The Windsor Star
November 16, 2009

University students offer hope to patients on stem cell, bone marrow registry

University of Windsor student Jillian Popovich, 20, uses a swab Monday, Nov. 16, to collect her DNA sample, which will be placed in the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network. Observing was Andrea Sulyok, the director in charge of volunteers with the Katelyn Bedard Bone Marrow Association.

Jillian Popovich didn’t have to think twice about joining the stem cell and bone marrow registry.

Her father, a cancer patient, was among the lucky ones who found a stem cell match within his family. He will be undergoing a transplant early next year.

But more than 800 Canadians with life-threatening diseases, such as leukemia, are still waiting for a match. Now, Popovich may be able to help one of them.

The 20-year-old University of Windsor student and many of her peers lined up Monday to have their DNA samples collected at a blood donation clinic set up at the CAW Student Centre. After a simple cheek swab, Popovich’s genetic profile will be developed in a lab and compared against patients in desperate need of a stem cell or bone marrow transplant.

Canadian Blood Services, the Katelyn Bedard Bone Marrow Association and the Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority teamed up for the day to target young people of various ethnic backgrounds in an effort to diversify the country’s OneMatch stem cell and marrow network. The event was part of National Stem Cell Awareness Week.

Stem cells, found in the bloodstream and bone marrow, are used to grow new cells, tissues and organs, repairing or replacing those damaged by injury and disease.

Universities have been a great resource, with numerous students willing to add their names to the list of potential donors, said OneMatch director Jennifer Phillippe.

“I could help save a life,” said U of W philosophy student Stephen St. John, 20, after signing up with OneMatch. “I hope that someone else would do the same for me if I needed (a transplant).”

Phillippe said only 30 per cent of people who need a stem cell transplant will find a match among their family members. The rest have to rely on unrelated donors.

There are 11 million potential donors registered worldwide, more than 220,000 of them in Canada.

Phillippe said awareness about bone marrow and stem cell transplants is growing, but there is still a lack of ethnically diverse donors. Since a patient has a better chance of finding a match within his or her ethnic group, OneMatch has been reaching out to ethnic communities and encouraging their members to join the registry.

Community-based organizations, such as the Katelyn Bedard Bone Marrow Association, make it possible for OneMatch to get the word out, Phillippe said.

Joanne Bedard and her husband Bryan founded the association in 2005 after losing their three-year-old daughter Katelyn to leukemia before a match could be found on the worldwide bone marrow registry. After Katelyn died, her parents vowed to educate others about the importance of becoming a donor. The association grew quickly and now provides financial support to patients undergoing bone marrow transplants and helps sponsor related research.

“We are really grateful to all the people who join (the registry),” Bedard said. “The pain of losing Katie never goes away. But every time someone signs up, the pain eases just a little bit.”

Story by Sonja Puzic
Photo by Scott Webster

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