Briefs

Mixed-ethnicity, minority marrow donors
needed

Student groups at UCLA are sponsoring a bone marrow donation
drive today in the courtyard in front of the UCLA Center for Health
Sciences.

The marrow donor drive mainly targets minority and
mixed-ethnicity populations, which are severely underrepresented on
the national registry donor list, according to Enisha Narang, task
force director for Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches.

To register, potential donors should be between the ages of 18
and 60 and willing to donate marrow/stem cells if a match is
found.

Volunteers will have their blood drawn, which will serve as the
tissue sample needed for marrow typing. The results of the blood
samples are then stored on the national database, and the volunteer
is contacted when there is a match.

Matching donors are most often found in the same ethnic group as
the patient.

The event is put on by the Asian Pacific American Medical School
Association, Latino Medical School Association, and the Student
National Medical Association.

The marrow drive will be held between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

For more information, contact Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches
at (888) 236-4673.

Briefs compiled from Daily Bruin wire services and Daily Bruin
Staff.