Press releases

Yale-New Haven Hospital news release
Release date: Oct. 30, 2006
Media contact: Mark D’Antonio, (203) 688-2493

Hospital teams up with WFSB Channel 3 for bone marrow donor drive

NEW HAVEN -- Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) and WFSB Eyewitness News Channel 3 and the National Marrow Donor Program-New England (NMDP-NE) have teamed up for their third annual, two-location bone marrow donor drive in the New Haven and Hartford areas on Friday, Nov. 17. November is National Marrow Donor Month.

This year’s drives will take place at Wal-Mart, 495 Flatbush Avenue in Hartford and at Yale-New Haven Hospital’s East Pavilion Cafeteria, 20 York Street, New Haven, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Rebecca Lobo, former UConn women’s basketball star and staunch supporter of bone marrow donor registry, is helping to promote the drive and is scheduled to visit YNHH the day of the drive. Eyewitness News personalities will visit both locations that day.

“Last year’s donor drive with WFSB and the New England Marrow Donor program saw our program reach new levels in terms of helping find donor matches, and increase the number of potential donors entered onto the national registry,” said Dennis Cooper, M.D., medical oncologist and director of the bone marrow-stem cell transplant program at Yale-New Haven Hospital. “Our goals continue to be to help spread the word on how easy it is to join, and how you can directly help save a life.”

A transplant requires matching tissue types between the patient and donor. Tissue types are inherited, and 70 percent of patients do not have a matched donor in their family. These patients and those without siblings turn to the National Marrow Donor Program Registry to find a match. If a donor-recipient match is found, the process of donating is now easier and virtually painless. Where in years past, patients were required to donate actual marrow, donating now is as easy as donating blood.

“Last year’s efforts produced wonderful results, exceeding everyone’s expectations,” said Klarn Depalma, WFSB vice president and general manager. “We added several hundred names to the registry and increased awareness of the need for more diversity among registrants. I hope that even more people hear our message this year and decide to sign-up for a very special act of generosity and compassion.”

While the National Marrow Donor Program ( NMDP ) welcomes everyone who is willing to volunteer, there is a critical need for more multi-race donors and those of various ethnic backgrounds to help the many patients searching the NMDP registry. One of the NMDP's goal is to ensure that every patient has the best chance of finding an unrelated marrow donor. Currently, African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latinos, American Indians and all multi-race donors are extremely under-represented on the NMDP Registry.

Potential donors will watch a short video explaining the process. They will complete a consent form, fill out a health questionnaire. They will also be asked to donate a sample of their DNA through a mouth swab on a Q-Tip. Donors must be between the ages of 18 and 60 and in reasonably good health.

By the end of this year, it is expected that 45 patients will have received a bone marrow transplant at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Nationally, the National Marrow Donor Program Registry facilitates almost 2,500 annually. The NMDP registry includes more than 5.5 million people who have volunteered to donate marrow or blood cells to any patient, anywhere in the world.

“We’re thrilled that Yale-New Haven and WFSB Channel 3 Eyewitness News are again teaming up to offer bone marrow testing,” said Vicki Connors, director, NMDP of New England. “Their generosity offers hope to the thousands of patients in need of a transplant and we’re proud to work with them again on November 17.”

For more information on the donor drives, email Susan Faraone, R.N., allogeneic stem cell transplant coordinator at YNHH, at susan.faraone@ynhh.org, or call Stephanie Turner at WFSB Channel 3, (860) 244-1606. For more information on becoming a donor, please call the New England Marrow Donor Program at (800) 676-4545, or check out the NMDP website at www.marrow.org.

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Last revised: Oct. 30, 2006 (dh)

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