Jeans for Genes Week: why we're pulling on our denim this Thursday

This week is Jeans for Genes Week, and on Thursday 17 September, offices across Woodley Trial Solutions will be a lot more denim than usual. It's a small thing to do, but it's in support of something that matters a great deal to families living with genetic conditions, so here's why we're taking part.

What Jeans for Genes Week is, and why it's important

Jeans for Genes is the annual fundraising campaign run by the CGD Society, a UK charity supporting people affected by genetic conditions. The idea is simple: wear jeans, make a donation, and help fund support for families whose lives have been changed by a genetic diagnosis.

Individually, most genetic conditions are rare. Collectively, they're not. An estimated 30 million people across Europe are living with a rare disease, and most of these conditions are lifelong, affect children, and come with very few, if any, treatment options. [1] Jeans for Genes Week exists to put a spotlight on that reality, and to raise money for the practical support these families often can't get anywhere else.

Why clinical research matters so much here

Around 72% of rare diseases are genetic in origin, and there are more than 6,000 of them identified so far. [1] Because each one affects so few people, getting from a diagnosis to a treatment is a much harder road than it is for more common conditions. Patients often wait years for a confirmed diagnosis in the first place, and many conditions still have no approved treatment at all.

Clinical research is usually the only route to changing that, but rare disease trials are hard to get off the ground. Patient numbers are small and scattered across countries, which makes recruitment slow and funding harder to justify commercially. We work on the equipment and logistics side of clinical trials, not the research itself, but we see first-hand what it takes to get one of these studies running, and why that effort matters.

What we're doing at Woodley Trial Solutions

One of the reasons this week means something to us is personal. Claire Lever, our Associate Director of Global Business Development for Cardiometabolic Services, recently shared on LinkedIn that her daughter lives with MEN2B, a rare genetic condition that has meant a diagnosis of medullary thyroid cancer and a lifetime of monitoring. Claire wrote about what that journey has taught her about the value of clinical research, and why she'll be wearing denim this week for her daughter, and for everyone living with a genetic condition. It's a good, honest read, and it's a big part of why we wanted to mark the week properly as a company.

So on Thursday 17 September, we're dedicating the day to Jeans for Genes across our UK and US offices. Here's what's happening:

• Everyone is encouraged to come to the office in jeans to help raise awareness for genetic conditions.
• We're running a bake sale, with home-baked cakes and savoury treats for sale, and all donations going to Jeans for Genes.
• There's a raffle with a range of prizes on offer, with proceeds also going to Jeans for Genes.
• And there's a prize for the best dressed denim outfit on the day, for anyone who wants to make more of an effort than just "wearing jeans."

None of this changes the odds for a family navigating a rare genetic diagnosis on its own. But it raises money that does, and it's a day where our teams get to show up for a cause that's closer to home for some of our colleagues than others might realise.

If you'd like to support what we're doing, you can donate directly to our team's fundraising page: Woodley Trial Solutions on JustGiving

Sources
[1] https://www.eurordis.org/information-support/what-is-a-rare-disease/