Francis Williams Prize in medicine after beating the top 5 students in an exam competition. Drew aspired to continue training in transfusion therapy at the Mayo Clinic, but racial prejudices at major American medical centers barred black scholars from their practices.
He would instead join the faculty at Howard University College of Medicine, starting as a pathology instructor, and then progressing to surgical instructor and chief surgical resident at Freedmen's Hospital. Instead of following the traditional path of residents to gain experience in surgical pathology and bacteriology, surgical laboratory research, outpatient clinic, operating rooms and surgical wards, Whipple assigned Drew to work under John Scudder, who was granted funding to set up an experimental blood bank.
This would prevent him from privileges afforded to his white peers, especially direct access to patients. Drew and Scudder focused their research on diagnosing and controlling shock, fluid balance, blood chemistry, preservation, and transfusion — the work on which he based his seminal dissertation, "Banked Blood: A Study in Blood Preservation. His key findings, complex procedures, and standards for collecting, processing and storing blood proved his expertise and led to an appointment to head the Blood for Britain Project BFB , an effort to transport desperately needed blood and plasma to Great Britain, which was under attack by Germany.
Plasma is a clear, yellow liquid containing various proteins and electrolytes that carries blood cells and other substances through the body. It can be used as a blood substitute to help replace fluids and treat shock. There is an advantage to using plasma over whole blood in emergency situations because it:. Drew worked with Scudder and E. Corwin to plan the organizational process of safely collecting, processing and storing large amounts of contamination-free plasma along with procedures for extracting plasma and ensuring safe arrival in Britain.
To separate plasma from blood cells, the team used centrifuging separation of blood components by density and sedimentation separation of particles from a liquid. The plasma was then pooled from a collection of eight bottles using an anti-contamination technique under strict air and ultraviolet lighting conditions, and samples were cultured for bacteria.
An anti-bacterial called Merthiolate was added to the blood product and batches were tested weekly. Finally, each batch was transferred to a shipping container and diluted with sterile saline solution. A final sample for bacteria-testing was taken before the containers were sealed and packed.
By early August, a trial shipment of plasma was sent to England and confirmed "entirely satisfactory. Drew later returned to Howard briefly but was called back to continue supervising the BFB program. When the program ended in January , Blood for Britain collected 14, blood donations, and shipped via the Red Cross over 5, liters of plasma saline solution to England.
The program became a model for the Red Cross pilot program to mass-produce dried plasma in New York in February , with Drew as assistant director, and later for the National Blood Donor Service. His charge?
Direct the Blood for Britain Project. The United Kingdom was under German attack, and both civilians and military personnel needed ample supplies of blood plasma.
Within the year, Dr. Drew made critical assessments, changes and improvements to the processes of collecting blood and plasma—his work laid the groundwork for the modern blood bank, now a necessity of adequate healthcare. By Dr. The policy was soon modified to accept blood donations from blacks but required that these be segregated. Throughout the war, Drew criticized these policies as unscientific and insulting to African Americans.
If there is one man who had an infinite impact on public health, it is Dr. Charles Drew. He won a prize in neuroanatomy and was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha, a medical honor society. Graduating in , Drew was second in his class and earned both Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degrees. During this time, Drew studied with Dr. John Beattie, and they examined problems and issues regarding blood transfusions. After his father's death, Drew returned to the United States.
He became an instructor at Howard University's medical school in The following year, he did a surgery residence at Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.
There, he continued his exploration of blood-related matters with John Scudder. Drew developed a method for processing and preserving blood plasma, or blood without cells. Plasma lasts much longer than whole blood, making it possible to be stored or "banked" for longer periods of time.
He discovered that the plasma could be dried and then reconstituted when needed. His research served as the basis of his doctorate thesis, "Banked Blood," and he received his doctorate degree in Drew became the first African American to earn this degree from Columbia.
According to one report, Drew helped collect roughly 14, pints of plasma. In , Drew spearheaded another blood bank effort, this time for the American Red Cross. Drew began researching blood transfusions while an undergraduate student; he continued this research throughout his medical training. In , as a Rockefeller Fellow and doctoral student at Columbia University, he researched blood storage with his mentor Dr. John Scudder. Shortly after, he was asked to serve as medical director for Plasma for Britain and, in this position, he established new industry standards.
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