Your blood can help advance medical care
Doctors and scientists are researching advanced treatments and possible cures for a number of diseases.
I recently learned that Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is working with a biotech company by providing mononuclear cells (also called T-cells or white blood cells) for work on COVID-19 and leukemia. That means you, me, or someone we know can contribute to groundbreaking work that could save countless lives.
“How does it work?”
I’m glad you asked. Immunotherapy is currently at the forefront in the development of new treatments for serious diseases. In this therapy, cells or cellular products may stimulate or restore the ability of the body’s immune system to fight infection and disease, including cancer.
The donation from one person to another is called allogeneic (instead of autologous when the patient donates his or her own cells). This process is sometimes called “off-the-shelf” cellular therapy because the cells can be stored and shipped for patients when they need it.
The bottom line is that you would give mononuclear blood cells through apheresis (an automated process similar to donating plasma or platelets) with The Blood Center. A biotech company will use the mononuclear cells for COVID and cancer research and clinical trials.
Run, don’t walk! I’m kidding, of course, but if you are interested in participating in this innovative work, you should contact us today. Why? Because tomorrow you might get busy and forget or lose your enthusiasm. And this is too important to postpone.
Cellular Life Solutions is the division of Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center specializing in collecting products for these therapies. Its goal is to help make the dream of new, cutting-edge blood and cell therapies the new standard of care. The development of these new therapies depends on the availability of allogeneic cells that can be used to manufacture cellular therapy products in the laboratory.
We are looking for participants who are interested in these specialized donations that will assist in the development of “off-the-shelf” cell therapy. For those interested in learning more, please visit cellularlifesolutions.org, email us at info@cellularlifesolutions.org or call (713) 791-6645.