The Health Resources and Services Administering (HRSA) recently awarded a $9 million grant to the cord blood bank at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The three-year allocate will endowment the collection, processing and storage of umbilical cord blood at M. D. Anderson to be entered in the National Cord Blood Inventory (NBCI).

“This grant will allow our program to bloom sincerely and make a gargantuan impact on the number of line blood units at one’s disposal for transplantation,” bring to light Elizabeth Shpall, M.D., professor in the Department of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and head of M. D. Anderson’s cord blood bank.

M. D. Anderson’s cord blood bank has collected more than 1,900 samples so far. The additional funding will allow M. D. Anderson to develop its ability at each location to gather umbilical cords on a regular basis. There are also plans to add a third collections center in the Houston area.