Soren Ghorai, a 17-year-old high school senior at the Eastside Preparatory School in Kirkland, Washington State, is an inspiration to many. He is the Founder and President of the South Asian Marrow Initiative (SAMI), a non-profit organization, that aims to close the gap for ethnic groups that are underrepresented in the national stem cell registry. SAMI organizes donor drives nationwide, with the mission of ultimately having a registry match happen when a life-saving stem cell transplant is necessary for a patient.  

In an exclusive interview with South Asian Herald, Ghorai spoke about SAMI’s work to-date, his motivation in establishing SAMI, and ultimately, the importance of having South Asian donors registered, given the greater likelihood of a match within the same community.  

Can you provide some background about SAMI? When did you start this initiative?

I started SAMI a little over a year ago. Essentially, within the South Asian community, there is a lack of South Asian bone marrow and stem cell donors. So, for patients with blood cancer that need a stem cell or bone marrow transplant to save their lives, they have to find a donor within their ethnic community. Because there are not enough South Asian donors that are available, there are not enough cures that can be provided to South Asian patients. As such, I started my organization to essentially increase the number of South Asian donors that were registered in the registry, so then it would provide more opportunities and availabilities for possible cures for South Asian blood cancer patients.

Can you provide some data on the volume of people who are looking for donors in the US?

In the US, I think there are over 190,000 blood cancer patients. Every three minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer, and every nine minutes, someone is dying. 

How does the registration process work? What are the steps being undertaken to register more people?

Essentially, we set up tables and drives at different gatherings with lots of South Asians. Sometimes we go to religious events or concerts. We also went to the Indian American Impact Summit in Washington, DC earlier this year. We have partnered with the national donor marrow program, which is based in the United States, and DKMS which is an international registry that’s based in Germany. So those are two registries that we’ve partnered with. These organizations provide us with swab kits, and we go out and swab people directly at our events. We swab their cheek to get their cheek cells and their DNA, and then we mail them back to the registry. Then those people that we swab become new possible donors.

How many people have you registered so far through your initiative?

We have registered over 1500 people so far.

How many South Asians have registered for this initiative?

I know that South Asians make up only 3 per cent of the registry. So, it’s very small.

What has been the response so far from South Asians regarding this initiative?

The problem is that people are not aware that this initiative exists. I think people assume that cancer is very dangerous, and that there are no cures yet. But the thing is, for blood cancer, this actually is a cure. So, when we tell them, you can be the one to save a patient’s life, they are very surprised and are open to it. So, most of the time, people are very receptive to it. They want to be able to save someone’s life.

Are you looking to partner with any other organizations to either create awareness or expand this initiative?

We are always looking to expand. We have done events at large companies, like Microsoft, which is based here in Seattle. I guess partnering with large corporations is a very good idea and something we’re trying to do for more outreach in general. Another thing we’re trying to do is start more national chapters. Currently, we have six chapters across the country. By starting more chapters, we can gain a much bigger reach and register a lot more people from many different places. 

Recently, I shared my story at an event called Ignite Seattle, attended by over 1000 people. My goal was to inspire people to become superheroes by joining the bone marrow registry and saving people’s lives. After the talk, my team and I were able to register 200 new donors to the bone marrow registry. 

Are you planning to do outreach in South Asian countries, including India?

I think outreach in India would be a best option, because that’s where there are obviously the most South Asians. We haven’t done anything yet, but that is a long-term goal.

Can you talk about your background and the underlying driver of your passion for this initiative?  

I am a high school senior. I started this initiative because of my aunt, who joined a registry when she was in college. She even forgot about having registered. However, one day she received a call and found out she was a lifesaving match for a one-year-old baby with leukemia in Greece. My aunt actually donated her bone marrow and was able to save that baby’s life. 

Was that the turning point in your life – is that what led you to undertake this effort at this young age?

I didn’t know this at that time, but my aunt told me the story later. It was really meaningful to me, and I decided to do a little bit more research and learned that this is a huge problem for South Asians specifically. Then, I started going to different temples around Seattle and Bellevue in my Washington State. Eventually, I reached out to the national donor marrow program about how I could formally register more people and that was how the organization started.

What is your message for other students?

The most important thing is finding something that they are really passionate about. So, when I was younger, I was always interested in science and biology. Biology is my favorite class in school. When I found this issue, not only did I care about it because it was directly affecting my community, but also because I was really interested in the science behind it. That intersection really made me care a lot about this issue. Because when you find something you care about, that’s when you can really make a great change. 

What can you share about your family? 

Both my parents are physicians. My mom, Dr. Shelly Khurana practices in Virginia Mason, and my dad, Dr. Sujoy Ghorai has his own practice called Western Washington Medical Group. I have a 15-year-old brother, Kai, and a 12-year-old sister, Sarina.