TWiPO #24 ~ Cord Blood Banking: Interview with Machi Scaradavou

March
06, 2012
Dr. Tim Cripe welcomes Dr. Andy Kolb from AI
DuPont in this episode of TWiPO, and special guest Dr. Andromachi Scaradavou,
the Medical Director of New York Blood Center's National Cord Blood Program.
NYBC is the world's oldest and largest public
cord blood bank, and collects, processes, tests and stores cord blood that
mothers donate shortly after birth. The cord blood is for children and adults
with no related donor available who need a hematopoietic stem cell transplant
for life-threatening illnesses. More than 60,000 units are stored at NYBC and
more than 4500 units have been provided for transplants worldwide. The variety
of ethic groups represented is much higher in cord blood banking than in bone
marrow donor programs. The percentage of use is climbing significantly for
pediatric transplants partly because of the small dose required.
Discussants cover many aspects of this
fascinating subject: background and uses of cord blood, logistics of
collecting, processing, storing, and selecting units for transplants, as well
as the advantages and challenges currently faced in this field. For more on
NYBC seehttp://www.nationalcordbloodprogram.org/
We welcome all questions or comments at
twipo@solvingkidscancer.org