Top 5 R.E.D. Blog posts of 2024

This year, the most viewed R.E.D. blog posts of the past year feature some of the incredible researchers and trainees that were part of Canadian Blood Services’ research and education network in 2024: 

5. Physician trainee promotes uptake of patient blood management in new publication 

Patient blood management (PBM) is a patient-centred, evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach to caring for patients who might need a blood transfusion, often with a focus on the time before surgery occurs, which is known as the “perioperative period”.   

The PBM key principles include preserving a patient's own blood while addressing causes of underlying anemia (for instance, iron deficiency), minimizing surgical blood loss, and promoting patient safety and empowerment. It is important because there are often safe ways to correct anemia before surgery, and many studies have shown that this improves patient outcomes. PBM is both effective and implementable, and something that patients can easily be involved with!  

Read full story. 

4. Lay Science Writing Competition 2024: Evaluating umbilical cord blood transfusion efficacy and safety in neonates 

Graduate student Mahsa Yazdanbakhsh had the third prize-winning entry for the Canadian Blood Services 2024 Lay Science Writing Competition offered in partnership with the Centre for Blood Research which provides research trainees an opportunity to exercise and enhance their science communication skills by sharing their research with lay audiences. 

Imagine a small infant who was born prematurely and is having a hard time surviving in the outside world. These extraordinarily early newborns, referred to as ELGANs (Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns), are born before 28 weeks of pregnancy and must fight a losing battle against anemia, a disorder in which there are insufficient healthy red blood cells in their blood to carry oxygen throughout their bodies. A common strategy used by physicians to win this conflict is blood transfusions. These transfusions now depend on adult donors' blood. This method, while life-saving, has limitations. Adult blood cells might not always meet these delicate babies' unique needs, which could occasionally result in complications and less positive results. But what if there was a more efficient method? 

Read full story. 

3. And the winner of the first Canadian Blood Services Dana Devine Award is… 

Dr. Melika Loriamini!  

This new award, in honour of Dr. Dana Devine, supports early career scientists in a field related to transfusion science and medicine, blood banking and blood biotherapies. It is awarded in collaboration with the Canadian Society for Transfusion Medicine’s at their annual conference.  

“I truly appreciate the Committee for the recognition and I'm so proud that I'm the first person to win the Dana Devine Award,” Dr. Loriamini says. “When I walked into the conference, I felt like I was famous because everyone knew who I was. It was a great feeling that all the work, all the hard work, during these years that I did, it's now acknowledged, and everyone knows it.” 

Read full story. 

2. Canadian Blood Services research engineer applies network modelling techniques and mentorship skills to benefit Canada’s Lifeline

To some, it may be surprising to learn that there is such opportunity to integrate engineering into the health-care focused setting of Canadian Blood Services. However, as Dr. Blake explains, the same engineering principles that apply to the development and quality assurance of other products also apply to biologics such as blood, stem cells and organs. One of these classic engineering approaches currently applied to improving operations at Canadian Blood Services is network modelling.   

Network modelling is a computer-based method that creates a virtual representation of objects and their relation to each other. The resulting models are particularly useful for maintaining adaptability in the collection of blood donations, as well as the distribution and inventory management strategies that allow Canadian Blood Services to remain a safe and reliable provider of life-saving products. 

Read full story. 

1. Canadian Blood Services researcher studies potential treatment for sickle cell disease 

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a debilitating genetic blood disorder that affects the production of hemoglobin, the red blood cell protein that carries oxygen from your lungs to tissues throughout your body. People with SCD may experience severe pain episodes and other serious health problems. Worldwide, SCD affects roughly 250 million people; in Canada, approximately 6,000 people are affected.   

Unfortunately, treatment options for SCD are limited; regular blood transfusions may be given and medications can be used to manage pain and other symptoms or to reduce the frequency of pain crises. Until recently, the only cure for SCD was a stem cell transplant but transplants are not always effective and can have serious complications. Perhaps one of the most significant challenges for stem cell transplants is the difficulty of finding a suitable donor. 

A new kind of proposed treatment—one that removes the need for a compatible donor—is being studied by Dr. Harinad Maganti, a scientist at Canadian Blood Services. His team is studying whether a one-time therapy involving gene editing of stem cells can effectively treat patients with sickle cell disease. 

Read full story. 

Thanks to everyone who contributed to and shared the posts featured on our R.E.D. Blog this year. 

If you are part of Canadian Blood Services’ research and education network and are:  

• Publishing new findings 
• Sharing your research at an upcoming conference or event 
• Celebrating a key research milestone 
• Aware of a potential blog topic and interested in building or applying your science communication skills 

Email centreforinnovation@blood.ca to connect with us about your blog ideas! 

Canadian Blood Services – Driving world-class innovation  

Through discovery, development and applied research, Canadian Blood Services drives world-class innovation in blood transfusion, cellular therapy and transplantation—bringing clarity and insight to an increasingly complex healthcare future. Our dedicated research team and extended network of partners engage in exploratory and applied research to create new knowledge, inform and enhance best practices, contribute to the development of new services and technologies, and build capacity through training and collaboration. Find out more about our research impact.   

The opinions reflected in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Canadian Blood Services nor do they reflect the views of Health Canada or any other funding agency.