A treatment now used to fight two diseases might have the potential to help patients with other conditions, too, according to new research funded by Canadian Blood Services.

Canadian Blood Services recently updated the equipment it uses to produce components (red blood cells, plasma and platelets) from whole blood donations. In May 2019, the mammoth task of implementing the new equipment at manufacturing sites across the country was completed. But how did the organization choose which equipment to implement in the first place? Let’s look back at some early research work that helped the organization gather the evidence it needed to support this change.

The Centre for Innovation’s annual progress report details the achievements made over the past year by Canadian Blood Services’ network of scientists, medical experts, research partners, and collaborators.

By ensuring that innovation respects the rights of research participants, the Research Ethics Board helps Canadian Blood Services advance high quality health research to improve the lives of Canadians.

The Canadian Society for Transfusion Medicine’s annual conference took place in Calgary, Alberta in early June. The Centre for Innovation’s Geraldine Walsh was there and shares her highlights.

Before launching the Canadian Blood Services’ Lay Science Writing Competition for research trainees, the Centre for Innovation made sure to have the right team in place. Valuable support from Science Borealis and the Centre for Blood Research helped make our inaugural competition a success.

Dr. Jason Acker was recently awarded the University of Alberta Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) Graduate Student Supervisor Award. We chatted to Dr. Acker to find out what this award means to him.

As work gets underway, the lead investigators in one of fifteen funded MSM Research projects, discuss the significance of consultation and collaboration to their research, and explain the anticipated impacts and feasibility of introducing alternative donor eligibility screening criteria for source plasma.

The 2018 award named for lawyer and tireless blood activist James Kreppner, will fund much-needed research into legal and regulatory issues around the long-term storage and use of biological samples.

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 or transplantation medicine, stem cell or cord blood research in Canada and/or abroad.