Contact: Amy E. Leach, Director of Public Relations
Email: aleach@coriell.umdnj.edu Phone: 856-757-4826 Camden, NJ; November, 2000 --- On Tuesday, November 14, 2000, Coriell Institute for Medical Research formally established the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank. This public, not-for-profit program championed by Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano (R-Bergen, Essex and Passaic) and established pursuant to legislation signed into law by Governor Christine Todd Whitman to make umbilical cord blood transplantation available to all citizens of the State and regional communities.
"In the State of New Jersey," explained David P. Beck, Ph.D., President of Coriell Institute, "more than half the patients needing a bone marrow transplant are unable to find a match, and minorities have an even smaller chance because so few are listed in donor registries. Having a readily available source of stem cells that can be transplanted into unrelated recipients will be a major advance for citizens in the State."
A scientific organization with almost five decades of expertise in the field of cell culturing and cell preservation, Coriell was funded by a five million dollar award from the State of New Jersey to collect and store the blood from the umbilical cord of thousands of babies born in New Jersey to combat a variety of cancers, blood disorders, and a range of other diseases.
Umbilical cord blood is a special resource. "It has long been known that blood of the placenta and umbilical cord is rich in blood stem cells, the cells that can rebuild the blood-forming system, explained Richard D. Huhn, M.D., Medical Director of the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank and Director of the Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Laboratory of the Coriell Institute. "Nearly two decades ago, concentrated research into the quality and quantity of stem cells in cord blood was being performed and led to the proposal that cord blood could be used instead of bone marrow for stem cell transplantation."
In 1988, the first cord blood transplant was performed to treat a young French boy with a marrow failure disease called Fanconi anemia. The transplant successfully replaced the boy's diseased blood cells with healthy cells from his newborn sister. "He is alive and well today," said Huhn. "Since that time, many cord blood transplants, estimated at approximately two thousand procedures world-wide, have been performed."
Most cord blood transplants have been done to treat children with malignant blood diseases such as leukemia, while a small proportion of the procedures have been done to treat other diseases of the blood and immune systems and disorders of metabolism. Because the immature immune cells of cord blood appear to better tolerate the so-called 'foreign' environment of unrelated recipients, they may cause less difficulty with the graft-vs.-host reaction after transplantation. This may then allow cord blood transplants to be used for treatment of other blood cell diseases such as hemoglobin disorders (for example, sickle cell anemia and thalassemias) that are not immediately life-threatening like cancers.
"In addition," said Huhn, "because cord blood stem cells appear to accept gene transfer better than adult blood-derived stem cells, cord blood may be an improved vehicle for gene therapy. All of these potential applications of this technology are currently subjects of intensive research."
"I couldn't be any prouder of this piece of legislation," said Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano, "because it gives hope of continued life to those who have very little hope."
James S. Blumenstock, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Public Health, Protection, and Prevention Programs for the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services, has worked closely with the Coriell Institute over the last two years to foster the development of a sound business plan in accord with statute that authorized the award for the creation of the blood bank. "The administration of the State of New Jersey is pleased to be able to support this important venture, not only through the financial aspects of the project, but also through its technical support of the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank," he commented.
Blood cell transplants, whether using bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells or cord blood stem cells, are safer and usually less complicated by adverse events when the tissue types of donor and recipient are well matched. Unfortunately, at this time, it is much harder to find matches for ethnic minority populations than for Caucasians because they are much less well represented in the traditional marrow donor registries. For this reason, one of the most important objectives for public cord blood banks is to enhance the ethnic diversity of the collections.
Explained Huhn, "The New Jersey Cord Blood bank will start collections at three birthing centers, geographically dispersed with different catchment populations. We have established agreements with the Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center and the Virtua West Jersey Medical Center to facilitate our collections activities, and we are in late stages of negotiating a similar agreement with the Hackensack University Medical Center." Between these three medical centers, the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank will have potential access to almost 14,000 births per year from a wide variety of populations.
Collecting a baby's cord blood is painless and takes about five minutes. Once the umbilical cord is cut from the baby and the placenta has been delivered, the blood remaining in the cord is drained into a sterile bag, a process which does not interrupt the birthing procedure. The blood is then delivered to Coriell Institute, where it is frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen at minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit until it is needed.
"Not only does the banking of cord blood through a public program have the great potential of making this cutting-edge technology available to all who might need it, but it also provides it at a cost to the recipient that is much lower than searching for bone marrow stem cells from an adult donor," said Beck.
Health Care for the 21st Century
Coriell Institute's scientific vision and pioneering efforts have once again positioned the Institute to play an exciting role in the development of a new therapeutic approach by establishing the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank (NJCBB).
With five million dollars in funding from the State of New Jersey, this innovative program will allow the Institute to collect and store blood extracted from the umbilical cord after a baby's delivery. The blood is an excellent source for stem cells that can be used to combat a variety of cancers, blood disorders, and a range of other diseases. A public resource, the NJCBB will make umbilical cord blood transplantation available to all citizens.Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells
Stem cells are the primitive cells found in various tissues of the body that can differentiate (change) into the specific functional cells of various tissues. They are the source of tissue renewal and growth. In the blood, these stem cells are called 'hematopoietic' stem cells, and they produce the steady stream of blood cells, such as white and red cells and platelets, that keep us healthy.
While bone marrow can be used as a source of these stem cells, it is often difficult to obtain, and scientists have had to search for other sources. A baby in the womb is busy making new blood so his or her circulating blood is very rich in hematopoietic stem cells. When a baby is born, a certain amount of blood remains behind in the umbilical cord and placenta, and this blood can be captured for use as a source of these precious stem cells.Prospects for Transplant Success
In 1988, the first cord blood transplant was performed to treat a young French boy with a bone marrow failure disease called Fanconi anemia. The transplant successfully replaced the boy's diseased blood cells with healthy cells from his newborn sister. He is alive and well today. Since that time, many cord blood transplants, estimated to be at least two thousand procedures world-wide, have been performed.
Cord blood has several advantages over bone marrow transplants. Stem cell transplants require a less precise match than do bone marrow transplants. And because the cord blood will be drawn from an ethnically diverse pool, it will also mean more opportunity for minority transplant patients who are not well represented in current blood banks. Finally, stem cells have proved to be better tolerated in humans, and result in fewer incidences of "graft vs. host disease," where the host cells attack the new cells.Collecting Cord Blood
Ellen Harris, MSN, RN is the Program Director of the NJCBB. In this role, Ms. Harris builds relationships between the blood bank and the collecting hospitals. At this time, the collecting hospitals are Cooper Health System and Our Lady of Lourdes in Camden, NJ, and Virtua Health System Hospitals in Voorhees and Burlington County, NJ.
"Obtaining blood from the umbilical cord after the delivery of the baby is painless and does not interfere with the birthing process," says Ms. Harris. The program's goal is to make donating cord blood a routine part of giving birth. "This will build the NJCBB and provide a large and diverse collection, which is necessary in order for this bank to be useful for everyone."
Contact: Ellen Harris, MSN, RN, Program Director, New Jersey Cord Blood Bank
Email: eharris@coriell.org Phone: 856-757-9752 Ms. Harris and the staff of NJCBB "prescreen" potential donors. Prescreening consists of obtaining an informed consent and medical history. "When a donor successfully completes the prescreening phase," explains Ms. Harris, "her cord blood will be collected after she gives birth to her baby and the NJCBB staff will be paged to pick up the cord blood and transport it to Coriell Institute for processing and freezing." The blood is then banked for possible future use in stem cell transplantation. Potential donors learn about the program from their child birth educators, hospital tours, physicians, certified nurse mid-wife, etc. Women who are interested can call so that an informed consent can be mailed for their review. After the informed consent is reviewed and signed, a medical history is taken.Why Coriell?
Coriell Institute has a long history in cell banking and cryogenic storage (freezing). A scientific organization with nearly five decades of expertise, the Institute is the world's foremost repository for the collection, freezing, and retrieval of human cell cultures and has developed the highest standards for handling and preserving cells and tissues. With this depth of experience, it was an obvious site to conduct this complex program for the benefit of the citizens of the State, country and world.
David P. Beck, Ph.D. is President of the Coriell Institute. "The banking of cord blood through a public program has the great potential of making this cutting-edge technology available to all who might need it," says Dr. Beck. "We are grateful for the leadership of the State legislature and Department of Health in making it possible for us to pursue this project."
James S. Blumenstock, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Public Health, Protection, and Prevention Programs for the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services, has worked closely with the Coriell Institute over the last two years to foster the development of a sound plan in accordance with the statute that authorized the award for the blood bank's creation. He comments, "The Administration of the State of New Jersey is pleased to be able to support this important venture, not only through the financial aspects of the project, but also through its technical support of the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank."
Assemblyman Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano (R-Bergen, Essex and Passaic) first introduced this legislation to fund the establishment of a NJ Cord Blood Bank for five million dollars in April 1998, and has followed the progress and championed this important program since that time. "I couldn't be any prouder of this piece of legislation," he says, "because it gives hope of continued life to those who have very little hope."Committed to Promoting Umbilical Cord Blood Research
In addition to building and maintaining a very large bank of hematopoietic stem cells from cord blood, the Coriell Institute is also conducting research on several important problems related to stem cells. In particular, Coriell scientists are trying to understand how the blood-forming cells become leukemic and how one can grow more stem cells.
Previously unknown cells in the blood-forming pathway have been discovered at Coriell, and Institute scientists are developing a program to search for new growth factors that will enable us to grow more stem cells than can be captured from a cord blood collection from the umbilical cord and placenta. Such research is a key corollary of the development of the New Jersey Cord Blood Bank.
Information about this program can be obtained by calling:
Ellen Harris, MSN, RN, Program Director, New Jersey Cord Blood Bank
Email: eharris@coriell.org Phone: 856-757-9752She will be happy to talk with you about the donation process and how you can enroll in this important program.
STATEMENT OF THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF NEW JERSEY ON HUMAN STEM CELL RESEARCH (S1909/A2840)