What: Peter D. Weiss, M.D., will present "Cord Stem Cell Collection: Labor
and Delivery" at the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal
Nurses' (AWHONN) 2000 Convention. The session will discuss the use of cord
blood stem cells in medical treatment; labor and delivery issues affecting
hospitals nurses and obstetrics in the collection of cord blood cells; common
misconceptions about cord blood collection and banking; and patient education.
The presentation will be the first time that AWHONN addresses the topic of
cord blood at its national conference.
Dr. Weiss serves as assistant clinical professor of obstetrics and
gynecology at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine
and as CEO of American Health Centers IPA, Inc. An ob/gyn advisor to Los
Angeles Parent Magazine, he is on the Medical Advisory Board of Cord Blood
Registry, the largest familial cord blood stem cell bank in the United States.
Why: When experimental medical treatments are discovered, they are often
heralded for their ability to save lives, reduce morbidity and prevent
disease. But they also can be fraught with skepticism and their value
challenged when compared to existing techniques. Cord blood transplantation,
first performed in 1988, has come under close scrutiny by the medical
community but its merits have been chronicled. In fact, the National
Institutes of Health has allocated $30 million to support four public cord
blood stem cell banks.
The cord blood stem cell procedure saves a baby's cord blood, collected
before the placenta is delivered, and stores it for future transplantation to
revitalize the immune system and to treat a variety of diseases. Preserving a
newborn's cord blood provides insurance and peace of mind for families should
the infant, its siblings or other close relatives face a life-threatening
illness in the future. And thousands of families are opting for private
storage as a type of biological insurance. Banked cord blood stem cells are
readily available and when they are from family members, can potentially
double the survival rate for certain diseases. Genetically related cord blood
stem cells pose less stringent matching than bone marrow -- another source of
stem cells -- and cause fewer complications during transplantation.
Some of the issues currently surrounding cord blood stem cells include:
private storage as an investment in a family's future health vs. treatment for
unrelated recipients; whether women have an opportunity to make an informed
decision about cord blood collection and banking; if there are a sufficient
number of stem cells in the one-time collection to provide a large enough dose
for transplantation; and the viability of long-term storage,
When: Tuesday, June 6, from 5 - 6 p.m. The conference runs from
June 4 - 7.
Where: Washington State Convention and Trade Center, 800 Convention Place,
Seattle, Washington.
For more information, contact Stephen M. Grant, vice president, corporate
communications, at Cord Blood Registry, 800-588-6377, Ext. 235.
Press materials, spokespersons and expert interviews will be available at
Booth #135 at the AWHONN 2000 Convention.
SOURCE Cord Blood Registry
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