Clinical Services
The Division of Transfusion Medicine consists of 5 faculty who supports one of the largest transfusion services in the country transfusing more than 75,000 units of red cells and 20,000 doses of platelets annually. The service covers 10 UPMC hospitals in southwestern Pennsylvania, providing a broad experience in both adult and pediatric transfusion medicine. Large trauma, organ transplant and cancer programs pose the greatest demands on the transfusion service and provide a rich source of patients and clinical material for academic and research pursuits.
Research Activities
Faculty are actively engaged in federally funded clinical trials and industry funded trials. Areas of research include red cell exchange in sickle cell disease, whole blood, cold stored platelets, pathogen inactivated red cells and the red cell storage lesion.
Teaching
The Division of Transfusion Medicine is responsible for all pathology resident teaching including apheresis and coagulation. Hematology/oncology fellows in both the adult and pediatric programs and medical students also participate in the rotation. Division faculty also perform numerous teaching activities for medical, anesthesia, and surgery trainees and nurses.
Training
The division sponsors a joint one-year ACGME accredited fellowship with Vitalant, the local blood center. The fellowship covers all aspects of transfusion medicine including immunohematology, therapeutic apheresis, stem cell collection and processing .and blood center activities.