QuidelOrtho Science BYTES Podcast

Sickle cell disease (SCD) patients are at risk of developing multiple complications from transfusions, including alloimmunization to red blood cell antigens, delayed hemolytic transfusion reactions and hyperhemolysis syndrome (HHS). While HHS is a rare complication of repeat blood transfusions in patients with SCD, clinicians and the laboratory have important roles in its detection and management.
In this podcast, Wally R. Smith, MD, the inaugural Florence Neal Cooper Smith Professor of Sickle Cell Disease at Virginia Commonwealth University shares insights to screening for and managing HHS.

About Our Speaker:

Wally R. Smith, MD, is an experienced implementation scientist and expert in clinical and health services research in sickle cell disease (SCD). He serves as Vice Chair for Research of the Division of General Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and was Scientific Director of the Center on Health Disparities at VCU. Dr. Smith has authored over 100 publications and served as an investigator on over 50 grants and contracts. He has been principal investigator on 26 federal or foundation-funded grants and contracts including: Pain in Sickle Cell Epidemiology Study (PiSCES), the largest and most detailed adult cohort that changed our understanding of SCD pain in adults and, since 2012, Start Healing in Patients with Hydroxyurea, the first-ever randomized controlled trial of implementation science in SCD.

According to the American Thyroid Association, as many as 60 percent of those with a thyroid disorder are unaware of their condition, and women are 5 to 8 times more likely than men to develop thyroid disease. If left untreated, thyroid dysfunction increases an individual’s risk for other serious conditions such as cardiovascular disease, infertility and osteoporosis.

Laboratory testing plays an important role to help diagnose and monitor thyroid disease states.

About our Speaker:

Dr. Rea Castro is the Director of Medical Affairs at QuidelOrtho. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Technology from the University of Santo Tomas and a Medical Degree from the University of the East in the Philippines, and a Master’s in Public Health from Northern Illinois University in the United States. She has experience in both clinical and biotechnology product development covering multiple therapeutic areas. As the head of Medical Affairs, she is responsible for providing medical support of QuidelOrtho’s products throughout the assay lifecycle. Her clinical focus before going into the industry was in Women’s Health.

A rare donor program is a collaborative effort of many blood centers and/or hospitals to combine their rare donor resources to supply what they have to patients in need. These centers work to identify rare donors by screening methods and inclusion in database systems.

Learn in this episode what resources are available to the medical community to ensure availability for patients in need of blood and why it is critical to national and international collaboration through joint programs.

About our Speaker:

Sandra Nance has provided leadership to the American Rare Donor Program, American Red Cross Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics laboratories, the National Reference Laboratories for Blood Group Serology, Molecular Testing, Neutrophil and Specialized Testing. She engineered the nationalized American Red Cross SBB Program. She is now a volunteer for the American Red Cross and Emeritus Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. She earned her Master in Pathology from the University of Maryland and her SBB from The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.
Ms. Nance held leadership positions in the AABB, ASCP, ICII, and ISBT. She chaired the ISBT Working Party on Rare Donors and conceptualized the ISBT Working Party on Immunohematology, and as the past Chair, managed the Case Studies.
She has been inducted into the ASCP and the National Blood Foundation Halls of Fame and has received the AABB’s Sally Frank, John Elliott and President’s Awards, AIMS John Moulds, CBBS Suzanne Ledin, MAABB Kay Beattie, New York Supervisors Ron Dubin, and UTMB Jean Stubbins awards. She is the past Editor in Chief of Immunohematology Journal of Blood Group Serology and Molecular Genetics, is a member of Transfusion’s Editorial Board and reviews for several journals. She developed the polyethylene glycol method for serologic testing and the monocyte monolayer assay (MMA) to predict in vivo survival of transfused incompatible red cells. She initiated the International MMA Training classes so other countries can implement the MMA to assist with patients requiring rare blood. Ms. Nance has been invited to present over 250 lectures and has been a frequent contributor to the scientific literature.

Heart Failure (HF) is a common disease that affects an estimated global population of over 40 million. It is the most frequent cause of hospitalizations in patients over the age of 65, placing a considerable financial and social burden on patients, healthcare providers, and care providers. Accurate clinical assessment of HF and cost-effective management strategies are critical in improving patient outcomes and reducing the socioeconomic burden of this disease.

In this podcast episode, we will have a conversation between Dr. Christopher deFilippi, a cardiologist at the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute, and Dr. Ivan Salgo to learn more about heart failure, how it is diagnosed, and the value of using the in-vitro diagnostic test NT-proBNP.

About our Speaker:

Dr. Christopher deFilippi is a distinguished cardiologist who currently works at the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute (IHVI) in Fairfax, Virginia as the Vice-Chair of Academic Affairs.

In his oversight of clinical research, he has built IHVI to be a national leader in site-based research. He serves on the Editorial boards of Circulation, JACC, and JACC: Heart Failure. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine. His research is focused on evaluating in-vitro diagnostics and proteomics discovery for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy guidance across the spectrum of health from detection of preclinical cardiovascular disease to diagnosis and treatment in the critically ill.

Donor and product safety has improved significantly over the last decade as a consequence of the introduction of measures such as evidence-based blood donor selection criteria. In parallel, the implementation of quality assurance programs based on good manufacturing practices has also played a key role in improving the safety and quality of blood and blood components.

The main objective of a quality program within the blood bank and transfusion service is to minimize risk to safety and quality by ensuring that the lab’s processes will reliably deliver safe blood and blood components. In many countries, implementation of a quality certificate program has become a regulatory or government requirement; however, an effective program not only forms the basis for safety but can also deliver benefits to the Blood Service beyond meeting compliance.

Learn in this episode from AABB consulting services how commitment to safety and quality is available with the new AABB Quality Certificate Program – Based on AABB’s Fundamental Standards for Blood Collection and Transfusion, the Certificate is an internationally recognized distinction, acknowledging your facility’s commitment to a culture of quality and excellence.

About our Speaker:
Christine Bales is the AABB Vice President of the Consulting and Global Services and serves as a technical expert in Quality Management Systems for Blood Centers and Transfusion Services. Christine designs implementation models to be used as roadmaps for Blood Donor Centers and Transfusion Services’ facility accreditation processes and quality system improvements. She has experience as an assessor for AABB and a CAP inspector.
Christine has over 20 years of management experience in clinical laboratories, blood donor centers, and hospital-based transfusion services. During Christine’s years as CEO and senior management, she led organizations through strategic planning, process improvement activities, and facility accreditation processes. Christine holds a Certificate in Organizational Leadership from Harvard University, a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Purdue University, and certifications in Medical Technology and Immunology from ASCP. She is a member of the AABB (Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies) ASCP (American Society of Clinical Pathology), ASQ (American Society for Quality), and CLSI (Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute).