Be The Match selected neurosurgeon Robert L. Masson, MD, as its principal investigator in a new initiative to reimagine traditional blood stem cell collection.
“The opportunity to reimagine blood stem cell collection brings my professional commitment to improving neurosurgery, my passion for extreme recovery and survival and my experience with my sister's cancer journey to a crossroads,” said Dr. Masson. “I am so proud to support Be The Match in its work to improve access to and the negative perceptions surrounding blood stem cell transplant."
Be The Match connects patients to donor matches for marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants. For the past 20 years, the process of collecting blood stem cells from the pelvic bone has remained mostly unchanged. When developing its new five-year strategic plan, Be The Match recognized an opportunity to innovate the process and make donation a more attractive prospect to people interested in becoming donors.
Dr. Masson is an award-winning extreme racer. As part of the Performance Tech Motorsports Team, he finished second in class and seventh overall in the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Jan. 26-27.