Be The Match

Patient assistance:be the Match Foundation (btmf) provides financial assistance to patients throughout each stage of the transplant process. Funded fully by philantrohy, in fy22 more than $4.6 million was provided to over 1,900 patients from 135 transplant centers. In fy22 the proportion of grant recipients who identify as non-hispanic white ranged from 58%-83% depending on the grant type. the chell travel grant, which helps people with travel costs associated with participating in a clinical trial, was distributed to the most diverse population, with 58% of grant recipients identifying as non-hispanic white. the search assistance fund grant was distributed to the least diverse population, with 83% of recipients identifying as non-hispanic white. the search assistance fund grant programs (saf) support patients pre-transplant who have insurance and financial barriers 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 136 patients approved for saf this fiscal year. Btmf also provides funding to help with the many uncovered out-of-pocket expenses for patients before and after a transplant. the transplant support assistance (tsa) grant provides direct financial assistance to qualified families both pre- and post-transplant. Tsa helps with expenses such as transportation, temporary relocation, co-pays, and insurance premiums. This year 1,928 tsa awards were granted with the average award being $1,746 to patients pre- and post-tranplant.the john and caryn camiolo survivorship grant (cam) provides direct financial assistance to qualified 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 fy22, 109 patients were helped through the cam grant with each patient awarded $750.the chell travel grant provides direct financial assistance to qualified patients who needed assistance with travel costs to participate in clinical trials that treat blood cancers or blood disorders. This year 99 chell travel grants were awarded with the average award amount being $3,536.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. This fiscal year, 15 patients were helped through these crisis grants with the average award amount being $8,600. A committee reviews each crisis grant application with race/ethnicity information redacted to increase the equitable distribution of this grant. In fy22, 73% of grant recipients identified as non-hispanic white.

Recruitment:the Be the Match registry provides the most diverse listing of potential donors and cord blood units in the world, with access to more than 41 million potential donors and 811,000 cord blood units worldwide. In fy2022, over 308,000 new potential donors were added to the Be the Match registry. Although there are millions on the registry, patients sometimes still cannot find a Match. This is due in part to the patient's ethnic background. On average, a patient's likelihood of finding a Match on the Be the Match registry ranges from 29% to 79% depending on the ethnic background. Some ethnic groups have more complex tissue types than others, so a person's best chance of finding a donor is with someone of the same ethnic background. the importance of increasing diversity on the registry is an organization goal and priority at Be the Match.

Research:research innovations are critical to expanding treatment to more patients and improving outcomes. Each year, btmf is proud to invest in research through:the amy strelzer manasevit research program (amy 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 2022, we funded the work of 15 amy scholars. Amy scholars have gone on to become leaders in the field, pursuing scientific advances that help Be the Match patients live longer, healthier lives. Since 1998, btmf has invested nearly $12 million to help launch the careers of 47 young physician-scientists. After receiving their amy scholar awards, this group has gone on to win more than $110 million in subsequent funding to pursue the discoveries that will 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.access/donor for all: this transformational multi-center study is 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. Covid-19 vaccination study: cibmtr launched a multi-center study in 2020 to track covid-19 vaccination response in patients who have received a transplant or car-t cell therapy, with the goal of understanding safety, efficacy, and durability of responses to vaccination. 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. Be the Match'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. Btmf helps to fund innovative research studies led and managed by the cibmtr

Btmf partners with Be the Match on various initiatives tied to the shared mission. These programs include:be the Match provides comprehensive education and support services to patients and their families through one-on-one navigation support, video, printed, and digital education resources, counseling, peer-to-peer connect program, survivorship program, and the jason carter clinical trials search and support program, which helps patients with life-threatening blood disorders find clinical trials. Bmtf raises funds to support these critical services. A media campaign focused on awareness of our mission to new audiences was launched in fy22. This campaign features celtics player and defensive player of the year marcus smart, whose personal connection with blood disease inspired a social media drive to support a searching patient. Btmf allocates compensation and benefits and occupancy costs to program based on employee responsibilities.