Tribute to Dr. Eloise R. Giblett, M.D. 1927 - 2009

(The following is an excerpt from an article that ran in Hematology Magazine by the Blood Center’s Jose Lopez.)

In September of 2009, hematology lost one of its legends, Eloise R. Giblett. Dr. Giblett was a native and life-long resident of the Pacific Northwest and spent her entire career at Puget Sound Blood Center in Seattle and affiliated with the University of Washington.

In 1955 she was hired as the Associate Director of the King County Blood Bank (now Puget Sound Blood Center) and was appointed Clinical Associate in Medicine at the University of Washington. She spent her entire career with the Blood Center, and it was there that she made her major scientific contributions. Her interest in blood groups blossomed into a broader interest in genetic markers in human blood, which included not only markers found on red blood cells, but also those found on other blood cells and in the plasma. This work led to her identification of several blood group antigens. In the process, she provided scientific evidence to refute the then common practice of segregating collected units of blood on the basis of the race of the donor (usually as white vs. non-white). This interest also led her to write a book, published in 1969 and appropriately entitled, “Genetic Markers in Human Blood.” This book was met with universal praise, and it remained a standard on the topic for several years after its publication.

These seminal discoveries, and many others, led to Dr. Giblett’s election into the National Academy of Sciences in 1980. This honor came just one year after she was named Director of the Puget Sound Blood Center, an administrative move that led her to close her laboratory. She served as Director until her retirement in 1987. Her tenure as Director was extremely eventful, in particular because it spanned the period when AIDS was first recognized as a disease and evidence emerged that it could be transmitted by blood transfusion. She often mentioned her consternation at the realization that the life-saving act of blood transfusion, a procedure to which she had devoted much of her career to make safer, could also transmit this deadly disease.

In retirement, Dr. Giblett devoted a great deal of time to her first love, music. She also remained a staunch supporter of the Puget Sound Blood Center, in particular its research program.

She will be greatly missed.