Three new blood and marrow transplant programs earned accreditation and 16 additional facilities received accreditation renewal during the third quarter of 2008, according to the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT).

FACT is a non-profit voluntary foundation for standard-setting, self-assessment, inspection and accreditation in all phases of hematopoietic collection, processing and transplantation.  It is jointly sponsored by ASBMT and the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT).

The accreditation actions were:

NEW ACCREDITATIONS

Adult allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation; bone marrow and peripheral blood cellular therapy product collection; and cellular therapy product processing:

·         New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center Bone Marrow and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Program, New York, New York

        Program Director: Michael Shuster, MD

·         Hamilton Health Sciences Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

        Program Director: Irwin Walker, MD

·         North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System,  Adult HPC Transplant Program, Manhasset, New York

         Program Director: Ruthee-Lu Bayer, MD

ACCREDITATION RENEWALS

Adult and Pediatric allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation; bone marrow and peripheral blood cellular therapy product collection; and cellular therapy product processing:

·         Baylor College of Medicine Stem Cell Transplant Program, Texas Children's Hospital and The Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas

Program Director: Malcolm Brenner, MB, PhD

·         City of Hope Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Program, Duarte, California

Program Director: Steve Forman, MD

·         Mayo Clinic Rochester Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Rochester, Minnesota

Program Director: Mark Litzow, MD

·         Texas Transplant Institute, San Antonio, Texas

 Program Director: C. Fred LeMaistre, MD

·         University of Nebraska Medical Center, Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Program, Omaha, Nebraska

Program Director: Marcel Devetten, MD

·         Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Massey Cancer Center, Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Richmond, Virginia

Program Director: John McCarty, MD

Adult allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation; bone marrow and peripheral blood cellular therapy product collection; and cellular therapy product processing:

·         Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas

Program Director: Edward Agura, MD

·         Indiana Blood and Marrow Transplantation (IBMT), Beech Grove, Indiana

Program Director: Luke Akard, MD

·         UCSF Medical Center Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Program, San Francisco, California

Program Director: Lloyd Damon, MD

Adult autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation; peripheral blood cellular therapy product collection; and cellular therapy product processing:

·         St. Vincent's Hospital – Manhattan, St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center, New York, New York

Program Director: Sundar Jagannath, MD

·         Thompson Cancer Survival Center, Thompson Oncology Group and Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Knoxville, Tennessee

Program Director: Richard Grapski, MD

·         USC Norris Cancer Hospital, Los Angeles, California

Program Director: Dan Douer, MD

·         Virginia Piper Cancer Institute Abbott Northwestern Hospital Autologous Stem Cell Transplant Program, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Program Director: Patrick Flynn, MD

Pediatric allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation; bone marrow and peripheral blood cellular therapy product collection; and cellular therapy product processing:

·         Children’s National Medical Center Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Washington, D.C.

Program Director: Terry Fry, MD

Bone marrow and peripheral blood cellular therapy product  processing:

·         Blood Systems Laboratories Stem Cell Processing Laboratory, Tempe, Arizona

Program Director: Thomas Wiltbank, MD

·         Cryopreservation Laboratory, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Berkeley, California

Program Director: Rajesh Behl, MD

Currently there are 164 accredited blood and marrow transplant facilities, and 32 additional facilities are in various stages of application and inspection.   Fifteen cord blood banks have earned NetCord/FACT accreditation, and 42 additional banks in 17 countries have applied for accreditation.

For a complete list of accredited facilities and additional information about FACT accreditation, visit the FACT Web site.