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About Me: bzffund( 23Feedback score is 10 to 49) About Me

The Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund for DR Typing

The Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund for DR Typing

The HLA Registry Foundation


Brian Zikmund-Fisher

We are pleased to announce eBay Charity Auctions to benefit the Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund at the HLA Registry Foundation. HLA Registry is the largest bone marrow donor recruitment center in the country, with over 180,000 donors under their purview. This fund, named for Bone Marrow Transplant survivor Brian Zikmund-Fisher, pays for DR typing on new and existing bone marrow donors. This helps to make the search for a bone marrow donor faster, more effective, and cheaper for patients, who are often quite short on time and, unfortunately, insurance for their search.

100% of the proceeds from our auctions benefit the fund! Just $33 pays for DR typing of one potential donor.

Other ways you can help

What is DR Typing and why is it important?

These auctions save lives!

To protect bidder privacy, when the price or highest bid on an item reaches or exceeds a certain level, User IDs will be displayed as anonymous names. For auction items, a bold price means at least one bid has been received.

Note: Anonymous names may appear more than once and may represent different bidders.

Here's what we're auctioning now
Item Start End Price Title High Bidder/Status

Go see all current items for sale by this member.

    Previous auctions include:
      ** Tuxedo bow-tie autographed by tenor Jose Carreras
      ** Toy autographed by Pink Power Ranger Valerie Vernon.
      ** Set list autographed by folk singer Tom Paxton
      ** Complete sets of 1997, 1998 & 1999 McDonald's Teenie Beanie Babies
      ** Signature nailpolish created and autographed by folk singer Christine Lavin
      ** Longaberger All-American serving tray
      ** Box of 1st Edition Pokemon Team Rocket booster packs

DR Typing and Why It's Important

Generally when people are typed as bone marrow donors, they are typed at four antigens: two at HLA-A and two at HLA-B. This goes into the computer and is available to hospitals conducting donor searches for patients. However, there are really many more criteria for matching a donor with a patient. The next two antigens generally tested are two antigens at DR. When patients talk about finding a "six of six match," they mean the donor matches at A, B and DR. If you are a registered donor and you are called for more testing, the first thing they are likely to test for is DR, and that information goes into the computer, too.

At this point, about 53% of donors in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) are already typed at DR, and that information is available for searches. The trouble is, the NMDP has gotten sufficiently big that it is looking for a needle in a haystack to try to find someone who is a perfect match by typing all the people who are only known to match a patient at A and B. Recording donors by A and B is simply not enough information anymore. More donors of the remaining 47% need to be typed at DR.

About 95% of matches made through the NMDP are made with donors who were already typed at DR before the search began. That means that there are literally over a million donors who may never be called simply because to test them would take too long and cost too much, even though they might be better matches than the donors who are chosen.

We think no one should have to face the choice between a not-quite-perfect match and facing the time (and health deterioration) and expense of testing 4 of 4's. If all of the donors in the registry were already typed at DR, then patients would have a head start finding the needle in a haystack -- that perfect-in-every-way donor. And while we can't fund DR typing for every donor in the registry, we can make a start. We hope that you will help us.

Other Ways You Can Help

Please join us with your tax-deductible contribution.

Send your check to:

Make checks payable to HLA Registry Foundation and indicate "Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund" on the memo line.

Donate online via PayPal:

Get Typed! If you haven't been typed as a potential bone marrow donor, please consider doing so. When someone (like Brian!) has no viable related donors, the possibility of transplant and the chances of survival are dependent on the existence of the largest possible pool of potential donors. Science is finding more and more criteria to check for when searching for a donor, and we need more and more people to be donors to ensure that all who need a donor can find a good match. You have the chance to save someone's life! You can get typed many ways: through local blood centers, the HLA Registry, local drives. The test to become a donor is a simple blood test. Call 1-800-MARROW2 or see www.marrow.org for the National Marrow Donor Program and the location of donor centers near you.

Give Blood There are tons of people who, like Brian, need regular blood transfusions to survive from day to day. It takes so little time to give blood, and means so much. Contact your local blood center for details...

Donate an Item for Auction We are happy to take unwanted or unneeded collectibles and auction them on eBay, with proceeds benefiting the fund. E-mail us to make arrangements.
The above page is maintained by: bzffund( 23Feedback score is 10 to 49) About Me

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