CIBMTR Receives Largest Grant in College History The Center for
International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) was
awarded MCW's largest grant ever, just under $45 million in
federal money over six years, to fund and analyze large clinical
research trials. Dr. Mary Horowitz, Interim Chief, Division of
Hematology and Oncology is the PI of the grant titled: Blood and
Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network - Data Coordinating
Center. In the fight against blood cancers - leukemia, lymphomas
and myelomas - transplants of bone marrow and umbilical cord
blood allow doctors to kill off rogue cells with chemotherapy
and then rebuild a patient's immune system. About 20,000 blood
and bone marrow transplants take place in the United States
annually, and the number is rising about 5% to 10% a year.
Still, slightly fewer than half of the people who could benefit
from such a transplant actually end up receiving one. Often the
problem is the lack of a perfect or very close match, a
difficulty that a potentially