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Sherrill Slichter, MD, Receives Lifetime Achievement Award/Leads Ground Breaking Study

Sherrill Slichter, MD, Director of Platelet Transfusion at Puget Sound Blood Center and Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, recently accepted the Presidential Award at the International Society of Blood’s (ISBT) 30th International Congress, held this year in Macao, China. ISBT is a 70-year old association of scientists from more than 100 countries.

Dr. Slichter earned the award on the basis of her “eminent contributions to transfusion medicine” through basic and applied research and because of the significant effect her contributions have had on transfusion medicine in general. “Your excellent studies in optimizing platelet transfusion at large made blood component therapy more effective than ever before,” wrote Henk W. Reesink, MD, PhD, in his notification letter to Dr. Slichter. Dr. Reesink is Secretary General of the Foundation Transfusion Medicine in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, which sponsored the award.

The ISBT award is just the latest in Dr. Slichter’s 38- year career as a pioneering blood researcher. Previously, she received the top honors of the American Association of Blood Banks, the Emily Cooley Award and the Karl Landsteiner Memorial Award, among others.

And there is no slowing down. Dr. Slichter has just led the first large-scale clinical trial to compare the effects of different doses of platelets given to patients with low platelet counts. This study demonstrated that patients can be safely and effectively transfused with half the standard dose of platelets, minimizing the total amount of platelets transfused and the associated costs of this therapy. The study, titled “Effects of Prophylactic Platelet Dose on Transfusion Outcomes” was conducted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) through its Transfusion Medicine/Hemostasis Clinical Trials Network at 16 trial sites across the U.S. It was presented December 6, 2008 at the 50th Annual American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Francisco, CA.

“Platelets, the cellular component of blood that assist in blood clotting, are a limited resource and there are thousands of patients suffering from low platelet counts due to cancer and other diseases and disorders,” said Dr. James P. AuBuchon, President and CEO, Puget Sound Blood Center. “Dr. Slichter’s findings will reduce the use of this limited resource without compromising patient care. This is huge news in the world of health care as it will create a more stable platelet inventory—we’ll have more platelets available for treatment—as well as help caregivers reduce the costs associated with platelet procurement and storage as we will need less on hand.”

Dr. Slichter has been a professor of medicine at the University of Washington since 1983. She also has held numerous leadership roles in the NIH, the American Society of Hematology, and other national and international medical and scientific organizations.

In accepting her lifetime achievement award, Dr. Slichter paid tribute to the greatest influences in her life: her parents, good friends and the staff at Puget Sound Blood Center. “My achievements in the field of transfusion research and medicine could not have been accomplished without the cooperation of many departments at the Blood Center and without the support and outstanding work of the staff,” she said.

Even though the kids went back to class a few months ago, the successes of the 2007-2008 school year continue to echo through the valley.

The latest involves community service. During the last academic year, Auburn High School registered more blood donors—576—than any other secondary school in Western Washington. It was the fourth consecutive year that Auburn topped the field in donor registration.

To recognize this achievement, Puget Sound Blood Center presented the school with an award this fall. It’s just the most recent honor for Auburn during its long history of helping area patients through the Blood Center’s High School Partnership Campaign.

Theresa Nester, MD, Assistant Medical Director at Puget Sound Blood Center for the past seven years, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine at the University of Washington. Her Blood Center title changed from Assistant Medical Director to Associate Medical Director to coincide with her university promotion. In the past four years, Dr. Nester, a clinical educator, has twice been named “Faculty of the Year for Laboratory Medicine“ by physicians training in clinical pathology at UW. She teaches these medical residents through a weekly lecture series that blends fundamental clinical knowledge with case studies.

Puget Sound Blood Center’s Board of Trustees recently elected Bertrand A. Valdman as Chair effective Jan. 1, 2009.

Valdman is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Washington-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE), the utility subsidiary of Puget Energy (NYSE: PSD), a Fortune 1000 company. He has previously served on the Board as Vice Chair in 2008 as well as head of the personnel committee. Valdman is succeeding Barbara Sherland, JD, of Stoel Rives, LLP Attorneys, as Chair.

“I am looking forward to working closely with Bert in the coming year as he has demonstrated great leadership and passion in his previous role as Vice Chair,” said Blood Center President and CEO Dr. James P. AuBuchon. “We have accomplished much with Barbara Sherland at the head of our Board, and we thank her for her service. She will continue to be a valuable collaborator to us as a Board member.”

Stepping up from the Board to become Vice Chair is Alan Schulkin, Attorney at Law.

Newsline (Winter 2009)