D. Michael Strong, Ph.D.

Blood Center’s Dr. Strong Making Strides as AABB President

When he was introduced as AABB’s president at the October annual meeting in Miami, D. Michael Strong, Ph.D., walked quickly and confidently to the podium. As the new leader of that international blood banking association, he has continued that pace ever since.

His background is one reason. Timing is the other. With more than 40 years of experience in tissue, bone marrow, cord blood, immunogenetics (HLA), cellular therapies, and immunology, Dr. Strong notes, “We now have an opportunity to capitalize on the convergence of all these fields.”

And as Puget Sound Blood Center’s executive vice president and chief operations officer, he is accustomed to meeting objectives. So, after setting an ambitious agenda – and with passport in hand —he has aggressively pursued his goals for a year at the helm of AABB.

From the out set, he has emphasized the organization’s status: “We will play a critical role in developing and implementing a U.S. biovigilance program that will allow us to capture and analyze data about risks associated with receiving a blood transfusion or a tissue transplant, with the ultimate goal of improving patient care.”

Accordingly, Dr. Strong leads the Interorganizational Task Force on Biovigilance and is spear-heading its pilot project to collect, analyze and report on data on key issues affecting patient safety.

He also has directed his attention to tissue safety by touting the centralization of tissue distribution in hospitals within their blood transfusion services. That’s not surprising for a man who is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts in cellcryopreservation and tissue banking.

“This is a tremendous service that blood banks can provide in improving the safety of tissue allograft transplantation and assuring traceability of tissue in this country,” he says. “And it’s why I encourage blood bank transfusion services to get involved.”

Thirdly, Dr. Strong continues AABB’s long-standing commitment to cellular therapies. For the first time, AABB (formerly know as the American Association of Blood Banks) will feature a cellulartherapies-focused conference in its spring conference lineup.

Spreading the Word
Much of the work of the AABB president demands his frequent presence at the association’sheadquarters in Bethesda, MD, home of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)..

AABB’s reach, however, is worldwide. Consequently, so are Dr. Strong’s responsibilities as president. One of his first trips was to India to address the Asia Pacific Association of Surgical Tissue Banks, on both tissue banking and cellular therapy. His latest was to Ireland to speak to members of the European Haemovigilance Network.

In between, he has addressed and counseled medical groups in England, Canada and throughout the United States, and is scheduled to address conferences in Spain and Brazil, among others.

And though the venues may vary, the AABB mission remains constant in Dr. Strong’s messagesand work: to improve health by developing and delivering standards, accreditation and educational programs and services to optimize patient and donor care and safety.