Our Research Team

Our staff scientists and medical experts are instrumental to our research efforts. Their expertise ranges from microbiology to immunology, coagulation to cryopreservation, hematopathology to anesthesiology and much more. This core Canadian Blood Services Research and Education network is complemented by Canadian academics who receive funding from our competitive research and training programs and by our adjunct scientists.

Canadian Blood Services adjunct scientists are appointed for a 3-year term, renewable upon review of their research expertise and the needs of the organization. Invitations for applications for appointment are made to meet emerging research needs. Canadian Blood Services adjunct scientists are eligible for Canadian Blood Services research funding through our research and training funding opportunities. Adjunct scientists also benefit from being members of our network of transfusion science and medicine experts.

Staff scientists

Jason Acker

Senior development scientist

Professor, department of laboratory medicine and pathology

Edmonton, AB

Research areas:

component production
cryopreservation
red blood cell biology
cryobiology
blood product process development and quality

Lidice Bernardo Reyes

Scientist

Ottawa, ON

Research areas:

blood product and process development
in vitro quality of blood components
pediatric doses of blood components
analytical method development

John Blake

Research engineer

Professor, department of industrial engineering

Halifax, NS

Research areas:

process engineering
operational research
blood collection
blood components distribution

Donald Branch

Senior scientist

Professor, medicine and laboratory medicine and pathobiology

Toronto, ON

Research areas:

red blood cell biology and hemolysis
autoimmune diseases phagocytosis
red blood cell allo- and autoantibodies
immunotherapy
infectious diseases (HIV, Ebola, Coronaviruses)

Carmen Charlton

Medical microbiologist

Associate professor, department of laboratory medicine and pathology

Edmonton, AB

Research areas:

microbiology
virology
hepatitis
infectious disease screening
emerging pathogens

Steven Drews

Associate director, microbiology

Professor, department of laboratory medicine and pathology

Edmonton, AB

Research areas:

microbiology
emerging pathogens
assay development
transfusion-transmissible diseases
infectious diseases immunology

Mindy Goldman

Medical director,
donation policy & studies

Adjunct professor,
faculty of medicine

Ottawa, ON

Research areas:

donor health
donor eligibility
transfusion-transmissible diseases

Jennie Haw

Scientist

Adjunct research professor, department of health sciences

Ottawa, ON

Research areas:

sociology of donation
sociology of health
qualitative methodologies

Kelly Holloway

Scientist

Assistant professor, university of Toronto institute of health policy

Toronto, ON

Research areas:

donor behaviour
medical sociology
health policy
political economy and blood collection

Manu Thomas Kalathottukaren

Scientist

Vancouver, BC

Research areas:

Blood product process development and optimization
Assay development and validation

Alan Lazarus

Senior scientist

Scientist, keenan research centre of the Li Ka Shing

Toronto, ON

Research areas:

IVIg
anti-D
Fc receptors
phagocytosis
autoimmune diseases
immune thrombocytopenias

Harinad Maganti

Research scientist

Scientific director, cellular therapies research and development

Ottawa, ON

Research areas:

hematopoietic stem cell biology and therapies
genetic engineering
epi-transcriptomics
“off the shelf” immune cell therapies
GMP manufacturing

Heyu Ni

Senior scientist

Professor, department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology

Toronto, ON

Research areas:

platelet biology
immunohematology
hemostasis
thrombosis
autoimmune and alloimmune thrombocytopenias

Sheila O'Brien

Associate director, epidemiology and surveillance

Adjunct professor, school of epidemiology and public health

Ottawa, ON

Research areas:

donor health
donor criteria
transfusion-transmissible diseases
epidemiology
public health

Chantale Pambrun

Senior medical director, innovation and portfolio management

Ottawa, ON

Research areas:

donor wellness
blood system surveillance
new product development

Nicolas Pineault

Senior development scientist

Adjunct professor, faculty of medicine biochemistry

Ottawa, ON

Research areas:

blood stem cell biology
cellular therapies
hematopoiesis
cryobiology
culture optimization

Ed Pryzdial

Senior scientist

Faculty, centre for blood research

Vancouver, BC

Research areas:

clotting factors
thrombosis
thrombolysis
virology
plasma protein products
hemostasis

Sandra Ramirez-Arcos

Senior scientist

Adjunct professor, university of Ottawa

Ottawa, ON

Research areas:

microbiology
blood product and bacterial contamination
bacterial biofilm formation
bloodborne bacteria
Staphylococcus

William Sheffield

Director, research, and senior scientist

Professor, department of pathology and molecular medicine

Hamilton, ON

Research areas:

plasma biology
recombinant proteins
coagulation
blood component process development and quality

Geraldine Walsh

Lead development scientist

Vancouver, BC

Research areas:

blood components
product and process development
in vitro quality
red blood cells, platelets

Adjunct scientists

Donald Arnold
Adjunct scientist
McMaster university

Hamilton, ON

Andrew Beckett
Adjunct scientist
University of Toronto

Toronto, ON

Robert Ben
Adjunct scientist
University of Ottawa

Ottawa, ON

Jeannie Callum
Adjunct scientist
Queen's university

Kingston, ON

Ed Conway
Adjunct scientist
University of British Columbi

Vancouver, BC

Christine Cserti-Gazdewich
Adjunct scientist
Princess margaret cancer centre

Toronto, ON

Dean Fergusson
Adjunct scientist
Ottawa hospital research institute

Ottawa, ON

Jayachandran Kizhakkedathu
Adjunct scientist
University of British Columbia

Vancouver, BC

Lani Lieberman
Adjunct scientist
University of Toronto

Toronto, ON

Hongshen Ma
Adjunct scientist
University of British Columbia

Vancouver, BC

Syed Qadri
Adjunct scientist
Ontario tech university

Oshawa, ON

Andrew Shih
Adjunct scientist
University of British Columbia

Vancouver, BC

Alan Tinmouth
Adjunct scientist
Ottawa hospital research institute

Ottawa, ON

Medical officers

Asim Alam
Medical director, utilization and medical services
Canadian Blood Services

Toronto, ON

David Allan
Medical consultant
Canadian Blood Services

Ottawa, ON

Mark Bigham
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Vancouver, BC

Melanie Bodnar
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Edmonton, AB

Keith Ferguson
Medical consultant
Canadian Blood Services

London, ON

Akash Gupta
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Hamilton, ON

Aditi Khandelwal
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Toronto, ON

Wendy Lau
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Toronto, ON

Robert Liwski
Medical director, HLA laboratory service
Canadian Blood Services

Nova Scotia, NS

Elaine Leung
Medical director, laboratory services
Canadian Blood Services

Ottawa, ON

Johnathan Mack
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Ottawa, ON

Celina Montemayor-Garcia
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Toronto, ON

Shuoyan Ning
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Hamilton, ON

Tanya Petraszko
Senior medical director, medical laboratory and stem cell services
Canadian Blood Services

Vancouver, BC

Matthew Seftel
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Vancouver, BC

Sam Shemie
Medical consultant
Canadian Blood Services

Montréal, QC

Kathryn Webert
Medical director
Canadian Blood Services

Hamilton, ON

Matthew Yan
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Vancouver, BC

Michelle Zeller
Medical officer
Canadian Blood Services

Hamilton, ON

For general enquiries about research at Canadian Blood Services, please contact us at:

Innovation and Portfolio Management
Canadian Blood Services
1800 Alta Vista Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1G 4J5
centreforinnovation@blood.ca