Gift of Life Marrow Registry and Keiser University are teaming up to save lives.  

Thanks to the support of Keiser University volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse team members there are additional donors enrolled in the Gift of Life Marrow Registry, an international stem cell and bone marrow registry.

Keiser University Seahawk student-athletes first learned of West Palm Beach neighbor Rose Bradwell’s battle with leukemia and other patients in need of life-saving donors when they were visited by Gift of Life Marrow Registry Recruitment Manager Traci Ackerman in the fall of 2021. Thanks to their willingness to participate, there are 84 new potential life-saving volunteer donors enrolled in the registry. “With the on-field success that the programs have had, what often gets overlooked is their work in the community and efforts to help others. Our hope is that participating in events like this will help others to get involved to assist with this great initiative,” said Athletic Director Kris Swogger.

Transplants between a donor and recipient can only work if they match based on Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA), an immune system marker found on cell surfaces. Potential donors can join the registry and have their HLA profile tested using a painless cheek swab. The resulting HLA profile is uploaded to the worldwide registry, where transplant physicians around the world can find matches for their patients, potentially curing more than 70 life-threatening diseases.

“Everyone I have encountered at Keiser University has been 100% supportive and inviting. The students listened to Rose and I speak, and they embraced and prayed for her,” said Ackerman.

Keiser University is a private, independent, non-profit university serving nearly 20,000 students at 21 Florida campuses, online, and two international sites. Co-founded in 1977 by Chancellor Arthur Keiser, Ph.D., and Evelyn Keiser, Keiser University currently offers more than 100 degrees from associates to the doctoral level. Keiser University is a  designated Hispanic-Serving Institution, a member of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and was ranked No. 5 in the U.S. in Social Mobility by U.S. News And World Report in 2022.