Access to the 2020 AABB Annual Meeting On-Demand sessions expires on December 31, 2022. Each session includes the on-demand recording and a downloadable MP3 audio file. Presentation handouts are not available/included.
Planning Committee Disclosures
AM20-85: Innovative Cord Blood Derived Therapies
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
As the field and uses of cellular therapies grows, cord blood plays a major role. Cord blood is an amazing source material for innovative products. In this session we will explore some examples, such as NK cells for the treatment of cancer, mesenchymal stem cells for autism, and cell expansion.
AM20-86: Integrating the Blood Center Physician with the Blood Center Executive Team
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
For many, the role of the blood center physician involves overseeing the medical aspects of collecting and producing a safe and effective blood supply as well as their role in providing clinical consultation to staff, other physicians, and customer hospitals. Blood center physicians, however, can and should provide significant input into virtually all functions and operations of the blood center. The American Red Cross has recently started a program where medical directors have become physician partners working with a number of functional and operational teams throughout the organization with the goal of providing real-time medical input at the time of decision making. Other blood centers have leveraged the expertise of their physicians in other ways. Blood center physicians can play important roles as members of the blood center’s executive management team and contribute significantly in areas such as the prioritization of projects and resources, new business acquisition, surveying the health care climate in their communities, and representing health care in the local business community. Physicians can also provide guidance on compliance and regulatory issues, contribute to review and revision of existing operations, and in developing new operating policies and procedures. The physicians' medical training and connections within the health care community allow them to provide important contributions in safety, insurance matters, procedure and product reimbursement, and disaster preparedness. Finally, blood center physicians can also play a key role in public relations as a trusted, scientific source of information regarding the need for blood donation and explaining new opportunities or changes in blood center operations. This session will demonstrate how blood centers have been able to leverage their physicians’ abilities outside the typical medical role to the overall improvement of the organization.
AM20-87: Keeping up with the Donor History Task Force: Major Changes in Blood Donor Screening
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
The AABB Donor History Task Force is charged with the preparation and maintenance of the full-length and abbreviated DHQs and accompanying materials for compliance with FDA’s regulation and recommendations, including the Blood Donor Education Material, Medication Deferral List (MDL), vCJD Countries of Risk, Flow Charts and User Brochure. This is an ever evolving process that involves the incorporation of updated FDA guidance recommendations, AABB Standards requirements and user feedback. In this session, members of the AABB Donor History Task Force will cover major recent and expected changes to the DHQ by presenting the following:
AM20-88: Make Your Transfusion Teaching Stick!
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
If you have ever attended or given a teaching session which missed the needs of the audience, or you have fallen asleep in an education session, then this educational event is for you!
Learners are more likely to assimilate knowledge, change practice, and modify their attitudes when they are motivated to learn. This session will explore what is known about increasing learner motivation. Presenters will share a strategy for differentiating education by career stage of the individual as well as illustrate how gamification may be implemented in transfusion medicine training. Come to learn strategies for delivering learners sticky knowledge, rather than chocolate-covered broccoli!
AM20-89: Malaria Susceptibility and Erythrocyte Antigens: An Update in the Genomic Age
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
Plasmodium falciparum, responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths annually, remains a pressing global health threat. Malaria merozoites invade erythrocytes by harnessing host factors, commonly erythrocyte antigens. Parasitized erythrocytes bind specific antigens on various host tissues facilitating cytoadhesion and rosetting, two properties critical for pathogenesis of severe disease. Antigen-negative individuals have reduced parasite binding, invasion, and cytoadhesion conferring a host survival advantage. Not surprisingly, co-evolution of the parasite and human erythrocytes is evident, with malaria considered the ‘greatest evolutionary force in history’.
We update investigations of malaria and its effects on geographic distribution of blood group antigens, focusing on ABO and CD36 blood group systems. We discuss recent advances in functional genetic screening for identification of critical host factors for Plasmodium falciparum malarial invasion, including CD55/Cromer and LAN blood group systems. Finally, we outline utilization of next-generation sequencing for exhaustive blood group genotyping and investigate malaria-associated variant distribution in 345 samples representing 164 diverse populations.
Elucidating Plasmodium spp. interactions with blood group antigens and resulting resistance may reveal valuable potential targets for future anti-malarial treatment.
AM20-90: Men Who Have Sex with Men: Is Plasma Donation the Next Step?
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
Currently many countries with 12 month deferrals have either moved to policies that are less restrictive (shorter time-deferrals or permitting some low-risk MSM to donate plasma without a time deferral) or are considering doing so. Plasma donation can include additional safety steps such as a quarantine hold, or a pathogen inactivation step, thus permitting movement away from the time deferral paradigm while ensuring safety for recipients. This session will present examples of such policies from other countries and examine the evidence considered when making these policy decisions, and evaluate the safety and sufficiency of the blood supply post-implementation. In this session the AABB Donor History Task Force and the International Society for Blood Transfusion : Transfusion-Transmitted Infectious Diseases Working Party will present the following:
AM20-91: Searching for the Gold Standard in Patient Blood Management- Effective Means to Measure Your Successes
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
The term “good metrics” is often used in patient blood management (PBM) programs, but to many, obtaining them remains a challenge. This session will present quality metrics (e.g., pre- and post-transfusion hemoglobin and single-unit transfusions), review outcome measures when limiting transfusion, and discuss the financial benefits of good stewardship. Results of a survey conducted amongst AABB members on challenges to obtaining good actionable PBM metrics will be presented. This will be followed by a discussion on how to expand a PBM program from within your own institution to a hospital system or regional group of hospitals and how your blood center can play a supportive role. The session will conclude by demonstrating how survey tools and polished presentations, with the proper format and delivery, will highlight your PBM program’s presence and successes and expand awareness within your institution.
AM20-92: The Role of Glycans in Transfusion Medicine and Disease
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
ABO(H) blood group antigens were not only the first molecular polymorphisms described in the human population, but also represent the first examples of distinct carbohydrate modifications described on a cell surface. While serological approaches could readily discriminate ABO(H) and other carbohydrate-based polymorphisms, the actual biochemical basis for many of these cell surface carbohydrate antigens did not become apparent until many years later. Investigation into the biochemical basis of ABO(H) and other carbohydrate-based antigens resulted in the emergence of the field of glycobiology. Studies in glycobiology have uncovered diverse roles for carbohydrates, also called glycans, in addition to the enzymes and metabolic pathways responsible for their synthesis. Distinct changes in glycosylation can accompany a variety of disease states, from autoimmunity to neoplastic disease. Indeed, many carbohydrate modifications first described nearly a century ago have now become common tumor markers and may serve as unique targets in the development of cancer-specific therapeutics. In this session, a general overview of the complexities of carbohydrate biosynthesis will be explored, including general principles that govern glycosylation and how changes in glycosylation can contribute to different diseases. This will be followed by exploring recent developments in the biochemical basis of blood group antigens, ranging from ABO(H) to recently recognized blood group antigens, like FORS, PX2 and a new ABO related antigen, including their underlying molecular genetics and biochemistry. In doing so, this session will provide an overview of glycosylation and how these complex modifications continue to shape our understanding of fundamental aspects of a wide variety of disciplines, including transfusion medicine.
Solve It! Scenarios in Cellular Therapy
Preview Available
Credits: None available.
We all face challenges in our daily work activities within Cellular Therapy: What is the best approach to manage storage space? How to deal with supply and reagents shortages? How to handle the growing number of clinical trials? How to be better prepared for the next disaster? Or how to adjust training and competency programs to accommodate the changing workforce?
The Solve It! Scenarios in Cellular Therapy session offers an interactive and constructive program for Cellular Therapy Professionals to share challenges through case scenario presentations. This program permits attendees to choose from a menu of interesting topics, then rotate through multiple scenario case presentations in small, informal groups, to develop problem solving strategies. Join us for lively interactions and networking with experts in the field of Cellular Therapy and fellow colleagues. The round tables is led by the sub-sections leaders of the Cellular Therapies Section Coordinating Committee (CTSCC).
Learning Objectives: