ABMDR relies on its network to being able to help patients and donors.
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood is funded by state governments to recruit blood donors onto ABMDR’s registry and conduct blood testing of our donors for the purpose of blood stem cell donations.
State tissue typing laboratories provide HLA typing services on patients and ABMDR’s donors. They provide expert advice to transplant teams on tissue typing and search matters.
Transplant centres provide transplant services for Australian patients needing bone marrow transplantation. They care for patients and initiate the search for suitably matched donors through ABMDR.
Collection centres collect the blood or marrow stem cells from donors, counsel and examine donors before the collection, and ensure the donor is well before discharge.
Cord blood banks manage the storage and donation of umbilical cord blood units and operate within a strict Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) regulatory framework.
International network
ABMDR has an extensive network of cooperative relationships with international registries from over 50 countries, to exchange de-identified donor information in an effort to find the best match for every patient.
ABMDR is also a member of the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). The WMDA works to ensure high quality blood stem cells are available for patients worldwide and to protect donors across borders.
Maintaining strong international relationships is critical for ABMDR, as around 8 out of 10 Australian patients are dependent on an overseas donor. Internationally, over 38 million people have joined bone marrow registries and there are over 800,000 cord blood units stored world wide.