NMDP / SAMAR / AAPI MS/R INITIATIVE
National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), SAMAR, and AAPI MS/R continue the national campaign: "SPRING INTO ACTION, SAVE A LIFE"
The mission of the NMDP is to extend and improve life through innovative stem cell therapies. Currently, South Asians and other minorities are critically underrepresented in the world registries. SAMAR is assisting the NMDP to diversify the ethnic component of the national registry by recruiting South Asians and other minorities. Therefore, one of SAMAR's programs has been to work together with the AAPI Medical Students and Residents in developing a campaign to create awareness and increase the South Asian enrollment in the national registry. We also want to inform physicians and medical students who will be the end users of the registry.

The thirteen year productive partnership of the NMDP and SAMAR will continue to reach out to South Asians throughout the nation with the constant hope of bringing a smile back to life. The NMDP has vehemently continued its support of SAMAR's various programs to recruit South Asian and minority volunteer donors.

For the second year, SAMAR has also collaborated with Hot 97 (NY's #1 Hip Hop & R&B radio station) and The Sharing Network, which promotes organ donation, to present HIP HOP 4 LIFE COLLEGE SIGN UP. Together we are increasing marrow donation along with organ donation among South Asians and other minorities.


Community Outreach and Conferences
SAMAR has been an active participant in various conventions and events, not only in the tri-state area, but throughout the nation as well.
Our outreach efforts include:
- S.A.S.A. (Florida)
- Bangladeshi American Conference (Virginia)
- AAPI (Texas)
- NETIP (Atlanta)
- Hip Hop Festival (New Jersey)
- South Asian Lifestyle Expo (NJ)
- India Heritage Festival (MD, NJ)
- Various Temples and Religious Venues (NY, NJ, PA, MA, MD)
- National Gandhi Day of Service (NY, MA, MD, DC)
- India Day Celebrations (Rhode Island, Texas, Massachusetts and NYC)


Active on Campus
SAMAR has visited over 20 Universities throughout the country this year. We have received an overwhelming response from eager students wanting to become potential donors.
A few Universities we have visited this year are:
- University of Maryland
- Columbia
- NYU
- Rutgers
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- City College (CUNY)
- SUNY Downstate
- Binghamton University
SAMAR would like to extend our greatest appreciation to the brothers of the Iota Nu Delta (IND) fraternity. IND and SAMAR have partnered this year to recruit potential donors at colleges and at events such as the India Day Parade. We look forward to working together in the coming years to greatly increase awareness and the number of South Asian volunteer donors in the National Registry.
SAMAR would also like to thank all our high school volunteers who have taken it upon themselves to set up recruitment drives in their communities. They have shown an initiative that will aid us to register even more volunteer marrow/blood cell donors.


Donors & Transplants
It is an incredible time for SAMAR; in the past two years we have had 89 confirmatory testing (responded to be a match). From those contacted 12 individuals were selected for work up and possible donation. In 2005, SAMAR once again surpassed its recruitment goals and was honored by the NMDP for being one of the few Recruitment Groups to do so. The thousands of potential donors recruited in this year, as well as past years, provide South Asian and minority patients with a much greater chance of finding a marrow/blood cell transplant.


Patients
SAMAR has worked with over 150 patients to date. We recruit potential donors to match all patients. There are over 3000 patients of different ethnicities today waiting for a matching donor. These are some South Asian patients who are in urgent need of a transplant:

Leena is a 28 year old mother of one who is in urgent need of a marrow/blood cell transplant. She was diagnosed in September 2005 and has been on a strict medical regiment, but her greatest chance of survival is from a matched marrow/blood cell transplant.

Ashish was born on March 8th 2005 and is the youngest of three children. Ashish was recently diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called Infantile Myelo-fibrosis. The only treatment for this disorder is a marrow/blood cell transplant. In spite of the pain Ashish has gone through he has an incredible inner strength that is portrayed in his beaming smile and good nature. Ashish's best chances of finding a match lies within the registered South Asian volunteer marrow/blood cell donors in the National Marrow Donor Program.

Bobby was diagnosed with AML in the Summer of 2005. He was finishing his first year at his job when he came to learn of his diagnosis. Bobby, like all other blood cancer patients, is in urgent need of a marrow/blood cell transplant. He must rely on the kindness and goodwill of other South Asians as he was not a match with his only brother. Please register at a recruitment drive and help Bobby and other patients have a second chance at life.

Abhi who is diagnosed with Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), a type of blood cancer rarely found in adults. Abhi's only chance of survival is to undergo a marrow/stem cell transplant from a donor who is a match. His family has been tested, and there is no match. South Asians and other minorities are critically under-represented in the registry; and now for Abhi the best chance of finding a match is among these populations. His wife, Smita has been working hard to raise awareness in the community and organize registration drives.

Naren was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma seven years ago, at age 29. Since then, he has undergone five different treatment regimens, most recently a combination of high-dose radiation, high-dose chemotherapy, and a transplant of his own blood stem cells. Sadly, his disease has relapsed each time. So we must act quickly to find a donor for a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. He has not found a match yet. By registering with the national registry as a volunteer marrow blood stem cell donor, you can give him the precious gift of time, and the chance to live out his dreams.

Ankit is a 21 year old young man studying computer engineering at the University of Buffalo. In the midst of his exams he took ill and came back home to Queens. He was diagnosed with leukemia and doctors say his disease requires a marrow transplant. The best chance of finding a match for Ankit is from the South Asian community.


India: SAMAR's Mission of Mercy to the Motherland
Once again, SAMAR traveled to India this year by invitation of leading medical institutions to continue the mission to bring a registry to India. And we are proud to state that after years of preparation, months of presentations, weeks of travel and days of negotiations, the registry finally came into fruition in December 2005. There are currently over 40 individuals registered in the Marrow Donor Registry (India) and we are continuously working to increase that number. The data from the MDR (India) will be networked with other registries globally and will provide an invaluable resource as the genetic diversity of the Indian population can be matched with patients from different ethnic groups throughout the world. This will provide a benefit to all patients, globally, requiring a transplant.


Volunteers
SAMAR would like to give special recognition to all of its dedicated volunteers, across the country, who work tirelessly for our cause. We have accomplished a great deal and it would not have been possible without the efforts of these volunteers. Whether it was the immense heat of a Summer day, the bitter chill of a rainy Spring afternoon or just the mad rush of potential registrants, SAMAR's dedicated group of volunteers never flustered in their efforts to recruit as many people as possible. With our volunteers, SAMAR can continue to spread the word and register potential donors. THANK YOU!


SUPPORTING SAMAR THIS NEW YEAR
Supporting SAMAR's global initiatives has never been easier!
* If you would like to host a bone marrow drive in your community, school, workplace, Gurudwara, Mosque, Church or Temple, etc. please contact SAMAR at 718-592-0821 or e-mail us at samarinfo@aol.com.


SAMAR's Continuing Objectives for 2006:
1. Promote our education and awareness initiatives, focusing specifically on the time period before recruitment, enabling a potential donor to make an informed decision before donation.
2. Our secondary focus is to promote bone marrow recruitment, donation and to enroll more donors in the registry and to provide public education on all aspects of the donation process.
3. Fortify our committees by inviting new members to join our existing forces of volunteers, individuals who will relentlessly pursue SAMAR's mission to ensure that no global citizen is ever denied a life-saving bone marrow transplant due solely to the lack of genetically specific donors.
4. Provide labs in India with technical resources in order to bring them to world standards of certification. Transfer of latest technology and upgrade methodologies. Request vacationing US Indian physicians to provide technical information to their counterparts in India. Identify laboratories and Institutes in the US to collaborate with Indian laboratories.
5. Develop a strong student recruitment body to blaze new pathways into the South-Asian student sector by increasing awareness and registration in students across the nation.