Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ABMDR: Stem Cell Harvesting Center in Yerevan completed

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ABMDR: Stem Cell Harvesting Center in Yerevan completed

    PRESS RELEASE
    Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry
    3111 Los Feliz Avenue, #206,
    Los Angeles, CA 90039
    Contact person: Dr. Frieda Jordan
    Tel: 323-663-3609
    Email: [email protected]


    Stem Cell Harvesting Center in Yerevan completed

    Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry
    holds pre-opening celebration in Los Angeles


    Los Angeles, April 8, 2009 - On the evening of April 2, the Armenian

    Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR) held a cocktail reception in
    Glendale, California, to celebrate the upcoming opening of its Stem
    Cell Harvesting Center in Yerevan.

    The event, which was attended by supporters, ABMDR staff, and various
    committee members - all of whom volunteer for the registry - served
    as an opportunity to formally announce the much-anticipated launch of
    the Stem Cell Harvesting Center, inform guests of current and future
    ABMDR projects, and thank supporters for helping save lives through
    the registry.

    In her opening remarks, Dr. Frieda Jordan, president of the ABMDR
    Board of Directors, expressed her gratitude to the numerous
    individual and corporate supporters who have contributed to the
    registry's first-ever telethon, held on April 13, 2008. `Thanks to

    your timely assistance, the Stem Cell Harvesting Center at last
    became a reality,' Dr. Jordan said. `The project was realized despite
    being faced with so many challenges - including the Russo-Georgian
    war last year, because of which manufacturers could not deliver to
    Yerevan the machines we had purchased for the Stem Cell Harvesting
    Center.' She said this particular issue was eventually solved by the
    United Armenian Fund, which transported all the required equipment to
    Armenia.

    `With the opening of the Stem Cell Harvesting Center, we can now save
    Armenian and non-Armenian lives easily and cheaply,' Dr. Jordan
    continued. `This is why it's so critical to continue supporting the
    work of the ABMDR. In this respect, our next major project is the
    establishment of a transplant center.'

    Two years in the making, the Stem Cell Harvesting Center was made
    possible through lead gifts by ABMDR Board member Dr. Carolann
    Najarian, an anonymous donor, and the Glendale Sunrise Rotary,
    followed by contributions from the Lincy Foundation, the Disney
    Foundation, VivaCell of Armenia, and various Armenian organizations,
    as well as hundreds of donors responding to the ABMDR Telethon. With
    a total of $850,000 raised, the registry was able to fully renovate
    the Stem Cell Harvesting Center site, provide it with state-of-the-
    art equipment, and train personnel. Slated to open on April 28, the
    center is expected to receive full accreditation by the European
    Federation of Immunogenetics.

    According to Dr. Vergine Madenlian, the ABMDR's outreach and
    development officer and a biochemistry lecturer at California State
    University, Northridge, the opening of the Stem Cell Harvesting
    Center is a medical milestone not only for Armenia and the Caucasus,
    but Armenians throughout the world. The center recruits bone marrow/
    stem cell donors from predominantly Armenian populations worldwide,
    analyzes and determines the HLA tissue type of donors, and maintains
    a database. Once it receives a request from a patient requiring stem
    cell transplantation, the ABMDR finds matches in its own or other
    registries worldwide and facilitates the transplantation.

    Dr. Madenlian, who has volunteered for the ABMDR since 2004, added
    that 50 percent of the registry's over 14,000 donors are below 28
    years old, making the ABMDR internationally recognized as one of the
    world's most dynamic - and healthiest - registries. `It's just one
    more reason that makes volunteering for the ABMDR such a spiritually
    rewarding experience,' she said.

    Following Dr. Jordan's address, Alicia Asmarian, Naz Atikian, and Ani
    Azar of the ABMDR announced the registry's annual gala, `Match For
    Life 2009,' which will be held on July 12 at the Glendale Hilton. The
    event will raise funds for advocacy, education, and the registry's
    ongoing life-saving services.

    Next to take the podium were Dr. Evelyn Baghdasarian and Lilit
    Aladadyan of the ABMDR, who informed the guests of the registry's
    next walkathon, `Walk of Life 2009,' slated to take place on October
    3 at Glendale's Verdugo Park. The event, which will include
    entertainment, music, and dancing, is being organized to raise funds
    for the registry's activities as well as to recruit stem cell donors.

    For an inside look at the ABMDR's work, Fimi Mekhitarian, a longtime
    volunteer and West Coast recruitment officer, spoke of a recent
    FaceBook appeal for a 21-year-old Armenian man diagnosed with acute
    leukemia and requiring an urgent stem cell transplant. `There's been
    an outpouring of grassroots support following the appeal,'
    Mekhitarian said. `Today the young man's family and friends are
    organizing a stem cell donor recruitment, and this is where we come
    in. In fact, we have recruitments lined up for San Francisco,
    Chicago, and Florida. We're literally having a field day recruiting
    donors.'

    The evening's speakers also included Dr. Stuart Siegal, an early
    ABMDR supporters who has had an instrumental role in helping Dr.
    Jordan establish the registry. Commenting on the launch of the Stem
    Cell Harvesting Center, Dr. Siegal said, `One of the most wonderful
    outcomes of this project is that you see tangible results in terms of
    saving lives.'

    Among the evening's guest were many who have been impacted by life-
    threatening, blood-related illnesses. One such individual was Razmik
    Moghadasian, whose nine-year-old son lost his battle with leukemia in
    2007. Even though a stem cell donor was found through the ABMDR at
    that time, a relapse in the child's condition prevented a transplant.

    `I see the ABMDR as an insurance policy for everyone,' said
    Moghadasian, who has since volunteered for the ABMDR. `If everyone
    had a donor [through the registry], everyone would be safe.'


    About the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry: Established in 1999,
    the ABMDR, a nonprofit organization, helps Armenians worldwide
    survive life-threatening blood-related illnesses by recruiting and
    matching donors to those requiring bone marrow stem cell transplants.

    To date, the registry has recruited over 14,000 donors across three
    continents, identified 1,276 patients, found 821 potential matches,
    and facilitated nine bone marrow transplants.


    For more information, call (323) 663-3609 or visit abmdr.am.

    # # #
Working...
X