Concordia calls on the whole community to help diversify stem cell registries

Concordia is stepping up to help address a critical health issue by hosting a Swab The World drive, an event dedicated to diversifying stem cell registries. This initiative aims to engage the university’s diverse community in a life-saving cause.

According to the Swab The World website, 70 per cent of all registered stem cell donors self-identify as white. Meanwhile, roughly 88 per cent of the world’s population does not. 

“With our richly diverse community, Concordia is a natural fit for recruiting stem cell donors to help save the lives of people from underrepresented ethnic and racialized groups,” explains Lisa White, executive director of the Equity Office. “Our goal with this event is to recruit potential donors from all backgrounds.”

Swab The World was co-founded in 2018 by Montrealers Mai Duong and Christiane Rochon, friends who worked in marketing and communications. In January 2013, Duong was diagnosed with leukemia during a routine blood test. After undergoing chemotherapy, a heartbreaking decision that required her to terminate a pregnancy, the cancer returned in 2014. A stem cell transplant, a procedure not widely known about at the time, became her only shot at survival.

Duong, who is of Vietnamese heritage, quickly learned that finding a donor match was extremely difficult due to the lack of Asian representation in stem cell donor registries. To help find a donor, she and Rochon paired up and put their communications expertise to work, creating a media campaign to highlight the lack of ethnic diversity in the world’s stem cell donor registries.

As a result of the exposure from their campaign, more than 20,000 new donors signed up with the local registry in 2014 in Quebec, a significant increase from the typical annual average of 3,000. Duong received a stem cell transplant from an umbilical cord in October 2014.

Today, the organization’s mission is clear: “To make sure every single patient finds their match. Period.” To achieve it, Swab The World provides a platform that helps spread the word on stem cells, connects qualified donors to local registries and supports people in sharing their stories. The organization also pairs up with partners like universities to hold events to find new donors.

‘We know Concordians will step up’

Swab The World has hosted kiosks at Concordia before as part of the Héma-Québec blood drive clinics. The idea to create a formal collaboration between the organization and the university was sparked by a conversation between James Roach, director of implementation for the President’s Task Force on Anti-Black Racism, and alum Alexander Sinora, BComm 16, both active in Concordia’s Black Alumni Network.

“Alexander brought up the idea of a potential collaboration between Swab The World and Concordia and introduced me to Mai,” Roach says.

“After meeting with her, I shared the idea with Lisa White, who immediately saw the alignment with Concordia’s commitment to equity and community engagement and with the task force’s mandate to help improve the lives of Black students, faculty, staff and community members.”

Roach adds that Katie Broad, acting dean of students, and Daniel Amico, department assistant with the Dean of Students Office, were also invaluable in the support they provided to bring Swab The World to Concordia as part of Volunteer Week.

The event will take place November 20 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the atrium of the Henry F. Hall (H) Building as part of the LIVE Centre Volunteer Fair. Along with registering new stem cell donors, the goal is to recruit students to join a Concordia chapter of Swab The World.

“We hope to organize ongoing events at Concordia throughout the year with the help of the chapter members,” says Swab The World coordinator Carmel Cicéron.

On November 20, interested donors must first complete an online form on the Héma-Québec website for background information and consent.

Swab ambassadors, trained and certified by Héma-Québec, are on hand for the swabbing. Once the potential donors have completed the online form, they swab the insides of their cheeks, and hand off the swabs to an ambassador.

“It’s done very quickly,” Cicéron explains. “We’re also there to answer questions and talk about the organization’s mission.”

Duong, who is celebrating 10 years of remission this year, will be there to make a short presentation.

“We’re very excited to support Swab The World in its mission,” White says. “Their work tangibly addresses inequities that lead to poorer health outcomes for people from underrepresented groups. Many people haven’t joined the donor registry simply because they don’t know about it. We know Concordians will step up to help.”

Swab your cheeks and save a life at the swab drive on November 20 from 1 to 4 p.m. during the LIVE Center Volunteer Fair in the atrium of the Henry F. Hall Building.