February 28, 2024
In honor of Black History Month, AABB News is pleased to present our “Black Excellence in Blood Banking” series. The six profiles in this series highlight just some of our Black AABB members who are making a difference in transfusion medicine, blood banking and biotherapies through their leadership, significant work and commitment to health equity. Learn more about Kamille West-Mitchell's work at the National Institutes of Health, her greatest career highlights and leadership lessons learned below.
‘Representation is Important’
Growing up in Jamaica, Dr. West-Mitchell learned that prejudice is real, but excellence speaks for itself.
Kamille Aisha West-Mitchell, MD, is the medical director overseeing blood collection for the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Clinical Center transfusion support, the Research Blood program and Dowling Apheresis Clinic for therapeutic procedures and cell therapy collections. West-Mitchell graduated from medical school at the University of the West Indies in her home country of Jamaica in 2005, with a first-class honors degree.
Today, West-Mitchell supervises BSS staff and transfusion medicine fellows in the management of blood donors and Clinical Center patients requiring blood transfusions. Her research interests include hereditary hemochromatosis, donor hemovigilance, granulocyte transfusion, optimization of apheresis for cellular therapy collections, blood utilization and transfusion safety. She is an associate investigator on clinical protocols in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). She has authored and coauthored books, chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles on various topics in transfusion medicine.
HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN TRANSFUSION MEDICINE? HOW DOES YOUR WORK AT THE NIH DEPARTMENT OF TRANSFUSION MEDICINE IMPACT THE FIELD AND THE BLOOD COMMUNITY AT LARGE?
Transfusion medicine was a naturally attractive field for me. I love interacting with patients and the laboratory aspects of pathology, so transfusion medicine was a good way to marry those two passions. The NIH Department of Transfusion Medicine is an amazing place to do this fulfilling work, because we have a great hospital-based blood bank in the U.S., with donor centers, transfusion service lab, reference immunohematology and apheresis clinic and center for cellular engineering. Working at NIH has granted me the opportunity to participate in some small way in groundbreaking, first-in-human trials that are changing the way we care for patients using blood and biotherapies.
WHAT IS THE MOST REWARDING ASPECT OF YOUR WORK? TELL US ABOUT A CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT IS MEANINGFUL TO YOU.
Learning is the most rewarding aspect of my work. It requires a little pain, because learning implies that you lack knowledge or skill. But the truth is, once you get accustomed to that slight discomfort that comes with growth, the journey is very satisfying! Specifi cally, I enjoy learning how to help other people fl ourish; I truly believe that if a person is placed in a role that is best suited to their temperament, strengths and passions, you don’t have to run after them to get things done. They will come up with new and eye-opening means to success that you wouldn’t have imagined yourself. In my time as the chief of blood services, I have been able to identify roles for some of my colleagues to which they are very well-suited. Watching them blossom and excel has been a source of joy for me.
WHAT IS ONE LESSON YOU CAN SHARE THAT’S UNIQUE TO BEING A BLACK LEADER IN TRANSFUSION MEDICINE AND BIOTHERAPIES?
Growing up in Jamaica, I was raised to believe that my skin color was no indication of any limitation in my life. I am thankful to my parents and grandparents, who understood years ago, even in a very recently independent nation, the importance of discipline, education and drive. They taught me that while prejudice is real, excellence speaks for itself. Persons with diverse personalities, experiences and backgrounds may have different things to bring to the table when working together to achieve a common goal.
I would caution against striving only for the appearance of diversity, and encourage leaders to nurture diversity of ideas, perspectives and approaches. I also understand that representation is important. A new experience for me when I joined the faculty in the Clinical Center was that African Americans would bring their children to meet me, just to see a Black woman from Jamaica in a position like mine. It’s both moving and a little sad for me to think that they would think of that as strange, because in Jamaica, Black doctors, lawyers and other professionals are the norm. But I am happy to be able to show those people that race does not exempt you from achievement.
TELL US ABOUT AN “AHA” MOMENT OR ADVICE THAT GREATLY IMPACTED YOUR CAREER.
“Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t” – a quote from an author I enjoy, and others I have read have made this point in different ways. I credit my husband with teaching me this lesson most powerfully. A willingness to be open to outside ideas and perspectives has been life-changing for me.
WHAT QUOTE RESONATES WITH YOU?
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.” - Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.
WHAT DOES BLACK EXCELLENCE MEAN TO YOU?
This term to me is a reflection of a society that still struggles with the idea that people it identifies as Black can, in fact, be excellent, or that this is surprising and atypical when it occurs. I acknowledge that there are a number of complex social reasons for this, and I look forward to the day that this idea is no longer a strange one.
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