Local Leaders Receive Honors from National Marrow Donor Program 

Roswell Park Team Recognized as Leaders in Blood and Marrow Transplant in Award Ceremony

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Nov. 2, 2006 – Philip McCarthy, M.D., Theresa Hahn, Ph.D., and Amy Gillen of the Buffalo, N.Y.-based Roswell Park Cancer Institute have been named as the winners of the 2006 Medical Professional Education Award by the National Marrow Donor Program^® (NMDP). This exemplary group demonstrated its commitment and support to the NMDP’s mission by advancing education on the role and timing of blood and marrow transplantation, so this option is available for more patients who could benefit.

"This Roswell Park team has demonstrated outstanding integrity and social responsibility," said Jeffrey W. Chell, M.D., NMDP chief executive officer. "They have channeled their efforts and influence to benefit individuals who need a marrow or blood cell transplant. Dr. McCarthy, Dr. Hahn and Ms. Gillen gave their time, energy and resources generously to help make life-saving transplants a reality for patients in need.”

This team demonstrated a quest for understanding how the transplant community can support and educate physicians who refer for transplant, ensuring that all patients who may benefit from transplantation have that option. They worked closely with the NMDP to develop and conduct a regional referral outreach meeting, “Clinical guidelines for blood and marrow transplantation: new indications for treatment and long-term assessment,” and assisted in developing an interactive case study challenge at the NMDP exhibit at the American Society of Hematology conference entitled, “When is transplant an option?” to engage physicians in learning about when patients should be referred for transplant consultation.

McCarthy, Hahn and Gillen also advised the NMDP education team during the development of a large-scale market research study to understand barriers to transplant referral, current awareness and opinion of the role and timing of transplant, awareness and effectiveness of NMDP education efforts to date, and use of the ASBMT evidence-based reviews.

The National Marrow Donor Program's Medical Professional Education Award was established in 2002 and is one of ten awards of excellence offered this year by the NMDP. Additional awards and award winners include:

• Allison Atlas Award – Dave Olin Marrow Committee
• Excellence in Local Media Award (print) – Samuel Logan, Michigan Chronicle
• Excellence in Local Media Award (broadcast) - Denise Dador, KABC-TV, Los Angeles
• Excellence in National Media Award - Alex Cukan, United Press International
• Lt. Gen. Frank Petersen Jr. Award - Multicultural Affairs & Student Health Services, Oregon State University (OSU)
• Admiral Zumwalt Corporate Award - Siemens Automation & Logistics Inc.
• C.W. Bill Young Congressional Award - Representative Joe Barton, Representative Artur Davis, Senator Orrin Hatch and Senator Jack Reed
• Jeffrey Mark Harris Achievement Award - J.R. Hendrick, III, Chairman, Hendrick Motorsports
• Collegiate Award - Alan Buzkin Memorial Drive, the College of William & Mary

These awards are presented as part of the NMDP's annual Council Meeting. Approximately 800 people from the NMDP's Network Centers in the United States and abroad who play roles in matching volunteer marrow and blood stem cell donors with unrelated transplant recipients come together at this meeting to learn of advances in transplantation such as the use of umbilical cord blood and the use of blood and marrow transplantation for treating autoimmune diseases and solid tumors.

About the National Marrow Donor Program

The National Marrow Donor Program helps people who need a life-saving marrow or blood cell transplant.  We connect patients, doctors, donors and researchers to resources they need to help more people live longer, healthier lives. For more information about the NMDP, call 1-800-MARROW-2 or visit www.marrow.org.