ABMDR-Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry
February 26, 2013
The ABMDR – Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, is a non profit organization. It was founded in 1999. ABMDR’s mission is to save lives by finding and providing matched unrelated donors for bone marrow or stem cell transplantation to all Armenian and non-Armenian patients worldwide who are suffering from leukemia and other life-threatening blood related illnesses. Due to the unique genetic make-up of Armenians, it is nearly impossible to find suitable matches among the existing international registries. Therefore, ABMDR has a mission to ensure that every ethnic Armenian struck with a life threatening blood-related illness is able to find hope for long-term survival through the identification of a genetically suitable bone marrow match.
Cici, Kim Kardashian’s cousin, desperately needs a bone marrow stem cell transplant. Kourtney Kardashian askes for help for her cousin Cici from Armenians. Because Cici is 100% Armenian descent, she needs to receive bone marrow from an Armenian donor, which means the pool of options is a lot smaller and she is having a difficult time finding a match. After 17 years of battling cancer, her body has stopped responding to the chemotherapy, now Cici desperately needs a bone marrow stem cell transplant. Only Armenian donors can match and help Cici today, and give her many more years to live. For this reason, Kardashian’s turn to ABMDR to Help Find Their Cousin A Match.
The ABMDR is a member of the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) and Bone Marrow Donor Worldwide (BMDW) sharing its database information with other registries around the world. In January 2008, ABMDR became a member of National Marrow Donor Program – NMDP. In February 2005 the “Mariana Kazarian” center was opened in Los Angeles.
Donors
How to become a donor?
Who qualifies to be a donor?
To register as a donor you have to be between the ages of 18 and 50, and in good general health. You will fill out a short form with your contact information and a brief medical history. You will give us a tissue sample (a few swabs from the inside of your cheek). You’re done!
Afterwords, ABMDR specialists will analyze your sample, determine your tissue type, and file this away with your contact information into their database. This information will remain there till you reach the age of 55. 
Donors
