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27.5' Winter 2020 Table of Contents Medical Innovation: Blood Products Immobilized CMNC _____________________________________________ 5 Research Platelets _______________________________________________ 6 Donors of Today New Donor Portal ______________________________________________ 7 Latest Milestone Donors __________________________________________ 7 Donors of Tomorrow First-Time Donor Experience ______________________________________ 9 David Polnaszek: Raising the Next Generation of Donors ________________ 13 Our Impact Nick Farrell: Open Your Heart to Donation _______________________ 16 Rachel Ren: Closer to Home ____________________________________ 17 Donor Rewards Rewards and Promotions _____________________________ 19 2019 Sponsors __________________________________ 21 Involvement Opportunities Give Good 2020 ____________________________ 22 Advocacy _______________________________ 23 Get Involved _______________________________ 24 Our Team Meet Our Medical Directors _____________ 26 Why I Love Working at SBC _________________ 29 stanfordbloodcenter.org • (888) 723- 7831 • [email protected] Menlo Park Donor Center: 445 Burgess Drive #100, Menlo Park, CA 94025 Mountain View Donor Center: 515 South Dr #20, Mountain View, CA 94040 South Bay Donor Center: 295 E Hamilton Ave, Campbell, CA 95008 1 2 3 Dear Donors, Volunteers and Friends, Happy New Year and welcome to the first edi- tion of PULSE, a reimagined version of our bi- annual newsletter, formerly LifeLink. This new model, like the previous, will deliver news and highlights from around the organization, but in a cleaner, more readable format that con- sists of one print magazine and three digital updates per year to be more environmental- ly-friendly. We want our donors and volunteers, as the heart of SBC, to be better able to keep a “finger on the pulse” of our organization. To that effect, I’d like to kick off this issue by looking at all that your generosity and dedication have helped us achieve in the past year. In fiscal year 2019 (September 1, 2018 - August 31, 2019), SBC had 47,000 blood donor visits and was able to support 80,000 transfusions for local patients. With your partnership, we were also able to carry out 425 solid organ transplants and 250 bone marrow transplants, as well as to provide more than 25,000 products for re- search initiatives that could have profound effects on the patients of tomorrow. This past year also marked the one-year anniversary of our Campbell location, now the most visited of all three centers, and the addition of Dr. Alin Girnita, Medical Director of our Histocompatability and Immunogenetics Laboratory (You’ll have a chance to meet Dr. Girnita later in this issue.). Coming out of such a strong year, we have a lot to look forward to, and we feel well-positioned to take on the challenges coming our way. Our focus for this year is to maximize our donations every way we can, especially given the increased patient capacity at the new Stanford Hospital and an increased demand for blood products. To achieve our goals, we are focused on “next-gen”: maximiz- ing research products through next-generation lab processes, maximizing the donations given by those donors who are already part of the SBC family through next-generation collections processes, and building the next generation of do- nors. Throughout this issue, you’ll learn about how we are implementing these tactics and how you can continue to advocate for patients’ wellbeing. We are truly thankful for your partnership and dedication to SBC, and we hope you enjoy this first edition of PULSE. With gratitude, Harpreet Sandhu, Executive Director/CEO 4 Immobilized CMNCCMNC White blood cells (WBCs), specifically leukocytes, are one type of cell the body makes to help fight infections. There are several kinds of these cells, the two most common being lymphocytes and neutrophils. WBCs are used for a wide array of research studies to help conditions and diseases like anemia, leukemia, bone marrow deficiency, lupus and narcolepsy. In October 2019, SBC began offering WBCs for research on Spectra Optia technol- ogy using the continuous mononuclear cells (CMNC) collection program. SBC had implemented this collection previously but decided to put it on pause because of how long the donation took for donors on that machine. Supporting the research community with high-quality products and services is part of our mission, however, so when an increasing need for WBCs in the re- search community presented itself, SBC looked into creating programs to allow us to continue the CMNC collections. To do so, SBC had to shorten the donation process, which we were ultimately able to do by finding a way to program our machines to collect only the exact volume and cells needed for each researcher. This approach has been extremely successful at cutting down the donation time for donors. By adding CMNC collections to SBC’s research program, we continue our support, growth, innovation and flexibility to provide researchers today with the tools they need for tomorrow’s cures. 5 Research Research PlateletsPlatelets Recently, a researcher we have been working with for years reached out to SBC and asked us if there was a way to routinely collect research platelets on the Trima instrument to their specific program settings (meaning the right concen- tration of the right amount of cells). Platelets collected for this project are used to research platelet biology, platelet function in different storage conditions, and new technologies that enhance transfusion safety and improve platelet function. Three settings were needed to collect single, double and triple platelet volumes. This request spearheaded operational changes relating to research collections, and several SBC departments worked in unison to get these changes implement- ed. Our first collection was in late February 2019. Since beginning these specific platelet collections, SBC has provided 27 platelet products.* This success would not have been possible without the partnership of a dedi- cated group of donors who were deferred from donating transfusable products. Thanks to the enthusiasm of these donors, SBC is now routinely collecting these specific platelets when requested. With this added flexibility to collect for multi- ple program settings on the Trima instrument, SBC will be able to support several research studies now and in the future. *Count as of November 2019 6 New DonorDonor Portal Portal In case you haven’t yet seen it, we recently launched a newly designed donor por- tal (sbcdonor.org)! The updated interface is cleaner and more modern, providing many new advantages for donors, including: • a simple process for making appointments and finding blood drives near your location; • easy access to your medical data, including your blood type as well as he- moglobin and cholesterol levels; • the ability to customize your profile; and • a better mobile user experience. Check it out at sbcdonor.org! Note that you will need to create a new account your first time logging in on the new system. If you have any questions, contact SBC Donor Relations at 650-736-7786 or [email protected]. LatestMilestone Milestone Donors* Donors 100 Donations Karen Burley Jerri Johnson Eileen Abarquez Craig Champion Pentti Kanerva Joseph Abrams Joyce Che Roy Klebe Allen Alfred Warren Cory Steven Lipman Catherine Anderson William Danigelis Lang Mach Raj Apte Matt Deangelis David Marasco Carolyn Balkenhol Dale Debruin David Marks Craig Barker Werner Field Anthony Mazzi Barbara Barnum Charles Garwin William Menkin Jennifer Barts Cheow Goh Keith Nordman Cheryl Basinger Peter Gregg Susan Benjamin Leanna Habana David Blaikie Peter Hammond James Bockholt Craig Harris Sargon Bourang Roy Hashimoto Judith Bragg Steven Haug Eric Brazelton Dennis Heher David Broenen Kirk Heinrichs Karen Bruntz Linda Heiple Robert Brush Michael Hoffman David Buhr Thomas Jellison *Milestones achieved since last publication of 7 LifeLink through November 2019 A Perrotta Cathy Switzer Susan Pines Donald Vancreveld Robert Poling Edward Wray Karl Raff Robert Young Frank Rahn Philip Reese 300 Donations Albert Rich Chris Steinbroner William Roden John Ahn Ray Segura Robert Indig Catherine Anderson Barry Shepard Robert Mills Sandra Sigurdson Lance Hammond George Stevens Nancy Mori Daniel Swanson Anne Faust Dennis Symanski Jeremy Wagner Kenneth Valenzuela Judith Vant 400 Donations Richard Wade Ronald Mancini Andrew Wadsworth Shun Wong 500 Donations Wesley Brinsfield Craig Barker 200 Donations Brenda Bateman 600 Donations Kathleen Boelter David Polnaszek Paul Brandon Thomas Welch Edward Daniels Constance Gowen Janet Hanly Russell Jones Kevin Moeller William Norris Thomas Welch Cary Pincus Jonathan Roth Paul Brandon Cheow Goh Janet Hanly 8 First-Time 1 st DonorDonor Experience Experience Over the past year, the need for transfusable products has grown, and it will con- tinue to grow as the new Stanford hospital accepts more patients. To meet that need, SBC is aiming to significantly increase our donor base by the end of 2020. In order to do that, we need to ensure that from the first moment a potential donor learns about SBC, their experience is as positive, meaningful and convenient as possible. Below are a few ways we plan to help recruit and retain new donors this year. Step 1: First Impression The first step in someone becoming a new donor is them interacting with or hearing about SBC, whether that’s in person, over the radio or through a screen. We need to get our information in front of