Be The Match® and Stand Up To Cancer® Join Forces To Launch A New PSA Campaign Featuring ABC's Robin Roberts

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Jan 21, 2014, 08:00 ET

The "Good Morning America" anchor continues her efforts to recruit volunteer bone marrow donors to the national Be The Match Registry® while stressing the importance of research.

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES and MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Be The Match and Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), have teamed up on a new public service announcement (PSA) campaign featuring ABC's "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140121/DC50077)

Robin Roberts in the new PSA with Be The Match and Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). (PRNewsFoto/Stand Up To Cancer) (PRNewsFoto/STAND UP TO CANCER)

The PSAs, titled "I Beat Cancer. Twice" and "Focus on the Fight. Not The Fright," emphasize two critical ways to help patients battling blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma: supporting cutting-edge research and increasing the number of volunteer bone marrow donors on the national Be The Match Registry. Roberts also specifically addresses the critical need for more African-American volunteer bone marrow donors.

"Good Morning America" will unveil the joint PSAs during its broadcast on Martin Luther King Day. The campaign, which runs through June 30, will appear in magazines and out-of-home, digital, mobile and social media.

Roberts began her crusade to recruit bone marrow donors shortly after announcing in June 2012 that she was battling myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and needed a bone marrow transplant to survive. Though she was fortunate to find a perfect donor match in her sister Sally-Ann, Roberts has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the need for more people – particularly African Americans – to volunteer as potential bone marrow donors in order to improve all patients' chances of finding a life-saving match. Roberts', an Ambassador of Hope for Be The Match®, celebrated her one-year transplant anniversary in September.

"I'm proud to work with Be The Match and Stand Up To Cancer to raise the public consciousness about the need for more research and more volunteer bone marrow donors to help patients contending with blood cancers," Roberts said.

Jeffrey W. Chell, M.D., chief executive officer of Be The Match, complimented Roberts on her "tireless advocacy" for others battling blood cancers.

"Be The Match and SU2C both recognize the persuasive power of someone like Robin Roberts, who has shown outstanding leadership while fighting her own battle with cancer," Chell said. "Through SU2C, the entertainment industry as a whole has become a leading voice in the fight against cancer which makes SU2C a natural partner for Be The Match."

"We're thrilled to collaborate with Robin Roberts and Be The Match," said Lisa Paulsen, co-founder of SU2C and EIF's President and CEO. "This campaign speaks to one of the core ideas on which SU2C was founded: that every individual can make a difference in the effort to stop cancer from taking so many lives."

About Be The Match
For people with life-threatening blood cancers—like leukemia and lymphoma—or other diseases, a cure exists. Be The Match connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. People can contribute to the cure as a member of the Be The Match Registry, financial contributor or volunteer. Be The Match provides patients and their families one-on-one support, education, and guidance before, during and after transplant.

Be The Match is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), a nonprofit organization that matches patients with donors, educates health care professionals and conducts research so more lives can be saved. To learn more about the cure, visit BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2.

About Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by film and media leaders who utilize the industry's resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, and to increase awareness about progress being made in the fight against the disease. As SU2C's scientific partner, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and a Scientific Advisory Committee led by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., conduct rigorous, competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and provide expert review of research progress.

SOURCE Stand Up To Cancer