The Donor Difference

Discovery’s LeukoLab Donor Care and Management facilities are essential in providing the highest quality cells for biomedical research. Management of this crucial starting point, coupled with the breadth of our donor pool, produces the quality that our clients have trusted for more than two decades.

Our bi-coastal facilities at the Bostom Metropolitan Area and San Francisco Bay Area provide exemplary donor care and a comprehensive donor management system that is unmatched in the industry.

Industry Oversight

After an initial in-depth screening, all donors will return every three months for screening in order to stay active in our donor pool.

Attributes such as age, sex, HLA type, and medical history are annotated for every donor. Screening is done for viral status, CBC, changes in health status (e.g. illness and medication use). Skilled clinicians, registered nurses, and medical doctors provide sterling care throughout the donor life cycle, and adherence to all ethical standards ensures that all donors are treated exceedingly well. Collection protocols and donor-informed consent are approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB), with strict oversight. HIPAA compliance and approved protocols are also followed. AllCells – LeukoLab Donor Care and Management facilities carry the following federal and state licenses:

California Department of Public Health
  • Tissue Bank License – Health and Human Services Agency
  • License for the Production of Biologics
  • Clinical Laboratory License
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
  • Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments Certified (Alameda, CA and Quincy, MA)
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Health
  • Clinical Laboratory License

Industry Best Collection Deliverability Through a Unique Donor Ecosystem

  • Innovative software targets specific donors
    to get the right donors for every project
  • Collection cadence / timeline specifications
  • Recruitment based on demand and forecast
  • Dedicated, reserved donor pool options available

Frequently Asked Questions

We have thousands of qualified donors in our database across our sites. The overall pool can be filtered by a variety of attributes including but not limited to gender, age, BMI, smoking status, blood type, HLA, race, ethnicity, and GMP eligibility. Our unique donor ecosystem and high engagement model enables high recallability of donors, and we have the infrastructure to scale according to need.

As the our donor pool has grown, we’ve worked to diversify according to ethnicity, age, and other critical attributes. While we verify age and BMI, other attributes (ethnicity, smoker/non-smoker, medications) are self-reported by our donors. In all cases, we strive to deliver exactly what our customers expect.

Yes, we can implement strategies to maximize recallability of selected donors for your program.

The following factors influence availability: deferral periods determined by their last donation, their willingness to participate in the requested collection, as well as their ability to pass screenings.

Things that can impact whether or not they return include deferral periods from their last collection and their willingness to donate in a specific type of collection. We also rescreen all donors every three months, and sometimes a donor no longer passes the screens. When a donor is unavailable, we will recommend an alternative or evaluate the likelihood of the preferred donor’s future availability. In all cases, we will do our best to provide our customers with the best guidance to suit your program.

Potential donors undergo a series of screenings before determined to be acceptable Healthy Donors. The initial screening is administered through a questionnaire, ruling out a medical history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, anemia, cancer, diabetes, blood clots/bleeding disorders, sickle cell trait, hepatitis, HIV, skin diseases, and autoimmune disorders. Additionally, this questionnaire screens donors for any self-reported conditions affecting the brain, liver, lung, heart, kidney, thyroid, or gastrointestinal.

Next, our donors undergo an in-person screening administered by our clinical staff where all provided medical history is assessed and any medications the donor is currently using are evaluated. During this visit, we perform a CBC and test for standard bloodborne pathogens including Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV. Then clinical staff performs a physical assessment of the donor to determine suitability.

Please refer to our section on defined donor attributes for information on our evaluation and reporting processes for both donor-reported attributes and donor-specific testing.

We offers a variety of specific donor attributes to meet the needs of any project. Through our donor care and management, we have the ability to source donors who will meet even the most complex requirements. Please note that requesting donor attributes may impact the fulfillment time and cost.

Donor Attributes include:

  • Gender: Male or female.
  • Age: Donors range from 18 – 55 years of age. Please note there are collection type specific age range restrictions.
  • BMI: Calculated using the donor’s height and weight (current as of three months). Donors can be sourced according to BMI-range requests (e.g. 25 – 30).
  • Blood Type: ABO with Rh. Any ABO with Rh can be requested but rare types will increase the lead time of your order.
  • CMV: A negative viral status represents a negative (IgM and/or IgG) testing result (current as of three months). Customers have the ability to request closer proximity or day-of testing results.
  • HLA: HLA determination is available if specific HLA profiles are required for your project. We provide up to 6-digit resolution using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) HLA types. 

Donor self-reported attributes are:

  • Race: The Census Bureau defines race as a person’s self-identification with one or more social groups. An individual can report as White, Black, African American, Asian, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, or “Other.” Many donors select “Other” if they do not identify with any of the provided options or if they identify as multiracial.
  • Ethnicity: ethnicity includes two categories: Hispanic or Latino and Not Hispanic or Latino.
  • Smoker/Nonsmoker: A donor is categorized as a smoker if during the screening the donor verbally confirms they have used tobacco/nicotine-containing products, including cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, vaping-products, nicotine patches, and gum, within the last year. Even if a donor is not currently using tobacco/nicotine-containing products, their status is determined from 1 year back.
  • Medication: Our standard for “no medications” is that the donor hasn’t had any over-the-counter drugs, prescription drugs, birth control, steroid drugs, or vitamins/supplements for 2 days prior to collection.

Yes, our donors are compensated for their time.