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Stories of hope, foundation updates, and news from the bone marrow donation community.

Jeana beside the British Columbia welcome sign, her pack on, smiling into the camera, on September 23, 2026.
Featured
Events
1 min read

The walk now goes through Tsawwassen, and is back on schedule in Victoria

Jeana had a cold, so the Vancouver stops were canceled and the walk turned toward Tsawwassen. She still went to Vancouver on September 25, for a Canadian Blood Services stem cell drive at the University of British Columbia that CTV Vancouver and CityNews Vancouver covered. She reached Tsawwassen on Sunday, September 27, and held two Bone Marrow Awareness Days there, in the traditional territory of the Tsawwassen First Nation. She took the ferry to Swartz Bay on Wednesday, September 30, and walked through Sidney and Saanichton to Victoria, which she reached on Saturday, October 3, a day ahead of plan. From Victoria she walked on around the Olympic Peninsula and Hood Canal, and finished at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia on October 20.

Jay Womack MSITM
Illustration of two routes to one amber destination, one broad and worn, the other narrow stepping stones separated by wide dark gaps
Featured
Educational
4 min read

Sickle Cell, Transplant and Gene Therapy: What a Cure Actually Costs

Gene therapy for sickle cell disease was approved three years ago and remains out of reach for most patients. A published cost-effectiveness analysis found stem cell transplantation the more cost-effective option for adults. Here is how the two compare, ahead of Sickle Cell Awareness Month.

Jay Womack MSITM

All Articles

Illustration of a broad amber-lit doorway standing open in a deep teal wall, light spilling out toward two distant figures walking in
Educational
5 min

"Not a Perfect Match" Is No Longer a Dead End

A drug given after transplant, not before, has made mismatched unrelated donors a workable option. In the NMDP-sponsored ACCESS trial, one-year survival with donors matched at 4/8 to 7/8 was comparable to the historical benchmark for fully matched donors. Here is what that does and does not mean.

Jay Womack MSITM
How to Host a Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive
Events
9 min

How to Host a Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive

Thinking about hosting a bone marrow donor registration drive? Here is a warm, practical walkthrough: choose your audience and venue, help people find the right registry for their country, keep the sign-up moment simple, and follow up without pressure.

Jay Womack, MSITM
Why Black and African American Bone Marrow Donors Are Needed
Educational
10 min

Why Black and African American Bone Marrow Donors Are Needed

Black and African American patients face the longest odds of finding a matched bone marrow donor. The reason is genetic, not personal, and it is something communities can change. Here is the science behind the match gap, why it matters for blood cancers and sickle cell disease, and how to help…

Jay Womack, MSITM
Cord Blood Awareness Month: What Public Cord Blood Donation Means
Educational
7 min

Cord Blood Awareness Month: What Public Cord Blood Donation Means

Each July, Cord Blood Awareness Month shines a light on a resource that is often discarded after birth. Here is a plain-language guide to what cord blood is, the difference between public donation and private storage, who it can help, and how it connects to the marrow and stem cell registries.

Jay Womack, MSITM
Help NMDP celebrate 150,000 lives impacted
Foundation News
3 min

What 150,000 Transplants Actually Represents

NMDP passed a milestone: roughly 150,000 lives reached through the federally funded C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program since 1987. Large round numbers are easy to print and hard to feel. Here is what this one is actually counting.

Jay Womack MSITM
Join the bone marrow registry

Become a Potential Match

Joining a registry can make you available as a potential match for a patient who needs a transplant. JBF helps you find the official registry that serves your country.

Join through NMDPFor people who live in the United StatesLive somewhere else?Find Your Registry
The flyer: STOP BLOOD CANCER set in tall letters over a dark plum page, a quote, and a QR code beside a text-to-join line for the U.S.One standing face of the table tent: the same headline and quote on the left, a large QR code on the right.

Take it off the screen

Print it. Put it where people already stand.

A coffee counter, a church foyer, a break room, a race table. Every sheet carries the code that opens Jeana’s walk, and a number to text for anyone who would rather not scan — no app, no wifi, nothing to hand back.Every sheet carries the code that opens Jeana’s walk — nothing to install, nothing to hand back. The number to text printed beside it is for joining NMDP, which registers people who live in the U.S., its territories and the freely associated states. If you live anywhere else, find your country’s registry.

Everything else for running a drive

Rather be the one at the table?

Host a registration drive at your school, work or place of worship, raise funds, or lend a skill. Tell us what you have in mind and we will help you plan it.

Ways to volunteerHost a registration drive