Reducing the Risk of Pathogens in the Blood Supply

Speakers

Organizers

Lorrence H. Green, PhD

Westbury Diagnostics

Dr. Lorrence H. Green earned a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Indiana University. He subsequently completed a three-year postdoctoral research fellowship at Harvard University which focused on recombinant DNA and genetics. Dr. Green joined Analytab Products, a subsidiary of Wyeth Pharmaceutical and a major manufacturer of in vitro diagnostic test kits. During the next twelve years he invented, developed and manufactured over 40 diagnostic test kits, eventually becoming the Director of New Product Development and Product Support. Dr. Green is currently the President of Westbury Diagnostics, Inc. a contract research and development company, which he founded in 1993. He has worked on projects ranging from susceptibility testing of microorganisms, to manufacturing monoclonal antibodies. Dr. Green routinely lectures at four different colleges, and in addition to published peer reviewed articles, he co-edited the 2009 CRC Practical Handbook of Microbiology, second edition. He is a Director of the Fundamentals of the Bioscience Industry Program at Stony Brook University, and is a frequent speaker on the topic of Scientist/Entrepreneurs.

George Zavoico, PhD

MLV & Co.

George B. Zavoico, PhD, is Managing Director, Research, and a Senior Equity Research Analyst at MLV, a boutique investment bank and institutional broker-dealer based in New York. He has over 6 years of experience as a life sciences analyst writing research on publicly traded equities. Prior to MLV, he was an equity analyst with Westport Capital Markets and Cantor Fitzgerald. Prior to working as an analyst, Dr Zavoico established his own consulting company serving the biotech and pharmaceutical industries by providing competitive intelligence and marketing research, due diligence services, and guidance in regulatory affairs. He also wrote extensively on healthcare and the biotech and pharmaceutical industries for periodicals targeting the general public and industry executives. Dr Zavoico began his career as a Senior Research Scientist at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., moving on to management positions at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and T Cell Sciences, Inc. (now Celldex Therapeutics, Inc.). He has a BS in Biology from St. Lawrence University and PhD in Physiology from the University of Virginia and has held post-doctoral positions at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences Center and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Jennifer Henry, PhD

The New York Academy of Sciences

Speakers

Andreas Buser, MD

University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Andreas S. Buser, MD is the director of the Regional Blood Transfusion Service of the Swiss Red Cross in Basel, Switzerland. He is also attending physician for clinical and laboratory haematology at the University Hospital Basel and is head of the stem cell collection facility of the University Hospital Basel. He received his training at the University Hospital of Basel and at the Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion of the Leiden University Medical Centre, the Netherlands. He has authored or co-authored over 60 medical and scientific articles. His research focuses on blood donor and blood product safety. He is a member of the emergency task force of the Blood Transfusion Service of the Swiss Red Cross.

Christopher D. Hillyer, MD

New York Blood Center

Christopher D. Hillyer, MD, is President and CEO of New York Blood Center and Professor, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York. Previously, he was the tenured, endowed Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine and served as director of the Emory Center for Transfusion and Cellular Therapies with responsibility for all aspects of clinical and academic transfusion medicine at Emory's seven principle hospitals. Dr. Hillyer is an editor of eight textbooks in transfusion medicine including the 16–18th editions of the AABB Technical Manual, author of over 120 articles pertaining to transfusion, human immunodeficiency virus, and herpes viruses, most notably cytomegalovirus. Nationally recognized as an expert in hematology and blood transfusion, Dr. Hillyer is also a past-president, board of directors of AABB and a former trustee of the National Blood Foundation. Dr. Hillyer has been awarded many million dollars in research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies. He is an associate editor of Transfusion and serves on several other editorial boards. Dr. Hillyer was formally recognized for his work in Africa as part of the AABB/Emory cooperative agreement from the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and is a recipient of two Tiffany Awards from the American Red Cross where he also served as a medical director and a member of their national Medical Advisory Board. He is a co-founder of Transfusion & Transplantation Technologies, Inc. (3Ti) and holds over 20 patents or patents pending. Dr. Hillyer is board certified in transfusion medicine, hematology, medical oncology and internal medicine. He received his BS from Trinity College, and his MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, with postgraduate training and fellowships in hematology-oncology, transfusion medicine and bone marrow transplantation at Tufts-New England Medical Center.

Jeanne V. Linden, MD, MPH

New York State Department of Health

Jeanne V. Linden, MD, MPH, FCAP is Director of Blood and Tissue Resources for the New York State Department of Health. In that capacity, she oversees development and implementation of standards for the more than 1,200 blood banks and tissue banks holding New York licenses, and also directs the Immunohematology Laboratory and Proficiency Testing Program. Dr. Linden has served on the federal HHS Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability and is currently serving her second term on the FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee. She served as associate editor for the 15th edition of the AABB Technical Manual and has served for many years on American Association of Tissue Banks Standards Committee. She is a past president of the Blood Banks Association of New York State and served as editor of the BBANYS Quarterly for 15 years. Dr. Linden has received lifetime achievement awards from the American Association of Tissue Banks, the Blood Banks Association of New York State, and New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo. She is a recognized authority on transfusion-associated babesiosis and transfusion-related errors, with many publications and presentations. Board certified in clinical pathology and transfusion medicine, Dr. Linden received her medical and public health degrees from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, where she also completed a residency in clinical pathology and a fellowship in transfusion medicine.

Jeffrey McCullough, MD

University of Minnesota Medical School

Dr. McCullough is one of the US leaders in Transfusion Medicine and Blood Banking. He has published more than 280 medical and scientific articles including his own text Transfusion Medicine (3rd Edition), has been a recipient of multiple NHLBI and CDC grants and contracts, has served on Federal advisory groups for FDA and NIH including the NHLBI Council, the Blood and Stem Cell Transplant Advisory Council to the Secretary of HHS, and the Scientific Advisory Board to the Canadian National Blood Service.

Dr. McCullough was the founder and first President of the United States National Marrow Donor Program and for 15 years, he served as Editor of the journal Transfusion. He has chaired multiple national symposia and ad hoc advisory committees to blood bank organizations and has been the recipient of multiple awards and named lectureships from the AABB, American Red Cross, NIH, and Blood Systems Inc. recognizing outstanding achievements. Recently he has worked with the National Blood Services in Tanzania and Afghanistan to strengthen and improve their operations.

Lyle R. Petersen, MD, MPH

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Lyle R. Petersen, MD, MPH, has served as the director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases since 2004. Dr. Petersen began his training at the University of California, San Diego where he received an undergraduate degree in biology. He then studied medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. After medical school, Dr. Petersen completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Stanford University, CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) applied epidemiology training program, CDC's Preventive Medicine Residency Program, and a masters of public health program at Emory University. He served in several positions at CDC before joining the Division of Vector-borne Diseases, first as Deputy Director for Science and then Director. He is the author of more than 175 scientific publications. His current research focuses on the epidemiology of arboviral and bacterial vector-borne zoonoses, including assessment of transfusion transmission risks of emerging viral vector-borne pathogens.