Vitalant

BLOOD BANKING AND RESEARCH. VITALANT EXISTS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE'S LIVES BY BRINGING TOGETHER THE BEST PEOPLE, INSPIRING INDIVIDUALS TO DONATE BLOOD, PRODUCING A SAFE AND AMPLE BLOOD SUPPLY, ADVANCING CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH AND EMBRACING CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT. VITALANT, ONE OF THE NATION'S OLDEST AND LARGEST NONPROFIT COMMUNITY BLOOD SERVICE PROVIDERS, SUPPLIES COMPREHENSIVE TRANSFUSION MEDICINE SERVICES TO NEARLY 900 HOSPITALS AND HEALTH CARE PARTNERS FOR PATIENTS IN NEED ACROSS 40 STATES.

BLOOD SERVICES DIVISION - BLOOD BANKING THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE BLOOD SERVICES DIVISION (BSD) IS TO PROVIDE A SAFE AND STABLE SUPPLY OF BLOOD AND BLOOD COMPONENTS TO HOSPITALS AND MEDICAL FACILITIES. THE STRENGTH OF BSD IS THAT IT OPERATES AS LOCAL BLOOD CENTERS THAT ARE PART OF THE COMMUNITY AND YET HAS ACCESS TO A LARGE NETWORKED ORGANIZATION WITH ALL THE ADVANTAGES AND EFFICIENCIES THAT ARE REALIZED THROUGH STANDARDIZATION AND ECONOMIES OF SCALE. BSD COLLECTS BLOOD FROM VOLUNTEER DONORS, PERFORMS SCREENING AND TESTING ON THE DONATED BLOOD, AND PROCESSES THE WHOLE BLOOD INTO BLOOD COMPONENTS SUCH AS RED CELL PLATELETS AND PLASMA. BLOOD AND BLOOD COMPONENTS ARE THEN STORED AND DISTRIBUTED TO HOSPITALS AND OTHER HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.

VITALANT LABORATORIES (VL) VITALANT LABORATORIES' STAFF OF HIGHLY TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED PERSONNEL PROVIDE SUPPORT AND EXPERTISE TO HOSPITALS, TRANSFUSION AND TRANSPLANT CENTERS AND OTHER HEALTHCARE FACILITIES FOR THEIR TRANSFUSION MEDICINE NEEDS. VL OPERATES THREE LABORATORIES FOR (IRL) IMMUNOHEMATOLOGY REFERENCE LAB, (HLA) HISTOCOMPATIBILITY LABORATORY AND (CTL) CELLULAR THERAPY LABORATORY IN PHOENIX, WITH ADDITIONAL IRL'S IN SAN FRANCISCO, DENVER, CHICAGO AND PITTSBURGH. TOGETHER THEY SOLVE SOME OF THE MOST COMPLEX IMMUNOHEMATOLOGIC COMPATIBILITY CASES AND ENSURE LIFE-SAVING BLOOD AND CELLULAR THERAPY SERVICES TO HOSPITALS ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. FOR HEALTHCARE FACILITIES IN CENTRAL ARIZONA, VL ALSO SERVES AS A BLOOD BANK, PROVIDING COMPLETE TRANSFUSION SERVICES INCLUDING PATIENT COMPATIBILITY TESTING AND DELIVERY.

VITALANT RESEARCH INSTITUTE (VRI) THE VITALANT RESEARCH INSTITUTE CARRIES OUT STUDIES FUNDED BY EXTRAMURAL GRANTS (NIH AND OTHER AGENCIES) AND RECEIVES INTRAMURAL FUNDING FROM VITALANT BETWEEN $5.0M AND $6.0M EACH YEAR. VRI HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN NOTED FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO INFECTIOUS DISEASE TESTING / MONITORING, EPIDEMIOLOGY / PUBLIC POLICY, AND SELECTED NON-INFECTIOUS RISKS OF TRANSFUSION. RECENT RESEARCH EFFORTS INCLUDE CHARACTERIZATION OF METABOLIC AND GENETIC FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE RED BLOOD CELL STABILITY, AND SINCE THE PANDEMIC, A HOST OF CRITICALLY IMPORTANT STUDIES TO UNDERSTAND SARS-COV-2 EPIDEMIOLOGY, THE SAFETY OF THE BLOOD SUPPLY, THE TIME COURSE OF ITS ANTIBODY RESPONSE/IMMUNITY AND THE EFFICACY OF COVID CONVALESCENT PLASMA. A PUBLIC SERVICE, VRI'S RESEARCH EXTENDS FAR BEYOND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS, BENEFITING PATIENTS ALL OVER THE US (AND THE WORLD) AS WELL AS COMPETING US BLOOD CENTERS, IMPROVING BLOOD PRODUCT QUALITY, RECIPIENT SAFETY, AND THE DONOR EXPERIENCE. VRI SUPPORTS TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR SPECIALISTS IN TRANSFUSION MEDICINE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH SCIENTISTS IN A HOST OF TRANSFUSION MEDICINE SUBSPECIALTIES. VRI INVESTIGATORS PUBLISHED MORE THAN 100 PEER-REVIEWED ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS IN 2022 ALONG WITH MANY MORE REVIEWS, EDITORIALS, BOOK CHAPTERS AND SCIENTIFIC MEETING ABSTRACTS. TOGETHER, VRI'S 12 INVESTIGATORS, 2 CLINICAL INVESTIGATORS, 16 AFFILIATED INVESTIGATORS, 7 CORE LEADERS, 10 ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF AND ~70 SCIENTISTS, TECHNOLOGISTS AND POST-DOCS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO MAJOR DISCOVERIES IN TRANSFUSION SAFETY AND EFFICACY.