Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Millions die of hemorrhage from trauma and other causes (obstetrics, cancers, pediatric anemias) each year in settings without sufficient access to blood. There is a 114-million-unit deficit of blood in low-and-middle income countries each year; every single country in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia has a deficit. But worse than scarcity, hundreds of millions in rural settings across the world live without access to any blood. There are several emerging strategies to address this crisis including establishing civilian walking blood banks, optimizing processes for low-cost intraoperative autotransfusion, and drone-based blood delivery to remote settings. My research team works on a variety of these projects with teams situated in India (WHO Collaborating Centre for Surgical Care Delivery in LMICs, Mumbai) and Kenya (NIH Bloodsafe Program) with mixed methods approaches including qualitative analyses, systematic reviews, quantitative analysis pertaining to trauma systems, and commentary/editorial writing as a means of advocacy. Students will have an opportunity to work on these topics and select a project/methodology that aligns with their interest.