Building Unrelated Donor Registries in Resource-Limited Countries: Bridging the Gap in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

The global volume of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is growing steadily, yet patients in resource-limited countries — particularly across Latin America, Africa, and Asia — face disproportionate barriers to access. A central and underaddressed challenge is the scarcity of suitable unrelated donors, driven by two compounding factors: the absence or limited scale of national donor registries, and the rich ethnic and genetic diversity of these populations, which significantly reduces the likelihood of finding a compatible match in the large established registries of the United States and Europe.


This Research Topic brings together original research, systematic reviews, registry data analyses, and policy perspectives from clinicians, registry specialists, and health authorities working to close these gaps. Contributions of interest include, but are not limited to: the creation and scale-up of national bone marrow donor registries in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); strategies to recruit donors from ethnically diverse populations; HLA haplotype diversity mapping in underrepresented groups; models for international registry collaboration and data sharing; clinical outcomes of unrelated donor HSCT in resource-limited settings; the role of cord blood banks as complementary donor sources; and health policy and funding frameworks to sustain registry infrastructure.


By convening expertise from across the Global South and from established international transplant organizations, this collection aims to define best practices, highlight unmet needs, and accelerate equitable access to life-saving allogeneic HSCT worldwide.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), unrelated donor registry, resource-limited countries, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), HLA diversity, ethnic diversity in transplantation, bone marrow donor recruitment, global health equity

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