Testimonials From Doctors

Letter From an OB/GYN and CorCell Cord Blood Bank Customer:

Dear CorCell,

I'm writing to you as both a patient and a practitioner to tell you how happy I am with your services. I am an OB/GYN who is pregnant with my third child. As a physician I have found your collection kit to be by far the most user-friendly. I am always able to get more than an adequate sample of cord blood with your kit. As a pregnant mother using your services, I have found your stuff to be user-friendly and extremely helpful. My life is busy and CorCell allowed me to be able to save my baby's cord blood with little or no hassle. Thanks for all you do.

Sincerely,
Molly McBride, MD

Letter from a Cardiovascular Stem Cell Researcher and CorCell Cord Blood Bank Customer:

Kai Pinkernell, M.D.
Tulane University
New Orleans, 16th December 2002

Beth Ludwin, RN
CorCell
1411 Walnut Street, Suite 300
Philadelphia, PA 19102

Dear Beth,

When my wife and I found out that we're going to be a little family  of our own in the future we were overwhelmed by that feeling. All the joy and thoughts that were running through our heads astonished us for a while. It is one of the greatest gifts one can receive, and today we both enjoy watching our son Linus growing up.

During the first weeks of my wife s pregnancy there was a lot to think about. Although we both planned  to have a child, meaning it was no accident , everything seems to be relatively far away until the color of the pregnancy test changes & everything!

Not only joy and happiness came to our minds in the first days but also the feeling of insecurity the question if we would be able to handle all of our new responsibilities and foremost: Is our unborn child healthy and will everything stay that way? .

Due to my research on the ability of cells in adult human bone marrow (also often called bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, not to be confused with embryonic stem cells) to help in the repair of damaged organs, I was aware of the fact that similar potent cells can be found in the cord blood of newborns. So it was clear right from the start that we're not going to waste these precious cells if they might be able to help our child in the future. Research discovers more and more abilities of these cells in the cure of certain diseases and the list grows constantly. And knowing how fast this field of research is evolving the actual capabilities of these cells can only be estimated. In my personal opinion the future of cord blood is very bright, and its use might soon include the treatment of common diseases like heart attack and stroke (which is the hottest field of research right now for the bone marrow derived stem  cells). The research also shows that cells which are obtained so early in life retain their plasticity much better than cells from an aged  person.

So after all these thoughts it came down to look for a worthy company who could store the cord blood until it is needed (hopefully never, of course).

We started to evaluate about 12 of the major providers of cord blood storage at that time, including public storage facilities. Because we wanted to store our baby's blood as a future gift for him, we wanted to choose a private company that stores the cord blood for the need of our baby only until he is old enough to decide what to do with it. CorCell provided a very professional and immediate response to our questions and the decision in the end for using CorCell was based on several things:

1. Several cord blood units stored at CorCell have already been used for transplantation (which means the cord blood was processed accurately because freezing is one thing but thawing and using for transplantation is another);
2. CorCell uses a packaging of the cord blood that allows multiple usages of smaller portions; why thaw all of the cells if you just need a portion?
3. The cord blood at CorCell is red cell depleted (red cells show no additional benefit in the transplantation process, i.e. for repopulating bone marrow because they do not divide anymore, instead they are metabolically active and deplete the medium they are swimming in [together with the actual cells of interest] of nutrients);
4. The cord blood sampling kit that CorCell provides was easy to use, with a minimal risk of contamination
5. The Courier service was just great: fast and reliable as promised (shipping of viable biological material is not trivial).

So, there is a lot to think about during the time before birth, and nobody prepares the future parents for that. Hopefully the word is spread about the great and promising possibilities of umbilical cord blood and parents-to-be take the chance that they are given only once, even if it is another expense on top of the others (ask the grandparents-to-be for this great gift idea), but most importantly: don t waste these precious cells!

Letter From a Doctor and Current CorCell Stem Cell Banking Customer:

As a physician and researcher of stem cells and human cancers, I am encouraged with the advances in stem cell therapy  so much so, that I saved my own child's cord blood. And I was particularly impressed with how easy CorCell made the collection. Their procedure and blood storage facility is, in my opinion, the best in the profession.

Carlo M. Croce, MD
Director of the Kimmel Cancer Institute and Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University
Scientific and Medical Advisory Board, CorCell