Vitalant Research History

2022: Brian Custer becomes Director & Vitalant Research Institution (VRI) new facility in SF opened

2021: Vitalant Innovation Center (VIC) opened in Denver

2018: On September 24, 2018, BSRI announced our new name: Vitalant Research Institute.

2016: Blood Systems REsearch Institute (BSRI)-Denver Campus Welcomes Dr. Larry J. Dumont as Senior Investigator and Associate Director

• Dr. Larry J. Dumont brings to BSRI-Denver the important program to develop licensable platelet cryopreservation techniques under the sponsorship of the United States Army. This program, currently in Phase 1 clinical trials, is expected to extend the 5-day shelf life of platelets to more than 2 years.
• Blood Processing Methods Affect Microparticles and mtDNA Linked to Blood Transfusion Reactions.
• Scientists from BloodSystems Research Institute in San Francisco, California, and Canadian Blood Services' Centre for Innovation lab in Edmonton, Alberta, report that specific red blood cell manufacturing methods may be less damaging to cells than others.

2015: U.S. Food and Drug Administration Lifts Lifetime Ban on MSM Blood Donation

• BSRI research supports safety of limited deferral period for men who have sex with men (MSM)
• The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) Establishes San Francisco-Based Institute for HIV Cure Research
  • amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, today announced the establishment of the amfAR Institute for HIV Cure Research, an innovative collaborative enterprise based at the University of California, San Francisco.
• Scientists Identify Effective and Novel Mechanisms to Block Chikungunya Virus
  • Scientists looking at the antiviral mechanisms of two previously identified human monoclonal antibodies have found they potentially inhibit chikungunya virus (CHIKV) at multiple stages of infection.

2004: Blood Systems Research Institue Created

• BSRI formally founded from the Scientific Services of Blood Centers of the Pacific.

1989: National Institutes of Health (NHLBI)  Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study (REDS) Program Initiated

• REDS was created to improve transfusion safety.

1983: Transfusion-Transmitted HIV

• First case of transfusion-transmitted AIDS to a child reported by investigators at BSRI and University of California San Fransicso.

1959: Scientific Servcies of Irwin Memorial Established 

• In 1959, Irwin Memorial Blood Bank established its research program, laying the foundation for BSRI. 

1941: Irwin Memorial Blood Bank Founded

• The first non-profit community blood bank in the US was founded in June, 1941