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10/10/2017
Dr. Custer discusses the early effects of the FDA’s policy change observed within BSI blood centers from an indefinite donor deferral to a 1-year deferral for men who have sex with men (MSM). In this preliminary analysis, while the sample size is small, as expected the early data suggest higher rates of prevalent infection in some first time MSM donors. Longer periods of post-implementation data collection are necessary to be able to answer the most important question of whether there has been any change in the residual risk of infections in donated blood.
[Image posted with permission from AABB]
10/7/2017
Dr. Custer received the 2017 Hemphill-Jordan Leadership Award at the AABB annual meeting for his long-term contributions to blood safety research since 2003, and his significant influence in helping U.S. policy-makers revise and set blood donation regulations. Through his consistent willingness to lend expertise and mentorship to colleagues and peers around the world, Custer was a worthy recipient for the award that honors leaders in transfusion medicine and cellular therapy.
7/21/2017
Edward Murphy, MD, MPH, and Nareg Roubinian, MD, MPHTM, have been leading the Severe Transfusion Reactions including Pulmonary Edema (STRIPE), as part of REDS-III. STRIPE, a case-control study, examines both transfusion and clinical data to better characterize risk factors and outcomes for Transfusion-Associated Circulatory Overload (TACO). In addition, the STRIPE study includes biospecimen collection to allow study of cytokines and other biomarkers in the diagnosis and pathogenesis of TACO.
Blood Systems Research Institute (BSRI) today announced a collaboration to more precisely and efficiently measure the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) latent reservoir in clinical samples using the Panther system from Hologic, Inc. – a fully automated molecular diagnostics platform that provides test consolidation, random-access sample loading, and proven assay chemistry.
1/12/2017
Dr. Brian Custer discusses why the one-year ban on sexually active gay men donating blood still exists.
8/20/2016
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking for new scientific research as it reevaluates a controversial policy banning men from donating blood if they admit to having had sex with another man in the past year. Gay rights advocates say the rules are not based in science, but on decades of stigma regarding gay men and AIDS. NewsHour Weekend’s Ivette Feliciano reports.