William Sheffield
PhD
Associate director, research, and Senior scientist
Other Titles/Affiliations:
Professor, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University
Research areas
- plasma biology
- recombinant proteins
- coagulation
- blood component process development and quality
Related Links
Brief biography
Dr. William (Bill) Sheffield completed his doctoral degree in Biochemistry at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec in 1989. Dr. Sheffield joined the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in 1992, where he is currently a full Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine. His research centres on plasma and plasma proteins. Dr. Sheffield has been part of the scientific staff of Canadian Blood Services and its predecessor for over thirty years, and is currently Associate Director, Research with the organization.
Research interests
Research in Dr. William (Bill) Sheffield’s laboratory focuses on plasma, the liquid component of the blood.
His team investigates the use of transfusable plasma as a biological medication by testing its ability to support in vitro clotting, or to suppress bleeding, in mouse models. They compare these results with those obtained with proposed alternatives to transfusable plasma, such as aptamers against Activated Protein C or Prothrombin Complex Concentrates (PCC). They use mouse models of coagulopathy and hemorrhagic shock to assess bleeding and mouse models of thrombosis to assess pathological clotting risk.
The laboratory is also active in protein engineering studies of recombinant plasma proteins to tailor their functions and to extend their circulatory half-lives. Typically, the proteins they study in this way are coagulation factors or coagulation inhibitors. Finally, the lab supports the Canadian Blood Services by carrying out studies of quality markers of transfusable plasma and investigational dehydrated plasma.
Other appointments
- Canadian Blood Services primary member for the BEST (Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion) Collaborative, 2019–present.
- Top ten most-cited articles in Transfusion (for Sheffield WP et al. “Retention of hemostatic and immunological properties of frozen plasma and COVID‐19 convalescent apheresis fresh‐frozen plasma produced and freeze‐dried in Canada,” 2024.