Gift of Life The Need to Democratize The Marrow Registry - How HBCU Students Can Save a Life
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Hello! My name is Jaquaveon Payton and I am a rising senior at Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi. This year I am interning with Gift of Life Marrow Registry, a national blood stem cell and marrow registry that finds matching donors for patients battling diseases like leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell, and inherited immune disorders.
As an intern, my role is to educate my peers on the need to grow and democratize the registry. Many blood cancer patients lose their lives because no matching stem cell or marrow donor is found in the worldwide registry. Matches, like hair and eye color, are based on inherited factors, so the best chance of a match is with someone of the same genetic heritage. But there are too few African Americans in the registry to save the lives of every patient. The numbers are staggering: 75% of African Americans and 75% of multi-racial individuals do not have a perfectly matched donor in the worldwide registry. We can change these numbers simply by joining the registry and donating stem cells if matched with a patient.
I am interested in partnering together on an educational, service learning initiative that will teach our students about the registry and give them the opportunity to potentially save a life. I am open to ideas of how we can work together virtually.
For these patients, time is of the essence. Currently, we are trying to find a match for an 18-year-old named Saxton who has no available matches in the registry.
Please contact tackerman@giftoflife.com to further discuss how to bring Gift of Life to your campus or visit https://www.giftoflife.org/dc/Jaquaveo
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