The START Study: Improving red blood cell use in Canadian hospitals Transfusion Blood Thursday, February 18, 2021 Amie T. Kron This post's author, Amie T. Kron, is the clinical research coordinator in transfusion medicine at Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, Ont. The University of Toronto QUEST program is a research collaborative supported by Canadian Blood Services, At the University of Toronto, a focus of the QUEST research program is improving transfusion care by ensuring that blood…

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IVIg alternative for surgery patients with bleeding disorder Plasma Transfusion Blood Tuesday, February 09, 2021 Tricia Abe Patients with a bleeding disorder called immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) are at risk for blood loss if they need to have surgery. Because their blood doesn’t clot as it should, ITP patients are commonly treated before surgery with intravenous immune globulin (IVIg), which helps their blood clot by increasing the number of platelets. But a study published in The…

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Call for applications! Research funding opportunities now open Transplantation Organs and Tissues Plasma Stem Cells Transfusion Blood Friday, January 29, 2021 Dr. Geraldine Walsh Intramural Research Grant Program One of the Centre for Innovation’s flagship competitive research grants, the Intramural Research Grant Program supports projects that will generate knowledge and lead to new discoveries that will improve the safety and efficacy of blood products and the blood system in general. A key focus of this…

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Chief scientist Dr. Dana Devine takes on directorship at Centre for Blood Research Plasma Stem Cells Transfusion Blood Tuesday, January 19, 2021 Catherine Lewis Canadian Blood Services’ chief scientist has been appointed director of the Centre for Blood Research at the University of British Columbia. This new role deepens Canadian Blood Services’ lasting collaboration with the centre and is part of Dr. Devine’s longstanding pursuit of bringing new discoveries to patients in meaningful ways. “As…

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Dr. Celina Montemayor-Garcia on the potential of genomics to shape the future of transfusion medicine Transfusion Blood Thursday, January 14, 2021 Tricia Abe Dr. Celina Montemayor-Garcia joined Canadian Blood Services in August 2020 as a medical officer. As a researcher and transfusion medicine specialist, her main interest is understanding how genomics and bioinformatics can be used to improve care for transfusion patients. She spoke to us about advances in precision medicine and genomics, and what…

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Breaking barriers to effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease Plasma Transfusion Blood Tuesday, January 12, 2021 Dr. Geraldine Walsh IVIg is the wonder drug you’ve probably never heard of – yet. Used to treat many different conditions, intravenous immune globulin (IVIg) is manufactured from the plasma of thousands of patients combined. While it’s not exactly clear how it works, IVIg is known to alter a person’s immune response. As such, it’s often called an “immune modulator”…

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Top 5 blog posts of 2020 Plasma Transfusion Blood Thursday, December 31, 2020 Catherine Lewis As we welcome the new year, take a look back with us at the top five blog posts of 2020. 1. Why you won't get COVID-19 from a blood transfusion Unsurprisingly, three of our top five blog posts were related to COVID-19. In this post, Dr. Steven Drews, associate director of microbiology at Canadian Blood Services, explained why there's no evidence…

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Top 5 blog posts of 2020 Plasma Transfusion Blood Thursday, December 31, 2020 Catherine Lewis As we welcome the new year, take a look back with us at the top five blog posts of 2020. 1. Why you won't get COVID-19 from a blood transfusion Unsurprisingly, three of our top five blog posts were related to COVID-19. In this post, Dr. Steven Drews, associate director of microbiology at Canadian Blood Services, explained why there's no evidence…

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Honouring a Legacy: The 14th Earl W. Davie Symposium Plasma Transfusion Blood Thursday, December 17, 2020 Kristine Ho With the advent of November comes a much-anticipated event for the Centre for Blood Research (CBR) community: the Earl W. Davie Symposium. This annual, one-day conference features expert presentations on bleeding, thrombosis and coagulation research. Hosted in honour of Dr. Earl Davie, the 2020 symposium was held virtually to great success. Over 300 registrants from a mix…

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Adaptability and innovation: read the latest Centre for Innovation annual progress report Transplantation Organs and Tissues Plasma Stem Cells Transfusion Blood Thursday, December 10, 2020 Dr. Geraldine Walsh Housed within Canadian Blood Services’ Medical Affairs and Innovation division, the Centre for Innovation supports Canadian Blood Services to continuously improve blood products and their utilization to help every patient, match every need, and serve every Canadian. The Centre’s annual report details the achievements that have been…

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