This article was originally published in the June 2024 edition of Héma-Québec’s Magazine. All issues of the Magazine are available here.

The challenges (and successes!) of Stem Cell Donor Registry recruitment

The Stem Cell Donor Registry could save your life—or the life of a family member or friend. Recruitment advisor Corinne Grefford knows all about it, having seen her fair share of deeply moving and life-saving experiences during her previous time as a stem cell donor support advisor. The Registry is a source of immense hope for patients waiting for a transplant, and for almost a year now, she’s been working tirelessly to expand it.

Each year, thousands of Quebecers suffering from serious illnesses need to find their match. Often, it’s a matter of life or death.

The challenging task of finding a match

You might have heard that stem cells are “mother” cells from which all other blood cells—platelets and red and white blood cells—develop. When you get a stem cell transplant, it’s like getting a whole new immune system. This is done by harvesting stem cells from a donor who is genetically compatible with the recipient. If recipients can’t find a match in their family, their next stop is the stem cell donor registries, which contain millions of profiles of people around the world who are available to donate stem cells to whoever needs them.

That’s why it’s so important that Québec’s registry and the other registries affiliated with the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) have as many potential donors enrolled as possible—and that those donors are as ethnically diverse as possible.

However, as of now, white (Caucasian) people are heavily overrepresented in registries around the world, making new donor recruitment ever more crucial.

This is where Corinne Grefford comes in. She and her colleagues have been working to grow Héma-Québec’s Stem Cell Donor Registry by meeting potential donors where they are.

Volunteer-driven recruitment

To sign up for the Registry, potential donors must be between 18 and 35 years old, making colleges and universities the ideal places for recruitment initiatives. Activities are also organized in many high schools around Québec to raise awareness of the Registry before students turn 18.

“We typically set up informational booths in spaces where it’s easy to get students’ attention,” says Corinne Grefford. “Our teams of volunteers are all trained in stem cell donation, and they speak with the students and give them all the information. We help them sign up then and there and take a buccal swab to determine their genetic profile.”

But how to get students’ attention when they’re busy thinking about a million other things on their way to class?

“Our teams use different techniques to get their attention, like a spin-the-wheel game and free Registry-branded items to make the experience more appealing. It works really well. These activations are very popular with our target audience. We often talk to as many as 150 people in just one 4-hour period!”

Talks at educational institutions are also an excellent way to reach potential donors and can be a way to dive deeper into the topic with audiences who have greater technical knowledge, like medical students. Sports and community events, like blood drives organized by firefighters in different municipalities, can be another great place to recruit!

Working hard to raise hopes

The hard work of Corinne and our volunteers, combined with our social media advertising campaigns and strategies, is paying off big time. The number of donors joining the Registry keeps on growing, and sign-ups at tabling events are responsible for about 40% of these new potential donors. This success is all thanks to our mighty strike force: we have about two dozen ABDV volunteers specialized in stem cells and over a hundred other trained volunteers.

As Québec’s population ages, adding new donors to the Registry is going to be an even bigger challenge in the years to come. Luckily, donor recruitment is in good hands!