Donors and Transplants

Information about donating blood, organs, tissue, and organ transplants in general.

Resources in this category:

The American Association of Blood Banks
http://www.aabb.org/content

"Established in 1947, the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) is the professional society of more than 2,400 community, regional and Red Cross blood centers, hospital-based blood banks and transfusion services. It also represents nearly 9,000 individual members engaged in blood banking and transfusion medicine. The AABB sets standards, inspects and accredits blood collection and transfusion facilities, and provides continuing education through programs and newsletters."

American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics
http://www.ashi-hla.org/

"The American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics is dedicated to optimizing patient outcome through research, education and the advancement of immunogenetic testing."

American Society of Transplant Surgeons
http://www.asts.org/

This site is the online presence for the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. ASTS welcomes "surgical specialists who are actively engaged in transplantation." Membership information is included on the site.

American Society of Transplantation
http://www.a-s-t.org/

"The ASTP is a multidisciplinary group of physicians and scientists dedicated to the promotion of education and research relating to transplantation medicine and immunology. The ASTP fosters communication between the multiple specialists involved in transplant medicine today. The goal is to effect efficient transfer of information from the basic science laboratory to transplantation clinics and ultimately, to improve patient care and outcomes."

Association For Blood Conservation
http://www.associationforbloodconservation.org/

The Association for Blood Conservation attempts to educate and mold professional practices in regards to blood conservation. This organization's website offers information on accredited blood conservation programs, services, and events.

Caitlin Raymond International Registry
http://www.crir.org/

The Caitlin Raymond International Registry is "the search coordinating center for the American Bone Marrow Donor Registry and the American Cord Blood Program." It is "a comprehensive resource for patients and physicians conducting a search for unrelated bone marrow or cord blood donor. The Registry accesses more than 1.8 million donors internationally (not including the donor panel of the National Marrow Donor Program)."

Children's Liver Alliance
http://www.kinsey.id.au/liverkids/

The Children's Liver Alliance (CLA) is also known as Biliary Atresia & Liver Transplant Network Inc. (BALT). CLA "is the largest pediatric liver organization worldwide dedicated to empowering the hearts and minds of children with liver disease , their families and the medical professionals who care for them. Originally created for those afflicted with Biliary Atresia , BALT now serves those touched by Alagille's Syndrome, Alpha-1 Antitrypsin, Cystic Fibrosis, Galactosemia, Glycogen Storage Diseases, Neonatal Hepatitis, Tyrosinemia, Wilson's Disease and many other pediatric liver diseases." This site contains a description of CLA's services, free membership form, "The Biliary Tree" newsletter, links to information about liver transplants, a links to pediatric hospitals in the USA, and links to "Living Related Liver Transplant Centers" in the USA.

International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry
http://www.ibmtr.org/

"The IBMTR is an international study group engaged in ongoing investigation of allogeneic and syngeneic (identical twin) tranplantation for over 20 years. ... The diseases and issues currently being studied by the IBMTR and ABMTR are: acute and chronic leukemias, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, breast cancer, T-cell depletion, and cytokines. We address questions regarding short- and long-term outcome in defined groups of patients, relevant prognostic factors, efficacy of different transplant approaches, and immune-mediated antitumor effects. Recent collaborations with large chemotherapy cooperative groups allow us to compare chemotherapy with tranplants in situations where randomized clinical trials are difficult or impossible to conduct."

Living Bank International
http://www.livingbank.org/site/PageServer

The Living Bank, based in Houston, TX, describes itself as "the only nationwide organ and tissue donor registry." It's mission is "to motivate and facilitate the commitment of enough organ and tissue donors so that no one must die or suffer for lack of a donation."

Mickey Mantle Foundation
http://www.transweb.org/mantle.html

Mickey Mantle, one of the most famous baseball players of all time, received a liver transplant in 1995. Although he died shortly afterwards from complications caused by cancer, "his last wish was to establish a foundation to promote organ and tissue transplants and donor awareness. The slogan Mr. Mantle selected for his foundation was 'Be a Hero. Be a Donor.'" The organization believes that "the critical shortage of organ and tissue donors results from the American public's being uninformed about the critical need, as well as the process, of donation. The decision to be a donor is difficult for many Americans. However, we believe that the American public will embrace organ and tissue donation if the decision-making opportunity and the information is made more readily available. Accessability and education are the keys." This page includes an offer to receive a free Mickey Mantle Donor Card, as well as links to more information about transplants.

Second Wind Lung Transplant Association, Inc.
http://www.2ndwind.org/

This association aims "to improve the quality of life for lung transplant recipients, lung surgery candidates, people with related pulmonary concerns and their families, by providing support, love, advocacy, education, information and guidance through a spirit of service, adding years to their lives and life to their years." This site includes contact information, a Member's Stories section, a lung transplant center listing and financing information.

Society for the Advancement of Blood Management
http://www.sabm.org/

"Bloodless medicine" is the practice of providing medical care without using donor blood. This site has information on services, education programs, events, and how to join the SABM. Publications are also available online. "The mission of the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management is: - Facilitate cooperation among existing and future blood conservation, bloodless medicine, and surgery programs. - Enhance the clinical and scientific aspects of transfusion practice - Encourage and develop educational programs for healthcare professionals and the public. - Create an international database for the benefit of better patient outcomes to be shared with the worldwide medical community."

Transplant Recipients International Organization
http://www.trioweb.org/

"The Transplant Recipients International Organization (TRIO) is an independent not-for-profit international organization committed to improving the quality of life of transplant candidates, recipients, and their families; and donor families." This website contains general information on TRIO's services, fact sheet on organ donorship, on-line copies of their newsletter "Lifelines", list of TRIO publications, current legislation news and links to related sites.

United Network for Organ Sharing
http://www.unos.org/

"The transplant community is joined under a nationwide umbrella: the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS. UNOS, located in Richmond, Virginia, is a private, not-for-profit, membership corporation qualified as a charitable organization under section 501 (c)(3) of the IRC. UNOS administers the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and the U.S. Scientific Registry on Organ Transplantation under contracts with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services." This site includes reports of recent news relating to organ sharing, as well as information for transplant patients.