The Centre for Innovation is delighted to launch our third annual Lay Science Writing Competition. This year’s theme – Challenges 2020 – provides an outlet for trainees to tell their stories of research, science and communication during this unprecedented and challenging year.

With funding from Canadian Blood Services’ BloodTechNet Award Program, transfusion medicine specialists developed Learnserology.ca, an online curriculum that supports serology education.

How Canadian Blood Services quickly stood up a seroprevalence lab able to test thousands of donor blood samples for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies each day

Postponed in April 2020, the Centre for Blood Research’s annual Norman Bethune Symposium moved to an online format and was held on Sept. 9, 2020. We heard from some Canadian Blood Services research trainees about the symposium and their experiences presenting their work in the “new normal” virtual format, which included a research showcase via Twitter.

The Centre for Innovation’s Dr. Heyu Ni has been honoured by induction into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Considered one of the highest honours for Canadian academics, Dr. Ni’s election as a Fellow is a recognition of the excellence of his work as a leader in Canadian health sciences.

Transfusion Camp is an educational program established by the University of Toronto QUEST program that teaches physicians how to use blood wisely. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we questioned whether Transfusion Camp could continue.

In 1964, a seminal paper described the “waterfall” sequence of coagulation, representing a huge leap in our understanding of how blood clots. One of its authors, Dr. Earl W. Davie, a giant of blood coagulation research, died in June 2020 at the age of 92. We reflect on his legacy.

Dr. Isra Levy is in charge of medical and scientific support for all aspects of Canadian Blood Services’ work — how does he prepare for this job during a pandemic? To better understand what crisis leadership is, I asked Isra to share the lessons he has learned through his leadership journey.

In 2017, Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec launched a research program dedicated to advancing donor eligibility criteria specific to men who have sex with men. In November 2019, the blood operators hosted a knowledge synthesis forum in Toronto to bring stakeholders together and see where this research stands. A report from this forum is now available on blood.ca.

Did you know that there’s a wealth of information available on the Canadian Blood Services’ Professional Education website to help transfusion medicine health-care professionals as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic?