Dr. Julianne Grose, Associate Vice President of Belonging and life sciences professor of microbiology and molecular biology, lost a close family member to lymphoma in 2003; a bone marrow donation would have saved him.
“If you have a life-threatening blood disease like lymphoma that can only be treated through a stem cell transplant, your family is first approached about bone marrow donation,” Grose explains, “but there’s only a 30 percent chance that someone in your family will match. In this case, no one in the family matched.”
After receiving this devastating news, the Grose family pinned their hopes on the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)—a national database in which individuals are able to anonymously donate bone marrow to others. Incredible though the national registry is, Grose’s family member was unable to find a match, and he passed away. Grose and her family have participated in marrow donation registration drives ever since, determined to give other families the chance they never had.
These selfless ongoing efforts recently culminated in a campus-wide donor drive, bringing the cause to both students and faculty alike. From March 17 to 19, 104 volunteers ran registration booths across campus. Of those Christlike volunteers, 50 were BYU students. “The students plan and run the event,” Grose shares with pride. “They bring everything together, which is just amazing.” Other volunteers include family members of young children whose lives had been saved by a bone marrow transplant or students from academic institutions such as Summit Academy High School and Joyce University. Despite a snowstorm and low campus attendance, over 1000 students visited the booths and 730 registered to be donors. The high participation reflects BYU student’s deep desire to serve others as disciples of Christ. This spirit of service is so evident that the NMDP frequently remarks on how easy it is to recruit donors at BYU. “These drives are testaments to the fact that so many people would donate if they just knew there was a need," Grose says animatedly. "We just have to get the word out!”
For those who want to donate but are unsure of what the process may entail, Grose offers reassuring clarity. “Most people assume donating bone marrow is a painful and invasive procedure, but, in reality, the most common form of donation is a process called PBSC—peripheral blood stem cell donation—which is very similar to donating plasma,” she explains. This process is non-surgical, with the donor’s stem cells regenerating within a few weeks. What’s more, NMDP ensures that donors are compensated for any time they take off from work to donate and are fully reimbursed for travel expenses.
“I want people to know that they can register anytime,” says Grose. “The Office of Belonging, which is located in the WILK, has kits anyone can use to register in about five minutes.” Though the NMDP did not have the donor match required to save the life of Grose’s family member in 2003, you can ensure another family doesn’t face the same heartbreak.
Take five minutes. Make a difference. Save a life. Register as a bone marrow donor today.
BYU students can also get involved by signing up to volunteer with the Life Sciences Belonging Clinic here.