UH Senior hopes to create statewide bone marrow donor recruitment program

Houston - Bone marrow transplants are a life-saving treatment for people with serious disease including cancer. However, finding the right donor can be difficult particularly for minority groups.

Yusuf Khan, a University of Houston senior, learned this firsthand.

In 2017, his mother was diagnosed with leukemia.

"Chemo only basically buys you time what I really needed to give me a chance of surviving would be a bone marrow transplant," said Nadia Shaik, Yusuf's mother.

"Children are 50 percent matches for their parents. We like to get a 100 percent matching donor simply because it helps the patient heal faster and there's less chance of complications."

But with time running out, Yusuf became her donor.

"She gave life to me and now I have the opportunity to repay that. Why would I not?," Yusuf told FOX 26.  

Nadia is doing much better now. Yusuf is thankful he could help save her life, but now hopes by creating a simple statewide program others will join him to save more.

According the National Marrow Donor Program's registry, Be the Match, 77 percent of white patients are likely to find a bone marrow donor whereas black patients only have a 23 percent chance. 

The likelihood for Latinos and Asians is less than 50 percent. 

"I feel like it's a problem that needs to be solved," Yusuf said. "And, it's just one thing of my many problems that concerning racial disparities in medicine." 

Yusuf learned about state legislation in Washington State to create a bone marrow donor recruitment program with an emphasis on recruiting more donors from minority groups. 

In the program's first year, more than 350 people registered with Be the Match. 

"We read about it and we're like that is such a great idea," Yusuf recalled. "Texas is super diverse."

Yusuf contacted his State Representative Dr. Tom Oliverson early last year and got to work.

Last month, Oliverson introduced House Bill 780. 

The bill would create a statewide recruitment program.

"At your driver's license offices, blood banks, other relevant healthcare facilities they will have on deck a bunch of information, pamphlets, brochures about how the donation process works," explained Yusuf.

"The more awareness, the more people we have registered, creates a bigger pool of people," Nadia stressed.

Nadia and Yusuf believe it is a simple first step in saving more lives, and it's something all Texans can get behind.

"Everyone hates cancer. Everyone will agree on that," Yusuf concluded. His mother's fight with cancer has inspired him to pursue a career in medicine.

Yusuf and Nadia created a Facebook page in hopes to get support for HB 780.