Americord Registry Announces Appointment of New Cord Blood Banking Medical Director

NEW YORK, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Americord Registry, a leader in the advancement of cord blood and placenta stem cell preservation, is proud to announce the appointment of a new Executive Medical Director, Dr. Robert Dracker. A leading hematologist, pediatric oncologist, and experienced blood and stem cell banking expert, Dr. Dracker will be responsible for all laboratory, collection and transport protocols and procedures, as well as licensing and accreditation. He will also be responsible for establishing quality controls and advising Americord on all scientific and medical matters.

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Dr. Dracker was also recently named as a consultant to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Pediatric Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs regarding research priorities, among other responsibilities.

"Dr. Dracker is a recognized leader in cord blood banking and we are thrilled to have him join Americord," said Americord Registry President and CEO Martin Smithmyer.  "Our mission is to advance the preservation of newborn stem cells for future medical treatment and we are confident that with the backing of outstanding medical professionals such as Dr. Dracker, Americord will continue to be successful in this undertaking."

Previously, Dr. Dracker served as Executive Medical Director for ViaCord and Medical Director of Biocyte Corporation, the precursor to PharmaStem, whose cord blood collection and processing procedures are still used throughout the industry today. He was also part of the Working Group on Cord Blood Stem Cell Guidelines for New York State and an architect of the New York cord blood banking licensing requirements, considered to be the gold standard of cord blood banking accreditations.

"Americord Registry is at the forefront of implementing a new and exciting technique that will provide more treatment options to a greater variety of patients than ever before," Dr. Dracker said. "This new technique will address the most significant limitation of traditional cord blood banking: the fact that it only preserves enough stem cells to treat patients who weigh up to 65 pounds on average." Studies demonstrate that Americord's innovative methods for collecting and storing stem cells may preserve up to 10 times more stem cells than traditional cord blood collection methods.

Dr. Dracker has submitted an abstract to present his research findings in regards to Americord's innovative stem cell collection method at the CoStem Conference, the International Congress on Controversies in Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies, being held Sept. 8-11 in Berlin, and the AABB Conference, being held Oct. 22-25 in San Francisco, which focuses on the latest in blood banking, transfusion medicine and cellular and related biological therapies.

Dr. Dracker is a graduate of New York University, where he earned his B.A. in Biology, and SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse, where he earned his Doctorate of Medicine. He received his M.S. in Health Services Management from New School for Social Research and his M.B.A. from Columbia College.

For more information about Americord Registry, or to speak with Mr. Smithmyer or Dr. Dracker, please contact Dana Taormina at 973-850-7305 or [email protected].

About Americord Registry

Americord Registry is a leader in the advancement of cord blood and placenta stem cell preservation. Americord collects, processes, and stores newborn stem cells from umbilical cord blood for future medical or therapeutic use, including the treatment of more than 75 blood diseases such as sickle cell anemia and leukemia.

Founded in 2008, Americord is registered with the Food and Drug Administration and is licensed in New York and New Jersey. The company's laboratory is accredited by the AABB and complies with federal CLIA laboratory standards. Americord is based in New York. To learn more, visit http://cordadvantage.com.

SOURCE Americord Registry