NMDP Foundation

Patient Assistance: NMDP Foundation PROVIDES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO PATIENTS THROUGHOUT EACH STAGE OF THE TRANSPLANT PROCESS. FUNDED BY PHILANTHROPY, IN FY23 MORE THAN $5.3 MILLION WAS PROVIDED TO OVER 2,600 PATIENTS FROM 155 TRANSPLANT CENTERS. IN FY23 THE PROPORTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS WHO IDENTIFIED AS NON-HISPANIC WHITE RANGED FROM 0%-65% DEPENDING ON THE GRANT TYPE. FOR THE SICKLE CELL FERTILITY PRESERVATION GRANT, WHICH HELPS PAY FOR FERTILITY PRESERVATION AND STORAGE PRE-TRANSPLANT FOR SICKLE CELL DISEASE, ALL RECIPIENTS IDENTIFIED AS EITHER BLACK, AFRICAN AMERICAN OR MULTIPLE RACE. FOR THE POST-TRANSPLANT SUPPORT ASSISTANCE (TSA) GRANT, 65% OF RECIPIENTS IDENTIFIED AS NON-HISPANIC WHITE. THE SEARCH ASSISTANCE FUND GRANT (SAF) SUPPORT PATIENTS PRE-TRANSPLANT WHO HAVE BARRIERS RELATED TO INSURANCE THAT DELAY OR PREVENT THEM FROM FINDING A DONOR OR CORD BLOOD UNIT. THIS GRANT HELPS PATIENTS START THE SEARCH FOR AN UNRELATED DONOR OR CORD BLOOD UNIT BY GIVING TRANSPLANT CENTERS A GUARANTEE OF PAYMENT FOR SPECIFIC SEARCH AND/OR PROCUREMENT COSTS SHOULD THEY NOT BE COVERED BY INSURANCE. THERE WERE 42 PATIENTS APPROVED FOR SAF IN FY23. THE SICKLE CELL FERTILITY PRESERVATION GRANT HELPS PAY FOR FERTILITY PRESERVATION AND STORAGE FEES FOR PATIENTS WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE PREPARING FOR TRANSPLANT. THIS GRANT IS PAID TO THE FERTILITY PRESERVATION CLINIC OR PATIENT WHEN INSURANCE DOES NOT COVER THIS COST. IN FY23, THIS GRANT WAS DISTRIBUTED TO 19 PATIENTS WITH AN AVERAGE AWARD AMOUNT OF $5,468. NATIONAL MARROW DONOR PROGRAM (NMDP) ALSO PROVIDES FUNDING TO HELP WITH THE MANY UNCOVERED OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES FOR PATIENTS BEFORE AND AFTER TRANSPLANT. THE TSA GRANT PROVIDES DIRECT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO QUALIFIED FAMILIES BOTH PRE- AND POST-TRANSPLANT. TSA HELPS WITH EXPENSES SUCH AS TRANSPORTATION, TEMPORARY RELOCATION, COPAYS AND INSURANCE PREMIUMS. IN FY23, 2,549 TSA AWARDS WERE GRANTED TO 2,096 PATIENTS PRE- AND POST-TRANSPLANT WITH THE AVERAGE AWARD BEING $1,500. THE JOHN AND CARYN CAMIOLO SURVIVORSHIP GRANT (CAM) PROVIDES DIRECT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO ELIGIBLE PATIENTS, WHO ARE AT LEAST THREE MONTHS POST-TRANSPLANT AND WHO ARE ACTIVELY RECEIVING TREATMENT FOR CHRONIC GRAFT-VERSUS-HOST DISEASE. CAM HELPS WITH UNCOVERED COSTS OF TREATMENT AND PRESCRIPTIONS. IN FY23, 218 PATIENTS WERE HELPED THROUGH THE CAM GRANT WITH EACH PATIENT AWARDED $750. THE CHELL TRAVEL GRANT PROVIDES DIRECT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO ELIGIBLE PATIENTS WHO NEEDED ASSISTANCE WITH TRAVEL COSTS TO PARTICIPATE IN CLINICAL TRIALS THAT TREAT BLOOD CANCERS OR BLOOD DISORDERS. FOR THIS GRANT, 51% OF RECIPIENTS IDENTIFIED AS NON-HISPANIC WHITE. IN FY23, 176 PATIENTS RECEIVED THE CHELL TRAVEL GRANT WITH THE AVERAGE AWARD AMOUNT BEING $2,149. TWO CRISIS GRANTS HELP PATIENTS EXPERIENCING A SIGNIFICANT CRISIS EVENT IMPACTING ACCESS TO TRANSPLANT OR POST-TRANSPLANT CARE. THE IRA AND DIANA RIKLIS CRISIS GRANT PROVIDES UP TO $10,000 IN DIRECT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO QUALIFIED PATIENTS POST-TRANSPLANT AND THE MAKE ME STRONGER CRISIS GRANT PROVIDES UP TO $15,000 PRE-TRANSPLANT. IN FY23, 28 PATIENTS WERE HELPED THROUGH THESE CRISIS GRANTS WITH THE AVERAGE AWARD AMOUNT BEING $8,182. A COMMITTEE OF BMT SOCIAL WORKERS AND NAVIGATORS REVIEWS EACH CRISIS APPLICATION TO ENSURE EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS GRANT. IN FY23, 59% OF GRANT RECIPIENTS IDENTIFIED AS NON-HISPANIC WHITE.

Recruitment: THE NMDP REGISTRY IS THE MOST DIVERSE LISTING OF POTENTIAL DONORS AND CORD BLOOD UNITS IN THE WORLD. EVERY SEARCH THROUGH NMDP PROVIDES PATIENTS WITH ACCESS TO MORE THAN 41 MILLION POTENTIAL ADULT DONORS AND MORE THAN 800,000 CORD BLOOD UNITS WORLDWIDE. THE BEST MATCH FOR A PATIENT IS TYPICALLY SOMEONE WHO SHARES THEIR ETHNIC BACKGROUND. IMPROVING THE ETHNIC DIVERSITY OF THE NMDP REGISTRY IMPROVES ALL PATIENTS' ODDS OF FINDING THEIR BEST MATCH, REGARDLESS OF ETHNIC BACKGROUND. PEOPLE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 18 AND 35 ARE MOST URGENTLY NEEDED. RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT CELLS FORM YOUNGER DONORS LEAD TO BETTER LONG-TERM SURVIVAL FOR PATIENTS. IN FY23, MORE THAN 330,000 POTENTIAL DONORS JOINED THE NMDP REGISTRY AND MORE THAN 4,200 UMBILICAL CORD UNITS WERE ADDED TO THE REGISTRY.

RESEARCH: RESEARCH INNOVATIONS ARE CRITICAL TO EXPANDING TREATMENT TO MORE PATIENTS AND IMPROVING OUTCOMES. EACH YEAR, NMDP Foundation IS PROUD TO INVEST IN RESEARCH THROUGH: THE NMDP AMY STRELZER MANASEVIT RESEARCH PROGRAM (AMY RESEARCH PROGRAM): OUR FLAGSHIP RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP, THE AMY PROGRAM FUNDS EARLY CAREER INVESTIGATORS FOCUSED ON ADVANCES IN THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF POST-CELL THERAPY COMPLICATIONS (E.G., GRAFT-VERSUS-HOST-DISEASE AND INFECTION). IN 2023, WE FUNDED THE WORK OF 12 AMY SCHOLARS. AMY SCHOLARS HAVE GONE ON TO BECOME LEADERS IN THE FIELD, PURSUING SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES THAT HELP NMDP PATIENTS LIVE LONGER, HEALTHIER LIVES. SINCE 1998, NMDP Foundation HAS INVESTED NEARLY $12.5 MILLION TO HELP LAUNCH THE CAREERS OF 49 YOUNG PHYSICIAN-SCIENTISTS. After receiving their NMDP Amy Scholar Award, 49 young physician-scientists have gone on to win more than $250 million in subsequent government grant funding to pursue the discoveries to help patients live longer, healthier lives after cell therapy. TODAY, THE AMY STRELZER MANASEVIT RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR THE STUDY OF POST-CELL THERAPY COMPLICATIONS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST COVETED FELLOWSHIPS IN THE FIELD OF TRANSPLANTATION. DONOR FOR ALL: THIS SERIES OF TRANSFORMATIONAL MULTI-CENTER STUDIES ARE TESTING A NEW TRANSPLANT PROTOCOL AIMED AT MAKING MISMATCHED DONOR TRANSPLANTS SAFER AND MORE EFFECTIVE, WITH THE GOAL OF EXPANDING ACCESS TO TRANSPLANT TO THOUSANDS OF PATIENTS WHO LACK A FULLY MATCHED DONOR. ANTHONY NOLAN TRUST: PROVIDE SUPPORT TO THE ANTHONY NOLAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE TO CONTINUE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF AN HLA CLASS I AND II SEQUENCE DATABASE AND PROVISION OF HLA CLASS I AND II SEQUENCE INFORMATION. NMDP'S CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL BLOOD AND MARROW TRANSPLANT RESEARCH (CIBMTR)- A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN IS THE LEADING HUB FOR TRANSPLANT AND CELL THERAPY RESEARCH. NMDP FOUNDATION HELPS TO FUND VARIOUS OTHER INNOVATIVE RESEARCH STUDIES LED AND MANAGED BY THE CIBMTR.

NMDP FOUNDATION PARTNERS WITH NMDP TO ADVANCE VARIOUS INITIATIVES TIED TO THE SHARED MISSION. THESE PROGRAMS INCLUDE: NMDP PROVIDES COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES TO PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES THROUGH ONE-ON-ONE NAVIGATION SUPPORT, VIDEO, PRINTED, AND DIGITAL EDUCATION RESOURCES, COUNSELING, NMDP PEER CONNECT PROGRAM, NMDP SURVIVORSHIP PROGRAM, NMDP SICKLE CELL WARRIOR PROGRAM, AND THE JASON CARTER CLINICAL TRIALS SEARCH AND SUPPORT PROGRAM, WHICH HELPS PATIENTS WITH LIFE-THREATENING BLOOD DISORDERS FIND CLINICAL TRIALS. NMDP Foundation RAISES FUNDS TO SUPPORT THESE CRITICAL SERVICES. NMDP ALLOCATES COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS AND OCCUPANCY COSTS TO PROGRAMS BASED ON EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES.