THE BOB MACKAY MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT FUND

The Bob MacKay Memorial Endowment Fund supports the research and educational activities of the Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program at Wake Forest University. Over the years, the Fund has provided needed funds in several areas:

• Support for data management personnel to gather and report outcomes of hematopoietic stem cell transplants. All transplants performed at Wake Forest University are entered into an International Database. The analysis of outcomes is critical to improving the outcome for patients who need this life saving treatment.
• Support for research by faculty, fellows, residents and medical students reviewing the outcomes of transplants at Wake Forest University.
• Presentation of our clinical trials outcomes at local and national meetings.
• Education of our coordinators and research staff at the annual meetings of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT), and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) .
• Participation in the clinical trials research programs of the BMT-CTN (Bone Marrow Transplant-Clinical Trials Network), sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health. The BMT-CTN is on the leading edge of transplant research.
• Participation in other NCI sponsored activities through the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) Cooperative Group for clinical trials research. The goals of CALGB, through its clinical trials programs, are to improve the treatments of patients with cancer, to cure patients when possible, to prevent cancer occurrence, and to further the understanding of the biology of cancer.

The Fund has also been an integral component of our ability to compete for funds from the pharmaceutical industry and to participate in the multi-center clinical trials sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. Through this effort, improved means of treating and supporting the transplant patient have been developed that have become the new standards for patient management.

With the support of the Fund, the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center was the first BMT Program in North Carolina to become accredited by the Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). Accreditation by FACT is now recognized as the gold standard for approval of transplant programs in North America. The Transplant Program has been continuously FACT accredited, undergoing a review and re-accreditation every 3 years. The program and has recently been recognized to be among a select group of centers for its ongoing accreditation by FACT.

As a result of all the activities supported by the Fund, the Faculty, Fellows, Residents, and Students involved in BMT research, there have been over 60 articles and book chapters published, over 100 abstracts published, and over 75 presentations at meetings and educational symposia.

It can be stated with certainty that the Bob MacKay Memorial Endowment Fund has been integral to the mission of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at Wake Forest University. We would not have been able to do what has been done to improve the care of our patients and the outcomes of transplants without its support.

David D. Hurd, M.D.
Professor
Director of Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Wake Forest University School of Medicine

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