Media invitation - Fighting cancer needs all of us: Come add your genetic fingerprint to Héma-Québec's Stem Cell Donor Registry

MONTRÉAL, Oct. 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Mai Duong, Maud Cohen and Raphael Bots, the trio who appeared on the October 20, 2024, episode of Tout le monde en parle, will be at the Swab The World info and swabbing booth. Swab The World, which Duong founded, will be signing people up for Héma–Québec's Stem Cell Donor Registry as part of the blood drive at Polytechnique on Monday, October 28. Maud Cohen is the President of Polytechnique, and nearly a year ago, her son, Raphael Bots, received a stem cell transplant due to leukemia—a journey similar to the one Mai Duong went on a decade ago.

Héma-Québec's Stem Cell Donor Registry

Héma-Québec's Stem Cell Donor Registry is a registry of everyone in Québec who wants to donate stem cells. Stem cells are "mother" cells from which all other blood cells (platelets and red and white blood cells) develop.

A successful stem cell transplant requires a close genetic match between donor and recipient. That's why Héma-Québec's Registry needs to be as ethnically diverse as possible. The Registry is part of a global network of around 40 million potential donors, so each search for a donor with a matching profile is a worldwide search!

The Polytechnique Montréal Swab The World booth and blood drive

Polytechnique Montréal and its student association will be hosting a Héma-Québec blood drive and Swab The World booth on October 28 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lorne-M.-Trottier atrium in the Pavillons Lassonde.

Members of the media will be able to meet with and interview Mai Duong, Maud Cohen, Raphael Bots and the Polytechnique students involved in this initiative at 10 a.m. on the day of the drive and tabling. The Swab The World booth will be on the 6th floor of the Pavillons Lassonde (at the blue wall) between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Signing up for the Registry takes just 5 minutes and an on-site buccal swab.

The mission of the Swab The World Foundation is to spread the word about stem cell donation and diversify the world stem cell donor registry. All patients deserve an equal chance of survival, regardless of their ethnicity.

SOURCE Héma-Québec

Source: Josée Larivée, Senior Advisor, Media Relations, Héma-Québec, 514-832-0871; Mai Duong, Co-founder, Swab The World, 514-984-2227, [email protected]; Information: Christian Merciari, Media Relations, Polytechnique Montréal, 514-742-8586