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Welcome to the WUMR Website!
What We Do:
The Washington University Marrow Registry (WUMR) offers students a unique opportunity to actively save a life through marrow donation. We hold registration drives for students to sign up to be possible bone marrow donors through the national registry (BeTheMatch.org), and we educate the WashU community about the marrow donation process.
How to Get Involved:
If you'd like to be involved in bringing marrow registration drives to WashU, have questions about marrow donation, or want to join the registry but can’t make our drive,
- Show up at a WUMR registry drive and introduce yourself. We’d love to meet you and welcome you to the group. Find out about our next drive under the “Events” page of this website.
- Email our president to find out about our next planning meeting or get on our mailing list. Our current president is Leah Laux, and she can be reached at lauxl at go.wustl.edu.
The BIG 4 FAQs:
How does the registry work?
1. Sign up at the WUMR drive: You fill out some paperwork and rub a cotton swab on the inside of your cheek to collect some cells.
2. WUMR sends this off to the national marrow regsitry, where your cells are analyzed to determine your cell type.
3. Your cell type is put into a database of all potential donors. Patients needing a marrow donation check the registry for donors of their cell type.
4. If you are a match for someone, the national registry contacts you and asks you to donate.
Why is bone marrow needed?
Individuals with leukemia are often left with very few of their original, healthy marrow cells after undergoing cancer treatment. A marrow donation replaces these lost cells.
For a successful donation, the cell type of the donor must be extremely similar to that of the patient. Between 7 and 35% of individuals searching the registry cannot find a matching donor. Your presence on the registry improves these odds; you could be the lifesaving match for a patient.
Does the donation process hurt?
80% of donations are done using peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation, which is very similar to donating blood or platelets. Blood is drawn from the arm, run through a machine that separates out the needed cells, and fed back into the other arm.
The other 20% of donations are done using general or regional anesthesia; the donor experiences no pain during the procedure. Marrow is removed from the pelvis using hollow needles. Some lower back soreness is common after the procedure, usually lasting a few days.
Will I donate marrow right away at the drive?
No. Your name and cell type will be put on record in the national registry in case a patient in need of marrow matches your cell type. If this occurs, you will be contacted and asked to donate.
The Washington University Marrow Registry (WUMR) offers students a unique opportunity to actively save a life through marrow donation. We hold registration drives for students to sign up to be possible bone marrow donors through the national registry (BeTheMatch.org), and we educate the WashU community about the marrow donation process.
How to Get Involved:
If you'd like to be involved in bringing marrow registration drives to WashU, have questions about marrow donation, or want to join the registry but can’t make our drive,
- Show up at a WUMR registry drive and introduce yourself. We’d love to meet you and welcome you to the group. Find out about our next drive under the “Events” page of this website.
- Email our president to find out about our next planning meeting or get on our mailing list. Our current president is Leah Laux, and she can be reached at lauxl at go.wustl.edu.
The BIG 4 FAQs:
How does the registry work?
1. Sign up at the WUMR drive: You fill out some paperwork and rub a cotton swab on the inside of your cheek to collect some cells.
2. WUMR sends this off to the national marrow regsitry, where your cells are analyzed to determine your cell type.
3. Your cell type is put into a database of all potential donors. Patients needing a marrow donation check the registry for donors of their cell type.
4. If you are a match for someone, the national registry contacts you and asks you to donate.
Why is bone marrow needed?
Individuals with leukemia are often left with very few of their original, healthy marrow cells after undergoing cancer treatment. A marrow donation replaces these lost cells.
For a successful donation, the cell type of the donor must be extremely similar to that of the patient. Between 7 and 35% of individuals searching the registry cannot find a matching donor. Your presence on the registry improves these odds; you could be the lifesaving match for a patient.
Does the donation process hurt?
80% of donations are done using peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation, which is very similar to donating blood or platelets. Blood is drawn from the arm, run through a machine that separates out the needed cells, and fed back into the other arm.
The other 20% of donations are done using general or regional anesthesia; the donor experiences no pain during the procedure. Marrow is removed from the pelvis using hollow needles. Some lower back soreness is common after the procedure, usually lasting a few days.
Will I donate marrow right away at the drive?
No. Your name and cell type will be put on record in the national registry in case a patient in need of marrow matches your cell type. If this occurs, you will be contacted and asked to donate.