Article

A pioneering clinician scientist and a non governmental health organization: Gunduz Gedikoglu and Our Children Leukemia Foundation - OCLF of Turkey, in verge of celebrating Its 30th Anniversary in 2010

Meric A. Altinoz

Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics in Halic University, Merkez Campus, Buyukdere Cd No: 101, Mecidiyekoy – Istanbul, 34394 Turkey.

E-mail: maltinoz@gmail.com. Tel.: 90 212 275 4040. Fax: 90 212 271 8422.

Accepted 20 May, 2009

   Introduction

In year 2010, Turkey will celebrate its 30th anniversary of opening the first pediatric marrow transplantation unit at the “BCLV – Bizim Losemili Cocuklar Vakfi” – OCLF – Our Children Leukemia Foundation” under the patronage of the pediatric hematology professor, Dr. Gunduz Gedikoglu. The OCLF founded in 1980 has applied 1139 chemotherapies and 199 marrow / blood stem cell-transplantations until 2003 for children’s malignancies and marrow diseases. Thereafter, the foundation has focused on collecting funds for opening a dedicated hospital, which would also serve as a medical faculty for the foundation’s Halic university. Since its establishment, OCLF provided both as a health care facility in treatment of pediatric malignancies and marrow diseases and also as an education and research institution for many physicians, which had later served to establish and teach pediatric stem cell transplantation in diverse hospitals and cities throughout Turkey. Since the first brief report of proving the existence of heterochromatic regions on the human chromosomes in 1966 at the journal “Lancet”, the OCLF founder Dr. Gedikoglu published many original articles enriching Turkey’s contribution to the medical sciences. This article will briefly encompass the works of Dr. Gunduz Gedikoglu and his pioneering institution OCLF as a role model for establishing specialized non-governmental health care organizations in developing countries.