
The ceremony marked the former Duke and Duchess of York’s first outing at a royal function since they lost their York titles in October, following renewed scrutiny over their past links to Jeffrey Epstein.
While the occasion was intimate by design, their presence was widely seen as a carefully measured return to public view.
Princess Beatrice and her husband, property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, welcomed baby Athena earlier this year after she arrived several weeks ahead of schedule in January.
The christening, held months later than expected, was reportedly postponed amid the fallout surrounding Athena’s grandparents.
Sources say Beatrice has remained particularly close to her mother throughout the turbulence, leaning on Sarah Ferguson as headlines swirled.
Her relationship with her father, however, is understood to have grown more strained, reflecting the wider consequences of the scandal on family dynamics.
True to form, Andrew kept firmly out of the spotlight on the day, avoiding photographers and steering clear of any official images taken at the event.
Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey appeared to be heading toward another shared musical chapter, sparking fresh excitement among fans.
After working together on Wicked, the two stars are now said to be appearing in a new live theatre project.
According to Deadline, Grande and Bailey are in early talks to work in the stage musical Sunday in the Park With George.
The show is rumored to open at London’s Barbican Theatre in the summer of 2027. However, no official announcement has been made yet, as plans are still being finalised.
Sources and insiders of the project, expected to direct by Marianne Elliott, revealed everyone who are involved is hopeful that the project would move forward.
Sunday in the Park With George is a musical inspired by the famous painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by French artist Georges Seurat.
The story followed a fictional painter named George as he worked on the artwork.
In the second part of the show, the story jumped ahead one hundred years and focused on his great grandson, whose name is also George.
He is a modern artist who felt stressed, confused and disconnected from his creativity before finding inspiration through his family’s past.
Moreover, the musical first opened on Broadway in 1984 and it last appeared in the UK between 2005 and 2006.
If confirmed, this production would bring the show back to London for the first time in nearly twenty years.
James Cameron reveals his plans for the next film after Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Titanic director claimed that he plans to move on from Avatar with reboot of Terminator.
“Once the dust clears on Avatar in a couple of months, I’m going to really plunge into that,” Cameron shared. “There are a lot of narrative problems to solve. The biggest is how do I stay enough ahead of what’s really happening to make it science fiction?”
“I’m working on it,” the Alien filmmaker continued.
What came as a shock to fans of the Terminator series is that this time the movie will be made without its iconic star, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“I can safely say he won’t be [in it],” Cameron confirmed. “It’s time for a new generation of characters.
He mentioned that 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate was intended as a fitting conclusion to the actor’s decades-long run as the T-800.
Instead, Cameron envisions a broader reinvention of the franchise, focusing on themes of artificial intelligence, time wars, and superintelligence.
The 71-year-old emphasized that the new film will not rely on nostalgic callbacks but will push the story into uncharted territory.
The first movie from the franchise came in 1984 following which came Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) which was widely regarded as one of the greatest action films ever made.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation, Terminator Genisys, Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) followed the first two movies.
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