The Third Annual Workshop of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) and National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) ACCESS Initiative occurred on July 23 and 24, 2024. Content from the workshop is provided to inform the hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and cellular therapy (CT) ecosystem about progress and direction of the collaborative. Highlights from the meeting are reviewed, including the inaugural Corporate Roundtable and Advocacy Day, new partnerships with non-profit organizations, and updates on projects from the Awareness, Poverty and Race and Ethnicity Inequity Committees. In addition, the Junior Faculty and Trainee Immersion Program-sponsored efforts in workforce diversity and physician advocacy are presented. Lastly, continued education was provided on patient and caregiver participation as well as community engagement. As it enters its third year, the ASTCT-NMDP ACCESS Initiative will transition from foundation building as a grass roots collaborative to intentional impact in reducing barriers and improving outcome disparities for all patients in need of HCT/CT. Enthusiasm for and participation in the ACCESS Initiative remain high. Both are needed to sustain progress in achieving its goal in enabling all patients in need to receive HCT/CT.
Keywords: Access barriers; Bone marrow transplant; Cell therapy; Chimeric antigen receptor T cell; Health care equity; Poverty; Racial inequity; Social determinants of health; Structural racism.
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