Check out the new Dan Berger Cord Blood Program website!
On October 8, 2007, Magee-Womens Hospital announced the creation of the Dan Berger Cord Blood Program to give parents a choice to preserve their baby’s umbilical cord blood for future health care needs or as a donation to scientific research. The goal is to become the program example throughout the state of Pennsylvania. And what better place to start this program then at the premier women’s hospital in Pittsburgh?
Why is umbilical cord blood beneficial? Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells, but unfortunately, umbilical cords and placental tissue collected right after childbirth have been – and still are - discarded as medical waste. Cord blood stem cells have been used to treat more than 30 diseases, including, but not limited to, blood diseases, such as sickle cell anemia, leukemia, and cancers.
Magee’s program is distinct because the hospital offers parents three banking options from which to choose – a public donation, three private banks, or a donation to scientific research at the Magee-Womens Research Institute.
Magee’s program is named for the late Dan Berger, a Pittsburgh attorney who had a successful stem cell transplant to overcome cancer, but tragically died of a heart attack in 2006. This program was established by a lead gift from the Berger family in partnership with the UPMC Health Plan, Highmark Corp., the Institute for Transfusion Medicine (the parent company of Pittsburgh’s Central Blood Bank), and private banks Cord Blood Registry, CorCell and ViaCord.
Make a donation today to support this innovative and beneficial program that has the potential to save many lives as well as assist in the advancement of research. To learn more about monetary donations for the Dan Berger Cord Blood Program, please contact Arthur Scully at (412) 641-8973 or ascully@magee.edu.
To learn more about how you can donate your cord blood, please contact Mary Wiegel at (412) 327-6025 or (412) 209-7479 or email her at mwiegel@itxm.org. Mary is the Cord Blood Educator for Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC.
MY MAGEE STORY: The Lang Family
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