US senators seek 5 more years of federal funding for stem cell program

A bipartisan team of U.S. senators has introduced legislation to renew funding for a national initiative that connects people with blood disorders such as sickle cell disease (SCD) with unrelated donors for stem cell transplants.

If the legislation passes, the national initiative, known as the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program, would run for five more years, according to the NMDP, a nonprofit that operates the national registry of unrelated blood stem cell donors and cord blood units.