By Nick Dube

UNBC

UNBC Stem Cell Club is growing the National Stem Cell Donor Registry

Jan 22, 2026 | 4:44 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The UNBC Stem Cell Club was hard at work Thursday with the help of the UNBC Nursing Club gathering swabs of students in an effort to grow and expand the National Stem Cell Donor Registry. The registry is important as it matches donors with patients who are in need possibly saving lives. Stem cell transplants can treat over 80 conditions and diseases, including leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood disorders.

“We’re inviting individuals aged between 17 and 35 and good health to come and get swabbed. So essentially getting swabbed adds you to the stem cell donor registry and once your on the registry, you may be matched with someone outside of your family who is in need of a stem cell transplant.” said President of the UNBC Stem Cell Club Zoe Younghusband.

Along with having to be between 17 and 35 years old, each donor must be in good health overall and able to provide the four swabs needed for registry. The whole process is quick and easy taking five minutes overall and it offers the citizens of Prince George a way to help save a life without needing to travel.

“It’s pretty interactive. So they can scan a QR code on their phone and then fill out a questionnaire from there with all their personal details and then we have all the swab kits here that we do ourselves. You have your swabs collected and then we put them in an envelope that ultimately gets sent off to the base of the Canadian blood services in Ontario.” said President of the UNBC Nursing Club Araiya Bernard.

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The club does around two to four events per month with the goal for each event an ambitious 50 donations which would go a long way to helping the National Registry. While the criteria for donation is quite simple there is a good reason for the the age cap of 35 years.

“The age range 17 to 35 is just to ensure individuals who sign up are on the registry for as long as possible. You’ll be automatically taken off at sixty years old. This is because, stem cells don’t produce in a good enough quality or quantity after that age so the success rate for transplants isn’t as good. So just ending at 35 makes sure you’re on the registry for at least 25 years. This provides a good chance for patients to get a transplant.” said Younghusband.

If you missed your chance to donate today there will be more opportunities coming up with with a two day event January 26th and 27th at UNBC before the Black Donors Save Lives National Campaign on February 9th.