Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland’s Research Director Selected for National Post on Advisory Council

Advisory Council will help shape the nation’s Umbilical Cord Blood Program

November 12, 2007

Oakland, Calif.–The Secretary of Health and Human Services has selected Bertram H. Lubin, M.D., Research Director for Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland to serve on the Advisory Council on Blood Stem Cell Transplantation of the Health Resources and Services Administration. The purpose of the Advisory Council is to offer expert, unbiased analysis regarding the C. W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program (successor to the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry) and the National Cord Blood Inventory.

“I am honored and delighted to be a member of the Advisory Council for this very important health program,” said Dr. Lubin. “This program can provide life-saving options for people who have a variety of health conditions including a wide range of cancers, certain metabolic diseases or genetic blood diseases such as Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia. I am thrilled to be on a team that is working to ensure that this option is available to anyone in need, especially minorities.”

In 1998, Dr. Lubin helped to establish the only not-for-profit Sibling-Donor Cord Blood Program in the world at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland, California. The program recently merged with ViaCord Inc. and together they have released 107 cord blood units for transplantation in children. The success rate of the Sibling Connection program (formerly known as the Sibling Donor Cord Blood Program) is outstanding.

The National Cord Blood Inventory, which is part of the C. W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, provides federal funds to a designated number of cord blood banks to collect and maintain high-quality cord blood units. These units and others will be disseminated for public use.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 70 percent of patients who need blood stem cell transplants lack a related donor. In addition, African-Americans often have complex and very diverse blood types that make it harder for them to find an unrelated match. One of the goals of the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program is to increase the supply of racially diverse donors to improve the odds of finding a match for minorities.

Dr. Lubin’s term on the Advisory Council ends January 1, 2012.

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