Read about the annual Research Day event held at the Centre for Blood Research (CBR) in this blog post written by CBR summer student alumni.

Canadian Blood Services, in collaboration with the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) collaborative, conducted a study to understand plateletpheresis-associated lymphopenia, a rare condition associated with platelet donation. The study found that implementing a procedure called plasma rinseback significantly mitigated the development of lymphopenia in frequent, long-term platelet donors. Canadian Blood Services routinely uses plasma rinseback, ensuring the well-being of generous platelet donors and reducing the occurrence of lymphopenia.

Colton Strong’s research aims to use cutting-edge technology to genetically engineer donor platelets so that they can stop bleeding faster and create stronger clots than standard platelets.