Welcome To Stem Cell Club
Stem Cell Club is a donor recruitment organization in Canada which works to address racial disparity in access to matched unrelated stem cell donors. We run stem cell drives to register Canadians (especially those from diverse backgrounds) as potential stem cell donors. We seek to raise awareness and educate about stem cell donation, and to contribute to the development of a culture of donation in Canada.
Many patients with blood, immune, or metabolic diseases need a stem cell transplantation as part of their treatment. The majority of those patients do not have a suitable fully-matched donor in their family, and are in need of an unrelated donor. Despite over 400,000 Canadians (and over 36 million around the world) registered as potential stem cell donors, many patients cannot find a matched donor for them. This is especially true for patients from diverse ethnic/racial groups: Caucasian people have a ~75% chance of finding a matched unrelated donor, but most ethnic/racial groups have a much lower chance (as low as 15% chance to find a match for some ancestral groups)
Check out our Whiteboard videos to learn more about stem cell donation
Statistics
Stem Cell Club Summary Statistics as of September 2020
- 27 campuses - See Contact page for list of campuses
- Over 20,000 potential stem cell donors recruited since 2011
- 100% are between the ages of 17-35 (80% are between the ages of 17-25)
- >50% are male
- >55% of males self-identify as non-Caucasian
- We register ~20% of stem cell donors recruited annually to the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry
- We have recruited 4.5% of all donors currently listed on the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry
Of ~13,000 donors recruited by Stem Cell Club from 2014-2019 who had been on the registry for a median of 2 years, 9 went on to donate their stem cells to a patient in need
Happening Now
Get Involved
To sign up as a stem cell donor, visit: blood.ca/stemcells
Interested to volunteer with us? Sign up here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CL6JMLF
Why We Swab
Why We Swab aims to raise awareness about the ongoing need for stem cell donors. We report stories from stem cell donors and recipients, patients searching for a match, their families and caregivers, and transplant staff.
Through sharing these stories, we hope to illustrate the reason why people sign up as potential stem cell donors, why they donate, and the people, families, and communities they impact.
In honor of Bell Let’s Talk, we share Daniel’s story, the story of a donor who overcame mental health challenges in order to donate#WhyWeSwab #BellLetsTalk #mentahealth #donor #support #bell #canada #stemcells pic.twitter.com/4F1SBoCBlO
— Why We Swab (@WhyWeSwab) January 29, 2020
Signing Up the World
— Why We Swab (@WhyWeSwab) October 31, 2019
“Getting diagnosed with this and being a part of the Stem Cell Club in my first year, I knew what I was getting into. But I didn’t expect to find a match within my own family because it’s just...”
#WhyWeSwab #cancer #stemcells #donation #volunteer pic.twitter.com/zpcQaiOdU3
TikToks
We also develop TikToks to raise awareness and educate about stem cell donation.
Our national TikTok account is: https://www.tiktok.com/@stemcellclub.
@stemcellclub How to join the registry! Repost from @brockstemcellclub #science #university #canada #stemcells #stemcelldonation #stemcellclub #getswabbed #fyp
♬ original sound - Stem Cell Club
@stemcellclub Peripheral blood stem cell donors will receive a drug called G-CSF to increase their number of stem cells! #sciencefacts #stemcells #fyp
♬ YRN (tik tok) - Tyler April