American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Awards Robin Roberts With the 2024 Public Service Award

CHICAGO, February 9, 2024 (Newswire.com) - The American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy® (ASTCT) will present Robin Roberts, Good Morning America anchor, with its 2024 Public Service Award at the 2024 Tandem Meetings | Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings of ASTCT® and CIBMTR® on Friday, February 23. The annual award recognizes an individual who has advanced the interests of patients or given special service to the patients and families ASTCT serves.

ASTCT is essential in securing the highest industry standards and guidelines for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and cellular therapy patients to bring the best in comprehensive care across the world. Gene and cell therapy are at the cutting edge of medicine today, and ASTCT serves as a resource organization for physicians, researchers and patients, to ensure that the highest quality of data and information is accessible to all who need it. With an international professional membership of 3,600 physicians, investigators and healthcare professionals from more than 45 countries, ASTCT’s mission is dedicated to improving the application and success of advanced life-saving therapies.

In 2012, Roberts received a life-saving blood stem cell transplant to treat myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Over the past 10 years, Roberts has been an advocate for the NMDP Registry. Roberts uses her platform to raise awareness and encourage thousands of people to join the registry. Over 140 of those individuals have gone on to donate life-saving blood stem cells to patients in need.

“Robin Roberts is an inspiration to us all,” said ASTCT president Miguel-Angel Perales, MD. “Faced with a devastating diagnosis, she used her platform to bring awareness to bone stem cell transplant and a voice to the many patients in need of a donor. She continues to be a champion for patients by showcasing their stories to a global audience. Her advocacy efforts save the lives of the patients we treat each day and advance breakthroughs in HCT and cell therapy.” 

70% of patients who need a life-saving bone marrow or cord blood transplant do not have a fully matched donor in their family. ASTCT works in partnership with patient and donor advocate organizations to remove barriers to transplantation and protect donors who choose to save a life. ASTCT endeavors every day to bring visionary tools, guidelines and resources to pioneer and elevate stem and immune cell therapies that will ensure better patient outcomes across many disease categories.

Source: American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy