The research laboratories of the Children's Cancer Centre are within the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital and affiliated with the University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics.

Proudly supported by

Australian Cancer Research Foundation has committed $1 million to fund our innovative research to make discoveries in the fight against childhood cancer.

The BMDI Cord Blood Bank

The banking of umbilical cord blood involves the collection, processing, freezing and storage of umbilical cord blood to provide "ready to use" transplant tissue for patients who cannot find a suitable bone marrow donor. This is a major project that not only provides a direct service to the clinic, but is also used as a resource for the development of new, advanced cellular therapies.

Having cord blood available in a bank, stored frozen and fully tested, allows a fast response to patients in need of a stem cell transplant. Clinically, the use of cord blood for transplantation also has the advantage of generating a lower incidence and severity of Graft versus Host Disease allowing a certain degree of mismatch between donor and patient. This dramatically increases the chance of identifying a suitable cord blood unit. As of June 2007 the BMDI Cord Blood Bank, located at the Royal Children’s Hospital, had banked over 7,200 cord blood units. In addition, the bank has now supplied 126 cord blood units for patients receiving treatment at both Australian and international transplants centres.

The BMDI Cord Blood Bank employs specially trained midwives to collect cord blood from the Royal Women’s Hospital / Frances Perry House, the Box Hill Hospital and the Angliss Hospital. If you are delivering your baby at one of these hospitals and would like to enquire about becoming a cord blood donor, please call the BMDI Cord Blood bank on 03 9345 5834 or contact us on cord.rch@rch.org.au.

• Dr Karin Tiedemann, Head Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Medical Director Cord Blood Bank
• Susan Alford, Cord Blood Bank Production Manager
• Melissa Ferguson, Cord Blood Bank Processing Scientist
• Laura Piras, Cord Blood Bank Processing Scientist
• Kally Theodore, Cord Blood Bank Processing Scientist
• Jane Kaye, Cord Blood Bank Clinical Co-ordinator, Box Hill Hospital
• Jenny Forrester, Cord Blood Bank Clinical Co-ordinator, William Angliss Hospital, Ferntree Gully
• Linda Chilcott, Cord Blood Bank Clinical Co-ordinator, Royal Women's Hospital / Frances Perry House
• Sally Morrissy, Cord Blood Bank Clinical Co-ordinator, Royal Women's Hospital / Frances Perry House
• Lisa Kropf, Cord Blood Bank Clinical Co-ordinator