National Cord Blood Network Launches to Advance CBT

A new organization, the National Cord Blood Network (NCBN), launched Feb. 13 to optimize cord blood transplant (CBT) practices and increase accessibility to CBT for patients with hematologic malignancies at transplant centers in the United States.

The NCBN's multi-center collaborations aim to advance cord blood transplantation and increase utilization of existing inventories, ultimately seeking to establish CBT a curative therapy in transplant centers nationwide. The network will also collaborate with national stakeholders to maximize advancements in alternative donor transplantation.

Juliet Barker, MB, BS, director of the Weill Cornell Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program at New York-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, and Andromachi Scaradavou, MD, pediatric hematologist-oncologist and bone marrow transplant specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, will lead the organization. Marcie Finney, MBA, Cleveland Cord Blood Center, will serve as the administrative director.

Additional information is on the NCBN website.