June 24, 2011 2:48 pm
Published by Stanford Blood Center
By Ed Engleman, MD, Founder and Medical Director, Stanford Blood Center
During the early 1980s we decided to apply new research technology to a clinical problem: the prevention of the transmission by transfusion of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The problem was highly charged with social, political, legal, ethical, and economic overtones complicating the technical and medical issues at hand. In a decision that engendered intense controversy, in 1983 Stanford Blood Center instituted the first blood testing program specifically intended to reduce the risk of transfusion transmission of the then uncharacterized, but presumed infectious cause of AIDS.
June 21, 2011 8:00 am
Published by Stanford Blood Center
By Geoff Belanger, Donor Services Document & Project Manager
I've worked at the Blood Center for a little over seven years now in a variety of roles, beginning as a phlebotomist. If you've donated on a mobile between 2004 and 2008, there is a good chance I drew your blood, some more than a few times.
June 7, 2011 1:30 pm
Published by Stanford Blood Center
By Julie Ruel, Social Media Manager, Stanford Blood Center
One common question we hear from blood donors is, "Why do I need to answer the same questions each time I come in to give blood? Can't you keep my responses on file?" We cannot and here's why. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that all blood centers ask all blood donors all questions on the day of each blood donation as a safety measure. Honesty and consistency in answering these questions is critical. The safety of the blood supply and the patients receiving the blood depend on truthful answers.
June 6, 2011 8:59 am
Published by Stanford Blood Center
By Ruthann Richter, Director of Media Relations at the Stanford School of Medicine.
One of the many controversies I covered was the decision by the Stanford Blood Center to be the first in the country to test for the virus in donated blood. The move was reviled in the blood banking industry, for it called into question the safety and reliability of the nation's blood supply. The blood center later would be vindicated, as every other bank would ultimately follow suit and routinely test for HIV. Center Director Ed Engleman, MD, says Stanford's early initiative saved some 30,000 lives.
June 3, 2011 3:18 pm
Published by Stanford Blood Center
By Billie Rubin
Guess who regulates how many red blood cells (RBCs) we need at any given time. Bone marrow? Liver? Spleen? Your lungs? Give up? It's your kidneys. Yup, they don't just make urine. It all starts when those little kidneys sense the level of oxygen in our blood. When the oxygen level is low, the kidneys put out a hormone called erythropoietin.
June 2, 2011 7:59 am
Published by Stanford Blood Center
At our May 2011 Café Scientifique, Dr. Dement discussed the importance of sleep and the consequences of sleep deprivation, narrowing in on three major sleep disorders; insomnia, narcolepsy and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and best treatment practices. He also shared his personal challenges with insomnia. Click here to listen to the podcast from his talk.
June 1, 2011 11:05 am
Published by Stanford Blood Center
It was December 1944 and a young journalist for the Call-Bulletin in San Francisco had an idea; one that would earn him a Pulitzer Prize for reporting. Jack McDowell, like so many other young men living in a time of war, volunteered to go fight for his country. His poor eyesight kept him out but it was ultimately his vision for this series of articles that won him the prestigious prize.
May 26, 2011 10:46 am
Published by Stanford Blood Center
By John Williams, Marketing Manager, Stanford Blood Center Tweet For several years Stanford Blood Center has given away tie dye t-shirts to blood donors as promotional items. Why? We know that the motivation for donors to give blood is obviously...
May 20, 2011 9:31 am
Published by Stanford Blood Center
By Billie Rubin, Hemoglobin’s Catabolic Cousin, reporting from the labs of Stanford Blood Center Tweet In Greek, apheresis means “to remove or to separate a part from the whole.” Here are a few facts from the “Core Curriculum for Nephrology...
