Prof Nalini’s death highlights ignorance on bone marrow transplants

She was the first Indian-American woman to teach psychology at Harvard, Tufts, and Stanford University. A trailblazer, 53-year-old professor Nalini Ambady, died after a long battle with leukemia when she could not find a donor for a life-saving bone marrow transplant. It’s a tragedy because her death could have easily been prevented. As an Indian-American, Ms Ambady’s odds of finding a bone marrow donor in the US were slim. A successful donation requires a close genetic match and South Asians comprise approximately only two per cent of the National Marrow Donor Registry in the United States.

manishchowhan