Jay Feinberg

Who is Jay Feinberg?

Jay Feinberg is a leukemia survivor and is the founder and current CEO of the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation.

Feinberg was a 22-year-old foreign-exchange analyst for the Federal Reserve in New York in 1991 when he was diagnosed with leukemia and told that a bone marrow transplant was his only hope. A match was not found in Mr. Feinberg’s immediate family, so his friends and relatives widened their search among Ashkenazi Jews. Feinberg's plight, along with that of Mario Cooper, a graphic design artist, and Erskine Henderson, an attorney at Skadden Arps, was featured in a New York Times article, dated December 16, 1991.

Massive screenings were organized in Jewish communities throughout North America and Israel. In addition, screenings were held in Belarus, Australia and South Africa.

By 1995, more than 55,000 people had been tested. Feinberg’s condition was rapidly deteriorating and only a partial match had been found. A friend in Milwaukee organized one last drive and teenager Becky Faibisoff, the last person tested, was a match. Ms. Faibisoff, whose marrow saved Feinberg’s life, now lives in Riverdale and teaches at SAR Academy.