AABB Annual Meeting Statement

AABB is committed to ensuring that the 2022 AABB Annual Meeting is a welcoming, inclusive, safe and supportive experience for all attendees.

This year’s Annual Meeting is in Orlando, Fla. In recent months, Florida has implemented legislation impacting the health and safety of members of the LGBTQ+ population. AABB understands that these laws have caused some members of our community to reassess their attendance at this year’s AABB Annual Meeting.

Our Association’s goal is to ensure that every attendee at the AABB Annual Meeting feels welcome, included, safe and supported. With that in mind, AABB reiterates our commitment to the safety and security of all attendees and offers the following updates to our community:

• To help ensure a comfortable environment for all participants at this year’s Annual Meeting, we will feature a DEIA Community Lounge, which will function as a safe space for attendees to seek support, request assistance, engage in open discussions, and provide feedback to AABB staff on our efforts to create a welcoming and safe environment for you. All attendees have access to this space at any point during the Annual Meeting.
• AABB recently released a comprehensive DEIA Action Plan, which states our Association’s core values, including improving access to quality health care, prioritizing patient safety, and committing to diversity, equity, inclusion and access (DEIA) in all aspects of our work. AABB pledges to ensure these values are an integral aspect of our Association’s actions and initiatives now and into the future.
• This year’s AABB Annual Meeting program offers several sessions related to advancing DEIA efforts in the blood and biotherapies field. One event will provide an overview of AABB’s DEIA efforts and include a community conversation to further advance this work. Several education sessions will focus on advancing equity in the field and the donor base. The DEIA-related sessions at this year’s Meeting include:
  
  
  • Implicit Bias - A Workshop
  • Bias in the Workplace and Healthcare
  • DEIA in Focus 1: Advancing Equity and Inclusivity for Sexual and Gender Diverse Donors
  • DEIA in Focus 2: Engaging Diverse Ethnocultural Communities Through Community-Based Research
  • Diversifying the Blood Supply: Addressing Barriers through a Collaborative Black History Month Celebration Blood Drive
  • Increasing the Availability of Red Blood Cells for Exchange Transfusions in Pediatric Patients with Sickle Cell Disease
  • Understanding Barriers to Blood Donation for African-American Females: Iron Status at Hemoglobin Values Proximal to Eligibility Cutoff

AABB greatly looks forward to our community reconvening in person this October—the first time the blood and biotherapies community has had the opportunity to gather together since 2019—as we mark our 75th anniversary. As our Association’s signature event, AABB will use every opportunity during the Annual Meeting to showcase, celebrate and learn from our attendees’ diverse range of experience, knowledge and backgrounds.