ABOUT DATRI

Dr. Nezih Cereb and Dr. Soo Young Yang are the founders of Histogenetics, a laboratory that performs high-resolution HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) typing. Histogenetics worked with several Indian hospitals to perform HLA typing for patients with Leukemia and other life-threatening blood disorders. Their only chance of survival was a blood stem cell transplant, and if no donor was available within the family, an unrelated donor was needed. Both founders were well aware of the shortage of HLA-matched unrelated Indian donors, as there was no registry in India at the time.

Recognising the urgent need for a donor registry in India, they teamed up with an enterprising entrepreneur. This entrepreneur had a friend whose fiancée, of Indian origin, could not find an HLA match in the US registry or any other international registry. This became the turning point. He then assisted in conducting awareness campaigns across the US among the Indian community to encourage registration as potential blood stem cell donors. When he moved back to India, he realised that it was almost impossible to find an unrelated donor for patients of Indian origin.

The three of them subsequently founded an unrelated blood stem cell donors registry in India to meet the increasing demand for blood stem cell donors. Histogenetics supported the installation and functioning of the registry. Histogenetics (India) Private Limited generously provided office space to DATRI Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry free of cost to run its project office in Chennai during its early years. They also helped DATRI design the software required to manage the registry’s operations and maintenance. In addition, they provided a long-term, interest-free loan towards the high-resolution HLA typing costs of all donors registering with DATRI. Other invaluable forms of support included mentoring and advising DATRI on developing a registry of international standards.

Through systematic donor drives, DATRI Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry seeks to build awareness and enrol potential blood stem cell donors. For a successful blood stem cell transplant, a patient’s genetic typing (HLA typing) needs to closely match that of the donor. Every patient has a 25% chance of finding a match within the family. However, many patients do not find a suitable donor within their family. In such cases, there is a need to find an unrelated blood stem cell donor or a cord blood unit.

Donor registries work towards creating a diverse database where the search for a life-saving donor results in a successful match. There are over 80 blood stem cell donor registries and more than 30 million registered blood stem cell donors across the globe, with very few Indians being part of them. This reduces the chances of finding a possible match for patients of Indian origin. India is in urgent need of a functional registry with donors belonging to diverse ethnic backgrounds.

A patient is more likely to find a possible match within their own race or ethnicity — that is, among people who share similar cultural, linguistic, and biological traits.