The 2019 Canadian Transplant Summit took place Oct. 15-19 in iconic Banff, Alta. Presented by the Canadian Society of Transplantation (CST), Canadian Blood Services and the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program (CDTRP), this annual event is a unique opportunity to bring together medical professionals, scientists, patients and stakeholders of all interests in organ donation and transplantation from across Canada. This community works together to foster a future which will increase access to organs, cells and tissues, and improve health outcomes for Canadians living with a

This year marks the fifth annual Deceased Organ Donation Symposium at the Critical Care Canada Forum in Toronto. Presented by Canadian Blood Services, Trillium Gift of Life and the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program (CDTRP), this two-day symposium held Nov. 11–12, 2019 promotes scientific research in organ donation and transplantation and its application to critical care practice. Image Highlights from the 2019 Symposium program: Donation after circulatory determination of death is responsible for the largest quantitative increase in deceased donation and transplantation in

Stories underlie all research experiences, and we want to hear them! The 2019 Canadian Blood Services’ Lay Science Writing Competition launches today and is open for submissions until Nov. 29, 2019. This year’s theme is “Stories worth telling”. We’re delighted to once again partner with science communication and research leaders Science Borealis and the Centre for Blood Research at the University of British Columbia to host this competition. This is an opportunity for research trainees in the Canadian Blood Services research network, including those at UBC’s Centre for Blood Research and, new

Centre for Innovation scientist Dr. Jason Acker was recently inducted as a Fellow of the Society for Cryobiology, a prestigious international award that recognizes individuals who have had an exemplary impact on the field of cryobiology. Congratulations to Dr. Acker, who received this award over the summer at the Society for Cryobiology’s annual meeting in San Diego. What is cryobiology? The Society for Cryobiology is the international society for low temperature biology and medicine. Cryobiology is the science of life at low temperatures. It includes the study of cells, organs, and tissues

As Centre for Blood Research (CBR) director Dr. Edward Conway opened Research Day 2019, there was a frisson of nervous tension among the summer studentship trainees sitting in the jam-packed auditorium. These undergraduate students had spent the summer working in the laboratories of the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Blood Research (CBR) and School of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Conway reminded them of the format for the afternoon; they would each get just 2.5 minutes to summarize their work for the audience. The squawk of a rubber chicken manned by Kevin the timekeeper would be

Image On the 30th of May 2019, an eager group of Canadian Blood Services trainees gathered In Calgary, Alta. for the Centre for Innovation’s Research Trainee Workshop. The day started with an in-depth look at donor eligibility, before moving on to a donor-focused tour of the clinic and concluding with a seminar on science blogging. The experience prompted three attendees - Wenhui Li, Carly Olafson and Anusha Sajja - from the Acker Lab at Canadian Blood Services Edmonton to ask themselves the following: What do the donation criteria mean to me, as a researcher? As trainees conducting research

Two pieces of equipment at the core of our component manufacturing process were recently replaced: the centrifuge, used to spin blood into layers of components; and the blood extractor, used to separate these layers. This was a necessary change as the old equipment was nearing end-of-life. In late Spring 2019, the process of rolling out this new equipment at sites across the country was completed, representing the culmination of several years of work by many groups at Canadian Blood Services. Back in 2016, a Request for Proposals led to the selection of potential new equipment. Supply chain

Housed within Canadian Blood Services’ Medical Affairs and Innovation division, the Centre for Innovation conducts and supports research, development, and knowledge mobilization to ensure a safe, effective, and responsive blood system. This last year was another outstanding one for the Centre for Innovation – the heart of Canadian Blood Services’ research and development activities – as highlighted in the 2018-2019 annual progress report, which was recently published. 2018-2019 highlights include: The Centre for innovation supported 124 investigators across Canada through funding and products

“It was as if someone had taken a teaspoon of sand, dumped it in my eye, taken their thumb and ground it in, and every once in a while, gave it a little poke with a twig.” That’s how Loreen Hardy-Ramey describes living with Fuchs endothelial dystrophy, a hereditary eye condition. Without the cornea transplant the Arnprior, Ont. woman received in the summer of 2016, Hardy-Ramey’s pain would have continued as her sight faded. “I say it was my eightieth birthday present because I received this gift just days after my birthday,” she says. Now she’s looking forward to the birth of her great