Health professionals, patients, and policy makers gathered in Ottawa to discuss the future of transplantation in Canada at the Canadian Transplant Summit 2018 — October 16-20, 2018. The Canadian Society of Transplantation, Canadian Blood Services, the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program (formerly CNTRP) and Canadian Bone Marrow Transplant Group worked together to develop a robust and comprehensive scientific program. Over the course of five jam-packed days the community shared knowledge, learned from one another and talked all sides of system improvement. The Summit opened

Canadian Blood Services' Centre for Innovation currently has four competitive funding competitions open for applications. All close on November 30, 2018. Read on to see if you or any of your colleagues or students are eligible for these exciting opportunities! Canadian Blood Services' Graduate Fellowship Program The Graduate Fellowship Program provides stipend support for young investigators who want to initiate or continue training in the field of blood transfusion and transplantation science. The maximum value of each fellowship is $25,000 per annum, with an additional travel allowance of $1

Get to know Dr. Chantale Pambrun, Director, Canadian Blood Services’ Centre for Innovation Previously led by Judie Leach Bennett, who joined the executive management team as Vice-President, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer, Dr. Chantale Pambrun took over as Director of the Centre for Innovation in December 2017. She was formerly associate director, donor and clinical services and, prior to joining us at Canadian Blood Services, she was the Medical Director of Hematopathology at a tertiary health care centre for women and children in Halifax, NS. To get to know Dr. Pambrun better, we

Do you suffer from FOMO? Fear of missing out! Fear no more, the event page on Canadian Blood Services' professional education website has you covered! This is your one-stop shop to learn more about local, national and international education events covering blood, plasma and transfusion, organ and tissue donation and transplantation, as well as hematopoietic stem cells. Here you’ll find a searchable and easy-to-view calendar of conferences, lectures, courses and more. Check it out! Be THAT person – the one who never misses an abstract deadline or early bird registration rate! And - to event

This week, we connected with Dr. Jelena Holovati about her work as a Canadian Blood Services adjunct scientist and her role as laboratory director of the Edmonton Stem Cell Manufacturing Program. Where do you work and what is your role? I’m an associate professor in the department of laboratory medicine and pathology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. I also hold Canadian Blood Services positions as a laboratory director for the Edmonton Stem Cell Manufacturing Program and as an adjunct scientist. By training, I'm a lab technologist – this background has served me really well in my

BloodTechNet is a competitive funding program that supports projects aimed at delivering innovative educational resources for healthcare professionals in the transfusion, cellular therapy, and transplantation communities. Again this year, we were impressed by the quality of the applications received for the BloodTechNet competition and we look forward to seeing the educational resources that the four new projects will produce in about a year. To share our excitement, here’s a taste of what’s to come! Enhancing knowledge about blood groups and antibodies to prevent transfusion reactions The

For this instalment of “Meet the researcher”, we met with Dr. Jason Acker, a senior research scientist at Canadian Blood Services who specializes in the manufacturing and storage of blood components. “What gets me up in the morning is the knowledge that through the work of my team and my collaborators, we are able to have a direct impact on the lives of patients. The technical and scientific support we provide helps the organization make critical decisions about the quality of the products that we are collecting, manufacturing and distributing.” ~ Dr. Jason Acker, Research Scientist, Canadian

On May 5th, the Kidney Foundation of Canada announced that Dr. Peter Nickerson is the winner of their 2018 Medal for Research Excellence. A well deserved honour indeed. We're proud to congratulate Dr. Nickerson on this award. Dr. Nickerson is widely recognized for his role in building a national transplant network for hard-to-match kidney patients. As medical advisor with Canadian Blood Services’ Donation and Transplantation program, he was instrumental in developing national kidney programs such as the Highly Sensitized Patient (HSP) program that is giving new hope to Canadians who previously

On April 10th, 2018, the Centre for Blood Research presented its 8th Annual Norman Bethune Symposium. This event honours Canadian physician, Dr. Norman Bethune, who in the 1930s spearheaded the implementation of the earliest practical mobile blood collection and distribution systems. During his introductory remarks, Dr. Ed Conway, director of the Centre for Blood Research, and a Canadian Blood Services’ adjunct scientist, reminded the audience that this event takes advantage of some fascinating Canadian medical history. Dr. (Henry) Norman Bethune was born in Gravenhurst, Ontario in 1890

Today, we’re celebrating the 1000th kidney transplant made possible through the national Highly Sensitized Patient and Kidney Paired Donation programs. Congratulations Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation community! Your collaboration in creating these national programs demonstrates that Canadian patients benefit when we work together.