The Donor Studies Team 

BEST's Donor Safety Team members from Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K., Australia, Canada and the U.S. investigate a wide variety of important donor-related issues.  A relatively new team, Donor Studies address issues of donor safety and reaction mitigation, donor demographic trends, donor-related product variability, eligibility criteria and health screening, donor incentives and communications, and differences between volunteer, autologous, directed and replacement donors.  A wide variety of expertise in donor motivation, recruitment, care, and hemovigilance underpins the team's surveys, observational studies, randomized trials, and epidemiologic investigations.

Recent and current studies include:

• Retrospective case-control study of donor determinants of apheresis platelet quality
• An international survey of donor demographic trends
• A review of autologous donor best practices and expected outcomes

With its first dedicated cadre of donor health experts, the Donor Studies Team seeks to liaise with non-BEST experts to define international best practices and identify trends impacting the adequacy of national blood supplies. The Team Leaders for Donor Studies are Marc Germain, MD, FRCP(C), PhD, Vice President of Medical Affairs, Hèma-Quèbec and Ralph Vassallo, MD, FACP, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical & Scientific Officer, Blood Systems, Inc.