Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), DKMS DonorCenter gGmbH (DKMS) and Stiftung Aktion Knochenmarkspende Bayern (AKB) are continuing last year’s successful initiative #Franken für das Leben with a joint initiative #FAU für das Leben. Together, FAU, the student coordination team, and the two donor registries hope to give leukemia patients across the globe the chance of a better life by encouraging new stem cell donors to register.
Together against leukemia
Many leukemia patients fail to find a suitable donor in their family. Their only hope is to find a suitable unrelated donor with the same tissue characteristics. The more people are registered in the databases, the higher the chance of a successful match and a potential cure.
The Executive Board would therefore like to invite all students, administrative staff and colleagues from the faculties and local companies to register in the DKMS or DKMS database as part of the #FAUFuerDasLeben campaign.
Register now and become a potential stem cell donor!
Register at the donor drive, be included in the database and prepare to be contacted in the case of a match.
Under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Andreas Mackensen, Director of Hematology and Oncology at Uniklinikum Erlangen, FAU hopes to find as many new stem cell donors as possible and to raise awareness of the importance of typing. Donor drives are held regularly at various locations across FAU.
You can either register directly at the donor drive or online with one of the two stem cell donor registries DKMS or AKB (please don’t register with both!).
All registered donors are included in the global donor register and are available as a potential donor for patients across the globe. In the event of a match, you are contacted by the organization you registered with.
You only need to register with one of the organizations:
What happens during a donor drive?
During a donor drive, volunteers can register as potential stem cell donors.
First of all, you have to complete a consent form. Next, a swab is used to take a sample from inside your cheek. This sample is sent to the laboratory to analyze HLA markers. For a stem cell donation, people are required to have matching HLA (human leukocyte antigen) markers. As there are several thousand varieties of these markers in innumerable combinations, the likelihood of finding a “genetic twin” is extremely slim. Each registration therefore helps to find the “needle in a haystack” and gives people across the globe hope.
Detailed information at www.dkms.de/informieren, at www.akb.de/information and in an Interview with Bettina Steinbauer, responsible for finding new donors at DKMS (PDF)
Dates
Several DKMS and AKB registration drives are planned across FAU for 2026.
The next dates:
Cash donations
Registering new stem cell donors incurs costs, the majority of which the donor registries are only able to cover with cash donations. Each cash donation helps to save lives! Get involved!
Inspired by student engagement
The activities aimed at gaining new stem cell donors are coordinated locally by a team of seven students from FAU Erlangen. DKMS and AKB rely on their active support and the help of numerous other volunteers.
The two FAU students Lara Ebbinghaus and Michael Ruppert from the student coordination team have been involved in the processes since 2025: “Our aim is to raise visibility of stem cell donation at FAU over the long term and to make it as easy as possible for everyone to get involved. At the end of the day, every single registration has the potential to save a life, and the collaboration between FAU, the students, Stiftung AKB and the DKMS creates a strong foundation for success.”
The partnership agreement states that all new students at FAU should be informed about the campaign #FAUFuerDasLeben at the beginning of the semester. That apart, the parties to the contract have agreed to jointly plan and conduct registration drives at locations across FAU to gain new potential stem cell donors. A number of activities are planned for 2026, and they will be announced in good time via FAU’s channels as well as by the donor registry organizing the event (DKMS or AKB).