Karelian Registry of unrelated donors of hematopoietic stem cells

The mission of the Karelian Registry is to save lives. Transplantation of bone marrow is the only chance to save many people, in particular, kids and teenagers, who suffer from leukemia and other deadly diseases. The more people we list as marrow donors, the more chances we give to thousands yet incurable patients, whom we are able to help. Whom do we aid? The Karelian Registry finds compatible donors for the patients who urgently need bone marrow transplantation. An acceptable bone marrow donor is very hard to find: on average, only 1 of 10 000 donors is compatible. Donors from abroad are genetically different from Russian people, and the number of donors from Russia is still very s... read more The mission of the Karelian Registry is to save lives. Transplantation of bone marrow is the only chance to save many people, in particular, kids and teenagers, who suffer from leukemia and other deadly diseases. The more people we list as marrow donors, the more chances we give to thousands yet incurable patients, whom we are able to help. Whom do we aid? The Karelian Registry finds compatible donors for the patients who urgently need bone marrow transplantation. An acceptable bone marrow donor is very hard to find: on average, only 1 of 10 000 donors is compatible. Donors from abroad are genetically different from Russian people, and the number of donors from Russia is still very small. Thus, the main aim of the Karelian Registry is to dramatically increase the number of bone marrow donors in Russia. We are moving towards this aim in the following ways: (i) Telling people about bone marrow donorship, destroying myths and fears of transplantation and donorship, evaluating risks for the donor and for the patient, we facilitate more and more people to become deliberately listed as bone marrow donors. (ii) Growing the donor database, we give hope to the growing number of patients, who suffer from leukemia and other blood disorders, and whose only chance is bone marrow transplantation. (iii) Working in a wide team of volunteers to aid those, who desperately need help, we construct an honest professional environment based on humanism, voluntariness, and unmercenariness, which allows the team members to implement their demands for self-fulfilment, self- and mutual respect. (iv) Giving our business partners and philanthropists an opportunity to take part in charitable programs, we allow them to increase their self-esteem and gain respect from the society. How many patients in Russia need bone marrow transplantation? More than 4,000 people need the transplantation every year, and only less than 20% of them can find a related donor. With only 45,000 donors listed, less than 200 unrelated transplantations are performed in Russia. As many as 4,000,000 bone marrow donors are required for Russia. What are the unique features of the Karelian Registry? The Karelian Registry the only non-state registry of bone marrow donors in Russia. The Registry has great experience in donor recruiting and in searches for compatible donors. The donors listed in the Registry are available worldwide. The Registry is a member of The World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA), Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide (BMDW), Bone Marrow Donor Search system of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Armenia (BMDS). The Karelian Registry is registered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).