The National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) conducts and supports research through our research arm, the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research® (CIBMTR). Our goal is to help patients live longer, healthier lives and ensure donors have an optimal donation experience. (The NMDP also operates Be The Match®.)
Through research, we are:
- Improving the science of matching to more quickly identify the best donors for a patient
- Improving patients’ transplant outcomes
- Increasing patients’ access to transplant by identifying barriers that can prevent patients from receiving a transplant
- Studying patient and donor quality of life
CIBMTR resources
Our research arm, the CIBMTR (www.cibmtr.org), is a public resource that:
- Establishes and maintains an extensive database for researchers
- Facilitates research studies proposed by scientists throughout the world
- Plans and implements clinical trials through:
- Shares its database and research results with transplant physicians and the public
NMDP Bioinformatics
The NMDP conducts additional research through our Bioinformatics Department, which focuses on advancing the knowledge of matching and its effect on transplant outcomes and developing effective strategies for selecting the best available donor or cord blood unit for a patient. Our bioinformatics and matching expertise is a resource for researchers around the world.
Repository of cell samples
The NMDP maintains a repository of cell and serum samples collected from donors and transplant recipients with their consent. Researchers study paired donor-recipient samples along with transplant outcomes data to learn more about how matching affects transplant outcomes.
Access to research samples and data
Researchers interested in accessing our research samples and/or NMDP and CIBMTR databases and biostatistical services can submit a proposal through the CIBMTR website: http://www.cibmtr.org/Studies/Observational/index.html.
Research grants
We also provide grants to help outstanding researchers advance their work around unrelated donor and cord blood transplants.
Ensuring Research Integrity
Our research is conducted and reviewed with the highest integrity, ensuring there is no actual or apparent financial conflict of interest that could influence the conduct or review of the research. The attached policy describes the requirements of researchers participating in studies with us.