SBC Stories

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist Gracielle Lee went into labor with her first and only child, Bryson, when she was just 22 weeks pregnant. At such a critical period, she, her husband Barry and their care team were anxious to delay delivery as long as possible. “Bryson’s likelihood of surviving at 22 weeks was very...

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist As amazing and lifesaving as blood is, it’s not a perfect product. First, there’s the issue of shelf-life: Red blood cells can usually only be stored for up to 42 days, after which they should no longer be transfused to patients due to decreased efficacy. Then there’s the issue of...

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist When we talk about saving lives at SBC, it’s usually in the context of donating blood. However, service to others can take many forms, with one of the most impactful being military service. Next week is Veterans Day so, in the spirit of honoring those who serve, we are featuring...

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist Gracielle Lee went into labor with her first and only child, Bryson, when she was just 22 weeks pregnant. At such a critical period, she, her husband Barry and their care team were anxious to delay delivery as long as possible. “Bryson’s likelihood of surviving at 22 weeks was very...

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist Brad Hart is a fifth-generation medical professional and comes from a history of medical innovation. His great, great grandfather, Andrew Jackson Hart, was an OBGYN; his great grandfather, Arch Coombs Hart, was a practicing dentist, and one of the first  to lecture that tooth decay was caused by bacteria; his...

Growing up, Alice Georgitso was no stranger to the healthcare system. At only one month old, she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. Her first closed-heart surgery was performed at four weeks, and her first open-heart surgery was at nine months. By the time she was 20 years old, she had experienced a heart attack…

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist Brad Hart is a fifth-generation medical professional and comes from a history of medical innovation. His great, great grandfather, Andrew Jackson Hart, was an OBGYN; his great grandfather, Arch Coombs Hart, was a practicing dentist, and one of the first  to lecture that tooth decay was caused by bacteria; his...

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist, with contributions from donors Cheryl Basinger, Brian Edwards and Audrey Gold When asked if we want to help save lives, the answer will, of course, be a resounding yes. And even when we’re asked to give blood, we may be game to sign up for an initial appointment, too. But,...

Currently, more than 100,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant and, every 10 minutes, another person is added to the transplant waitlist.[1] On a daily basis, SBC supports organ donation through our HLA lab, which performs tests to detect things like donor-recipient compatibility and early transplant success/failure; and, with the help of our donors,...

By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist When we talk about saving lives at SBC, it’s usually in the context of donating blood. However, service to others can take many forms, with one of the most impactful being military service. Next week is Veterans Day so, in the spirit of honoring those who serve, we are featuring...

In honor of International Women's Day, we interviewed just a few of the incredible women in leadership who make our work possible here at SBC. See what they had to say about their experience as women in their field below. Who has empowered/inspired you to be the leader you are today? Alison Hopkins “My mom...

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 them.  “Last year was my 21st year working in SBC’s Processing Laboratory, which performs tests…

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 met and have formed a strong bond, largely through their joint commitment to blood donation…

When Rachel Ren* was a junior, she was thrilled at the opportunity to give blood at her high school’s SBC mobile drive. Rachel had never had an experience with blood donation before — never had a family member need blood that she could remember, never needed blood herself — but she felt called to help….

It’s time for your winter Volunteer Spotlight! Stanford Blood Center (SBC) is incredibly thankful for our volunteers, who play a very important role in our health care community. It is our pleasure to introduce one of our wonderful helpers, Jennifer Harris.   Why do you volunteer at SBC? I believe in the importance of volunteering…