Why Red Cross Biomedical R&D?

Biomedical research and development (R&D) allows American Red Cross Biomedical Services to stay in the forefront of blood transfusion safety and technology.

Housed in the Jerome H. Holland Laboratory for the Biomedical Sciences in Rockville, Maryland, the Red Cross biomedical R&D program investigates transfusion-transmissible infections and facilitates improvements in blood collection, processing, and provision. The program's researchers include internationally respected experts in transfusion technology, transfusion-transmitted diseases, and blood component biology. Comprehensive knowledge of the transfusion field and strong relationships with industry partners enable the program's scientists to assess new equipment and technologies and to investigate and recommend procedures to improve patient outcomes.

History of Red Cross R&D

The Red Cross national research program was established in 1961 and expanded in 1987 with the founding of the Holland Laboratory. Throughout its history, the R&D program has made significant contributions to blood component technology, blood safety, plasma-derived therapeutics, transfusion medicine, and biomedical science. In January 2005, following a strategic reorganization of the program, Roger Y. Dodd, PhD, was named the Vice President for American Red Cross Research and Development and Director of the Holland Laboratory. The research and development program now comprises two departments: Transmissible Diseases and Blood Components. Work in the departments is supported by the Research Blood Program, which recruits donors who donate the blood needed for the research.

Transmissible Diseases Department

The research programs of the Transmissible Diseases Department include efforts to assess the risk to the blood supply of emerging infectious diseases. Some diseases being studied are Chagas' disease, a parasitic blood infection endemic to Central and South America that has spread to the United States by immigration; babesiosis, caused by a blood-borne parasite spread by tick bite; and West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne infection that came to the United States in 1999. As these concerns are analyzed and their risks assessed, the results are shared with Red Cross Blood Operations management along with recommended strategies for protecting the blood supply from such emerging agents.

The Transmissible Diseases Department also develops and reviews strategies for improving blood safety, such as bacterial detection in blood products, studies of the transmission of vCJD (the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy or “mad cow disease”), and expanded application of nucleic acid testing of donor blood to detect new pathogens. One group of researchers in the department maintains a comprehensive database of historical donor data that is used for epidemiological studies. This group and staff at participating Red Cross regional blood centers form the ARCNET Study Group for collaborative study of blood safety and availability.

Blood Components Department

The research and development programs of the Blood Components Department, focus on improving the preparation, processing, and storage of blood components. Scientists in the department collaborate with Biomedical Services headquarters staff in providing operational support to the Red Cross Blood Services regions by designing, developing, testing, and assessing new technologies and equipment prior to formal operational trials and implementation in the regions. For example, researchers in the department are working to improve aspects of blood donation, by investigating methods that measure a donor's hematocrit. The department also assists the blood services regions in troubleshooting when questions arise. The Blood components department works with industry manufacturers to test new or modified products.

The department leads Red Cross efforts to improve storage and shipping of red blood cells and platelets. In addition, the Blood Components Department is actively seeking ways to make blood components even safer. For more than a decade, investigators in the Blood Components Department have studied methods for bacterial detection in blood components and for pathogen reduction/inactivation in red blood cell units.

Research Blood Program

The American Red Cross Research Blood Program, located in the Holland Laboratory, collects the blood used in research studies. This program allows deferred, healthy donors, to continue making a wonderful contribution. For example, if you have been deferred because you've traveled in a malaria or vCJD risk area, you may be a candidate for participation in our research program. The program collects whole blood and apheresis products for research at the Holland Laboratory in Rockville, Maryland and at the Red Cross headquarters building in Washington, D.C.