“It’s a really uplifting and rewarding job to be able to take patients who may not have any other option and offer a lifeline,” smiles Eliza Kolovos, pediatric stem cell and CAR T-cell transplant coordinator at UCLA Health. “Depending on what kind of transplant the patient requires, I help either to find a donor, screen their family donor, or coordinate with the NMDP to find an unrelated donor. The National Marrow Donor Program is an international database of live donors who joined the registry out of the goodness of their heart. They may or may not ever meet the person whose life they’re saving. It’s really inspirational. I think it’s wonderful to be part of this program at UCLA Health which takes patients who may have exhausted their options and that these transplants give patients another chance at a successful, long life.”

Tags: Cancer, CAR T-cell, CAR T-cell transplant, featured, National Marrow Donor Program, Pediatric Cancer, pediatric stem cell, Pediatrics, Transplant, transplant