Webinar: Saving Lives with Pride: Engaging Queer Men as Stem Cell Donors by Calgary Queer Arts Society

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About this Webinar

Many patients with blood diseases require a stem cell transplant as part of their treatment. Most cannot find a matching donor in their family, and require an unrelated donor to save their life.

Gay and bisexual men have experienced a long history of barriers in blood donation. In 2010, Canadian Blood Services embarked on a journey to implement stepwise reductions in the time-based deferral. Currently, men who have sex with men (MSM) are deferred from donating blood for three months after their last sexual encounter with a man. Work to adjust these policies continues.

However, since 2009, MSM have been eligible to register as stem cell donors.

This webinar outlines blood and stem cell donation in Canada for MSM, starting from the historical policies and context, through until today’s policies and where future policies may lie. It supports the Queer community and allies to engage MSM as stem cell donors.

Calgary Queer Arts Society - Shaw

Presenter
Dr. Warren Fingrut

Hematologist, The University of British Columbia

Dr. Warren Fingrut (He/Him) is a hematologist with the University of British Columbia. He serves as director of Stem Cell Club (www.stemcellclub.ca), a donor-recruitment organization he founded in 2011 to improve Canada’s stem cell registry. Dr. Fingrut leads teams of donor-recruiters based at 27 university campuses in six provinces across Canada. His organization recruits over 5,000 potential donors annually. Since 2018, Dr. Fingrut has led teams to run drives at five Prides across Canada, seeking especially to recruit men who have sex with men (including gay and bi men) as stem cell donors. These drives have recruited over 350 Pride participants as stem cell donors.

Dr. Fingrut also develops resources to support donor recruitment in Canada. He leads @WhyWeSwab, which reports stories in stem cell donation in Canada and including several from LGBTQ storytellers. He also sits on Canadian Blood Services committees, where he provides input on donation policy.