PULSE — Winter 2021

plasma and blood bags

COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma

January 15, 2021 at 5:42 am
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In the start of April 2020, SBC became one of the first blood centers in the nation to create a COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) program. The program, which encouraged recovered COVID-19 patients to donate antibody-rich plasma for current COVID-19 patients,...


purple top tubes

Purple Top Tubes: Your Impact on Research

January 14, 2021 at 11:51 pm
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By Marino Bozic, Research and Clinical Services Manager When you come in to make a whole blood or apheresis donation at SBC, you may notice the phlebotomists collecting tubes from your donation. One of the tubes you will see drawn...


DNA strand

Next-Generation Sequencing

January 14, 2021 at 11:41 pm
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By Deepti Sharma, PhD, Clinical Laboratory Scientist; Tamara A. Vayntrub, Project Manager; Bing Melody Zhang, MD, MS, FCAP, Assistant Director, HLA Lab  SBC is now using next-generation sequencing (NGS) as the basis for its HLA typing method for both bone...


Dr. Engleman watercolor

Perspective From SBC’s Founder

January 14, 2021 at 11:37 pm
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Dr. Edgar Engleman is the founding Medical Director of Stanford Blood Center (SBC), as well as Professor of Pathology and Medicine at Stanford University. Over the course of his career, Dr. Engleman’s passion for supporting patients has fueled accomplishments that...


paper chain people with hearts cut out

What It Meant to Be Team SBC in 2020

January 14, 2021 at 11:14 pm
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To help paint a clearer picture of how the challenges of 2020 affected teams all around the Blood Center, we asked team members to tell us, in a few sentences, what being an SBC team member in 2020 meant to...


Sue B. Jess image

In Loving Memory, Susan H. Belanger, RN

January 14, 2021 at 10:54 pm
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August 22, 1950 – May 18, 2020 It is with deep sadness that we inform our donor community of the passing of one of our charge nurses, Susan Belanger, on May 18, 2020. For nearly 20 years, Susan, Sue B.,...


tacks in a row

Recent Milestone Donors

January 14, 2021 at 10:32 pm
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As is our tradition with our winter PULSE editions, we like to give a special shout-out to all donors who have reached a milestone since our last publication (in this case, between December 1, 2019, and November 15, 2020). Your...