A powerful collaboration between blood services, research institutions and industry leaders promises to advance blood transfusion therapy to new levels of precision and safety.

The transfusion medicine traineeship support administered by Canadian Blood Services was recently renamed to honour Dr. Elianna Saidenberg — an expert in hematopathology and transfusion medicine and an inspirational physician and educator — who passed away in late 2019.

Canadian Blood Services recently published its annual Surveillance Report, a summary of monitoring efforts related to transmissible infection testing in donors; possible transfusion-transmitted infections in recipients; and new, emerging pathogens. Surveillance also includes monitoring of donor safety.

At the start of the pandemic, convalescent plasma was seen as potential therapy for treating COVID-19. But now, an international team led by Canadian scientists has published results from the largest clinical trial on convalescent plasma and COVID-19, showing it is not effective as a treatment against COVID-19.

Transfusions can be a life-saving treatment for people living with sickle cell disease but finding compatible blood can be a challenge because Black and racialized donors—the ones with the best potential to match most SCD patients— are underrepresented in the donor pool. Read about initiatives that can support this patient group by improving the red blood cell inventory.