Published Oct. 26, 2020
MLS student Connor Roan was matched and donated bone marrow over the summer
The University of Louisiana Monroe Medical Laboratory Science Society is collaborating
with Be The Match® to host a bone marrow drive on campus through Nov. 21.
PHOTO: Medical Laboratory Science students working in the Be The Match® bone marrow drive
at the University of Louisiana Monroe are, from left, Will Pearson, Connor Roan, and
Princess Ayika. Roan joined the Be The Match Registry as a freshman and was matched
with a girl who received a bone marrow transplant from him in the summer.
Photo courtesy of Dean Dr. Don Simpson
The drive to add potentially life-saving bone marrow donors to the Be The Match Registry
is a friendly competition with Louisiana Tech.
Be the Match®, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program, is a nonprofit which
connects potential donors of bone marrow or stem cells transplants to patients diagnosed
with leukemia, lymphoma, and other life-threatening diseases.
Of patients who need a transplant, 70% to do not have a fully matched donor in their
family. Donors are often found through the registry, the largest and most diverse
in the world.
You could help save a life!
WHAT: MLS Society Be The Match bone marrow drive
WHEN: Through Nov. 21
WHERE: ULM and Louisiana Tech
HOW: Kits can be delivered on campus, requested by mail at join.bethematch.org/ULM or text ULM to 61474
INFO: Emilea Haddox, 318-342-1699 or haddox@ulm.edu
Emilea Haddox, MLS assistant professor and Bridge Program coordinator, said MLS Society
members have taken on this project to raise awareness for the need for bone marrow
and stem cells to increase the registry in Northeast Louisiana.
MLS Society members will deliver kits on campus. The process is contactless and quick
and just requires a mouth swab and online registration. Once the process is completed,
the kit can be mailed in the postage-paid envelope, picked up, or dropped off in room
250 in Sugar Hall.
To request a kit, call or email Haddox at 318-342-1699 or haddox@ulm.edu. If you are not on campus, visit join.bethematch.org/ULM to register and request a kit to be mailed to you or text ULM to 61474.
Connor Roan registered as a freshman
"We have a current ULM MLS student, Connor Roan, who participated in a bone marrow
drive on ULM campus his freshman year. Connor was selected as a donor match this past
summer for a young girl with aplastic anemia," said Haddox. "Connor is now working
with Be The Match® to set up bone marrow drives throughout the country."
"It was right after one of our labs here at ULM; I got the call that I was a match,"
Roan said.
He and his parents drove to Houston for the procedure. He hasn't met the recipient
of his bone marrow donation but thinks about her almost every day.
"They said my first update on her would be about nine months after the procedure.
After a year we can trade information with each other. I would love to meet her,"
Roan said.
To learn more about Roan's story, watch the YouTube video.
"The pandemic situation has profoundly affected blood donation and bone marrow drives,
although patient's needs have not changed," Haddox said. "Please consider registering
to be a bone marrow donor and encourage your students and coworkers as well. Remember
to follow the directions on the kit to give ULM credit for the competition!"
The Medical Laboratory Science society is a professional society that promotes scholarship
and unity among the MLS students and provides a ULM presence in the Louisiana medical
laboratory science community.
