Red blood cell transfusions may be a life-sustaining therapy for individuals living with sickle cell disease, thalassemia and other conditions that affect the structure, chemistry, or production of red blood cells— often referred to as hemoglobinopathies. Clinical guidelines that provide evidence-based recommendations in these settings are important to inform optimal transfusion strategies for patients. Since 2018, Canadian Blood Services has supported the development of evidence-based guidelines on red blood cell transfusion in patients with hemoglobinopathies through its work with the

The Canadian Society for Transfusion Medicine (CSTM) annual conference, held in partnership with Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec, is taking place May 23-26 in Saskatoon. Each year, the CSTM conference provides opportunity for health-care professionals in transfusion medicine to share knowledge, learn about recent advancements in transfusion medicine, and connect with colleagues.In this third post in a series of blogs counting down to CSTM 2024, Dr. William (Bill) Sheffield shares what he’s looking forward to about the conference. How will you be contributing to CSTM 2024?I will be an

Our partnership with the Centre for Blood Research (CBR) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is helping to train the next generation of researchers in transfusion science. An announcement about this competition also appeared on the Centre for Blood Research website in April 2024. The 2024 Canadian Blood Services Lay Science Writing Competition, offered in partnership with the Centre for Blood Research, is currently accepting submissions with a $500 prize for the top entry and an additional $500 prize purse available for disbursement to the two runners-up! The competition is open to