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  • ABMDR tenth-anniversary celebrations

    Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry
    3111 Los Feliz Avenue, #206, Los Angeles, CA 90039
    Contact person: Dr. Frieda Jordan
    Phone: (323) 663-3609
    Email:[email protected]

    ABMDR tenth-anniversary celebrations kick off with major event in Artsakh

    `Save a Life' concert and recruitment drive nets 160 new stem cell donors


    Los Angeles, January 20, 2010 - On January 8 the Armenian Bone Marrow

    Donor Registry (ABMDR) held an extraordinary concert and donor
    recruitment drive in Artsakh. The much-anticipated event, titled
    `Save a Life,' marked the first of a series of functions that will
    take place throughout this year in celebration of the ABMDR's tenth
    anniversary.

    `Save a Life,' which was held at the Spayi Tun hall in Stepanakert,
    featured an extensive program of musical performances by prominent
    artists from Artsakh as well as Armenia. The six-hour event was
    attended by hundreds of concertgoers and ABMDR supporters, including
    a roster of Artsakh dignitaries.

    `It was just a wonderfully festive occasion, and the outpouring of
    grassroots support made it all the more worthwhile,' said Dr. Frieda
    Jordan, president of the ABMDR Board of Directors. `Today, as we
    celebrate the tenth anniversary of the ABMDR, we are as much proud of
    the registry's achievements as we are enthusiastic about its ongoing
    growth and community outreach.'

    Dr. Sevak Avagyan, executive director of the ABMDR, added that there
    was symbolic significance in the choice of the Artsakh concert-
    recruitment date, as January 8 has been declared `Donor Day' by the
    government of Armenia. `We picked January 8 to further emphasize the
    critically important role that stem cell donors can have in helping
    save lives,' Dr. Avagyan said.

    The `Save a Life' event was organized jointly by the ABMDR, the
    Artsakh Ministry of Health, and the republic's Ministry of Youth and
    Cultural Affairs. Prior to the concert, on January 8, ABMDR staff
    members and several supporters, among them Artsakh government
    officials, visited the War Victims' Memorial, also in Stepanakert,
    where they laid a wreath.

    As with recruitment drives held across Armenia, the United States,
    and elsewhere, the ABMDR's Artsakh concert gave dozens of volunteers
    the opportunity to educate attendees about the life-saving work of
    the registry as well as recruit potential bone marrow stem cell
    donors. The effort resulted in 160 new recruits, including Artsakh
    National Assembly member Ashot Ghulyan, Health Minister Armen
    Khachatryan, Youth and Cultural Affairs Minister Narine Aghabalyan,
    and Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, Prelate of the Artsakh Diocese of
    the Armenian Apostolic Church.

    Dr. Jordan said that Artsakh's people and government alike continue
    to be extremely supportive of the ABMDR's work. Yet another
    indication of their solidarity came in the form of a Certificate of
    Recognition, which the government of Artsakh bestowed on the ABMDR
    during the January 8 concert.

    Previously the registry has held two recruitment drives in Artsakh,
    in 2002 and 2004, led by ABMDR Honorary President and former First
    Lady of Armenia Bella Kocharyan. The two campaigns resulted in the
    recruitment of a total of 805 stem cell donors.

    Last year the ABMDR reached a key milestone when it opened a Stem
    Cell Harvesting Center in Yerevan. The only one of its kind in the
    Caucasus region, the center can store and harvest stem cells provided
    by healthy bone marrow donors. The stem cells subsequently can be
    utilized in transplants for patients suffering from life-threatening
    blood-related diseases such as leukemia and other cancers.

    In 2010 the ABMDR's tenth-anniversary events - including recruitment
    drives, concerts, and presentations - will seek to both recruit bone
    marrow donors and garner support for the registry's next major goal,
    the establishment of a dedicated stem cell transplantation center in
    Armenia. `This will be the next logical step in the evolution of the
    ABMDR,' Dr. Jordan explained. `A full-fledged transplantation center
    will give thousands of Armenian patients access to affordable, life-
    saving stem cell transplants.'


    About the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry: Established in 1999,
    the ABMDR, a nonprofit organization, helps Armenians worldwide
    survive life-threatening blood-related illnesses by recruiting and
    matching donors to those requiring bone marrow stem cell transplants.

    To date, the registry has recruited over 15,000 donors across three
    continents, identified 1,305 patients, found 1,033 potential matches,
    and facilitated nine bone marrow transplants.

    For more information, call (323) 663-3609 or visit abmdr.am.

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