500th Bone Marrow Transplant

AUGUSTA, GA (GN) – The Georgia Regents University Cancer Center will commemorate its 500th bone marrow transplant with a reception recognizing bone marrow transplant recipients, their families, physicians, and staff. The event will be held Saturday, June 8 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Cancer Center, 1410 Laney Walker Blvd.


Speakers will include bone marrow transplant recipients Wanda Attaway, who received the Cancer Center’s first bone marrow transplant in 1997, and Michael Bright, who recently received the 500th transplant. Dr. Anand Jillella, who performed Bright’s procedure, and Dr. Samir Khleif, Director of the GRU Cancer Center, will also speak.

The GRU Cancer Center provides the region’s only bone marrow and stem cell transplant program to treat adult leukemias, lymphomas, and other types of blood cancer. With a dedicated 12-bed inpatient bone marrow transplant unit, the program is one of only four in Georgia to be accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy.

The GRU Cancer Center is a multi-disciplinary academic cancer center focused on both research and clinical treatment. Its patient-centered approach to treatment includes first-in-the-nation treatment protocols, specialized clinics for Phase I trials and immunotherapy and a variety of ancillary programs –including music therapy, art therapy and genetic counseling – designed with holistic healing in mind.

Georgia Regents University is one of four public comprehensive research universities in the state with nearly 10,000 students enrolled in its nine colleges, which include the Medical College of Georgia – the nation’s 13th-oldest medical school – the nationally-ranked Hull College of Business and Georgia’s only College of Dental Medicine. The clinical enterprise associated with the university includes the 478-bed Georgia Regents Medical Center and the 154-bed Children’s Hospital of Georgia.