On-going research grant projects
1. FinnPHWB – Finnish Prehospital Whole Blood Study
Project duration: 12.2021 – 12.2026
Project description: The international trend has been the re-emergence of whole blood as the primary replacement product for acute bleeding. Finnish Red Cross Blood Service has validated cold stored, 0 RhD positive, male donor, leucoreduced, platelet sparing, low ABO antibody titer whole blood product (LTOWB). For this prospective, open, non-randomized clinical study LTOWB will be used in three prehospital emergency medical services that currently use most of prehospital blood products in Finland (HUS area, Pirkanmaa area and Päijät-Häme area). Other participating prehospital emergency medical service bases provide controls. Blood transfusions will be given for clinical indication only.
Registry-based analysis for the need of pre-hospital transfusions will be conducted and model to predict this need in different situations will be made. In addition, in vitro properties of whole blood product are compared to other transfusion combinations. Read more
2. Manufacture of buffy coat-derived platelet concentrates from three buffy coats
Project duration: 01 2023 / 12-2024
Project description: Platelets are essential for blood clotting. The Welsh Blood Service (WBS) produces platelets in two forms: apheresis (single donor) and pooled (four random donors). To increase availability and reduce waste, WBS proposes optimizing platelet yields by producing pooled platelet components derived from three BC. Automated separation devices have improved the manufacturing process and increased platelet concentration. If successful, this project would benefit the wider community by increasing platelet availability, improving service resilience, and promoting greater flexibility in whole blood collection management. Read more
3. Comparing a novel non-toxic freezing approach with conventional DMSO-freezing of cryopreserved platelets: development of a new frozen platelet product
Project duration: 01.2023 – 31.2025
Project description: Platelets have an essential role in hemostasis. During vascular injury platelets stop bleeding by aggregating into the damaged area. Substances such as collagen fibres are exposed during damage thus leading to triggering and activation of platelets through interplay of adhesive receptors. Transfusion of platelets is needed when this critical hemostatic function is dislodged due to severe thrombocytopenia, cancer treatment or trauma. Platelets are currently stored at room temperature for limited time, five to seven days after preparation. Therefore, clinical development of cryopreserved platelets in 5-6% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is currently in progress, bridging inventory shortages of conventionally stored platelets. From recent studies on cryopreserved platelets using DMSO as cryoprotectant (CPA) a reduced recovery and viability is demonstrated after thawing regardless of freezing the platelets in material with lower conductivity for temperature, as well as using different freezing rate protocols1.
In contrast, data obtained from our pilot-studies indicate that using a novel freezing approach can reduce some of the negative impacts of DMSO-freezing and provide a near optimal non-toxic profile for the final reconstituted unit aimed for transfusion, which is a desirable. This novel freezing profile may also lend itself to further optimization of cryopreserved platelets. Read more
4. Empirical evidence on the quantity, quality and economics of plasma supply
Project duration: 01.01.2024-31.12.2024
Project description: This project aims to consolidate evidence on the importance of voluntary plasma donations. We want to move away from arguments based on personal beliefs and instead focus on real-world data. By doing this, we hope to show the positive impact of voluntary plasma donations and identify areas where more research is needed.
To achieve this goal, we will collect data, analyse existing research, and describe ‘best practices. First, we will combine the latest available data into one dataset describing the need and availability of plasma by country. Additionally, we will conduct a thorough review of the existing research. By doing this, we can identify what is already known in the scientific literature and what areas require further investigation. Lastly, to get a better understanding of how systems with voluntary plasma donations work in practice, we will look at specific examples of countries that have successful systems in place where people donate their plasma voluntarily.
Main focus will be on three important aspects: quality, quantity, and economics. Read more
5. Towards a Pan-European Transfusion Research infrAstructure (PETRA)
Project duration: 01.04.2024-31.03.2026
Project description: Blood Service operators often struggle to meet the needs for blood by hospitals. There is also a lot of variation in how blood transfusions are used for patients in hospitals, and blood continues to be used when not necessary or as indicated in major guidelines. Although blood transfusion supports many areas of patient health needs, including cancer treatment, blood transfusion carries risks to both donors and recipients. To address these many challenges, we need to develop different approaches to improve use and supply of blood.
One option is to better use routine data in blood transfusion. We first wish to see what databases exist across Europe that may be relevant to donor health and blood transfusion. We will conduct a survey to see what donor and patient datasets exist in Europe and how they might be adapted for use in transfusion. Read more