AABB Appoints Sharon Carayiannis as Vice President, Science and Practice

Bethesda, Md. – AABB is pleased to announce the appointment of Sharon Carayiannis, BSMT(ASCP)HP, as its vice president for Science and Practice. Carayiannis has served AABB in this role on an interim basis since October 2021. She previously served as AABB’s senior director of regulatory affairs. 

“Sharon has long been a strong asset to the Association and to the blood and biotherapies community,” said Debra BenAvram, AABB’s CEO. “Her tremendous expertise and experience in the field have been essential in helping to further AABB’s mission to improve lives by making transfusion medicine and biotherapies safe, available and effective worldwide.”

Carayiannis began her career with AABB in 2015 as the deputy director of Regulatory Affairs. She was soon promoted to director and, later, senior director.
“I’m honored to serve our community in this new role,” said Carayiannis. “I look forward to further supporting AABB’s members and to help advance safety and quality in the field of blood and biotherapies. This is an exciting time to be part of AABB, as we expand our offerings to ensure our members can continue to provide optimal care for donors and patients.”

Prior to working at AABB and after completing her medical technologist training at Emory University Hospital, Carayiannis worked at the institution’s blood bank and immunology laboratory. She later worked at Grady Memorial Hospital’s transfusion service until joining the Blood Component Technology Division of COBE Laboratories (now Terumo BCT) as a technical specialist. Her primary responsibilities in this role focused on apheresis training for donor collections of stem cells and blood components as well as therapeutic apheresis. Following that, she worked for 10 years at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, and then as technical director at Inova Blood Donor Services.

AABB (Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies) is an international, not-for-profit organization representing individuals and institutions involved in the fields of transfusion medicine and biotherapies. The Association works collaboratively to advance the field by developing and delivering standards, accreditation, and education programs. AABB is dedicated to its mission of improving lives by making transfusion medicine and biotherapies safe, available, and effective worldwide. For more information, visit www.aabb.org.