Excellence in Media Award

NMDP Recognizes NBC's "Today" Show with Award

With an audience of millions, NBC's "Today" show is one of the most-watched television programs in the United States. In July 2001, the "Today" show produced and aired a humanistic, accurate and comprehensive 13-minute segment about the National Marrow Donor Program^® (NMDP).

As a result of the segment, more than 800 viewers called the NMDP requesting information about how to become a volunteer donor. The segment also tripled the number of daily visitors to the NMDP's www.marrow.org Web site to more than 6,000 visitors.

In recognition of the impact of the "Today" Show segment, the NMDP is recognizing the "Today" show with its 2001 Excellence in Media Award. The Excellence in Media Award is presented to journalists, producers, researchers or media organizations that have developed and/or published a story or series that increased that awareness and understanding of blood stem cell transplantation and the NMDP.

"It is with great admiration that we accept this award from the NMDP," said Jonathan Wald, executive producer of "Today". "While we may be the ones that share the story with our viewers, it is organizations like yours that are truly making a difference in the lives of so many. Working together with the NMDP we were able to share an amazing story with a powerful message, and clearly people were listening."

"Today" show producer Andrea Montalbano spent several months interviewing donors and recipients and featured a donor meeting his recipient for the first time. The segment also featured a police and firefighter donor drive, a marrow collection and a marrow transplant. In addition, the segment included a live, on-air interview by Katie Couric with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and the NMDP's Chief Medical Officer Dennis Confer, M.D.

Created in 1986, the Minneapolis-based NMDP facilitates unrelated marrow and blood stem cell transplants for the treatment of leukemia and more than 70 other diseases through an extensive Network of national and international partners. By recruiting committed donors, maintaining the largest and most diverse Registry of potential volunteer donors in the world and offering patient services, at least 140 patients receive stem cell transplants through the NMDP each month. The NMDP's Registry contains more than 4.5 million volunteers and is the only one that searches all three sources of blood stem cells: marrow, peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood. As of January 31, 2002, the NMDP has facilitated more than 13,000 transplants throughout the world.