Registry to help patients in need of bone marrow transplants

Nearly 70 percent of patients needing a marrow transplant do not have a matching donor in their family, leaving minorities particularly vulnerable to finding a donor who can provide a perfect match of common tissue types, according to Be the Match®, a movement that engages the public to help patients in need of bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants.

To increase registration of members from all racial and ethnic backgrounds in the Be the Match Registry(SM), the world's largest and most diverse marrow donor registry, Be the Match will join the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) and New York-based financial technology company Reval in sponsoring a Marrow Donor Registration Drive from 9 am to 5 pm on Friday, October 2 in the MLK Student Union, Multicultural Center of Heller Lounge at the University of California, Berkeley.

Currently, Be the Match Registry has over seven million members who could potentially donate marrow or cord blood for transplants used to treat patients with life-threatening blood, immune system or genetic disorders. Three-year-old Finn Okochi, who is the son of UC Berkeley alumnus and Reval CEO and Co-founder Jiro Okochi, was born with a rare and usually fatal genetic disorder, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome. Okochi found a perfect match for his son, who is half Japanese, among the rare three percent of registry members who are multiracial.

Registration is free, requires a simple cheek swab, and requires registrants to be between 18 and 60 years old and in good health. Educational materials and registrant briefings will be available.

WHO: Be the Match®, a movement that engages the public to help patients in need of bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants, will join sponsors Reval, a NY-based financial technology company, and the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC), Berkeley.

WHAT: A Marrow Donor Registration Drive for the Be the Match Registry(SM), the world's largest and most diverse marrow donor registry.

WHEN: Friday, October 2, 2009 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

WHERE: MLK Student Union, Multicultural Center, Heller Lounge at the University of California, Berkeley.

WHY: To increase registration of members from all racial and ethnic backgrounds in Be the Match registry.

HOW: Registration is free, requires a simple cheek swab, and requires registrants to be between 18 and 60 years old and in good health. Educational materials and registrant briefings will be available.