This post was written by Steven Jiang, an MSc Student from the Kim Lab at the Centre for Blood Research (CBR) at the University of British Columbia. Below is an abridged version of the post that originally appeared on the Centre for Blood Research blog in September 2022. Emel Islamzada, whose research is featured in this blog, is supported by a Canadian Blood Services graduate fellowship award. Researchers at the UBC Centre for Blood Research (CBR) have made a significant advancement in how to check the quality of red blood cells for transfusion. They identified a practical and efficient

This post compiles responses from Canadian Blood Services transfusion medicine fellows Dr. Bryan Tordon (University of Toronto) and Dr. Isabelle Blais-Normandin (University of British Columbia), along with research trainees Kiarra Durand, Wenhui Li, Mahsa Yazdanbakhsh, and Olga Mykhailova, and research assistant, Carly Olafson, all from Dr. Jason Acker’s lab (University of Edmonton). Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. Each year, the Canadian Society for Transfusion Medicine (CSTM) partners with Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec to bring together practitioners

Canadian Blood Services’ Clinical Guide to Transfusion co-editor Dr. Gwen Clarke is stepping back from her role after 20 years with the publication. Since 2002, Clarke has helped shape the Guide into one of the most visited resources on our professional education website, including overseeing its transition from a printed book to an online resource in 2006. Last year, the Guide’s 18 chapters had over 100,000 page views combined, and its popularity keeps growing. The Guide is a well-known resource for transfusion medicine experts in Canada—doctors who have undergone additional training that

Guiding the research that informs the future of transfusion, cellular therapy and transplantation By engaging an extended network of partners, Canadian Blood Services’ research sparks discovery, informs the development of new products and processes, contributes to the sharing of knowledge, and guides best practices for the care of patients and donors connected to Canada’s lifeline. Recent R.E.D. blog posts demonstrate the impact of our research efforts on diverse issues, including supporting a more inclusive donor pool through changes to eligibility criteria and investigating a potential

The BEST Collaborative Adding a title like ‘BEST President’ to any CV certainly has an impressive ring to it, but for Dr. Dana Devine, whose career has many accomplishments and accolades, it feels like coming full circle. Devine, Canadian Blood Services chief scientist, will commence her four-year term as President of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative this September, two decades after she attended her first meeting with the international research organization. ‘It really feels like I’m coming full circle. I have had an enjoyable 20 years with BEST, partly due