Vanderbilt University will look within the borders of its own campus for potential bone marrow donors during a registry drive on Thursday, April 7. Each year, more than 35,000 children and adults in the United States are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases for which a marrow or blood cell transplant could be a cure.
However, 70 percent of patients do not have a viable donor within their family and must look to the national registry for a match, according to the National Marrow Donor Program. Vanderbilt is encouraging its more than 18,500 faculty and staff members to be screened as potential donors, a process that requires completing a health questionnaire and giving a blood sample.
The registry drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Branscomb Rec Room. For more information about the effort, contact Lori Graves at 421-4792.
WHAT: MarrowThon 2005
WHERE: Branscomb Rec Room. The Branscomb dormitory is located on Vanderbilt Place, off of 25th Avenue South, next to the Schulman Center.
WHEN: April 7, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Media contact: Kara Furlong, (615) 322-2706
kara.c.furlong@vanderbilt.edu