Federal Investment Targets Blood System Equity
University of Alberta biologist Dr. Lisa Willis and an interdisciplinary research team have secured $24 million from the federal government’s New Frontiers in Research Fund to reshape Canada’s blood supply. The project aims to remove systemic barriers that restrict who can donate and receive blood products, ualberta.ca reported.
“This investment will help us better understand how to engage new and diverse communities of donors while advancing research aimed at developing the next generation of blood products, including innovative technologies that could make blood products universally compatible,” said Dr. Graham D. Sher, chief executive officer of Canadian Blood Services.
Community-Led Research and Social Science Integration
The project incorporates social science and community-based research to engage youth and racialized populations who remain under-represented in the current blood supply. Dr. Kelly Holloway and Dr. Jennie Haw, social scientists with Canadian Blood Services and experts in donation studies, will lead this outreach.
A central component of the initiative involves a partnership with Biba Tinga, president and executive director of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada. Tinga’s prior community-based research with Dr. Haw identified specific barriers to blood donation, and her continued leadership will anchor the project in the lived experiences of Black communities. Dr. Jeannie Callum, a hematologist at Queen’s University and president of the Canadian Transfusion Trials Group, noted that the work will challenge existing practices to facilitate donations from young and racialized communities while better matching blood for vulnerable patient populations.
Developing Universal Blood Technologies
Alongside community engagement, the research team is advancing biological and medical technologies to eliminate blood type matching requirements. Dr. Warren Wakarchuk and Dr. Jason Acker of the University of Alberta join Dr. Willis on this technical front.
The researchers have successfully rejuvenated red blood cells to make them universally acceptable by applying a biodegradable natural sugar coating already present in the human body. “The immune system can no longer see it,” Dr. Willis said, explaining that the technique allows blood from any individual to be transfused into another without matching. Dr. Acker confirmed that the team will advance safety trials for these red blood cell and platelet technologies using improved enzymes, which also carry implications for nanomedicine and cell-based therapies.
How Sugar Coatings Make Red Blood Cells Universally Compatible?
How does the biodegradable sugar coating make red blood cells universally compatible?
Researchers coat red blood cells with a natural, biodegradable sugar already found in the human body. This coating masks the cells so that the recipient’s immune system does not recognize them as foreign, removing the need for blood type matching.
Who is leading the community engagement portion of the research?
Dr. Kelly Holloway and Dr. Jennie Haw, social scientists with Canadian Blood Services, lead the community-based research with youth and racialized communities. They partner directly with Biba Tinga, president and executive director of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada.
What specific clinical problems will these new technologies solve?
According to Dr. Jason Acker, the innovations aim to prevent cancelled surgeries caused by missing compatible units and stop emergency trauma patients from receiving mismatched blood.
Related reading