Research. Education. Discovery.

Each year, Canadian Blood Services’ BloodTechNet award program supports innovative educational projects within the transfusion, cellular therapy, and transplantation communities. One funded project supports histocompatibility and immunogenetics laboratory (HLA lab) directors in-training to expand their learnings through educational lab rotations. Read about the experience of the first participant and the crucial role of HLA lab directors as matchmakers for patients with donated organs, tissues, stem cells and platelets.

In this week’s post, three Master’s students describe how their research interviewing young adults about blood donation policies helped them understand the real value of qualitative research. Their insights highlight the value of this type of research to inform Canadian Blood Services as the organization looks to evolve donor screening approaches and engage more young people - the blood donors of the future.

Read graduate student Jaya Rastogi’s entry to this year’s “Science behind the scenes” Lay Science Writing Competition. In an entry that identified high school students as the audience, Jaya describes their research to understand the perspectives of young adults on sex and gender questions asked during blood donor screening. The entry was awarded third place in this year’s competition.

Read undergraduate student Parth Patel’s entry to this year’s “Science behind the scenes” Lay Science Writing Competition. His heartfelt piece, which was targeted towards a public audience and ultimately earned him second place in the competition, pays homage to what he describes as research’s greatest tools – his lab mates and colleagues.

Consider submitting a nomination for this prestigious award that recognizes 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. You have until May 16, 2022 to get your nominations in!

Read the entry that was awarded first place in this year’s “Science behind the scenes” Lay Science Writing Competition! Congratulations to the winner, graduate student Alexandra Witt. She identified high school students as her target audience and wrote an engaging piece that sheds light on the questions scientists ask when developing a new drug.