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Versiti is a Link Partner and We Are Honored to Spotlight this Wonderful Organization and The Important Work They Do.
Versiti actively supports the work we do to educate and assist those walking through a bone marrow transplant journey. Your health team and your village expands beyond the faces you see. We all work together to help you restore your health, to cope, and to be informed. Here is a prime example.
Jennifer Gillette, LMSW, nbmtLINK sat down with Sarah Jacobson, Field Marketing Manager for Versiti Diagnostic Laboratories, to hear about how they serve our transplant patients. Versiti has been a leader of transplantation research and advancements in diagnostic testing technology for more than 30 years.
In fact, Versiti Blood Research Institute Senior Investigator Richard H. Aster, MD, was part of the team that facilitated the first successful bone marrow transplant for aplastic anemia from an unrelated donor. Through their great work, Versiti helps people like Amy Barwick every day. Amy knows firsthand the impact that tissue donation can make. She was born with a congenital spinal deformity called Scheuermann kyphosis, which causes the spine to become curved. At age 15, she underwent major back surgery and received a cadaver bone transplant, as well as blood and plasma transfusions, to help her heal.
“It’s a unique situation; they knew I would have a significant amount of blood loss during the surgery, so they had me self-donate,” she says. A week prior to her surgery, Amy donated her blood and plasma, which were then given back to her during the operation, along with blood products from donors.
Thankfully, Amy’s surgery was successful, restoring her movement and quality of life. “I benefitted greatly from my experience, so I’ve always been a huge advocate for organ and tissue donation,” she says. When it came time to deliver her second child, Amy wanted to give back by donating her placenta, which can be used to help burn victims, people with diabetic ulcers and more. “I liked that it was able to help people; otherwise, it would just go in the garbage,” she says. “If people can benefit from this, I would love that.”
Today, Versiti partners with transplant centers to improve patient outcomes throughout their transplantation journey. Their histocompatibility (HLA) lab allows them to offer the following comprehensive transplant services to a number of transplant centers across the country.
• Customized testing and case-based reports, leading to faster identification of donors
• Innovative, state-of-the-art HLA typing and testing algorithms to guide donor selection
• Precise diagnostic testing capabilities to advance patient care and outcomes
• Personalized expertise to support your care team throughout each patient’s journey
• Educational opportunities to stay current on the latest advances in transplantation
So, what is HLA testing exactly?
According to the NMDP, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing is used to match patients and donors for bone marrow or cord blood transplants. HLA are proteins – or markers – found on most cells in your body. Your immune system uses these markers to recognize which cells belong in your body and which do not. Research has found that a donor must match a minimum of 6 HLA markers. Many times, a closer match is required. The best match is found through detailed testing. Because some HLA types are more common than others, some patients may face a greater challenge in finding a matching donor. Some HLA types are found more often in certain racial and ethnic groups. A close match between a donor’s and a patient’s HLA markers is essential for a successful transplant outcome. HLA matching promotes the growth and development of new healthy blood cells from the donor (called engraftment) and reduces the risk of a post-transplant complication called graft-versus-host (GVHD) disease.
Versiti offers Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) HLA Typing, Intermediate Resolution HLA Typing, HLA Antibody Screening and Identification, KIR Genotyping, Infectious Disease Marker Testing, Chimerism testing to monitor transplantation success through engraftment and signs of relapse, Erythroid Chimerism testing to monitor transplantation in sickle cell patients, HLA Loss of Heterozygosity (LOH) testing to determine the best course of action for post-transplant relapse patients, as well as therapeutic apheresis and cellular therapy services, including comprehensive cell processing, cryopreservation and storage services for their partner hospitals.
It is a pleasure partnering with them as extended members of the healthcare team, making sure patients have all that is needed to try to restore their health.
Check out their video by clicking here:
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