The Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund for DR Typing

The HLA Registry Foundation


Brian Zikmund-Fisher

DR Typing | Fundraising Activities | Other ways you can help
About Brian Zikmund-Fisher | Contact us
Naomi's book about Brian's transplant: Across the Chasm: A Caregiver's Story
HLA Registry Foundation, Inc.

How do online donations work?
The Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund at the HLA Registry Foundation was created in 1999 by bone marrow transplant survivor Brian Zikmund-Fisher and his wife, Naomi. (For more information about Brian's journey through his transplant, click here.) HLA Registry is the largest bone marrow donor recruitment center in the country, with over 180,000 donors under their purview. The Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund pays for DR typing on new and existing bone marrow donors. This helps to make the search for a bone marrow donor faster, more effective, and cheaper for patients, who are often quite short on time and, unfortunately, insurance for their search.

Your donation of just $33 pays for DR typing for one potential donor.

NEW! The Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund can now accept your donation online! Click on the "donate" button above to donate through PayPal with your credit card (VISA or Mastercard).

Or, send a check!

Donations may be sent to:

Make checks payable to HLA Registry Foundation and indicate "Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund" on the memo line.

Donations to HLA Registry are tax deductible.

New! Now Available!

Brian's wife, Naomi, has chronicled the story of his transplant on a day by day basis in a new book entitled Across the Chasm: A Caregiver's Story. All proceeds from the sale of the book will be split between The Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund for DR typing and BMT Infonet. Check it out!

Thank You to Our Supporters!

The Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund frequently auctions collectibles and other items on eBay. Visit our About Me page on eBay to see the status of all current auctions benefiting the fund.

Folk singer Christine Lavin donated a bottle of her Special Blend Nail Polish (not sold in stores!) to our latest round of auctions. $66 for nail polish ain't bad! Thanks Christine!!!! Other auctions included Pokemon cards and a Longeberger basket. Seven auctions raised over $200 in May, 2000.

Folk singer Tom Paxton autographed the set list from his December, 1999 concert in Pittsburgh and donated it to the fund for auction. This was one of seven very successful auctions we ran in January, 2000 raising over $250. Thank you!

Jose Carreras of the Three Tenors, a fellow transplant survivor, generously donated an autographed white tuxedo tie to the fund! The auction of this tie raised over $300 for DR typing. Thank you!

Valerie Vernon, the Pink Power Ranger on FOX's Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, graciously donated several autographed items to be auctioned to support the fund, raising over $100. Thank you Valerie!

Would your company like to partner with us? Have an item you want to donate for auction? Questions or comments about the fund, this website, or our fundraising? Contact us



Brian, with wife Naomi and daughter Eve,
recuperates after his transplant

DR Typing and Why It's Important

Generally when people are typed as bone marrow donors, they are typed at four antigens: two at HLA-A and two at HLA-B. This goes into the computer and is available to hospitals conducting donor searches for patients. However, there are really many more criteria for matching a donor with a patient. The next two antigens generally tested are two antigens at DR. When patients talk about finding a "six of six match," they mean the donor matches at A, B and DR. If you are a registered donor and you are called for more testing, the first thing they are likely to test for is DR, and that information goes into the computer, too.

At this point, about 53% of donors in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) are already typed at DR, and that information is available for searches. The trouble is, the NMDP has gotten sufficiently big that it is looking for a needle in a haystack to try to find someone who is a perfect match by typing all the people who are only known to match a patient at A and B. Recording donors by A and B is simply not enough information anymore. More donors of the remaining 47% need to be typed at DR.

About 95% of matches made through the NMDP are made with donors who were already typed at DR before the search began. That means that there are literally over a million donors who may never be called simply because to test them would take too long and cost too much, even though they might be better matches than the donors who are chosen.

We think no one should have to face the choice between a not-quite-perfect match and facing the time (and health deterioration) and expense of testing 4 of 4's. If all of the donors in the registry were already typed at DR, then patients would have a head start finding the needle in a haystack -- that perfect-in-every-way donor. And while we can't fund DR typing for every donor in the registry, we can make a start. We hope that you will help us.

Other Ways You Can Help

Get Typed! If you haven't been typed as a potential bone marrow donor, please consider doing so. When someone (like Brian!) has no viable related donors, the possibility of transplant and the chances of survival are dependent on the existence of the largest possible pool of potential donors. Science is finding more and more criteria to check for when searching for a donor, and we need more and more people to be donors to ensure that all who need a donor can find a good match. You have the chance to save someone's life! You can get typed many ways: through local blood centers, the HLA Registry, local drives. The test to become a donor is a simple blood test. Call 1-800-MARROW2 or see www.marrow.org for the National Marrow Donor Program and the location of donor centers near you.

Give Blood There are tons of people who, like Brian, need regular blood transfusions to survive from day to day. It takes so little time to give blood, and means so much. Contact your local blood center for details...

Our Online Donation Process

The Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund for DR Typing accepts MasterCard and VISA donations in any amount. This service is provided through PayPal, an online payment company.

If you choose to donate online and you are not already a PayPal member, you will be asked to fill out an online form to open a PayPal account. Essentially, this account enables you to email money, charged to your credit card, to other PayPal members, including the HLA Registry Foundation. PayPal may also give a referral bonus to the Fund if you join as a new member and a sign-up bonus to you for opening a new account.

If you are already a PayPal member, just enter your email address and password at the prompt. Then, complete the donation form. Your donation will be processed like any other PayPal transaction.

PayPal transactions are secure. Please note that your credit card statement will list payments to X.com or PayPal and not to the HLA Registry Foundation or the Brian Zikmund-Fisher Fund for DR Typing.