Infection control wins stimulus funds

An investigator at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle has earned a $1.74 million grant under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Recipient Colleen Delaney, MD, is an assistant member in the Fred Hutchinson center’s clinical research division. Her goal is to find to ways to reduce the risk of infection, and early death, in patients who receive cord blood transplants.

In her ongoing research, Dr. Delaney developed a novel culture methodology, which demonstrated that neutrophils can be generated from a single unit of cord blood. In addition, these cells are capable of rapid recovery when infused in the clinical setting. These findings could change the way transplant is done.