On Dec. 29, 2010, Linda Johnson became the first woman to make 500 donations at Stanford Blood Center. It was more than 20 years ago when Linda's friend and Stanford Blood Center platelet donor, Stan Jensen, urged her to check if she would make a good platelet donor. Linda was a perfect candidate with good veins and a high platelet count.
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.
By Phillip King, long-time Stanford Blood Center platelet donor Above, Phillip is donating platelets after being the very first donor to try out our new software system for the registration process. Today’s entry is one of those gimmicky pieces...
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.
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.
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...
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...
By Dr. Duff Howell, 277-time blood donor and counting One of my finer enduring gifts was a conversation about donating blood that I had 15 or 20 years ago. I’d said, “I never look when they put the needle in....
by Michele Hyndman, Public Relations Manager, Stanford Blood Center Tweet I am thrilled that Stanford Blood Center is a sponsor of the inaugural Promise Walk for Northern California on May 7 to raise awareness about preeclampsia and generate funds for...
Tweet By John Williams, Marketing Manager, Stanford Blood Center Isn’t the earth an amazing place? We abuse it every day and it still forgives us. I think we often fail to see it as a living organism. Flora and fauna...