Canadian Blood Services’ Cord Blood Bank information for Cord Blood donation for biomedical research

Biomedical research using cord blood may increase knowledge about blood stem cell transplantation and the processes for collection, manufacturing and storage of cord blood. Some researchers are studying stem cells from cord blood to determine or develop new treatments for diseases, or to understand how stem cells work (e.g., gene expression). Other researchers may use cord blood for research (not related to stem cells) that might lead to improvements in future medical care.

How do I consent to donate cord blood for biomedical research under the Cord Blood Bank’s research program?

You must mark the Research Opt-In box if you want the cord blood to be distributed and used for biomedical research.

Are there any risks if I donate cord blood for biomedical research under the Cord Blood Bank’s research program?

There is no additional health risk to you or your baby if you donate cord blood for biomedical research under the Cord Blood Bank’s research program. Canadian Blood Services will disclose only minimal information about you and your baby to researchers such as the date of collection of the cord blood, your baby’s sex, and the criteria we used to determine that the cord blood was unsuitable for storage. Information that directly identifies you as an individual is replaced by a unique identifier. This way, the researchers will not know who donated the cord blood.

What kind of biomedical research will the cord blood be used for under the Cord Blood Bank’s research program?

Examples of cord blood biomedical research, that could be conducted by academia, not for profit or industry, include:  Improvements to current clinical practices that use cord blood

• Improvements to cord blood collection, manufacturing and storage
• Study of stem cell biology (e.g. using gene expression)
• Discovery of other clinical and non-clinical uses of stem cells from cord blood
• Production of stem cell lines that could be maintained for many years and used for a variety of research purposes
• Development of drugs, medical and/or commercial products to treat human diseases

The Cord Blood Bank’s biomedical research program will not provide cord blood for studies conducting genome sequencing.

Canadian Blood Services must approve all research projects under the Cord Blood Bank’s research program. The Canadian Blood Services Research Ethics Board will also review all projects. In addition, researchers may require ethics approval from their own institutions and, if applicable, other advisory groups who supervise research.

If you donate cord blood, you cannot choose what kind of research or which research project the cord blood may be used for.

Find more information about research projects using donated cord blood under the Cord Blood Bank’s research program on the Canadian Blood Services website at www.blood.ca/researchcordblood.

What if I want to withdraw my consent for biomedical research under the Cord Blood Bank’s research program?

Donating cord blood is completely voluntary. You may request to withdraw consent at any time. Call 1 888 2 DONATE (1-888-236-6283) and we will send you a form titled Canadian Blood Services' Cord Blood Bank Withdrawal of Consent. Complete the form and return it to Canadian Blood Services.

Please note, most cord blood distributed to researchers under the Cord Blood Bank’s research program will be shipped within 48 hours of collection. If you withdraw consent for biomedical research and the cord blood has not already been used for biomedical research it will be discarded or used for Other Uses (i.e., quality assurance (e.g. validation, training and quality control) or product improvement). If the cord blood has already been used for biomedical research under the Cord Blood Bank’s research program, the cord blood and research results may not be withdrawn.