As first-time parents, Kylie De La O-Menard and her husband Guillaume Menard knew that there were many challenges they would have to work through as part of learning to care for a new baby — the exhaustion, the baby’s crying,...
By Marcelo Fernández-Viña, PhD, D (ABHI), Medical Director of SBC’s Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics Laboratory (HLA Lab) A few months ago for national Donate Life Month, we shared information on our SBC blog (HemoBLOGin) about organ donation and the critical role...
In early March, COVID-19, while present in San Mateo County, was still reported to be a low health risk to the general public. In fact, the first case of unknown origin in the county had just been identified March 2....
In December 2019, Dan Gross joined SBC as Chief Operating Officer (COO). In this role, he provides strategic direction and oversees everyday operations that impact the entire donation experience, from the moment a donor is called about giving blood to...
By Marino Bozic, Research Customer Relations Manager When Governor Gavin Newsom issued a shelter-in-place order for California on March 19, the Research Customer Relations department had no playbook for how to handle a research program during a pandemic. The first...
In honor of National Best Friends Day this year, we interviewed two of our most dedicated SBC volunteers: Dan Rhoads and John Henry. Though their backgrounds are in some ways quite opposite (“yin and yang,” as they say), the two...
By Harpreet Sandhu, Executive Director For the last three months or so, our world here in the Bay Area has been colored completely by COVID-19. We have all had to make adjustments, make sacrifices and work as a team to...
In May of 2013, Nicole Porto was thriving in all aspects of life. She had built up a life for herself that she was proud of. Physically, she had been training for the Brooklyn Half Marathon and felt extremely strong;...
As part of our role at the Blood Center, the Flow Cytometry Lab takes donated platelet and red blood cell products and filters out white blood cells called leukocytes, which could be harmful to patients if transfused. So as not...
Summer months are notoriously difficult times for blood collection due to the lack of high school and college blood drives (and, in years past, due to scheduled vacations that leave less time for regular blood donation). To help us keep...