Jenny is the Science Communications Specialist at Canadian Blood Services working out of head office in Ottawa. She works closely with the Medical Affairs and Innovation division to interpret and showcase new research and discovery in transfusion and transplantation science. 

Through the microscope: macrophage meets blood cell


Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Images from the Lazarus Research Group lab show some fascinating and potentially life-saving science in action.

Helping put the science fact in science fiction


Wednesday, March 02, 2016
One of our own medical experts helped bring believability to the newest season of The X-Files.

Challenging the 30-minute rule for red blood cells (video)


Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Led by Dr. Sandra Ramirez, a development scientist at Canadian Blood Services’ Centre for Innovation, this research project led to a new standard that will reduce the number of discarded red blood cell units. By Jenny Ryan and Patrick Walton The issue Since the 1970s, blood operators have limited the length of time red blood cells (RBCs) can be exposed to uncontrolled temperatures to 30 minutes. Called the “30-minute rule”, this international standard was put in place to keep cells usable and limit bacterial growth. However, it is not always possible to transfuse a patient within 30 minutes

Canadian ingenuity enhances tool used to estimate patient access to life-saving transplants


Wednesday, February 10, 2016
A new innovation by a team of Canadian Blood Services researchers and the National HLA Advisory Committee has improved the situation for Canadian transplant patients. Launched in April 2012, the Canadian cPRA Calculator was developed to support Canadian Blood Services’ transplant programs. It’s a web-based application used by the entire Canadian transplant community to estimate the percentage of Canadian organ donors with whom a transplant candidate may be incompatible. How likely is a match? How long will it take? Patients in need of a transplant deserve the most accurate answers to their

Welcome to R.E.D.


Monday, February 08, 2016
A research, education. and discovery blog Did you know that we do research? Quite a lot of it, in fact. Last year, our research teams, working in our labs across Canada, published 250+ scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and presented 200+ posters or talks at major national and international conferences. Their discoveries have contributed to major advances in transfusion and transplantation medicine. It’s time we told these stories and introduced you to the fascinating people and places behind our research in blood science and transfusion medicine, cellular therapies (in particular