It’s been an exciting year of stories on the Research, Education, and Discovery (R.E.D.) Blog. Here is a look back at the articles you were most interested in from 2024.

A new, interactive, educational resource supported by Canadian Blood Services’ BloodTechNet Award Program provides learners with a deeper understanding of the processes behind Canada’s Lifeline. Learn more about how the Tour came together in this blog.

Canadian Blood Services 2024 Lay Science Writing Competition offered in partnership with the Centre for Blood Research (CBR) provides research trainees an opportunity to exercise and enhance their science communication skills by sharing their research with lay audiences. Read Katerina Rosenflanz’s description of her research as a first-year Masters student in the lab of Dr. Hongshen Ma at the Centre for Blood Research; her write-up claimed first prize in this year’s competition!

Curious about the latest progress in research and education at Canadian Blood Services? Our Annual Impact Report 2023–2024 (now available on blood.ca) pulls together the latest case studies and spotlights on research and education initiatives from our innovation and portfolio management team. Learn more and access the report from this post!

Canadian Blood Services 2024 Lay Science Writing Competition offered in partnership with the Centre for Blood Research (CBR) provides research trainees an opportunity to exercise and enhance their science communication skills by sharing their research with lay audiences. This write-up by Drs. Chaahat Singh and Giorgia Caspani, postdoctoral fellows in the lab of Dr. Wilfred Jeffries at the Centre for Blood Research, claimed second prize in this year’s competition!

Thanks to CIHR-funding, national collaboration and a lot of perseverance, a team of researchers is embarking on a journey to provide evidence on an unanswered question about blood transfusion. Learn more about the work behind the new, SexMatters clinical trial on sex-matched versus mismatched red blood cell transfusions in this blog.

Canadian Blood Services Research Engineer Dr. John Blake and his trainees apply network modelling, a computer-based optimization technique to keep Canada’s Lifeline safe and reliable for years to come.

Canadian Blood Services 2024 Lay Science Writing Competition offered in partnership with the Centre for Blood Research (CBR) provides research trainees an opportunity to exercise and enhance their science communication skills by sharing their research with lay audiences. Read Mahsa Yazdanbakhsh’s description of her research as a PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Jason Acker; the write-up claimed third prize in this year’s competition.

Canadian Blood Services’ partnership with the Centre for Blood Research (CBR) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is helping to train the next generation of researchers in transfusion science. Each year, CBR’s Research Day provides an opportunity for CBR Summer Studentship Program participants to share their research projects with their peers and other labs while practicing presentation skills through short talks and poster presentations. Read about event highlights in this blog written by students from this year’s cohort.

Canadian Blood Services’ senior scientist, Dr. Donald R. Branch and his lab have recently contributed to the discovery of new information about the regulation of neutrophils – a type of immune cell in blood that fights infections. These results have been published in the high-impact scientific journal, Nature, and add to our understanding of inflammation.