Kept on Ice: Exploring international blood stem cell donor perspectives on the practice of unanticipated cryopreservation

When people register as blood stem cell donors, they do so to save a stranger’s life.

However, on rare occasions, donated tissue does not go on to clinical use, potentially being cryopreserved indefinitely.

This presents a socioethical conundrum for registries, who have to make a decision about the future of this tissue, e.g., should it be destroyed, or used in therapeutic research?

This secondment fellowship is a collaboration with Anthony Nolan, the world’s first blood stem cell, or bone marrow, registry.

The secondment topic, co-produced with Anthony Nolan, is an exploration of this issue, which has become urgent as COVID-19 has increased instances of unanticipated cryopreservation globally.

The secondment fellowship comprises (i) exploration of perspectives of international stem cell donors on the potential futures of cryopreserved tissue beyond the clinic through focus groups with donors, and (ii) generation of critical social science to be disseminated to registries around the world through a report for practitioners.

Findings will generate knowledge to inform global practice regarding cryopreservation, and the use of donor stem cells in therapeutic research.

The secondment aims to build collaborative relationships with non-academic organisations for future social science research on the global stem cell infrastructure.