The Donor Difference

After two decades of collecting and supplying cells, AllCells has developed an extensive donor pool with donors at our California, Massachusetts, and Texas locations.

As the AllCells’ 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/nonsmoker, medications) are self-reported by our donors. In all cases, we strive to deliver exactly what our customers expect.

Not all donors are eligible for recall. If you have specific donors that you feel you’ll want to recall for a study, it may be possible to keep them eligible only for you. We charge a donor management fee for this service. The donor management fee ensures that we will not call the donor for another study. The fee covers our cost plus any compensation for the donor’s time, effort, and participation. However, this fee is not a guarantee that the donor will be available at the time of your request. Despite our diligent reminders, there are rare occurrences when donors fail to make their appointment. While we are generally able to get donors to return as desired, there are cases when this doesn’t happen.

The best way to ensure that a specific donor can return for your research is to lessen any restrictions around the collections. Adding requested dates or attributes (e.g. no medications) decreases the odds of getting the donor to return.

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 research.

At AllCells we understand how important your research is and we take pride in supporting you. That’s why we always strive to deliver exactly what you order, exactly when you want it.

However, because our products come from donors, we occasionally have difficulties. Despite our best efforts at reminders, sometimes donors fail to show for an appointment. Additionally, some donors may fail screens on the day of their collection. When such issues arise, we do everything in our power to meet your deadline, but sometimes that is not possible.

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.

Many collection facilities utilize an “open call” to recruit donors and thus, are routinely unable to schedule specific donors on specific days. At AllCells, we prioritize getting the donors you request on the requested date. This ability sets AllCells apart and is made possible by our Customer Success Managers. The AllCells Customer Success team has the unique ability to search our live donor database to source the right donors for your research. By factoring in the requested attributes and date, they can tell you if your order is possible over the phone. If your original request is not possible, a member of our team will guide you to find an alternative route that will meet the needs of your research. Knowing what is most important for your research will ensure you get the right product on the right timeline.

AllCells offers a variety of specific donor attributes to meet the needs of any project. Through AllCells’ 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 increase the fulfillment time and cost. The extent of your donor requirements will determine time and cost.

It’s important to note that requesting donor attributes may increase the time it takes us to fulfill your order and may also increase your cost. The more attributes you have and the more complex the requirements, the longer your order may take.

Donor Attributes include:

• Gender: Male or female.
• Age: Donors range from 18 – 55 years of age. Please note, not all ages qualify for all collection types, and donors over 50 can be difficult to source and may affect the timeline of your order.
• 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. Both common and uncommon types can be requested, but depending on the rarity of the request, could extend the lead time to receive the order. In some cases a match may not be available in the donor pool.

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.

If your research requires a specific donor attribute that is not readily available, you may have the option to submit an order that will be fulfilled when a donor becomes available. In this case, we will do our best to provide an estimated delivery time determined by the number of donors who meet your requirements. Please note, we cannot guarantee a standard timeframe for these types of orders.