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Roll Up Your Sleeve: There’s Still No Substitute for Blood

April 11, 2013 at 11:33 am
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By Jessica Shugart, Staff Writer for the department of Communications & Public Affairs at the Stanford School of Medicine

Most donors give blood only a few times a year, if that. But for Linda Johnson, it's a routine part of life. On this fall day in 2012, Johnson reclines in a comfy chair at the Stanford Blood Center, wrapped in a soft, powder-blue blanket, while two pints of blood drain from a vein in her arm. Right next to her, a machine snatches the tiny cell fragments called platelets from her blood and returns the rest of the fluid back into her vein. She's a very familiar face here: This is her 561st donation.


Blood, Sweat, and Fears: A Common Phobia’s Odd Pathophysiology

April 9, 2013 at 1:40 pm
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By John Sanford, Managing Editor for the department of Communications & Public Affairs at the Stanford School of Medicine

I awoke close to midnight. It was the middle of August, in 1992, and the windows were open in the room of the Paris hostel where I was staying. The air was warm and still. My chest felt moist with - sweat? I touched the substance with an index finger and pressed it to my thumb. It felt tacky. Blood!


Blood Quest: The Battle to Protect Transfusions From HIV

April 3, 2013 at 8:00 am
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By Ruthann Richter, Director of Media Relations for the department of Communications & Public Affairs at the Stanford School of Medicine

Ed Engleman, MD, Stanford Blood Center's director, strode briskly into the large lecture hall at UC-San Francisco, eager to describe the screening test he and his colleagues had just developed - a test they thought could help save the nation's blood supply from a looming threat.


National Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge

March 28, 2013 at 11:01 am
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By Julie Peachey, Social Media Manager, Stanford Blood Center

Since 2009, student leaders nationwide have been participating in the National Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge to promote civic engagement in honor of the Latino American civil rights activist.


Introducing Stanford Medicine Magazine’s Series on Blood

March 26, 2013 at 11:19 am
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By Harpreet Sandhu, SBC Administrator

I am delighted to share with you a link to the latest edition of Stanford Medicine Magazine, which focuses on blood. We had the pleasure of working with the School of Medicine Office of Communication & Public Affairs to produce this special edition, in the hope that it would help raise awareness about the importance of donating blood and our unique mission.


Café Scientifique, Up Next: Is the Genome Useful in Medicine?

March 21, 2013 at 2:06 pm
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Stephen Quake, PhD, Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at Stanford University, will be speaking at our Café Scientifique series on Thursday, March 28 at 7 p.m.

Topic of Discussion We are living in the genome age, where the productivity of DNA sequencers is advancing faster than Moore's Law. Dr. Quake will describe one contribution of biophysics to this field - the development of the first single molecule DNA sequencer. He will then go on to discuss several applications of high throughput DNA sequencing in medicine, ranging from non-invasive diagnostics to the first clinically annotated human genome.


Matching Blood Beyond the ABO Type

March 19, 2013 at 10:53 am
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By Billie Rubin, reporting from the labs of Stanford Blood Center

Certain patients receiving blood transfusions require specific compatibility testing beyond the ABO type and Rh factor that we commonly hear about, (A+, A-, B+, etc.). This is typically the case with those who have been transfused many times, such as sickle-cell anemia patients.


#WhyIGiveBlood: It’s Easy & Rewarding

March 11, 2013 at 2:20 pm
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By Jill Clardy, Stanford Blood Center blood donor

I was always terribly afraid of needles. But in the mid-1990's when my friend Evelyn was diagnosed with leukemia and needed apheresis donors, I went with a group of coworkers to the Welch Road facility to donate and be tested as a potential donor. Though I was not able to donate for her, I realized that my fear of needles was completely unfounded, and have been donating regularly ever since.


Out For Blood

March 5, 2013 at 12:16 pm
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By Deanna Bolio, Public Relations Associate, Stanford Blood Center

If there's one thing we know about hockey fans, it's that they aren't generally squeamish about blood. That's a great thing for Stanford Blood Center (SBC), who hosted its seventh annual "Save a Life" blood drive with the Sharks Foundation on Saturday, March 2. One of the most well-attended drives each year, dedicated Sharks fans combined to donate 261 units of blood. Some donors were lucky enough to be thanked personally for their donations by Sharks players Tommy Wingels, Matt Irwin, and Jason Demers.


Antigens on RBCs

February 22, 2013 at 10:29 am
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By Billie Rubin, reporting from the labs of Stanford Blood Center

The antigens on the surface of red blood cells can be made out of proteins, carbohydrates, glycoproteins or glycolipids. The A and B antigens that we commonly hear about belong to the ABO system. You can think of the systems as family members determined by your genes.