Donor Needed for Stanford Professor Nalini Ambady

Nalini Ambady –the first female Indian professor at Harvard University and at Stanford, and a trail-blazing researcher—is a Malayalee and is in desperate need of a stem cell donor.  She has two young daughters, and has only a few weeks left to find a donor. The doctors say the best chance for a match is with a Malayalee Nair, other Malayalees and South Indians in that order.  But South Asians are underrepresented in the registry; of the 10 million people registered, less than 2% are South Asian.

A world wide search is on to save Nalini. It has been covered by CNN, NBC, CBC, and Indiapost among many others.  In Canada, a drive to identify potential matches will take place this Sunday in Scarborough.  The goal is to find Nalini a donor and to increase the number of South Asians in the registry.

To learn more, please read this article that appeared on CNN this week written by Nalini’s daughter. http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/16/health/nalini-leukemia/index.html

This video tells part of the story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj1aL8h3V3g

CBC also covered the drive for Nalini this coming Sunday: http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2013/04/stanford-students-seek-bone-marrow-match-for-beloved-professor.html?cmp=fbtl

Could you  *please* get the word out to the members of your organization, it could save Nalini’s life.  To help, they could:

1)  attend the drive in Scarborough Civic Center on Saturday May 25 4pm – 6pm or

2) register on-line at OneMatch (www.OneMatch.ca), which will mail them a cheek swab kit, and they just mail it back.

Getting registered involves rubbing a q-tip against the inside of your cheek.  Donating stem cells is a similar to getting an IV.

For more information on stem cell donation please read here: Blood services Canada

Thank you for considering this! One of your members could be the match she needs! Please forward to as many people as you know and think could help!