Colleague Donor for Medical Research & Treatments
One donation could help unlock new discoveries and shape the future of treatments
Are you on the Anthony Nolan stem cell register?
Are you interested in donating your cells to medical research and treatments?
At Anthony Nolan, our years of experience facilitating stem cell donations mean we have the expertise and infrastructure to support the development of innovative treatments. These treatments could not only save more lives, but help to improve patients’ quality of life as well.
Our Cell Therapy & Laboratory Services (CT&LS) team are working with leading medical researchers to support their work and provide opportunities for our incredible donors to help. This involves working with lots of different types of organisations, including hospitals, academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies.
All research projects that Anthony Nolan supports are subject to a rigorous review process to ensure they are ethically sound, patient-benefitting, and not putting unnecessary burden on donors and their wellbeing.
To read more about donating for medical research & treatments with Anthony Nolan, please take a look at our website.
I'm interested! What happens next?
- Eligibility - You must be active on the Anthony Nolan donor register. We can check this for you if you're not sure.
- Do your research - Take a look at our website for more information on the process and requirements to donate for medical research & treatments.
- Check with your manager - Please check that your line manager is happy for you to participate as a colleague donor, and that they are aware of the time requirements.
- Register your interest below!
- Initial chat - A member of the CT&LS Donor team will get in touch to arrange an initial conversation to go over a colleague donor consent form and data privacy considerations, as well as answer any queries you might have about the process.
- Fill out the forms - We'll then share the colleague donor consent form for you to sign and return, as well as a link to a health screening questionnaire that we need you to complete to ensure that you are eligible to join the panel.
- Medical queries - Any medical queries from the screening questionnaire will be followed up with our Medical Officers before a decision is made on your eligibility
- If all queries are resolved and our MOs are satisfied that it is safe for you to donate, you'll be enrolled to the panel!
Great! How do I sign up to donate for a project?
Once you're enrolled to the panel, we will contact you as and when we have new requests for donor material, to check if you would be interested in donating for that specific project. We'll share a brief overview of the project's aims and the dates we would need you to be available for both a medical appointment, and then the donation itself.
If you're interested, we'll provide further information and get you booked in if you are willing and able to proceed. We'll handle all the arrangements for your appointments, including any travel and accommodation, for both you and a companion, if you wish to bring someone with you.
So, if you're interested in hearing about opportunities to donate your cells to medical research and treatments, and potentially help to save and improve the lives of many patients in need, please register your details here and we'll be in touch as soon as we can to get you enrolled!
For any queries, please contact ismay.fox@anthonynolan.org
You will need to verify your email address upon submitting your registration - please double check your junk mail if you haven't received an email.
- Department
- Volunteering
- Locations
- UK Collection Centres
- Remote status
- Hybrid
Research Donor FAQs
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We don't have a separate register for medical research and treatments, so you must already be on the Anthony Nolan stem cell register in order to then enrol onto our Medical Research Donors Panel.
If you are willing to donate cells for a patient in need and eligible to join the Anthony Nolan register (aged 16-30 and in good health), then you can join online here.
At this time, we cannot transfer donors from a different registry (e.g. NHSBT or DKMS) onto the Anthony Nolan register. If you are on a different stem cell register, we recommend getting in touch with them directly to explore research donor opportunities.
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Of course! You will not be taken off the register and will still be available to be selected as a match for a transplant patient.
We will cancel your donation for medical research if you are chosen as a preferred donor for a transplant patient, as the donation to a transplant patient takes priority.
You can also donate more than once, so taking part in a medical research project will not stop you from being chosen as a matching transplant donor in the future. People who donate via PBSC or bone marrow can do so for a maximum of two transplant patients or four times in total. Donating for medical research will count as one transplant patient.
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Like our donations for patients, you will not receive any payment for donating your cells for medical research, as this is illegal in the UK and also comes with ethical and welfare risks (read more here). However, any expenses you incur at all for the donation - like travel, accommodation or loss of earnings - will be fully reimbursed.
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Anthony Nolan does not conduct animal research in our own laboratories. However occasionally, when pioneering medical research requires it and there is no alternative available, we work with other organisations where animal research is used to develop and improve treatments.
During the consent process, you will have the chance to opt out of donating for research involving animals. This limits the pool of projects for which you may be invited to donate.
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We will be working with leading medical researchers and therapy providers to support their work and provide opportunities for our incredible donors to help. This will involve working with lots of different types of organisations, including hospitals, academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies.
To ensure that Anthony Nolan only supports ethically sound and patient-benefiting medical research, an independent review board assesses each new medical research application before agreeing to collaborate.
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Yes. We let every donor know what the project is, provide a brief description of the project and its aims, and the company your cells will be going towards.
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Please ask if you would like to find out more about the medical research project you’re involved in. We will try our best to give you as much information as we can; however it is often not possible for us to provide information about the outcomes of research. This can be for confidentiality reasons, or simply because research takes many years to be published and shared with the public.
About Anthony Nolan
Anthony Nolan is the charity that makes lifesaving connections between patients in need and incredible strangers ready to donate their stem cells. Find out more about what we do here.
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