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College of Life Sciences
Impact Magazine
Impact Magazine

Be The Match—Save a Life

By Kaigan Bigler,
February 16, 2024
A woman stands in front of a blurred out lab crossing her arms and smiling. She has light-toned skin, curled brown hair half pulled back, a pink floral blouse, and a buttoned white lab coat.
A woman stands in front of a blurred out lab crossing her arms and smiling. She has light-toned skin, curled brown hair half pulled back, a pink floral blouse, and a buttoned white lab coat.

In 2002, Dr. Julianne Grose’s brother-in-law Gregg Schaub was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Grose, a BYU microbiology and molecular biology professor, recalls, “His only chance at life was a bone marrow stem cell transplant. I joined the national Be The Match Registry in hopes I would match him, but no family members did—nor did anyone in the registry. His dying wish was that this would not happen to anyone else. My family and I have been running donor registration drives ever since!”

Tip

Registering for Be The Match is easy!

Sign up on the website:
bethematch.org
Be The Match sends you a test kit.
Swab your cheek and send it back!

Leukemia and lymphoma patients face a grueling journey toward remission: chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and—as a last resort—a stem cell transplant. Because of how difficult it is for patients to find donors whose immune system types are compatible with their own, Grose started the BYU chapter of Be The Match, a national donor registry that matches volunteer stem cell donors with patients in need. She explains: “Seventy percent of the time, you’re not going to find a donor in your family. That means 70 percent of people [in need of stem cells] turn to Be The Match, where people are willing to donate to a stranger.”

"Seventy percent of people [in need of stem cells] turn to Be The Match, where people are willing to donate to a stranger."

All it takes for someone to join the Be The Match Registry is a cotton swab on the inside of the cheek. Be The Match will determine the donor’s immune system type and immediately work on matching the donor with someone in need. Grose distributes these cotton swabs at booths on BYU campus and in her visits to classrooms, and anyone can request them through the Be The Match website. Because of her efforts, last year Grose was awarded the national Lives Award by Be The Match. Grose says she feels the award should be for the school rather than for her.

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In the past five years, the BYU chapter has helped over five thousand students join the registry. At least 46 current or former students have matched with and donated to blood-cancer patients to potentially save their lives.
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While most people have a 1 in 200 chance of matching, BYU students’ odds increase to 1 in 50. Just what is the BYU factor that makes such a big difference? One reason is that BYU students’ healthy lifestyles make them more likely to be selected for the donation when there are multiple matches with the recipient. The second reason, Grose says, is “the positive nature of our campus in support of this. We are really service-oriented. It is so easy to recruit donors here.” Grose explains that people on campus are more likely to sign up for the opportunity to help others in need.

In the past five years, the BYU chapter has helped over five thousand students join the registry. At least 46 current or former students have matched with and donated to blood-cancer patients to potentially save their lives. Grose only finds out about BYU students who match with and donate to patients in need when the students contact her to share their experiences. Carson Sork and Jacob Gwilliam both reached out to Grose and gave her a glimpse of her impact.

Facing Fears to Help

Carson Sork (MMBIO ’23) heard about Be The Match from Grose. After listening to her story of losing her brother-in-law, Sork reflected on when he lost his grandma while on his mission. “As Dr. Grose was giving the presentation about Be The Match, all I could think about was my grandma and how cool it would have been if I’d been able to have more time with her,” he says.

Despite his desire to help, Sork hesitated because of his fear of needles. He also considered his aunt who has been on the registry as a potential donor for 20 years but never been a match, and he wondered if the effort was worth it—would he ever be a match for someone anyway?

A man lies propped up in a hospital bed smiling and holding both hands in shaka signs, the pinkie and thumb extended out and the other fingers curled over. His arms are hooked up to a machine and blood through the plastic tubes. He has light-toned skin, middle-parted short brown hair, a light blue tshirt and black shorts.
A man lies propped up in a hospital bed smiling and holding both hands in shaka signs, the pinkie and thumb extended out and the other fingers curled over. His arms are hooked up to a machine and blood through the plastic tubes. He has light-toned skin, middle-parted short brown hair, a light blue tshirt and black shorts.

But he couldn’t stop thinking about the difference his donation might make. “There’s someone who really needs me, and this person has a family who wants more time with them. How selfish would it be of me to just say, ‘Well, I’m afraid of needles,’ and deny them the opportunity to spend more time with their loved one?” Sork thought. He resolved to do what he could to give someone else more time with their loved one. He joined the registry.

After only a few months, Sork matched with a patient in need. Be The Match flew Sork to Boise, Idaho, to donate stem cells through a tangle of needles and tubes that would siphon the stem cells from his blood and return the blood back to his body. Since he received little information about the recipient, Sork says it was hard to see that he was helping another human being when he donated. But that soon changed.

"A year after making his donation, Sork connected with the recipient and their family. Talking with the individual, he says, 'brought [the donation] into a new light and [helped me] realize how important my donation was to them.'"

Though it is rare for a donor to hear from the person who received their donation, Sork did. A year after making his donation, Sork connected with the recipient and their family. Talking with the individual, he says, “brought [the donation] into a new light and [helped me] realize how important my donation was to them.”

A couple stands in a hospital room with their arms around each other, smiling. The woman on the left has chest-length brown hair, light-toned skin, a yellow hoodie, and black sweats. The man on the right, a head taller than her, has light-toned skin, short brown hair, a green t-shirt that reads, "I am a Be the Match donor," and black shorts. Between them, they hold a blurred out plastic bag.
A couple stands in a hospital room with their arms around each other, smiling. The woman on the left has chest-length brown hair, light-toned skin, a yellow hoodie, and black sweats. The man on the right, a head taller than her, has light-toned skin, short brown hair, a green t-shirt that reads, "I am a Be the Match donor," and black shorts. Between them, they hold a blurred out plastic bag.

A Second Chance

Jacob Gwilliam (MMBIO ’25) learned about Be The Match through an ad on Instagram. After joining the registry, he was notified that he was a secondary match for someone: two people matched with a patient in need of stem cells, and if the first person couldn’t donate, Gwilliam was the next donor in line. Be The Match had Gwilliam go through the process as though he were the primary donor, getting additional blood tests and ensuring he was indeed a match. Suddenly, the original primary donor was unable to donate, and Gwilliam became the primary donor.

Be The Match sent Gwilliam and his fiancée to Houston, Texas. “It was really exciting to think, ‘Wow, someone actually needs my help,’” Gwilliam says. He explains that while a normal timeline from being notified you’re a match to actually donating is about six weeks, his process was fast-tracked, and he did everything in under a month.

Gwilliam hasn’t heard from the person he was privileged to donate to, but he remains optimistic about the recipient’s health. He says that in an online Facebook group for Be The Match donors, group members will post about being notified that the person they donated to has passed away, and Gwilliam hasn’t received any news like that. He continues to hope the individual he donated to is on the way to remission.

Three women stand outdoors in front of a Be the Match tent and table. Their arms are around each other, and the two women on either end throw their extra arms up at an angle. All three wear white Be the Match t-shirts. The woman on the left has light-toned skin, a red winter hat, a black puffy jacket, and light blue jeans. The woman in the middle has medium-toned skin, dark hair tied back, and black jeans. The woman on the right has light-toned skin, brown hair tied back, a black long-sleeve under her tshirt, a fanny pack across her chest, and dark gray jeans.
Three women stand outdoors in front of a Be the Match tent and table. Their arms are around each other, and the two women on either end throw their extra arms up at an angle. All three wear white Be the Match t-shirts. The woman on the left has light-toned skin, a red winter hat, a black puffy jacket, and light blue jeans. The woman in the middle has medium-toned skin, dark hair tied back, and black jeans. The woman on the right has light-toned skin, brown hair tied back, a black long-sleeve under her tshirt, a fanny pack across her chest, and dark gray jeans.

Become Someone’s Match

Registering for Be The Match is easy. Simply take ten minutes to sign up on the website (bethematch.org) and Be The Match will send you a test kit. Once a donor matches with a patient in need, Be The Match sends the donor and a plus-one to a city with a hospital that has the proper equipment for the stem cell donation.

According to Grose, what's missing in the national registry are people of color and underrepresented groups. Unfortunately, this means that if you belong to a minority population your chance of finding a match is low. But Grose is hoping to change that.

Everyone can and should register, and people of color and underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to join the registry.

Click to join the Be The Match Registry and increase the chances of saving someone’s life.

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Fall 2023