June 25, 2009

Public Information Office

Donna Hawkins

George Flynn

713-755-3320

News Advisory

DA’s Office Hosts Friday Donor Match Drive at Criminal Courthouse

Houston, TX – The District Attorney’s Office will host a Donor Registration Drive Friday at the County Criminal Courthouse, to help in the search for a life-saving transplant match for a Houston physician and surgeon.

The general public and county employees are invited to the Donor Registration Drive, which is hosted by District Attorney Patricia Lykos. It will be Friday (June 26) from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the second floor cafeteria of the County Criminal Justice Center at 1201 Franklin St.

Anh Reiss and her husband, Assistant District Attorney Josh Reiss, are seeking a qualified bone marrow donor after she was diagnosed early this year with a lethal form of leukemia known as MDS -- myelodysplastic syndrome. No match has been located in national donor registration databases. Their family has launched a new campaign to enlist more potential donors for her and other MDS victims who face death without the transplants.

Registration is a simple process – participants only need to complete a form and submit cheek swabs. The event will be coordinated by the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and Jane Waters, Chief of the District Attorney’s Family Criminal Law Division, where Josh Reiss is a prosecutor.

Anh Nguyen Reiss is a native of Vietnam who fled to the U.S. with her family in the final days of the Vietnam War in 1975. Background information on her struggle and the registration campaign is available at www.teamanh.org .

In support of the registration effort, County Judge Ed Emmett and Commissioners Court on Tuesday proclaimed Anh Reiss Day in Harris County.

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Last Updated: 6/25/2009