NMDP Announces New Board Members, Chair

Directors' Leadership, Expertise Guide Organization's Future

The National Marrow Donor Program^® (NMDP) has announced its 2003 board of directors. Five newly announced members along with the existing board members create a diverse and prominent group of 32 leaders.

"The National Marrow Donor Program is pleased to introduce such a varied and talented group of new directors who are renowned leaders in their fields," said Dr. Jeffrey Chell, NMDP chief executive officer. "The new board members will join the existing directors to continue providing strong guidance and leadership."

Laurence D. Atlas, esquire, vice president of government relations for Loral Space & Communications Ltd., Arlington, Va., was named as new NMDP board chair. He succeeds Dr. Nancy A. Kernan, assistant chief of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Bone Marrow Transplant Service and director of the center's unrelated donor program in New York, N.Y. Kernan, as past chair, will continue on the board.

The board is composed of patients and family members, donors, physicians, ethicists and business people from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Members of the NMDP Board of Directors are eligible to serve for three two-year terms. The term for this year's newly appointed members runs from Jan. 1, 2003, through Dec. 31, 2004.

The newly announced board members are:

• Dr. Stella M. Davies, director, Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Christine K. Frisbee, mother of transplant recipient; chair, Richard D. Frisbee III Foundation, New York, N.Y.
• Robert Howard, father of leukemia patient; detective, Seattle Police Department, Seattle, Wash.
• Mary Faith Marshall, Ph.D., professor of medicine and bioethics, School of Medicine at Kansas University Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan.
• Dr. Raymond B. Wynn, cancer center director and director of radiation oncology, Regional Cancer Center, Singing River Hospital System, Pascagoula, Miss.

The continuing members of the board are:

• Laurence D. Atlas, esquire; chair, NMDP board of directors; vice president, government relations, Loral Space & Communications Ltd., Arlington, Va.
• Dr. Claudio Anasetti, medical director and transplant physician, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance; member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; professor of medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
• John F. Barlow, financial advisor, Kansas City, Mo.
• Dr. Patrick G. Beatty, medical oncologist, Montana Cancer Specialists, Missoula, Mont.
• Marion C. Dietrich, former executive vice president, Cummins Engine Co.; founder, CID Venture Partners and CID Entrepreneurial Education Foundation, Columbus, Ind.
• David Frohnmayer, esquire, board member emeritus; president, University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore.
• Melanie Goldish, mother of transplant survivor; founder and executive director, SuperSibs!, president, Leadership Legacy Group, Chicago, Ill.
• Dr. John A. Hansen, transplant physician, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance; member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; professor of medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
• Stephen S. Hata, transplant recipient; deputy director, Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches (A3M), Los Angeles, Calif.
• Mutsuko Holiman, sister of transplant recipient; NMDP volunteer recruiter, Plaistow, N.H.
• Dr. Mary M. Horowitz, scientific director, International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry/Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry; professor of medicine, Neoplastic Diseases, interim director, Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis.
• Calvin D. Jackson Jr., donor; public affairs specialist, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
• Dr. Jeffrey P. Kahn, Ph.D., director, Center for Bioethics; professor of medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Dr. Nancy A. Kernan, past chair, NMDP board of directors; assistant chief, Bone Marrow Transplant Service and director, unrelated donor program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, N.Y.
• Judge C. Hunter King, donor; Civil District Court, Division M, New Orleans, La.
• Dr. Susan F. Leitman, chief, Blood Services Section, Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
• Rebecca A. Lewis, esquire, transplant recipient; chief bar counsel, Wyoming State Bar Association; adjunct professor of law, University of Wyoming College of Law, Laramie, Wyo.
• Robert D. Lorentz, Ph.D., father of transplant recipient; technical manager, 3M, North Oaks, Minn.
• Air Force Brig. Gen. (ret.) Antonio Maldonado, former CEO, American Red Cross, Puerto Rico Region; former executive director, Palmas Del Mar, Valrico, Fla.
• Dr. Edgar Milford, secretary, NMDP board of directors; director, Renal Transplantation, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass.
• Dr. Herbert A. Perkins, board member emeritus, senior medical scientist, Blood Centers of the Pacific; clinical professor of medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif.
• Marine Corps Lt. Gen. (ret.) Frank E. Petersen Jr., former vice president, Corporate Aviation, E.I. du Pont de Numours & Co., Stevensville, Md.
• Dr. Thomas H. Price, executive vice president and medical director, Puget Sound Blood Center; professor of medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
• Dr. Edward L. Snyder, director, Blood Bank/Apheresis Service, Yale-New Haven Hospital; professor of laboratory medicine, Yale University Medical School, New Haven, Conn.
• Sharon Sugiyama, director, Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches (A3M), Los Angeles, Calif.
• Dr. Alexis A. Thompson, medical and scientific director of hematology, Children's Memorial Hospital; associate professor of pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill.
• Dr. John E. Wagner, scientific director of clinical research, Blood and Marrow Transplant Program and Stem Cell Institute; professor of pediatrics, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minn.

The National Marrow Donor Program is committed to its mission to extend and improve life through innovative stem cell therapies. As of January 31, 2003, the NMDP has facilitated more than 15,000 transplants throughout the world for patients with life-threatening diseases such as leukemia and aplastic anemia, as well as certain immune system and genetic disorders. The NMDP offers searching patients who do not have suitable family donors a single point of access for all three types of stem cells used in transplantation: marrow, peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood. Through its extensive U.S. and international Network, the NMDP manages the largest and most diverse Registry of volunteer donors, including more than 27,000 cord blood units. Matching donors to patients is only part of NMDP's life-saving mission. The NMDP also provides support for patients and physicians and conducts research studies aimed at increasing opportunities for and improving the outcomes of stem cell transplants.