Q: What gets you up in the morning and gets you excited about your work at ViaCord?
"I'm most excited about the potential to make stored cord blood more valuable for our families. Specifically, we are working to develop ways to expand each unit of cord blood so it can be used to treat more than one child and perhaps other family members, as well. We're also researching ways to use cord blood in the treatment of heart disease - the nation's #1 killer. Both of these programs would represent a major breakthrough for family cord blood preservation and significantly increase the value of a family's stored cord blood."

Q: How do you feel about families preserving one child's cord blood versus banking all of their children's cord blood?
"I believe families should preserve the cord blood of all of their children. There are several reasons for this: Today, one unit of preserved cord blood is good for only one treatment. The more stored units you have, the more treatment options you have for your entire family. Second, the majority of the cord blood transplants performed today is from one sibling to another. The more siblings you have banked, the greater the potential of obtaining a perfect match between siblings. The third reason to bank all of your childrens' cord blood is to be able to treat genetic diseases. For example, if you have one child with Sickle Cell trait and the other does not, you may be able to use the non-trait unit to treat and potentially cure the child with Sickle Cell."

Q: What happens in a cord blood stem cell transplant and how does it work?
"A transplant is necessary when there is a disease like leukemia or a genetic disease that leaves the patient in severe distress or life threatening situation. For example, in the case of cancer, you want to be able to kill the cancer. While chemotherapy and radiation are used to kill the cancer, other cells within the body are severely disrupted or destroyed during this process so you have to literally save the patient by rescuing them with cord blood stem cells."

Q: How can families help educate expecting moms about the importance of cord blood?
"Every family that banks with us is an asset to their extended family, friends and community because they've already made an informed decision. They have gone through the process and are now able to share their story. Whenever I'm out and see an expecting mom, I often go back to my car and grab a brochure for her. I feel that, given what I know, I need to at least tell her about cord blood. Otherwise, she could miss out on this important opportunity."

Research into the expansion of stem cells and the use of cord blood to treat additional diseases is experimental, with no assurance it will be successful.