Армянский реестр доноров костного мозга (США)

Шаблон:Unitedt Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (Watertown. USA) Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ms. Alvart Badalian, Member of the Board of Directors

Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR) PO Box 733, Watertown, MA 02471 USA 617.926.8585 alvart @ yahoo.com

Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry Steps Up Its Awareness Campaign to Inspire Support

The public is invited to a discussion and video presentation on the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR) at the First Armenian Church, 380 Concord Avenue, Belmont, on Sunday, November 6, 2005, from 3:00-5:00 PM.

This event follows six months of active donor recruitment in the Greater Boston area. "We have been extremely well received by the community since we started recruitment in Massachusetts in May of this year," says ABMDR East Coast Donor Services Coordinator, Marilyn Bazarian of Belmont. "We just completed successful recruitments at the First Armenia Church of Belmont and St James Church in Watertown and are looking forward to a similar success at St Stephens Church Bazaar on November 4 and 5."

Cofounders Dr. Frieda Jordan, President, and Dr. Sevak Avagyan, Executive Director from Armenia, and ABMDR staff and Board members will be touring the United States this Fall in a campaign to raise awareness and promote the organization's efforts to help patients suffering from leukemia and other blood related diseases. Alique Topalian, the 12 year-old leukemia survivors from Cleveland and her mother, Michele Seyranian, both strong advocates of the ABMDR, will also participate in the November 6th event. "I am one of the lucky ones I survived, but not all kids are as lucky as I am. It's up to us to make sure that more and more kids are able to beat childhood cancers. It only takes a small vial of blood or a few dollars to help. Together we can make sure that Armenians diagnosed with blood cancers have a chance to find a donor," says Alique.

With headquarters in Los Angeles and laboratory facilities in Yerevan, Armenia, the ABMDR is a not-for-profit, charitable organization whose mission is to ensure that every ethnic Armenian, as well as non-Armenian, struck with a life-threatening blood-related illness is able to find hope for long-term survival through the identification of a genetically suitable bone marrow match. In the US, the ABMDR has partnered with the Caitlin Raymond International Registry UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.

Since December 2000, through cross-national cooperation, the ABMDR has recruited over 10,000 donors, received and processed over 400 search requests, identified 300 potential matches, and facilitated six bone marrow and stem cell transplants in Armenia, the United States, and Europe. Five of the transplantations occurred in the last year. Dr. Jordan, acknowledging the recent successes, notes, "We feel extremely blessed to be making the progress we are with transplantations, and we must continue to make people aware of the Registry to ensure that our momentum continues."

Among the supporters of ABMDR are local Representatives Rachel Kaprielian and Peter Koutoujian who will attend the November 6th event in a show of support and encouragement. "I am proud to support this critical and already successful effort, which promises to continue growing and further help bring Armenians together to save lives." Says Representative Kaprielian who became a donor last May.

"We expect a great turn out on November 6th," noted Alvart Badalian, ABMDR Board member from Watertown. "This is a great opportunity to learn first hand about the accomplishments of the ABMDR and the challenges it faces in reaching out to the Armenian patients worldwide."

The event is open to the public and admission is free. A coffee and sweets table reception will follow the presentation. For more information contact Marilyn Bazarian at (617) 484-1072 or buzzy6@msn.com. To learn more about the ABMDR visit www.abmdr.am or email abmdria @ sbcglobal.net or Frieda.Jordan @ att.net

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