We would like to take this opportunity to provide some additional information about coronavirus and blood donation. Our hope is that people interested in donating blood consider all of the facts of the situation, namely that COVID-19 does not pose any special risk to blood donors during the donation process or from attending blood drives....

John Tallarida has been an active and passionate blood donor for most of his adult life. When John was only about nine years old, his father was hit by a tractor rig in a devastating accident, after which the doctors reported that he had only a five percent chance of surviving. Though this was an…

This summer, Stanford Blood Center (SBC) and LifeServe Blood Center brought together two very special heroes. Shanti Minkstein, a photographer from San Francisco, California, and Lance Becker, a banker from Des Moines, Iowa, joined a Zoom call to discuss their experiences as COVID-19 survivors. They had never met before, but they share a bond that…

On September 17, SBC updated and, in some cases, reduced deferral periods for a number of risk factors, including travel to malaria-risk regions, tattoos, and risk of HIV (which includes guidance around men who have sex with men). These changes, which were recommended by the FDA earlier this year and are based on scientific health…

In the wake of an awful fire season in California — one that is affecting our donors and team members alike — we want to extend our sincere gratitude to those firefighters who give their time to keeping our community as safe as possible. One such firefighter we felt it particularly fitting to spotlight is…

As a pilot, Robert Jendrey is always on the go. And while typically having the ability to travel around the world is considered a great luxury, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in its infancy and suspicion of global transmission was low, increased travel could prove to be dangerous. It was in early March, before any…

Beliefs around blood have inspired many idioms and words for centuries in the English language. However, in some cases, what is now thought of as no more than a descriptive figure of speech actually originated from an outdated anatomical understanding of the human body. Words like “sanguine” and phrases like “blood runs cold” and “make…

In honor of this week’s Blood in Pop Culture challenge, “blood x theater,” SBC sat down with classically trained actor and Bay Area native Robert Sicular to ask about his experience with blood and acting. Since the age of three, Robert has been developing his rich acting portfolio by performing at many venues throughout the…

By Harpreet Sandhu, CEO/Executive Director While it may be hard to believe, we are now in month five of shelter in place. These past months have been anything but easy, but despite this turmoil, it is extremely heartening and inspiring to see your continued commitment to making a difference in the lives of patients. Since…

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, the frequent nursing. Leading up to the birth of their son Knoll, however, these challenges…

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 SBC’s Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics Laboratory (HLA Lab) plays in making sure donated organs can be…

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. So, when Andrew Armstrong, a healthy and athletic father of two young boys, began experiencing…