Annual progress report highlights the Centre for Innovation’s impactful research, development, education and training Transfusion Blood Thursday, January 10, 2019 Dr. Geraldine Walsh #WeDoResearch! Through our Centre for Innovation, our engaged network of scientists, medical experts, partners, and collaborators conduct and disseminate high quality, impactful research for the benefit of Canadian patients and the Canadian healthcare system.    The Centre for Innovation’s goal is to drive innovation to improve the blood system by facilitating the creation, translation, and application of new knowledge to support a safe, effective, and responsive…

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National organ sharing leads to 500 kidney transplants for highly sensitized patients Transplantation Organs and Tissues Tuesday, January 15, 2019 Jenny Ryan “The gift of transplantation has meant so much to the patients within the highly sensitized patient registry in Saskatchewan and all of Canada.” – Dr. Rahul Mainra, St. Paul’s Hospital, Saskatoon The Highly Sensitized Patient (HSP) program is a national organ sharing program operated by Canadian Blood Services in collaboration with all provincial…

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Looking back on 2018: Top-five most-read stories from the RED blog Transplantation Organs and Tissues Plasma Stem Cells Transfusion Blood Tuesday, January 01, 2019 Jenny Ryan As the year comes to a close and 2019 is set to begin, we take a moment to reflect on the 2018 articles that were among the most popular. Image #5: Raising awareness for living organ donation In April each year, we honour organ donors and their families during National…

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Meet the Researcher: Dr. Mel Krajden Transfusion Blood Thursday, December 20, 2018 Dr. Geraldine Walsh Where do you work and what is your role? I am the Medical Director of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory (BCCDC PHL) and I have a special interest in hepatitis and viral detection methods as well as in health services policy. Tell us about your area of research. My laboratory research uses molecular techniques to: diagnose…

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Funded research providing evidence needed to evolve eligibility criteria for men who have sex with men Plasma Transfusion Blood Monday, December 03, 2018 Ross FitzGerald Today, Canadian men are eligible to give blood if it has been more than one year since their last sexual contact with another man, which is known as the MSM eligibility criteria. Canadian Blood Services has recently made progress on several fronts that may further evolve the eligibility criteria for…

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Raising awareness for living organ donation Transplantation Organs and Tissues Tuesday, November 27, 2018 Jenny Ryan This #givingtuesday — November 27, 2018 — organizations across the country are raising awareness about living donation.  Did you know that more than 3,000 Canadians are on a waiting list for kidney transplantation? When the kidneys are no longer able to remove waste products from the blood, either dialysis (artificial filtering of blood) or a transplant is required for survival. Dialysis…

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Centre for Blood Research summer students visit Canadian Blood Services Transfusion Blood Wednesday, November 21, 2018 Guest Author By Sarah Bowers, Undergraduate Student, Brown Lab, Centre for Blood Research This post was originally published on the Centre for Blood Research blog. It has been republished here with permission with minor edits.   What is involved in getting blood that has been donated at a mobile clinic in Campbell River to a patient on the operating…

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Unleash your inner writer – Enter our first-ever lay science writing competition Transplantation Organs and Tissues Plasma Stem Cells Transfusion Blood Thursday, November 15, 2018 Jenny Ryan Use plain language to tell the story of your research in blood, plasma, stem cells or organs & tissues. Call for submissions – Deadline: January 18, 2019 Theme: Research that matters! We’re excited to announce the launch of Canadian Blood Services’ first-ever Lay Science Writing Competition. We’ve connected…

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Critical Care Canada Forum 2018 Transplantation Organs and Tissues Tuesday, November 06, 2018 Jenny Ryan The Critical Care Canada Forum (CCCF) takes place this week in Toronto. The annual event is attended by hundreds of health professionals working in critical care, primarily physicians.  A key event within the Forum is an unopposed plenary on brain death determination, to be held on Wednesday, November 7th. I had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Sam Shemie, Canadian…

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