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Research: Advancing the Science of Transplant

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) conducts and supports research through our partner, the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). Our goal is to help patients live longer, healthier lives and ensure donors have an optimal donation experience.

Through research, we are:

Improving the science of matching to more quickly identify the best donors for a patient
Improving patients’ transplant outcomes
Increasing patients’ access to transplant by identifying barriers that can prevent patients from receiving a transplant
Studying patient and donor quality of life

CIBMTR resources

Our research partner, the CIBMTR (www.cibmtr.org), is a public resource that:

Establishes and maintains an extensive database for researchers
Facilitates research studies proposed by scientists throughout the world
Plans and implements clinical trials through:
- Its Resource for Clinical Investigations in Blood and Marrow Transplant (http://www.cibmtr.org/SERVICES/clinical_trials_idx.html)
- The Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN), a group of organizations working together to conduct large clinical trials
Shares its database and research results with transplant physicians and the public

NMDP Bioinformatics

The NMDP conducts additional research through our Bioinformatics Department, which focuses on advancing the knowledge of matching and its affect on transplant outcomes and developing effective strategies for selecting the best available donor or cord blood unit for a patient. Our bioinformatics and matching expertise is a resource for researchers around the world.

Repository of cell samples

The NMDP maintains a repository of cell and serum samples collected from donors and transplant recipients with their consent. Researchers study paired donor-recipient samples along with transplant outcomes data to learn more about how matching affects transplant outcomes.

Access to research samples and data

Researchers interested in accessing our research samples and/or NMDP and CIBMTR databases and biostatistical services can submit a proposal through the CIBMTR Web site: http://www.cibmtr.org/SERVICES/observational_research_idx.html.

Research grants

We also provide grants to help outstanding researchers advance their work around unrelated donor and cord blood transplants.

Funding the Next Generation of Transplant Research
Are you a researcher in need of a grant? See:
- http://www.nmdpresearch.org/STUDIES/grant_opportunities.html
- http://www.cibmtr.org/COMMITTEES/ibwc_funding_opportunities.html

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