WELCOME TO THE HAABB!
The Heart of America Association of Blood Banks is a nonprofit, professional organization dedicated to improving Transfusion Medicine by fostering the exchange of information and bringing education opportunities to blood bank and transfusion medicine professionals.  The HAABB hosts two annual meetings for the Kansas City & St Louis areas. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAABB 2020 VIRTUAL WINTER MEETING REVIEW


To obtain a Certificate of Attendance after viewing any of our recordings,
please send a request e-mail to Jennifer.Jung.
Please indicate the session viewed in the email.

The first session of the HAABB Virtual Winter Meeting went live at 1pm CST on December 2, 2020.  Dr Jed Gorlin and Dr Gagen Mathur warmed us up by presenting two hot topics:  

Dr Gorlin presented “Why Don’t Insects get Covid?” a whimsical musing about COVID and the potential role of COVID antibodies.

Dr. Gagan Mathur presented “Bacterial Risk Control Strategies for Platelets” a look at the history of platelet transfusions, the risk of bacterial contanmination and various strategies suggested in final FDA guidance. 

This session was recorded and can be watched HERE. 

 

 


The HAABB 2019 Fall Meeting was held on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at the Drury Inn & Suites in St. Louis, MO.  This was a great meeting with many exceptional speakers on a variety of topics.  For a more detailed look at the topics and presentations, please click the meeting review and available presentation links below.  


The HAABB 2019 Fall Meeting was held on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at the Drury Inn & Suites in St. Louis, MO.  This was a great meeting with many exceptional speakers on a variety of topics.  For a more detailed look at the topics and presentations, please click the meeting review and available presentation links below.  

The HAABB 2019 Fall Meeting was held on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at the Drury Inn & Suites in St. Louis, MO.  This was a great meeting with many exceptional speakers on a variety of topics.  For a more detailed look at the topics and presentations, please click the meeting review and available presentation links below.  

The second session of the HAABB Virtual Winter Meeting went live at 1pm CST on December 9, 2020.  Dr Suzanne Thibodeaux and Christina Barron warmed us up by presenting two more hot topics:  

Dr. Thibodeaux presented

“Transfusion Medicine ABC's of CAR-T's:

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Therapy from the Apheresis, Blood Bank and Cellular Therapy Lab Perspective.”

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells are now an important component of cancer immune therapies, with three CAR-T cell products currently in use for various B cell malignancies and many more novel CART cell products under clinical development.

Dr. Thibodeaux described general CAR-T cell structure, function and indications as well as explain the role of transfusion medicine services, including apheresis, blood bank and cellular therapy laboratory, in the care of patients receiving CAR-T cell therapy

Download Handout


Chris Barron, MT (ASCP)SBB, presented

“Characterizing Unidentified Antibodies.”

Chris outlined techniques and strategies to identify rare antibodies. The talk highlighted evaluation of panreactive antibodies to determine clinical significance and impact on transfusion recommendations.

Download Handout


The second session was recorded and can be watched HERE. 


The third session of the HAABB Virtual Winter Meeting went live at 1pm CST on January 13, 2021.  Dr. Daniel Walker and Julie Kirkegaard warmed us up by presenting two more hot topics:  


Dr. Walker presented Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation. With COVID pneumonia causing significant respiratory sequelae in large numbers of patients, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is expanding into multiple inpatient health facilities. Dr. Walker discussed the basics of development of this technology, utilization in cardiopulmonary disease, and impacts to the clinical laboratory-specifically the blood bank and coagulation lab.

Download Handout


Julie Kirkegaard, MT(ASCP)SBB, presented Oh the Places You'll Go!: The Many Paths to Antibody Identification. Julie described some possible causes of panreactivity in a patient’s plasma, techniques that can be used to identify the causes of panreactivity and benefits of obtaining a patient’s genotype.  


The third session was recorded and can be viewed HERE.