Program promotes bone marrow donation









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Robert Bociek, M.D.

“Bone Marrow Transplant Saved My Life — Raising Awareness to Register” is the topic of a panel discussion for the Oct. 28 Schwartz Center Rounds to kick off November, National Marrow Awareness Month.

The UNMC College of Public Health service learning project, “Decreasing the Donor Deficit,” will host the panel from noon to 12:50 p.m., in Sorrell Center, Room 2010. Lunch will be provided for the first 60 attendees.

A panel discussion will be held with:

  • Donna Baldwin, bone marrow recipient.
  • Louise Moss, friend of recipient and representative of the Bunko Girls.
  • Greg Bociek, M.D., associate professor of medicine and the director of the fellowship program in the division of hematology/oncology at UNMC.
  • Ben Cross, second-year medical student, “Decreasing the Donor Deficit” co-president.

Since the 2013-2014 academic year, 52 students registered 239 new bone marrow donation registrants. Since the program’s inception, roughly 150 students have registered more than 400 donors.

Decreasing the Donor Deficit, a legacy project of the Service Learning Academy in the College of Public Health, works to increase the number of bone marrow donors from racial and ethnic minority populations. Significant health disparity exists in bone marrow donor registrants. Students promote and advocate the need for bone marrow donors to community members and help enroll new members in the “Be the Match Registry,” the National Marrow Donor Program.

Schwartz Center Rounds are open to all employees, affiliated clinicians, trainees and other authorized personnel.