research & innvoation

Cord Blood Banking Research

Dr. David Harris
A Cord Blood Pioneer


Dr. David Harris Dr. David Harris, Professor of Immunology at the University of Arizona, was the first person in the world to save cord blood for use by the family. His recognition of the value of family cord blood banking was a cornerstone that helped launch the industry that now preserves hundreds of thousands of cord blood samples for families throughout the world. Dr. Harris has published more than 100 research articles in medical journals and was invited to brief Congress on the advancements in cord blood stem cell therapy. He has also been a consultant to foreign governments in establishing cord blood banking protocols.

"The quality of the cells that we received from CBR was outstanding... They were of perfect quality."

Joel Weinthal, MD
Pediatric Hematologist, Oncologist

Cord Blood Banking Research

CBR's CellAdvantage® technology

CBR is the leader in advancing the science of cord blood banking processing. Our recent collaboration with GE Healthcare® and Thermogenesis in developing the AXP™ processing system is another example of CBR's commitment to bringing tomorrow's science today. AXP is the only functionally closed, automated cord blood stem cell processing technology that is validated to process cord blood collections of all sizes.

CBR's Scientific Director, Dr. Harris, first published cord blood stem cell collection, processing and cryopreservation data in 1994. Today CBR continues to be the most published family bank in the industry. Our collection and processing methodologies have been validated through more than 300,000 collections and our proprietary CellAdvantage technology has evolved from more than a decade of research and quality improvements, providing the best-in-class technology.

CellAdvantage features:

  • A proprietary lyophilized anticoagulant, which helps ensure accurate assessment of collection volume and reduces dilution of the cells in lower collection volumes.
  • The most advanced automated cell processing technology called AutoExpress Platform™ or AXP. AXP is exclusively supplied by GE Healthcare and recently, the New York Blood Center, the largest public bank in the world, also moved to the AXP system after evaluating all other potential technologies for processing.

CBR’s dry heparin helps recover 23% to 73% more cells for your family:

Alternative processing methods have been shown to recover only 80% of cells compared to CBR’s 99%:

Learn more about CBR’s lab and processing:

Take a Virtual Tour of the CBR Lab

Watch How CBR Processes Cord Blood

Reference: DT Harris, MJ Schumacher, S Rychlik, et al. Collection, separation and cryopreservation of umbilical cord blood for use in transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplantation. 1994;13: 135-143. Harris, D.T. Cord Blood Banking : The University of Arizona Experience : Successes, Problems and Cautions. Cancer Res Ther Control. 1998;7:63-67. Harris, DT. Collection, Processing and Banking of Umbilical Cord Blood. ACOG Symposium, Fertility Research Foundation publication, May 2002. Harris, DT. Collection, Processing and Banking of Umbilical Cord Blood for Clinical Use. J Bellevue Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. 2002;18:13-21. Harris, D.T. and S. Goldman. Cord blood banking: state of the science. Contemp OB/GYN. 2003;48(7):4-11. DT Harris, A McGaffey, J. Gorton, ME Mapother, and H Brown; Cord Blood Registry, A Comparison of Contamination Rates Associated with Open versus Closed Methods of Processing for Cord Blood Banking, AABB Meeting, Oct 21-24, 2006, Miami, FL.