The Department of Biomedical Sciences recently partnered with the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) to host the annual Stem Cell Donor Drive.

The primary objective of the event, which was held at the Bellville Campus, was to recruit new donors who can potentially provide life-saving stem cell transplants to patients in need.

This collaboration saw second- and third-year Haematology students and their lecturer, Rizqa Siebritz-Williams, work together to assist the SABMR in creating awareness about the significance of stem cell donation and its role in treating various life-threatening blood disorders and cancers.

“By engaging the student community, the drive aims to foster a culture of social responsibility and highlight the impact individuals can make through donor participation. Furthermore, the event serves to promote the mission of the SABMR and its partners, including Childhood Cancer Foundation (CHOC), the Organ Donor Foundation, Save Seven, Vitanova, and the Western Cape Blood Service, by strengthening collaboration in the field of donor recruitment and public health,” said Siebritz-Williams.

“In addition, CPUT’s HIV/AIDS and Student Counselling units engaged students around initiatives CPUT offers to support students holistically. A further objective is to recognise and express gratitude to current donors, thereby encouraging others to contribute to this vital cause.”

She thanked the student volunteers for 2025: Njabulo Dhlangamandla, Mfundo Dube, Beyonce Esau, Xiluvelo Hlungwani, Elizabeth Jacobs, Azande Maqhwara, Noliso Nesi, Emihle Ngala, Dimpho Sishiqa, Sinawo Sizani, Danielle Wentzel, Aakifah Ely and Hope Nkomo.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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CPUT is once again joining hands with the SA Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR), a non-profit organisation that works to find matching bone marrow donors for critically ill patients.

Heather Hendrickse, a lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, said the initiative involved a stem cell donor drive aimed at assisting the SABMR with finding suitably matched donors for national and international patients with life-threatening blood diseases such as leukaemia, who do not have a match within their own families.

She said that in 2020, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic started, the BHSc Medical Laboratory Science Immunohaematology second-year students from the Biomedical Sciences Department had assisted the SABMR by handing out SABMR flyers at the Bellville campus and assisted potential stem cell donors with the buccal swab (cheek swab) kit, which includes the donor application form.

“In 2021, the current second-year students will create awareness online by forwarding the SABMR flyers to their Facebook, WhatsApp and email contact list. Students can refer potential applicants to the CPUT clinic site for signing up or online (SABMR website), during which the SABMR will dispatch the buccal swab kit to the successful applicant. The students demonstrate engagement with techniques/creativity in recruitment and ethical considerations related to community based-service learning and develop an understanding of diverse cultures and communities,” said Hendrickse.

She added that the collaborators on the service-learning project will be: SABMR, CPUT Health Clinics (Bellville & Wellington), the Community & Engagement Centre, the Marketing & Communication Department and the Biomedical Sciences Department.

Hendrickse hopes for the initiative to be extended to other Faculties and Departments such as Nursing (oncology), Marketing Public Relations and Communication; Photography; Journalism and Education.

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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The Department of Biomedical Sciences recently joined hands with The SA Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) for an awareness campaign ahead of World Marrow Donor Day.

World Marrow Donor Day is celebrated annually on the third Saturday of September and the aim is to thank donors worldwide while the secondary objective is to raise awareness about being a stem cell donor.

Nadia Chalkley, Head of Donor Recruitment at the SABMR, said it had a longstanding relationship with the CPUT Biomedical Sciences Department which helped the organisation to create awareness around stem cell donor recruitment on campus.

Rizqa Siebritz, Lecturer in the Biomedical Sciences Department, said students have to complete an assignment in collaboration with the SABMR for the subject Haematology II.

“This assignment is designed to create awareness of the SABMR and its bone marrow donation process within the students of CPUT. After having two on-campus presentations with the SABMR team, the students use the assignment to learn about the process of bone marrow donation and spread awareness via face-to-face and online platforms, said Siebritz.

“A select few students also choose to volunteer as part of the SABMR 50 squad volunteer initiative and assist in creating the bone marrow drive we had on campus this year.”

This year’s student volunteers are Mlinideli Ndlovu, Khanyisile Gumede, Londotani Ramudzuli, Mpho Judith Galane and Akhona Ndzimbovu.

Siebritz said: “This service-learning initiative creates enhanced opportunities for learning, and personal and social skill development amongst my students. The students also gain increased knowledge of academic materials, their communities, and themselves during the completion of this assignment and we hope to continue this service-learning project in order to enable the SABMR to spread awareness in a positive way through CPUT for years to come.”

Other participants this year included, CHOC, Vita Nova, Organ Foundation, Western Cape Blood Service and Save 7 and a number of CPUT participants including Service Learning and Civic Engagement and Student Counselling.

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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The Department of Biomedical Sciences recently collaborated with the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) for the annual Bone Marrow Drive at the Bellville Campus.

The SABMR helps to find matching donors for patients needing a bone marrow transplant and who do not have a match within their own families.

Biomedical Sciences lecturer, Rizqa Siebritz, said the Bone Marrow Drive aims to bring awareness of the importance of being a donor in the hope of giving someone else a better tomorrow.

“My students in the Haematology II Biomedical Sciences Department volunteer to assist in spreading awareness of the bone marrow donation process and how easy it is to become a donor.”

Nadia Chalkley, head of donor recruitment for the SABMR, said drives like the one at CPUT were critical “because it helps us really focus in terms of the demographic we want to recruit to our registry”.

“The South African Bone Marrow Registry , even though we have 78 000 current donors, [they] are predominantly Caucasian, and we really need to diversify if we want to service all our patients in South Africa and in Africa. So, not only diversifying the registry in demographic terms, but giving patients a better outcome, really is what this is about. And it's obviously always wonderful working with CPUT, they're so efficient in the implementation of the service-learning agreement that it makes sense for us to partner with CPUT through events like this, through lectures and hopefully more to come this year.”

The Bone Marrow Drive was followed by a virtual online talk by Canadian partner, Sylvia Okonofua, from Black Donors Save Lives. It was titled: “A needle in a haystack: What are the odds it’s going to be you?”

The aim was to highlight the importance of diversity and inclusivity in the donor population in order to increase the chances of finding donors for patients in the same genetic pool.

Other partners in the drive included:

• Childhood Cancer Foundation (CHOC)
• Organ Donor Foundation (Save Seven Lives)
• Vitanova (Tissue Bank)
• Western Cape Blood Services.
• CPUT Student Counselling
• CPUT HIV/Aids Unit

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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