Latest News
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
A Quick Swab for a Good Cause
ICLA on the News :: May 04, 2012
Dr. L. Dawn Christian will be opening her office on Saturday for residents to participate in a bone marrow drive for minority patients in need. On Saturday, May 5, residents can help make a difference, and it will just take a few minutes of your time. The Icla da Silva Foundation needs your help to find bone marrow matches. The procedure is simple. All you have to do is show up at the office of dentist L. Dawn Christian on Valley Street in South Orange. Dr. Christian will take a swab from the inside of your cheek which will provide the foundation with enough information to know whether or not you are a match for someone in need of a transplant. In 1992, the Icla da Silva Foundation was created in memory of a thirteen- year-old Brazilian girl with the same name. She battled with leukemia and was in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. After three years and no suitable matches...
Read moreNewfield High School Holds Bone Marrow Drive for Board of Education Employee
ICLA on the News :: Apr 03, 2012
NEW YORK, March 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- On Saturday, April 7th, 2012 from 12pm to 5pm the Newfield High School will host a Bone Marrow Drive to help find a compatible marrow donor for Board of Education employee Dianne Martinez. Dianne is a very caring and beautiful 39-year-old Hispanic woman who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in January of 2012. Dianne's only hope for a cure is a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately no one in her family is a match. Now she depends on the Be the Match Registry to find a donor who can give her a chance for a cure. Because she is Hispanic, her best chance for a match is someone who is also of Hispanic racial/ethnic background. The Be the Match Registry, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program, is the world's largest and most diverse bone marrow donor registry with more than 9 million donors. According to the Be The Match Registry, 70 percent of all patients...
Read morePurdue University North Central Students Host Bone Marrow Registry Drive
ICLA on the News :: Mar 24, 2012
Members of the Purdue University North Central Astronomy Club and the "Be The Match Registry" will host a bone marrow registry drive on April 16, 17 and 18 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Library-Student-Faculty Building, just outside Room 114. The National Marrow Donor Program, also known as "Be The Match Registry," provides people with the opportunity to save a life by donating marrow to persons with leukemia or other life-threatening diseases in the United States who are waiting bone marrow transplants. Interested individuals may speed up the process by pre-registering on April 2 and 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. just outside of Room 114. Those who pre-register will be asked to return on April 16, 17 or 18 to take part in the actual collection drive. At that time, each potential donor will have the inside of their mouth swabbed. The swab will be sent to a lab to be analyzed to see if the person is...
Read moreBraun: Leukemia-stricken girl overcomes odds, U.S. immigration red tape to beat disease
ICLA on the News :: Feb 22, 2012
Gisselle Bonilla, a little girl of 7, has saved the life of her younger sister Yarelis. "Absolutely, that’s true," says Peri Kamalakar, Yarelis Bonilla’s doctor. He is the director of pediatric hematology and oncology at Barnabas Health and head of the Valerie Fund Medical Center there. Yarelis, 5, is scheduled to be discharged this afternoon from Hackensack University Medical Center after receiving a bone marrow transplant from Gisselle on Jan. 24. Yarelis suffers from acute lymphocytic leukemia. "We thought Yarelis would have to stay longer," Kamalakar says. "But she has done so well she can come home a little earlier. She is getting stronger." She is "in a state of remission," says the cancer specialist. "Her bone marrow is now producing normal cells, and so we can say the transplant was a success. We are not finding leukemic, abnormal cells." This good news almost didn’t happen. Yarelis’ condition was diagnosed in August. Soon after, Gisselle, a citizen of El Salvador, was twice denied a visa to...
Read moreWhat You Should Know About Storing Your Baby's Cord Blood Breakfast
ICLA Press Releases :: Jan 30, 2012
Like bone barrow, cord blood is rich in the blood-forming cells that can be used in transplants for patients with leukemia, lymphoma and many other life-threatening diseases. If it is not donated to a public cord blood bank or stored for private use, the umbilical cord is discarded. Although the Be The Match Registry has stored over 150,000 units of cord blood, many mothers-to-be are unsure of their options and don’t have all of the necessary information needed to make an informed decision on what to do with their baby’s cord blood. The Icla da Silva Foundation is excited to announce that it is hosting a free Breakfast Series with professional guest speakers who will answer questions, and provide information about storing and donating cord blood. The free breakfasts are to create awareness of the importance of knowing the options for cord blood donation. During these informational breakfasts the differences between public and private blood storage, how and where to donate,...
Read more