The University's two-day Bone Marrow Registration Drive began Wednesday in Sayles Hall with eager volunteers and plenty of pizza for students, faculty and others.
The drive, which registered 59 people at Brown yesterday, said state program director Nicole Rubeira, will run again today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Unlike a blood drive, in which donors give on site, prospective bone marrow donors simply register in a database and undergo a cheek swab to determine their tissue type. Registrants may be contacted months or years later - until they turn 60 years old - when a patient with matching typing is in need.
Since many minorities die from a lack of potential matches - as human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing is determined by heritage - Brown's racially and ethnically diverse student body is crucial for the registry, said Professor of Medicine Edward Feller, the drive's faculty coordinator.
"You have the capacity to save someone's life in a tangible way," said Rachael Venn '10, leaving Sayles Hall after registering.
Feller said he experienced the life-saving power of donation first-hand. When his wife's leukemia stopped responding to chemotherapy, the only option for survival was receiving a transfusion of peripheral stem cells. Thanks to a young woman identified in the registry - with whom she is now very close - Feller's wife is alive and well today.
Eden Tanenbaum '10, who registered yesterday, also offered a personal story for her participation. "Bone marrow allowed my best friend's father to live for three more years" after a battle with lymphoma, she said.
Another student, Nat Rosenzweig '10, said that "whenever there is a drive, I try to participate." Rosenzweig was so enthusiastic, in fact, that shortly after he started filling out forms yesterday, he realized he had already joined the registry two years ago.
Feller said he hopes the drive will "increase consciousness around the Brown campus" about the importance of joining the registry.
Those who register today will be rewarded with snacks and prizes - like gift certificates to Starbucks and Trinity Brewhouse - as instant incentives to do a good deed.
