Who we are

Who we are

World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) is made up of organisations and individuals who promote global collaboration and best practices for the benefit of blood stem cell donors and transplant patients.

WMDA was informally initiated in 1988 by three pioneers in the field of transplantation: John Goldman (United Kingdom), E. Donnall Thomas (United States) and Jon J. van Rood (the Netherlands). This led to the foundation of WMDA in 1994.

In 2007, WMDA became one of the founding members of the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (WBMT). WBMT is a non-profit scientific organisation which aims to promote excellence in blood stem cell transplantation, donation and cellular therapy. It has an official relationship with the World Health Organization. The other three founding organisations of the WBMT are the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), and the Asian Pacific Blood and Marrow Transplantation Group (APBMT).

In 2017, WMDA took over the activities of Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide (BMDW) and the NetCord Foundation. In 2020, EMDIS was integrated into WMDA.

WMDA is led by the WMDA Board supported by committees and working groups whose members are all experts in their fields. Day-to-day activities are carried out by our WMDA office, a team of professionals based in Leiden, the Netherlands.