Local 12: UC pharmacy resident gives ultimate gift through Be the Match
Matthew Weaver signed up with Be the Match eight years ago, and a few weeks ago he was informed that he was a perfect match for a person with blood cancer in need of his stem cells to survive.
Weaver, a University of Cincinnati James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy alumnus and current pharmacy resident at UC Health, didn't have to go far for the procedure, as the academic health center is one of a few sites across the country that take stem cell donations.
"I think its the greatest gift that I could give this Christmas and hopefully it's a gift to their family to be able to see their loved one a little bit longer," Weaver told Local 12.
Caroline Alquist, MD, associate professor and director of transplantation immunology & therapeutic apheresis at the Hoxworth Blood Center, said the odds of being a stem cell match are slim, but it can make a huge difference.
"Stem cells are like little heat-seeking missiles. They will go to the bone marrow and they will start producing all the healthy cells that that patient needs," said Alquist.
Read or watch the Local 12 story.
Learn more about becoming a potential match.
Featured photo at top of Matthew Weaver courtesy of Local 12.
Related Stories
Is a colonoscopy painful?
May 13, 2026
The University of Cincinnati's Susan Kais, MD, assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the College of Medicine and UC Health gastroenterologist, recently appeared on the ARC Cincinnati morning program on Local 12/WKRC-TV to answer common questions from viewers about colonoscopies and to dispel myths.
Telescope captures information about lonely Jupiter-like gas giant
May 13, 2026
Science outlets highlight a University of Cincinnati student's collaborative discoveries about an exoplanet 901 light years away.
UC achieves first-in-world remission of aggressive pituitary tumor with novel immunotherapy
May 13, 2026
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute’s Brain Tumor Center have been confirmed as the first in the world to achieve complete remission of a rare pituitary cancer using a novel immunotherapy treatment. The findings were published in Surgical Neurology International and recently featured in The Cancer Letter.