The Duffy Antigen and Impact on Clinical Care (27EL-764)

Please note: AABB reserves the right to make updates to this program.

• Topics: Antibody Identification, Blood Donation & Collection, Blood Groups, Genomics, Immunohematology, Patient Transfusion, Red Blood Cells
• Intended Audience: Laboratory Professionals, Nurses, Pharmacists, Physicians, Research Scientists
• Teaching Level: Basic, Intermediate

• Director/Moderator: Akakpossa Ananou, MS, MA, MPH, CPH, MLS(ASCP)DLM, SBB, FACHE, PMP, Head, Laboratory Department, U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Sigonella, Italy
  Speaker: Lauren Merz, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

• Program Description

  This program will use cases and discussion to review the epidemiology of the Duffy antigen as well as the expected impact on absolute neutrophil counts and white blood cell counts in pediatric and adult populations. The faculty will then demonstrate the downstream clinical sequalae including impact on diagnostics, clinical trial eligibility, and outcomes in oncology, psychiatry, and rheumatology. It will end by discussing methods to implement Duffy specific infrastructure including improving communication between laboratory medicine and ordering providers.

  Learning Objectives

  After participating in this educational activity, participants should be able to:

  • Describe the epidemiology of the Duffy null phenotype.
  • Explain the impact of the Duffy null phenotype on absolute neutrophil count reference intervals.
  • Discuss the impacts of the Duffy null phenotype on appropriate clinical care.

  Registration

  Registration includes access to both the live and on-demand version of this eCast.

  If you are a facility interested in participating in this eCast, simply complete the Group Viewing registration form and AABB will provide detailed instructions to share with your team approximately one week prior to the live program (each team member to register for the program utilizing a promocode). For single viewers, simply click on the Register button below to register.

  Please note: registration for the live eCast will close 1 hour prior to the eCast start time. If you register after this time, you will receive access to the on-demand eCast when it is available.

  Single Viewer	Register
  Group Viewing	Register

  Continuing Education Credit

  This activity is eligible for one (1.0) continuing education credit/contact hour for Physicians, California Nurses, California Lab Personnel, Florida Lab Personnel and General Participation credit. AABB reserves the right to reduce or increase the number of credits granted based on the final activity duration. For more information on each credit type please visit our Continuing Education Credits webpage.

  There is no financial support for this activity.

  

  In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB), which is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

  Physicians (ACCME): AABB designates this live activity for a maximum of one (1.0) AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM. AABB designates this enduring activity for a maximum of one (1.0) AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

  Claiming Credit
  Live Activity - Upon completion of the live activity, you will receive instructions to complete your evaluation, which is necessary to claim credit and receive your certificate of attendance/completion (credit must be claimed by the date provided in the instructions). The evaluation can be found by logging into the AABB Education Platform.

  Enduring Activity - Once the enduring (on-demand) program is available, you will receive instructions to access the AABB Education Platform. Upon completion of viewing the enduring activity, you will need to complete the evaluation, which is necessary to claim credit and receive your certificate of completion (credit must be claimed by the date provided in the AABB Education Platform).

  Program & Credit Expiration Dates:

  • Live Activity Program Date: August 11, 2027; Credit Expiration Date: September 11, 2027
  • Enduring Activity Program Dates: August 11, 2027 – August 10, 2030; Credit Expiration Date: August 10, 2030

  Disclosure Declaration

  It is the policy of the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies to ensure independence, balance, objectivity, and scientific rigor and integrity in all of its CE activities. Faculty must disclose to the participants any relationships with commercial companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. AABB has evaluated, identified, and mitigated any potential conflicts of interest through a rigorous content validation procedure, use of evidence-based data/research, and a multidisciplinary peer review process. The following information is for participant information only. It is not assumed that the presence of such relationships will have a negative impact on the presentations.

  Disclosures for the planners of this event can be found here. Disclosures for the program faculty, peer reviewers, and AABB personnel are provided at the beginning of the program.

  Faculty Biographies

  Akakpossa Ananou is currently the Laboratory Department Head at the U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Sigonella, Italy. He is also the Director of the largest blood depot in the region. Finally, he provides a blood subject matter expert support to the joint force in the United States Africa and European Commands.

  
  

  Dr. Lauren Merz earned her MD and a Master's of Science in Clinical Research from the University of Michigan in 2019. She then completed internal medicine training at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA before completing hematology/oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Mass General Brigham. She was recruited to the University of Michigan in 2025 as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Medicine in classical hematology. Her research interests focus on women's health and the Duffy null variant. Her work has established novel Duffy null-specific reference intervals for adults and pediatrics through international and multicenter domestic collaborations, including with the American Society of Hematology and the Doris Duke Foundation. She was instrumental in the development and acceptance of new ICD-10 codes for the 4 Duffy phenotypes. She has also assessed the impact of the Duffy variant on clinical trial eligibility as well as the impact of Duffy status on treatment response and outcomes in oncology.