Not a week goes by that I don’t sit in a congressional office, educating a staff member on the need to address the sustainability of the blood supply and associated issues that impact the daily operations of ABC member blood centers. We discuss both near- and long-term topics, and then hit an inevitable question – “What do you want us to do about it?”
Finding the answers to today’s greatest challenges in the blood industry, along with the greatest opportunities, are at the core of ABC’s current efforts and the essence of ABC’s value to our member centers. Whether it is through partnerships currently underway with various federal agencies to address sustainability issues or through the ever-growing Data Warehouse, we have a laser focus on our work to answer the whats, ifs, and hows surrounding key areas of the industry. However, we are continually looking for new ways to reach our goals, as was illustrated this week in the re-establishment of the Foundation for America’s Blood Center’s (FABC) member grant program.
The FABC member program has returned in fiscal year 2018 (FY18) with a narrow focus on three main areas of translational research: iron depletion mitigation, adverse reactions in young donors, and donor health, safety, and management. This last topic is part of the newly created Dr. Louis Katz Research Grant. Awardees of FY18 grants will be announced at the ABC Summer Meeting (registration is now open) and findings from all research projects will be available to ABC members and FABC donors. The results of this research, as well as separate FABC funds dedicated to third-party policy research, will guide our advocacy work in these areas. To learn more, and invest in these efforts today, visit, www.theFABC.org.
While our industry’s story is impressive, it is not enough. We must not only articulate the issues, but formulate the solutions. Through the direct work of ABC, coordinated work with FABC and our member centers, and third-party public-private partnerships, ABC has a multi-dimensional strategy to answer today’s toughest questions. Although if anyone has figured out what “convfefe” means, please let me know.
Kate Fry; Chief Administrative Officer
ABC Newsletter -2- June 2, 2017 OUR SPACE Kate Fry, ABC’s Chief Administrative Officer Formulating Solutions Not a week goes by that I don’t sit in a congressional office, educating a staff member on the need to address the sustainability of the blood supply and associated issues that impact the daily operations of ABC member blood centers. We discuss both near- and long-term topics, and then hit an inevitable question – “What do you want us to do about it?” Finding the answers to today’s greatest challenges in the blood industry, along with the greatest opportunities, are at the core of ABC’s current efforts and the essence of ABC’s value to our member centers. Whether it is through partnerships currently underway with various federal agencies to address sustainability issues or through the ever-growing Data Warehouse, we have a laser focus on our work to answer the whats, ifs, and hows surrounding key areas of the industry. However, we are continually looking for new ways to reach our goals, as was illustrated this week in the re-establishment of the Foundation for America’s Blood Center’s (FABC) member grant program. The FABC member program has returned in fiscal year 2018 (FY18) with a narrow focus on three main areas of translational research: iron depletion mitigation, adverse reactions in young donors, and donor health, safety, and management. This last topic is part of the newly created Dr. Louis Katz Research Grant. Awardees of FY18 grants will be announced at the ABC Summer Meeting (registration is now open) and findings from all research projects will be available to ABC members and FABC donors. The results of this research, as well as separate FABC funds dedicated to third-party policy research, will guide our advocacy work in these areas. To learn more, and invest in these efforts today, visit, www.theFABC.org. While our industry’s story is impressive, it is not enough. We must not only articulate the issues, but formulate the solutions. Through the direct work of ABC, coordinated work with FABC and our member centers, and third-party public-private partnerships, ABC has a multi-dimensional strategy to answer today’s toughest questions. Although if anyone has figured out what “convfefe” means, please let me know. KFry@americasblood.org