Our ambition is to ensure we are at the forefront of technological and research advancements by harnessing the scientific capabilities within the laboratory and driving peer-review publication of laboratory developments

Scientific Support & Component Development

The SSCD team have a special interest in new and emerging technologies in the world of blood transfusion. They strive to provide world class products and services through continuous improvement with a strong focus on patient safety. They ensure all equipment, procedures and materials used to process blood products have been validated and meet both internal and external standards of safety and efficacy, and provide round the clock services to our hospitals, issuing products and advice 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  This team of Scientists are focused on providing scientific input to the Production, quality control and Platelet Apheresis departments, ensuring that all our products meet the highest quality standards. 

Key Findings

• We demonstrated, for the first time, the specific impact of donor body-mass index on Cold-stored Platelet quality and function and highlight the requirement for novel quality markers for assessing CSPs.
  • The impact of donor biological variation on the quality and function of cold-stored platelets. Lorusso A, Croxon H, Faherty-O'Donnell S, Field S, Fitzpatrick Á, Farrelly A, Hervig T, Waters A. T Vox Sang. 2023 Sep;118(9):730-737
• The oxygen levels of red cell concentrates varied widely at donation. We developed an the oxygen exposure index (OEI) to estimate the accumulated oxygen exposure burden of RCC at the time of transfusion.
  • The oxygen saturation of red blood cell concentrates: The basis for a novel index of red cell oxidative stress. Yoshida T, McMahon E, Croxon H, Dunham A, Gaccione P, Abbasi B, Beckman N, Omert L, Field S, Waters A. Transfusion. 2022 Jan;62(1):183-193.

• This study provides evidence that 12-15 min donations should not be excluded for platelet concentrate preparation and justifies to readdress the guidelines to <15 min instead of <12 min of collection in line with current practice in some countries.
  • Evaluation of platelet concentrates prepared from whole blood donations with collection times between 12 and 15 min: The BEST Collaborative study. de Korte D, Bontekoe IJ, Fitzpatrick Á, Marks D, Wood B, Gravemann U, Bohoněk M, Kutner JM; Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion Collaborative. Vox Sang. 2022 May;117(5):671-677.

PhD project: Characterisation of Platelet-Derived Extracellular Vesicles

The factors that influence the quality of blood components are incompletely understood, leading to waste and sub-optimal clinical outcomes. This project aims to answer the following research question:

• Define the physical, biochemical and functional changes that occur to platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PEV) during the preparation, processing and storage of donated blood.
• Develop models to more accurately predict a donor-associated lifespan of blood products supporting platelet component preservation.

On-going Research 

• Evaluation of Whole Blood as an alternative and effective transfusion product for certain patients or in specific circumstance.