Free Cord Blood Banking to Siblings

Sibling Donor Cord Blood Program at Children's Hospital of Oakland is the only program in the USA that is federally funded to offer free cord blood banking to siblings of chidren with transplantable diseases. However, the funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Insititute (NHLBI) runs out this month. They have applied for funding from CIRM, the new California Institute for Regenerative Medicine that was created when voters passed Proposition 71 in November 2004. Last week the CIRM hired Arlene Chiu, PhD, as director of scientific programs and review. Chiu was previously the NIH associate director of the Office of Research Administration of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.