Rippel Foundation Funds Bone Marrow Transplant Research

For the third time in recent years, the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation is supporting innovative and vital research at Thomas Jefferson University.

The New Jersey-based Foundation has pledged $176,000 to the Bone Marrow Transplant Program, directed by Neal Flomenberg, MD, professor of medicine/neoplastic diseases at Jefferson Medical College. Dr. Flomenberg and his colleagues are pioneers in the transplantation of bone marrow between patients and "mismatched" donors.

Dr. Flomenberg says, "The Rippel Foundation gift will help ensure that these transplants are effective for high-risk patients. The gift will fund construction of a cold room, in which very large quantities of media used to grow antibodies are stored, and a sterile, clean room, in which contaminants from the antibody preparation can be safely removed. We will be able to make state-of-the-art laboratory renovations and purchase additional supplies."

Traditionally, successful transplants have required a "perfect" or "near-perfect" match in order to avoid graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a condition where the grafted marrow rejects the host body into which it has been placed. Dr. Flomenberg has become one of few physicians to perform the halpoidentical marrow transplant, a procedure which requires only a 50 percent similarity between patient and donor.

In addition to this year's donation, the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation has previously made donations to Jefferson's Bodine Center for Cancer Treatment and to the Cardiovascular Research Center. The Foundation was incorporated in 1953 for the purpose of providing funds to assist hospitals, aiding organizations that provide relief and care of aged women, and assisting those institutions pursuing treatment and research in the battle against heart disease and cancer.