{"id":8689,"date":"2021-01-18T19:18:52","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T19:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cdtrp.ca\/?p=8689"},"modified":"2023-05-09T07:40:39","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T12:40:39","slug":"stem-cell-club-highlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cdtrp.ca\/en\/stem-cell-club-highlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Stem Cell Club highlight: Awareness and education about the need for stem cell donors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Stem Cell Club highlight: Awareness and education about the need for stem cell donors<\/strong>
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Stem Cell Club<\/a> is a donor recruitment organization in Canada which works to address racial disparity in access to matched unrelated stem cell donors. The organization was founded in 2011 by Dr. Warren Fingrut<\/a> (photo), and, under his leadership, has expanded to include teams based at 27 universities, from coast-to-coast. As of September 2020, Stem Cell Club has recruited over 20,000 donors for the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry<\/strong>, of which 100% are between the ages of 17-35, >50% are male and >55% are non-Caucasian.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To support their national recruitment efforts, Stem Cell Club developed a number of tools, including a comprehensive training program for stem cell donor recruiters<\/a>, which includes modules, videos, and a workshop. Over 1800 volunteers<\/strong> have completed training with these materials. Stem Cell Club also developed and deployed these checklists<\/a> to support stem cell donor recruitment and these stem cell collection procedure diagrams<\/a> featuring diverse young-adult males as donors.<\/p>\n

Stem Cell Club also produces and publishes innovative multimedia resources<\/strong> to support the education and recruitment of committed stem cell donors. These include this whiteboard video series<\/a> (see video below), infographics, and TikToks<\/a> to support stem cell donor recruitment. Stem Cell Club also established and leads Why We Swab<\/strong>,<\/a> a library of stories in stem cell donation, which reports stories from stem cell donors and recipients, patients searching for a match, and their family members. The stories are told in the first-person narrative, and are optimized for publication across social media, where they are shared alongside the storyteller\u2019s photos\/videos. The library currently features >95 posts featuring >30 storytellers from a range of diverse ancestries, with new stories posted every week.<\/p>\n

Stem Cell Club also launched and leads a 370-member community of practice<\/strong><\/a> in stem cell donor recruitment in Canada which includes all national stakeholders in stem cell donor recruitment. This community has spearheaded multiple national donor recruitment campaigns which have secured national coverage<\/strong> including in Toronto Star<\/a> and in Toronto Sun<\/a> as well as >20 other press and TV\/radio media outlets in the past two years.<\/p>\n

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has not been possible to run in-person donor recruitment events in Canada and around the world. Stem Cell Club has adapted to support on virtual donor recruitment. The organization is spearheading a national virtual campaign in February 2021<\/strong> to engage Black people in Canada to be stem cell donors, and is also planning a virtual campaign in June 2021<\/strong> to engage gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) as stem cell donors.<\/p>\n

Overall, Stem Cell Club raises awareness and educates about the need for stem cell donors<\/strong> and the particular need for donors from diverse ethnic\/racial groups, supporting recruitment efforts. Their work contributes to a culture of donation in Canada.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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For more information on the Stem Cell Club and to get involved, visit the website here<\/a>.<\/h5>\n
Make sure you follow the Stem Cell Club on social media platforms!<\/h5>\n<\/div>
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