Lay Science Writing Competition Winner: What does it take to make a life-saving drug?
When you think of proteins, you probably think about chicken, steak, or that new tofu dish your friend made. If I’m lucky, you think about those tiny molecules that your teacher mentioned in biology class. My work is all about those tiny molecules. In my lab at the Centre for Blood Research, I spend my days (and nights) making proteins and testing them to see if they have what it takes to bust up a blood clot and save a life. It’s a long road to get from a test tube to a treatment, and it involves a lot of questions. The first question is: What do we want our drug to do? Heart attacks and
April 21, 2022
Jun 22 11:00 am | Virtual Meeting
CDTRP: Third Annual Patient, Family and Donor Research Forum
The Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program in cooperation with the Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative and the Canadian Society of Transplantation, is happy to announce the third edition of the Patient, Family and Donor Research Forum dedicated to donation and
Investigating envelope viruses: Tissue factor clotting research earns a first-ranked CIHR Project Grant
How are our normal blood clotting systems affected by viral infections? Could clues to the successful treatment of some of the world’s most challenging viral infections come from understanding how viruses interact with our body’s clot-creating proteins? These are the kinds of questions that Dr. Ed Pryzdial, Canadian Blood Services senior scientist and his laboratory team at the Centre for Blood Research (CBR) in British Columbia have dedicated research efforts to answering; efforts that have recently earned them project funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), based on a
April 14, 2022
Apr 6 6:00 am | Virtual session
Promotion: National Campaigns
The Commonwealth Tribute to Life webinar series stems from one of the main pillars of the project: the sharing of knowledge and expertise. The webinars are led by experts from all corners of the Commonwealth and provide a platform for learning and the development of organ donation and
Apr 13 12:00 pm | Live stream
HSOI - 10 Year Anniversary
The High School Outreach Initiative (HSOI) in transplant and organ donation is approaching its 10-year anniversary celebration, taking place in April 2022. We will be celebrating ten successful years of delivering presentations to over 40,000 students since 2012, connecting students in the Greater
What is your role in Innovation and Portfolio Management and what led you to take on this role? I joined Canadian Blood Services in 2021 as the associate director of portfolio management with the goal of developing and leading the product and portfolio management team. This team oversees product lifecycle activities for our collection of fresh blood products (red blood cells, platelets, and plasma), stem cells and diagnostic services. Prior to joining Canadian Blood Services, I spent nearly a decade leading product management activities in the biotechnology industry, overseeing the launch of
March 31, 2022
Introducing pathogen-reduced platelets
What is pathogen inactivation? Canadian Blood Services’ commitment to blood safety is paramount, which is why many measures are in place to protect transfusion recipients from getting an infection through a blood transfusion. Pathogen inactivation, the latest measure being introduced at Canadian Blood Services, adds an extra layer of protection. By effectively damaging the nucleic acids of a number of pathogens, including viruses and bacteria, pathogen inactivation further reduces the risk of pathogen transmission—an especially important safeguard against new or emerging pathogens, or
March 24, 2022
Apr 20 11:00 am | Virtual Event - CDTRP
Organ Donation and Transplantation & Health Literacy: Learning from each other
OBJECTIVES This event aims to bring together journalists and media specialists (traditional and social) with researchers, health professionals, and patient, family and donor partners with expertise in the field of donation and transplantation and engage conversations for the goal of making it easier
Mar 23 2:00 pm | Virtual event - Alberta Transplant Institute
Building a culture of donation: The importance of public education and awareness
In April 2018, the untimely passing of Humboldt Broncos defenseman Logan Boulet resulted in six lives being saved through the use of his donated organs. This directly inspiredthe largest number of newly registered organ and tissue donors in Canadian history. Harnessing this positive momentum, Green
Science behind the scenes: Lay Science Writing Competition winners announced
For the 2021-2022 competition, we were delighted to once again partner with the Centre for Blood Research at the University of British Columbia and our friends at Science Borealis. This year’s competition challenged trainees to get creative in telling stories that help demystify science to those who may not experience it firsthand. With our theme of “Science behind the scenes”, we were looking for stories that shed light on conducting research or working in a laboratory, or stories about the interesting technologies and tools scientists work with. And new this year, we asked applicants to
