Trainees shine at the 2019 Norman Bethune Symposium Transfusion Blood Tuesday, June 11, 2019 Bronwyn Lyons This annual symposium honours Canadian physician, Dr. Norman Bethune. A controversial figure, Dr. Bethune is remembered as a fearless doctor, an innovative biomedical engineer, an early proponent of socialized medicine, and a trailblazer who operated the earliest practical mobile blood banks. Reflecting his legacy, the Norman Bethune Symposium offers a platform for researchers and clinicians to present strategies and…

Continue reading

Creating platelets 2.0: stronger, faster, and with twice the life-saving power Transfusion Blood Thursday, June 06, 2019 Stefanie Novakowski The ability to genetically modify a cell is a powerful tool. Genetically modified cells have advanced our understanding of how the body works and how diseases develop. They are currently used as treatments for a range of diseases, from cancers to bleeding disorders. Yet not all cells are easily modified. This is true of small cells that are indispensable…

Continue reading

Iron deficiency in pregnancy – a matter of public health Transfusion Blood Tuesday, May 28, 2019 Heather VanderMeulen Red blood cells are like delivery trucks. They deliver oxygen to the vital organs in our body. Iron is the flatbed of the truck which holds the oxygen in place. Iron is a key ingredient to build red blood cells and when you don’t have enough iron, your body doesn’t make enough red blood cells. This is…

Continue reading

Canadian Blood Services’ scientist recognized for his mentorship of graduate students Transplantation Organs and Tissues Plasma Stem Cells Transfusion Blood Wednesday, May 22, 2019 Dr. Geraldine Walsh Congratulations to Canadian Blood Services' Dr. Jason Acker, who was awarded the University of Alberta Graduate Students’ Association Graduate Student Supervisor Award at a ceremony on March 22, 2019. This award recognizes "those faculty members who excel in the supervision of graduate students”. What makes this award even…

Continue reading

Writing competition runner up: Phlebotomy to improve surgical outcomes and donor blood economy – a redemption story Transfusion Tuesday, May 21, 2019 Lily Park For thousands of years, traditional medicine placed blind trust in phlebotomy, which involves the withdrawal of blood from a patient for therapeutic purposes.1 Considering the paradigm of medical knowledge at the time established by Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine himself, there was some plausibility to this practice: if illness was caused…

Continue reading

Lessons from afar: International experts share organ donation experience Transplantation Organs and Tissues Thursday, May 23, 2019 Ross FitzGerald Canadian Blood Services’ Donation Physician Network (DPN) connects clinical care physicians and provides access to educational resources including webinars on leading practices, clincial case studies, literature and emerging issues. In the spirit of international collaboration, experts in organ donation and transplantation from the U.K. and Australia recently shared lessons they have learned over the past decade as part…

Continue reading

Exploring barriers and enablers to more inclusive source plasma donations Plasma Thursday, May 16, 2019 Pilar Castro One of fifteen MSM research projects being funded by Health Canada, the Feasibility of implementing source plasma with alternative screening criteria for men who have sex with men seeks to identify barriers and enablers that will inform how Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec address eligibility screening criteria in the future. Canadian Blood Services, medical director Dr. Mindy Goldman,…

Continue reading

University of Alberta’s Timothy Caulfield receives James Kreppner Award Transplantation Organs and Tissues Plasma Stem Cells Transfusion Blood Tuesday, May 14, 2019 Obinna Okwelume The 2018 Canadian Blood Services’ James Kreppner Award has been awarded to Timothy Caulfield, professor and research director in the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta.    Valued at $50,000, the award will support Professor Caulfield’s project to analyze the marketing practices of private cord blood banks, assess their claims,…

Continue reading

Nominations now open for the 2019 Canadian Blood Services Lifetime Achievement Award Transplantation Organs and Tissues Plasma Stem Cells Transfusion Blood Monday, May 13, 2019 Obinna Okwelume Do you know someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the blood system in Canada?    Who can be nominated?   Recipients of the Canadian Blood Services Lifetime Achievement Award are individuals whose landmark contributions are recognized as both extraordinary and world class in the field of transfusion…

Continue reading

Recordings from the CCCF 2018 Deceased Donation Scientific Symposium now available online Transplantation Organs and Tissues Wednesday, May 08, 2019 Jenny Ryan Canadian Blood Services, Trillium Gift of Life Network and the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program partnered to host the Deceased Organ Donation Symposium that took place at the Critical Care Canada Forum (CCCF) on November 7 – 8, 2018. The CCCF is a national forum attended by hundreds of health care professionals, primarily physicians,…

Continue reading