AADCd Malaysia Conference 2008
In November 2008 Lisa Flint of The AADC Research Trust collaborated with the University Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Melati Khalid ( Mum to AADC Lily ) to organise a series of events to promote improved diagnostic facilities and raise awareness of paediatric neurotransmitter disorders in Malaysia. The Trust funded healthcare professionals and scientists from Australia, Taiwan, Singapore and the UK to visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They took part in a highly promoted one day seminar on paediatric neurotransmitter disorders at UPM attended by Malaysian scientists and medical professionals as well as the Deputy Minister for Higher Education. The Trust sponsored healthcare professionals and scientists also took part in a public forum to discuss AADC deficiency and related conditions with the families of patients.
The AADC Trust works with Lily's family to set up a diagnostic facility in Malaysia
As a result of the meeting in Malaysia it was agreed that the biochemist Ting Choo Yuen would travel to London to train in the laboratory diagnosis of AADC deficiency and related disorders. Ting came to the Neurometabolic Unit at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London for 3 weeks in 2009. Her training visit was sponsored by the Malaysian Ministry of Health. During this time she was instructed in HPLC analysis of patient CSF and was able to take these skills back to Malaysia to establish a diagnostic service for paediatric neurotransmitter diseases at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital Institute of Paediatrics. This fantastic achievement has improved the diagnosis of AADC deficiency in Malaysia. Having a local diagnostic service has helped reduce the time to diagnosis, the cost of diagnosis and improved accuracy by decreasing artefacts from storage and transportation and allowing a population specific reference range to be established.
The AADC Research Trust funded Dr John Earl from Australia, Dr Stacey Tay from Singapore, Dr Wang Tso Lee from Taiwan, George Allen and Dr Simon Heales from the United Kingdom to travel to Malaysia to participate in the Paediatric Neurotransmitter Disorders Seminar and Public Forum. Lisa, Tony and Jake Flint also attended the events in Malaysia but were self-funded.