When a patient who needs a red blood cell transfusion has unexpected red blood cell antibodies (non-ABO) in their blood, health-care providers have to make decisions about what kind of red blood cell units can be safely transfused. Finding the right match for the patient is crucial because in some cases, transfusing incompatible donor units — those with antigens that could react with the patient’s antibodies — can result in serious complications, including acute or delayed hemolytic transfusion reactions. When pregnant mothers have these unexpected antibodies, they may require specialized

Image What’s old is new again. Recent research has shown that whole blood may be the best fluid to replace what’s being lost in actively bleeding patients. However, for the past 50 or so years, whole blood for transfusion has not been readily available in Canada or many other countries. To support the (re)-introduction of this product to the Canadian Blood Services formulary, the Centre for Innovation’s product and process development group, under the leadership of Ken McTaggart, has been working to understand this product and the optimal processes to produce and store it. How did we get here

The Canadian Blood Services Centre for Innovation recently awarded successful applicants to the following funding competitions: The Postdoctoral Fellowship Program offers salary support for young investigators. Congratulations to the successful candidates: Dr. Ruqayyah Almizraq (University of Toronto, training in Dr. Donald Branch’s laboratory): “Development of a drug to replace IVIg, and ADCC as cause for unexplained hemolysis post-transfusion” Dr. Yfke Pasman (St. Michael’s Hospital; training in Dr. Heyu Ni’s laboratory): “Reducing IVIG usage by developing novel prophylaxis and therapies

The AABB Annual Meeting is a must-attend event for those in the fields of transfusion medicine and cellular therapies. AABB 2019 took place last month in San Antonio, Texas. Canadian Blood Services’ trainees, Dr. Narges Hadjesfandiari (University of British Columbia) and Dr. Olga Mykhailova (University of Alberta), were there and report back on their meeting highlights. Narges: I really enjoyed the combination of specialized sessions that directly related to my research plus multiple more general sessions. The oral session: “Red Blood Cell Storage: The Oxygen Paradox” and the posters in this

Dr. Donald Branch’s career shows a scientist driven by intellectual curiosity. From Gila monster venom to crocodile blood, from HIV to Ebola to huge discoveries improving outcomes for transfusion and transplantation patients, he pursues scientific questions and embraces all the twists and turns that path of inquiry may take. “There’s always something new that keeps the interest going,” he says. “It’s pretty hard to figure out nature — it has a way of throwing a wrench in things just when you think you have an answer. Then you have to keep looking. There’s always a new angle, a new hypothesis

Drinking the blood of the young, and thereby somehow capturing their youth, is a common literary trope. The ghoulish notion speaks to our cultural fascination with youth, but also to our dread of aging. There’s no evidence-based therapy using the blood of young people to counteract or prevent the effects of aging, but young blood is an area where science might be beginning to imitate art — at least, sort of. “When we talk about young blood, we’re really talking about two streams of work,” says Dr. Jason Acker, a senior scientist at Canadian Blood Services’ Centre for Innovation and professor

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