NBF Scholar Publishes Commentary in Blood

Angelo D’Alessandro, PhD, a 2018 National Blood Foundation (NBF) Scholar and 2016 NBF early-career Scientific Research Grant recipient, published a commentary last week in Blood on red blood cell storage lesion. In the commentary, D’Alessandro discusses recent findings that suggested a negative correlation between storage-induced microerythrocytes, which investigators determined represent about 24% of the entire RBC population in a unit by the end of its shelf life, and post-transfusion recovery. 

D’Alessandro suggested that future studies could borrow some of the tools and workflows developed by the investigators to address the question of whether SME accumulation also reduces the efficacy of transfused units. He also noted that the heterogeneity of SME accumulation identified in the study further fuels the concept that the molecular or metabolic age, rather than the chronological age of the blood unit, may be clinically relevant. D’Alessandro concluded by noting that the findings provide “a clear advance for the field of transfusion medicine” and that the observations and tools that the authors developed may also affect the field of hematology in general.