A new study by Centre for Innovation scientist Dr. Heyu Ni and his research team at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto clarifies how maternal antibodies can cause fetal growth restriction and miscarriage, and introduces a new therapeutic target: natural killer cells.

ResearchUnits are lay summaries of published research prepared by our colleagues at Canadian Blood Services' Centre for Innovation. They're simple and purposeful tools that report on project outcomes and research conducted by our investigators. Since 2013, 36 ResearchUnits have been published presenting research summaries on a variety of topics related to clincial research, product and process development, blood safety, transfusion practice, and more. They can be found the Our Research Impact section of blood.ca and are published at the rate of about one per month. The latest ResearchUnit has

This post is based on the introduction to the report written by Dr. Dana Devine, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, and Judie Leach Bennett, Vice-President, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer. Evaluating value and impact The Centre for Innovation is the organization’s hub for research, education and discovery. Our multi-disciplinary network of internal and external partners and labs across the country uncover the evidence that improves our effectiveness and influences our practices and policies — for the benefit of Canadian patients, and ultimately, the greater health-care system. Our

This post was written by Canadian Blood Services' postdoctoral fellows, Dr. Syed Qadri from Prof. William Sheffield's laboratory in Hamilton and Dr. Maria Loza from Dr. Sandra Ramirez‘s laboratory in Ottawa. They both crossed the Atlantic for ISBT 2017. In June 2017, more than 2000 transfusion medicine community members, scientists, and health policy makers, from across all continents, converged in the Danish capital Copenhagen to attend the 27th Regional Congress of the International Society of Blood Transfusion. Every year, this event brings international experts together to address the core

July marks Cord Blood Awareness Month in certain places around the world. In homage to this important campaign we collected a few related stories from the RED archives and share a bit more information about why Cord Blood matters. Cord blood stem cells can be used in the treatment of more than 80 different diseases and disorders. By donating their baby’s cord blood, parents have the power to help patients living with diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia, and sickle cell disease. Researchers continue to explore the possibilities of using cord blood in many other treatments. At

Innovation150 series: As Canada celebrates 150 years we look back on Canadian innovations in transfusion medicine over the years. A series of posts over the next few weeks feature remarkable Canadian progress -- past, present and future. #Innovation150.

Innovation150 series: As Canada celebrates 150 years we look back on Canadian innovations in transfusion medicine over the years. A series of posts over the next few weeks feature remarkable Canadian progress -- past, present and future. #Innovation150.

The International Collaboration for Transfusion Medicine Guidelines (ICTMG) recently convened a panel to provide guidance for fetal neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT). Findings from a systematic review have been recently published in the journal Blood.

Innovation150 series on the RED blog: As Canada celebrates 150 years we look back on Canadian innovations in transfusion medicine over the years. A series of posts over the next few weeks feature remarkable Canadian progress in transfusion medicine past, present and future. #Innovation150.

Previous posts in our "The things we do for safety" series Battling bacteria - part I Leukoreduction In a previous post, we wrote about the donor screening criteria, the arm scrub and the diversion pouch. These are important steps in our blood collection process to limit the introduction of bacteria present on the skin or in the blood of donors into blood products. In this post, we explore other lines of defence in our battle against bacteria. The entire blood product manufacturing process is conducted in a “closed-system”. Through a clever set-up of tubings and bags, the collected blood is