Cord blood for research – what you need to know Stem Cells Tuesday, July 09, 2019 Obinna Okwelume July is Cord Blood Awareness Month. Stay tuned for more posts about cord blood and how it helps patients, both through treatment and through research.  To meet a recognized need for a centralized program providing ethnically sourced cord blood for research projects in Canada, Canadian Blood Services, in partnership with The Ottawa Hospital, launched the Cord Blood for Research…

Continue reading

Stories worth sharing: Effectively communicating “Research that matters!” Organs and Tissues Plasma Stem Cells Transfusion Blood Thursday, July 04, 2019 Dr. Geraldine Walsh Highlighting a recent blog post from Science Borealis, this “stories worth sharing” post gives background on the welcome support the Centre for Innovation’s 2018 Lay Science Writing Competition received from two key partners.  The Centre for Blood Research (CBR) and the Centre for Innovation have a long-standing relationship. We partner regularly to deliver…

Continue reading

International effort leads to better clinical guidelines for a serious illness affecting fetuses and newborns Transfusion Blood Thursday, June 20, 2019 Denise Landry What is Fetal and Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia? FNAIT is a rare disease that occurs when a baby inherits platelet proteins from its father that are foreign to its mother. In response, the expectant mother’s immune system makes antibodies that destroy the developing baby’s platelets. Platelets circulate in blood and help prevent bleeding.…

Continue reading

Organ and tissue donation by those who choose medical assistance in dying: new guidance for professionals Transplantation Organs and Tissues Tuesday, June 25, 2019 Jenny Ryan A new publication in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) aims to help health care teams navigate clinical issues surrounding organ and tissue donation by patients who choose to donate after medical assistance in dying (MAID) or withdrawal of life-sustaining measures.    In collaboration with the Canadian Critical Care Society, the Canadian Society of Transplantation, and…

Continue reading

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