Swab the World is a non-profit organization that helps patients locate STEM cell donors easily and quickly. They provide a platform for individuals seeking matches to launch an effective recruitment campaign as well as a space for them to “connect, share, love, and grieve,” according to their website.
Co-President Matthew Homa, an MDCM Candidate at McGill, wrote to The Tribune to discuss the club’s activities. Homa explained how the chapter, which is under the Medical Students Society, was founded and why he joined the organization.
“Our founder, Mai Duong, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2013, and after beating it once and having it return, she learned that a stem cell transplant was the only treatment that could save her life,” Homa wrote. “However, recipients are more likely to match with someone of their ethnicity, and the lack of diversity in our current registry made it virtually impossible for her to find a match.”
He went on to write that Duong rallied the Montreal Vietnamese community to find her match. After she secured a donor, Duong made it her mission to raise awareness about the lack of diversity in donor pools, leading her to start Swab the World. In 2018, she co-founded the organization with Christiane Rochon, and in 2021, McGill’s chapter was launched by Chloe Gordon and Owen Luo.
“At McGill, our passionate club of 40 Swab ambassadors continue [Duong’s] mission on the local level, helping raise awareness about the need for stem cell donors and the inequality in finding a donor while helping students sign up for the donor registry.”
Homa also touched on the challenges the chapter has faced, writing about the difficulty of reaching ethnically diverse students.
“One of the biggest growing pains has definitely been reaching out to the broadest audience possible,” he wrote. “It’s easy to fall into a niche, advertising in the same buildings on campus or collaborating with the same clubs because that’s familiar to us. However, we would then be actively disadvantaging all of the communities that need donors whom we’re not working with! So, we’re always trying new things, working with new clubs, and sharing our message with the broader community.”
One way they do this is by collaborating with culture clubs to reach diverse students. On Jan. 31, the chapter hosted an intercultural food fair with the McGill Vietnamese Students Association and the McGill University Filipino Asian Students Association. The culture clubs sold treats—with 50 cents of each sale going to Swab the World, and the Swab ambassadors offered on-site swabbing kits. The chapter also frequently hosts swab booths that allow McGill students to submit their saliva samples for registration. These DNA samples, after being examined for particular characteristics, are used to match donors with patients.
The chapter has several events coming up that Homa wanted to bring attention to. First, on Feb. 14, they will have a swab booth at the Black Student Network’s Black Beauty Day. The next day, Feb. 15, they will host a swab booth at the DKE house before the frat’s party. Finally, on Feb. 22, they are tabling and hosting a swab booth at the Coda Foundation’s Coda Gala. Coda is a student-led non-profit raising money for hospital cancer care.
Looking ahead, Homa wrote that their chapter will have a booth at the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines’s North American conference from Mar. 21 to 23 to discuss the racial barriers to transplant access.
For anyone unavailable to attend events in person, it’s possible to swab from home.
“While we’d love to see you join our events and swab to join the registry, you can register from home! Just look up Swab the World, visit our website, and register to donate. A kit will get sent to your house, and you can swab your cheek at a time that works for you! Stem cell transplants are often the last treatment option for leukemia, lymphoma, and other patients with hematologic conditions, so your 5 minutes signing up could save a life,” Homa wrote.
Find Swab the World on Instagram @swabtheworld_mcgill.
