What's New at The Blood Center?

Seattle Children's Patients Decorate Masks for Faces for Life

Martin, a 12-year-old who recently underwent cranial facial surgery at Seattle Children’s, describes the mask he painted as reflecting the two emotions he feels every day at the hospital: happiness and sadness. “Happy because I’m breathing better and sad because I can’t be with my family every day. Happy and sad because every time the doctors have good news they also have bad news.” Martin is one of approximately 20 patients at Seattle Children’s who painted masks that will be part of a fundraising auction at Puget Sound Blood Center’s Faces for Life gala on May 5, 2012, raising money to support PSBC’s Research Institute. This year’s event honors Seattle Children’s for their leadership in pediatric transfusion medicine, delivering world-class care to children and families of the Pacific Northwest. Advancing patient care and medical science is a collaborative mission, and PSBC is proud to partner with Seattle Children’s.

Rosalie Frankel, the art therapist at Seattle Children’s who worked with young patients to create these unique faces, noted, “Most of the kids really liked the idea of giving something back” to an organization that has helped them personally. (When these kids or other patients at Seattle Children’s need blood during surgery or platelets during cancer treatment, PSBC’s on-site blood lab is there to provide the lifesaving transfusions.) Many patients surprised Frankel with the level of symbolic content in their creations. Lauren, an 11-year-old with Ewing’s sarcoma, explains her inspiration for her untitled mask: “I know that cancer brings out the inner beauty in everyone, so I had that idea. I also thought of it as everyone has a dark side. I was thinking of opposites.”

In addition to partnering with Seattle Children’s to provide the best patient care possible, PSBC is dedicated to finding tomorrow’s therapies and cures through the work of its Research Institute. Aisha, an ambitious 16-year-old with sarcoidosis (chronic tissue inflammation), says, “When I grow up, I want to be some kind of lawyer. I also want to do some sort of chemistry and be a chef while I am at it. I love taking photos, so I could also be a part-time photographer.” The focus of our research investigation is to help these children receive treatment to resume their lives and realize their future plans and dreams.

Please support our lifesaving mission by attending Faces for Life on May 5, 2012, and bidding on these and other masks created by Seattle Children’s patients and by local artists and celebrities.

Left to Right: Martin (12), "Smile Now, Cry Later"; Lauren (11), "Untitled"; Aisha (16), "See Through My Eyes".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meet Dr. James Zimring of PSBC Research Institute

There is a new researcher in town who’s determined to discover how to ensure that patients needing frequent blood transfusion are able to receive treatment as often as needed. Puget Sound Blood Center is pleased to announce the appointment of James C. Zimring, MD, PhD, as Director of its Transfusion Research Program. Dr. Zimring is an internationally recognized expert in the biology and immunological response to blood transfusion. We talked with Dr. Zimring to learn more about his work at PSBC, how medical research and law are the same yet different, and what squirrels do during the hot summers in Atlanta.

Q: Why did you decide to join PSBC’s Research Institute?

A: I joined the Blood Center because it has been, and continues to be, a renowned institution with focus and expertise in the collection, distribution and research of blood. My research focuses on the biology of blood transfusion, and therefore, I can think of no better place to continue to advance my research than at PSBC.

Q: Describe your research and what you hope to accomplish.

A: Most people have heard about ABO blood types and they understand that doctors have to match up those markers. But there have now been in excess of 300 blood markers identified that differ among people. Every time you receive a transfusion, you’re exposed to foreign material, and your immune system can sometimes respond against that material. For patients who have disorders that necessitate frequent and chronic transfusions—such as sickle cell disease, numerous kinds of cancer and bone marrow failure syndromes—and for recipients of bone marrow transplants, the immune system can react to so many different things that there is sometimes no longer donor blood that matches their needs closely enough to be safely transfused. They are then deprived of what would otherwise be a lifesaving therapy. I hope to remedy this situation so that all patients can benefit from transfusion, even those with more immunological challenges.

Q: What excites you about your research?

A: Everything! I seldom leave the lab, but live out adventures of unimaginable wonder at the microscopic and molecular level. We enter the lab each day with the possibility of observing something that no human has ever seen in history. What also excites me about my research is that the practical application of what we study affects the lives of real people. It is wonderful to be involved with increasing human knowledge and using that knowledge to the greatest benefit possible.

Follow this link to read more Q&A with Dr. Zimring.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join Us at Faces for Life, May 5, 2012

Dreaming about a vacation to Hawaii? Looking for some amazing new art to jazz up your living room? Scoping out upcoming concerts at the Gorge Amphitheater? For a chance to bid on these and other exciting auction items while benefiting research at PSBC, join us at Faces for Life on Saturday, May 5, 2012! Enjoy a gourmet meal, excellent company and music by The Frustrations at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit facesforlife.org.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to BNBuilders, Inc., Lead Sponsor of Faces for Life

PSBC thanks BNBuilders, Inc. for their Platinum Sponsorship of this year’s Faces for Life event! With offices in Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego and Montana, BNBuilders has developed a leading reputation for managing and producing complex, technology-intensive projects up and down the West Coast. Building everything from biotech space and health care facilities to schools and corporate headquarters, founders Brad Bastian and Jeff Nielsen strive to deliver service excellence and product quality to their clients. Their mission has not changed—deliver on the promise to be a great builder. BNBuilders is excited about the partnership with PSBC and the opportunity to help support the outstanding community service and blood-related research that PSBC provides to patients, physicians, hospitals and the community.

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Shaping the Future: PSBC and UW Collaborate on Artificial Blood Vessels

An example of a collagen microvessel structure made by Ying Zheng, PhD, PSBC’s artificial blood vessel collaborator at UW Bioengineering.

PSBC Shaped Artificial Blood Vessel