Thanks to $600,000 from a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant, the Northwest Tissue Services will be able to add staff to its Cord Blood Program, conduct more research and increase recruitment efforts, especially in underrepresented ethnic groups.

Cord blood — the blood remaining in the umbilical cord and placenta after the birth of a baby – is rich in stem cells, which give rise to all blood cells. Cord blood is used to treat a number of illnesses and to help correct genetic disorders like sickle cell disease.

For people who have required bone marrow transplants to fight aplastic anemia, leukemia and other blood-related diseases, cord blood offers an important new option. Because chemotherapy destroys bone marrow along with the disease, donor stem cells are required to reestablish the marrow’s functions. Compatible tissue types can be limited to ethnic groups, so people of color may benefit greatly from the availability of compatible, banked cord blood. Collected without risk or pain, cord blood stem cells are easily matched to patients.

Also helping the Cord blood Program make an impact is a $150,000 gift from an anonymous Hawaiian donor. The money will make it possible to collect cord blood from new mothers at four medical institutions in Hawaii. This cord blood can then be distributed throughout the United States, wherever needed. For Asian and Pacific Islander patients, it means a better chance at finding a well-matched unit of cord blood for transplantation.

Dr. Jonathan Drachman, medical director of the Cord Blood Program, notes, “Our efforts are aimed at greatly increasing the usefulness of cord blood – and working to make stem cell transplantation a more readily available resource for people who aren’t candidates currently.”