Imagine a loved one on their deathbed, in need of blood stem cell therapy. If you are white you have a 79% chance of finding a match to your cell type; if you are Black you have a 29% chance. And thats not the only disparity.
This is where Erica Jensen, the senior vice president of member engagement, enrollment and experience at Be The Match, comes in.
For young white 18- to 24-year-old donors, they will be available when we call them like 67% of the time, she said. For the same age demographic, Black donors, they will be available about 29% of the time. So we have a second barrier or hurdle that we have to overcome.
Jensen described the case of 14-year-old Mikayla, a young African American teen in Minnesota who has been living with sickle cell disease (SCD). She was born with SCD, which is inherited, and has been living with the pain of it her entire life.
The only cure for SCD is a blood stem cell transplant; the donor likely needs to be someone who shares her ethnic background.
A match from the same family only happens 30% of the time.
We are trying to do everything we can to support patients like Mikayla, Jensen said.
Be The Match is a Minneapolis-based organization focused on helping people, especially the BIPOC community, find a match for blood stem cell transplants.
Be The Match realizes cancer doesnt discriminate and everyone should have access to the transplants that are necessary to live. This is what the company is striving to change by including more BIPOC employees on their staff and working with community partners, such as local churches and young adult organizations.
They also work with Future Health Professionals, or HOSA, an organization for young adults of color interested in health care, and advocate for Be the Match on TikTok and Instagram by targeting young adults.
Adding more BIPOC volunteers to the registry is one challenge but there are others.
When we find a match for you, can we get that person to commit to come in and go through the confirmatory typing that we do through a blood draw, to go through the physical exam, and then to commit to doing the actual donation process? Jensen said.
Jensen said donor safety is just as important as patient safety.
Were in the business of saving lives, she said. And were not going to risk one for the other.
Before scheduling a donation, Be The Match makes sure the donor is super healthy, able to regenerate cells with no problem and can go through the complete process.
A third challenge, Jensen said, relates to patient education. The third one, attainability, is really about the patients as to how we are making sure theres equal access to information to grants and funding, to an understanding about the cures that this can have, so that people know that they can ask, so patients can self-advocate for them to be able to get a transplant.
These reports were written by ThreeSixty Journalisms summer 2022 News Reporter Academy high school students. The academy and its theme of holistic health equity were supported by Center for Prevention at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, which connected students with story topics and sources.
ThreeSixty Journalism is leading the way in developing multicultural storytellers in the media arts industry. The program is a loudspeaker for underheard voices, where highly motivated high school students discover the power of voice and develop their own within ThreeSixtys immersive college success programming. Launched in 1971 as an Urban Journalism Workshop chapter, since 2001 the program has been part of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas. To learn more about ThreeSixty Journalism, visit threesixty.stthomas.edu.
View original post here:
ThreeSixty Journalism: Be The Match works to build equity in access to bone marrow and cord blood transplants - St. Paul Pioneer Press
- Stem cell treatment after spinal cord injury: The next steps - Mayo Clinic - December 18th, 2022
- A CRISPR Alternative for Correcting Mutations That Sensitize Cells to DNA Damage - The Scientist - October 13th, 2022
- The Switch to Regenerative Medicine - Dermatology Times - October 13th, 2022
- A history of blood cancer treatment - - pharmaphorum - September 16th, 2022
- What Are Zombie Cells? Here's How They Impact Aging - Prevention Magazine - September 8th, 2022
- Zhang and colleagues win an $11.2 million NIH program project grant (PPG) - News - University of Alabama at Birmingham - August 22nd, 2022
- Kyle Vining: Appointment to Faculty of Penn Dental Medicine and Penn School of Engineering and Applied Science - University of Pennsylvania - August 22nd, 2022
- Gamida Cell Announces Dosing of First Patient in Company-Sponsored Phase 1/2 Study of NK Cell Therapy Candidate GDA-201 - Business Wire - August 14th, 2022
- Engineers develop new tool that will allow for more personalized cell therapies - UMN News - July 27th, 2022
- University of Minnesota scientist responds to fraud allegations in Alzheimer's research - Star Tribune - July 27th, 2022
- Accelerating Transformational Research into Cell Transplantation for Patients with Type 1 Diabetes - UCSF - July 27th, 2022
- TC BioPharm Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board with Renowned Cell Therapy Experts - GuruFocus.com - July 11th, 2022
- Witt Wolfpack: Family works out fundraising and awareness after La Jollan's ALS diagnosis - La Jolla Light - July 11th, 2022
- Pluripotent stem cellderived NK cells with high-affinity noncleavable ... - July 3rd, 2022
- Life-saving lecture: Auburn student uses lessons from class to help discover father's brain tumor - Office of Communications and Marketing - June 22nd, 2022
- Bluebird's future in balance as FDA weighs gene therapy approvals - BioPharma Dive - June 13th, 2022
- Be the Match is looking for more ethnically diverse donors to help patients with blood cancers and diseases - KARE11.com - June 4th, 2022
- Minnesota woman reunites with teenager she saved through Be The Match transplant - KSTP - April 19th, 2022
- Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Their Potential for ... - November 22nd, 2021
- Cells or drugs? The race to regenerate the heart - Scientific American - November 8th, 2021
- Four-year-old with rare disease finally gets historic gene therapy treatment - KARE11.com - October 5th, 2021
- Caribou Biosciences Appoints Biotechnology Industry Veteran Ran Zheng to its Board of Directors - Stockhouse - October 5th, 2021
- EDITORIAL: The need is vast. Consider becoming an organ donor. - Yahoo News - August 18th, 2021
- Our View: The need is vast. Consider becoming an organ donor. - PostBulletin.com - August 18th, 2021
- Negrin Shines Light on the Orca-T Story in GVHD - OncLive - December 11th, 2020
- COVID-19 and the trials of treatment | News, Sports, Jobs - Escanaba Daily Press - October 16th, 2020
- NMDP/Be The Match partners with M Health Fairview and Duke University cryopreservation labs to launch Be The Match BioBank - Watauga Democrat - October 7th, 2020
- Berks County's first STEM-themed attraction opens, delights visitors young and old - Reading Eagle - October 7th, 2020
- Coronavirus Thursday update: UMN announces new stem cell ... - August 16th, 2020
- University of Minnesota launches stem cell trial against ... - August 16th, 2020
- University of Minnesota launches stem cell trial against severe COVID-19 - Minneapolis Star Tribune - August 16th, 2020
- Biotechnology Could Change the Cattle Industry. Will It Succeed? - Singularity Hub - August 16th, 2020
- Fate Therapeutics Announces First Patient Treated in First-in-human Clinical Trial of FT596 and Provides Corporate Update - Yahoo Finance - April 4th, 2020
- A word for those risking their lives amid the coronavirus crisis: Thanks - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press - April 4th, 2020
- Coronavirus is similar to SARS and causes infection through a heart regulating enzyme: Study - International Business Times, Singapore Edition - February 4th, 2020
- Why Sangamo Therapeutics Stock Sank Today - The Motley Fool - December 13th, 2019
- Hoeven's bill supports alternative therapy for veterans with PTSD, traumatic brain injury - Ripon Advance - October 1st, 2019
- Stem-cell treatment gives two brothers a future ... - March 3rd, 2019
- The Promise of Stem Cells | Stem Cell Institute ... - August 29th, 2018
- 2018 Regenerative Medicine Minnesota Research Awards - August 17th, 2018
- FDA cracks down on stem cell clinics - CNN - August 29th, 2017
- Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota develop 'robocop' stem cells to fight cancer - Minneapolis Star Tribune - August 24th, 2017
- Cowboy Up Ride Against Cancer - Wahpeton Daily News - August 24th, 2017
- Cargill invests in 'clean meat' start-up - KARE - August 24th, 2017
- Stem-cell clinics are using a federal website as a marketing tool for unproven treatments, U of M bioethicist says - MinnPost - July 30th, 2017
- More than 60 US clinics have sold unproven stem cell therapies for heart failure - New York Post - July 30th, 2017
- Stemonix, a stem cell research firm, wins Minnesota Cup ... - November 27th, 2016
- Minnesotas Funding of Stem Cell Research Echoes Trend ... - October 29th, 2016
- Stem cell research Experts@Minnesota - October 18th, 2016
- Stem Cell FAQs - Minnesota Regenerative Medicine - October 7th, 2016
- Minnesota invests in regenerative medicine - Health Talk - October 7th, 2016
- Minnesota to resume umbilical cord blood donations ... - September 20th, 2016
- STEM Programs - Minnesota Zoo - September 5th, 2016
- Stem Cell Treatment - Minnesota Regenerative Medicine - August 18th, 2016
- Home - Minnesota Regenerative Medicine - August 18th, 2016
- Multipotent vs. pluripotent stem cells - Pathology Student - October 19th, 2015
- 2. Bone Marrow (Hematopoietic) Stem Cells [Stem Cell ... - October 19th, 2015
- Minnesota Man With ALS Hopes Stem Cells Save His Life ... - July 2nd, 2015
- Graduate Programs - MED - Stem Cell Institute, University ... - April 26th, 2015
- Atsushi Asakura, Ph.D. - MED - Stem Cell Institute ... - March 18th, 2015
- Bioelectricity Plays Key Role in Brain Development & Repair - March 13th, 2015
- Jakub Tolar, M.D., Ph.D. - MED - Stem Cell Institute ... - February 24th, 2015
- Stem Cell Web Focus - Nature Publishing Group : science ... - February 3rd, 2015
- Family: Experimental stem-cell treatment does wonders for Gordie Howe - December 20th, 2014
- Childrens hospital gets $25M - December 16th, 2014
- Stem Cell Malaysia Blog - December 12th, 2014
- Reduction of germ cells yields more zebrafish males - December 4th, 2014
- Cardio3 BioSciences Announces the Nomination of Three Co-Principal Investigators for Its CHART-2 Phase III Clinical ... - November 28th, 2014
- Mayo Clinic Researchers Identify First Steps in Formation of Pancreatic Cancer - November 10th, 2014
- Anti-Cancer Drug Effective Against Common Stem Cell Transplant Complication - October 24th, 2014
- $25M gift prompts University pediatric hospital name change - October 16th, 2014
- Becoming a blood stem cell or bone marrow donor ... - October 3rd, 2014
- New heart built with stem cells - YouTube - September 27th, 2014
- Cancer Survivor Saved by Measles Virus Raises Funds for Expanded Trial - September 12th, 2014
- Researchers find animal model for understudied type of muscular dystrophy - August 30th, 2014
- Minnesota Stem Cell Therapy | Stem Cell Treatments - August 29th, 2014
- Stem Cell FAQs - MED - Stem Cell Institute, University of ... - August 22nd, 2014
- Home - MED - Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota - August 22nd, 2014
- Stem cells | Health Sciences - University of Minnesota - August 22nd, 2014