Contact: Holly Botsford
External Relations and Engagement Manager
O: 414-955-8761, C: 414-688-7960
hbotsford@mcw.edu
Contract Supports Work of Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research
Milwaukee, Dec. 11, 2017 – A collaborative effort with the entire global scientific community, the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) is once again being recognized for its leadership in advancing cell transplant therapy. As recently awarded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the CIBMTR will continue collecting and maintaining the national Stem Cell Therapeutic Outcomes Database (SCTOD).
The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) collaborates with the National Marrow Donor Program®/Be The Match® to operate the CIBMTR. Under HRSA’s C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program enacted by Congress in 2005 and reauthorized in 2010 and 2015, the CIBMTR at MCW has the privilege of managing the national database of all allogeneic (related and unrelated donor) marrow and cord blood transplants performed in the United States. The database contains critical information to continually evaluate the program’s operations and the status of transplant recipients. Estimated funding for the first year of this contract is $4.3 million with an additional four years of negotiable funding.
“CIBMTR delivers value by using the outcomes database to provide clinicians, scientists, patients and policymakers the information they need to make the best possible clinical decisions,” said J. Douglas Rizzo, MD, MS, CIBMTR associate scientific director, SCTOD principal investigator and professor of medicine at MCW. “The outcomes database is a beneficial platform to expand important research to advance the field, plan clinical trials, facilitate quality improvement and perform studies on behalf of policymakers. The major goal of the program is to make blood and marrow transplants available to all who need them and to increase their safety and effectiveness.”
Since 1972, the CIBMTR has collected retrospective outcomes data provided voluntarily by transplant centers worldwide on both allogeneic and autologous (patient’s own cells) hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HCT). Hematopoietic stem cells are responsible for continual regeneration of circulating blood cells throughout life; they are not embryonic stem cells. The CIBMTR makes these data available to investigators and physicians worldwide. Within the past year alone, the CIBMTR published more than 95 papers, helped coordinate 14 national clinical trials in HCT and is conducting more than 170 observational studies.
U.S. Congressman C.W. Bill Young, an internationally recognized leader in increasing support and funding for biomedical research, was instrumental in founding a national marrow donor registry, now known as the Be The Match Registry®, that could provide potentially life-saving treatment for those diagnosed with leukemia and other blood disorders. Young and his wife became aware of the need for marrow transplantation while helping a child from their Florida district. From 1999 to 2005, he served as chairman of the Appropriations Committee and successfully led the effort in Congress to double federal medical research funding over five years for a variety of needs, including blood diseases.
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About the Medical College of Wisconsin
With a history dating back to 1893, The Medical College of Wisconsin is dedicated to leadership and excellence in education, patient care, research and community engagement. More than 900 students are enrolled in MCW’s medical school in Milwaukee, MCW-Green Bay, and MCW-Central Wisconsin. In addition, the Milwaukee campus has more than 280 graduate students, 12 Masters of Science in Anesthesia students and 130 postdoctoral fellows in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. MCW’s School of Pharmacy opened in 2017. A major national research center, MCW is the largest research institution in the Milwaukee metro area and second largest in Wisconsin. In FY2016, faculty received more than $225 million in external support for research, teaching, training and related purposes. This total includes highly competitive research and training awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Annually, MCW faculty direct or collaborate on more than 3,100 research studies, including clinical trials. Additionally, more than 1,650 physicians provide care in virtually every specialty of medicine for more than 530,000 patients annually.
About the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research
The CIBMTR is a research collaboration between the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)/Be The Match and the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). The CIBMTR collaborates with the global scientific community to advance hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and cellular therapy worldwide to increase survival and enrich quality of life for patients. The CIBMTR facilitates critical observational and interventional research through scientific and statistical expertise, a large network of transplant centers, and a unique and extensive clinical outcomes database. The CIBMTR has been collecting HCT outcomes data worldwide for >40 years, resulting in a research database with information on >475,000 patients. More information about the CIBMTR can be found on line at www.cibmtr.org.
Holly Botsford
External Relations and Engagement Manager – Office of Communications
Medical College of Wisconsin
8701 Watertown Plank Road
Milwaukee, WI 53226
hbotsford@mcw.edu | O: 414.955.8761 | M: 414.688.7960 | mcw.edu
