Versiti is connected to the Be The Match marrow donor registry, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. For nearly 30 years, they have been helping patients receive life-saving bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell transplants.
Be The Match
The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), also called Be The Match, has helped connect more than 60,000 unrelated marrow transplant donors. More than 14 million marrow donors are on the national registry.
Need
Every year, thousands of people of all ages are in desperate need of bone marrow transplants. Some of these patients, who suffer from aplastic anemia, leukemia, lymphoma or other cancers, are fortunate to have a family member who is a match. However, nearly 70% of patients depend on an unrelated donor with a compatible tissue type.
Eligibility
You may be eligible to join the Be The Match registry if you meet a specific set of requirements. If you are identified as a potential match for a patient, you will have a physical exam to ensure it is safe for you to donate and that your donation will benefit the patient.
View eligibility requirements.
Learn more about the donation process.
Diversity Matters
It’s still not enough. About 12,000 people need a marrow transplant, and only half receive one. Matches are most often found between people of similar ethnic backgrounds, which means that people of color often have difficulty finding a compatible donor within the registry. Increasing the diversity of the marrow donor registry is literally a matter of life and death; if more people from diverse ethnic backgrounds join the Be The Match registry, more people who need a life-saving transplant will find a match.
The likelihood of finding a donor is estimated at 23% for African-American patients, 46% for Hispanics or Latinos, 41% for Asian and Pacific Islanders, 57% for American Indian and Alaska Natives, and 77% for white patients.