2025 Award Winners
Blum Award - Crystal Brunk
Crystal Brunk has been a member of the Canadian transfusion medicine community since 2018, in that time she has sought to improve transfusion education accessibility and has advocated for the advancement of the nursing perspective and role in the field.
Crystal's commitment to education is evident through her involvement in multiple provincial education days, national conferences, and projects like the Canadian Blood Service’s Learn Transfusion series, Genomics Transfusion Rounds, and CSTM’s virtual education days. Her efforts in these areas have significantly contributed to the dissemination of transfusion knowledge to those unable to attend in-person events like conferences.
Crystal holds a Graduate Certificate in Transfusion Practice from the University of Melbourne (2019), a Critical Care Nursing Specialty from British Columbia Institute of Technology (2012), and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from McMaster University (2007). She is an active CSTM member as current co-chair for the Education Subcommittee, administrative support for the Canadian Obstetric and Pediatric Transfusion Network, active Transfusion Safety Network member, and annual conference abstract reviewer. She previously served as Director-at-large, was a founding co-chair of the Transfusion Safety Network and has sat on the conference scientific committee.
QuidelOrtho Award - Dr. William (Bill) Sheffield
Dr. William (Bill) Sheffield completed his doctoral degree in Biochemistry at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec in 1989. Dr. Sheffield joined the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in 1992, where he is currently a full Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine. His research centres on plasma and plasma proteins. Dr. Sheffield has been part of the scientific staff of Canadian Blood Services and its predecessor for over thirty years, and is currently Associate Director, Research, with the organization.
Canadian Blood Services Dana Devine Award - Yeolys Crus-Leal
Dr. Cruz-Leal got her Ph.D. with a “summa cum laude” degree in Biological Science, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology and Immunology, University of Havana, Cuba, in 2014. During her doctoral studies, she focused on understanding the role of B-1 cells in the adjuvant properties of liposomes. In 2015, she joined the Faculty of Biology at the University of Havana as a Senior Research Associate. During this time, her work centered on the development of a novel adjuvant based on pore-forming proteins encapsulated in liposomes to induce robust antigen-specific cytotoxic T-cell responses. Her contributions have advanced the understanding of liposome-based vaccine adjuvants and their potential to enhance vaccine efficacy.
Later, she joined Prof. Alan H. Lazarus’s lab at the Canadian Blood Services as a postdoctoral fellow in April 2016. Her research has been focused on replacing anti-D immunoglobulin with a recombinant strategy, such as monoclonal antibodies, to prevent hemolytic disease in the fetus and newborn (HDFN). She has specifically studied the mechanism of trogocytosis related to the loss of red blood cell antigens and the impact of alterations in the IgG Fc region on immunosuppression. Her cover article in Blood, highlighting trogocytosis as a novel mechanisms underlying AMIS. She has also collaborated with leading transfusion medicine groups, including the Quality Utilization Efficacy Safety Transfusion (QUEST) group and The Canadian Transfusion Trials Group (CTTG), facilitating the translation of her basic research into clinical scenario.
Dr. Cruz-Leal has published 24 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals in her field. Throughout her promising scientific career, she has received significant recognitions, including two Annual Biomedical Science Awards from the Cuban Academy of Sciences and an Award from the Young Scientists Program (YSP) of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) in 2014. Since 2018, she has been an active member of the Canadian Society of Transfusion Medicine and the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB).
Buchanan Award - Stacey Greeley
Stacey Greeley graduated from College of the North Atlantic in 2011 as a Medical Laboratory Technologist. Since then, she has been working at the Health Science Center in St John’s, NL spending a short time in the Chemistry Lab and then devoting the last 13 years to the Hematology and Transfusion Medicine Department.
While rotating through these disciplines, Stacey also showed interest in the Stem Cell processing lab where she assisted with the autologous stem cell transplants alongside the hospital’s clinical team from 2019 to 2021.
Stacey has been a senior technologist in the Transfusion Medicine Lab since 2022 where she works as a Technical Specialist.
She is a member of the Regional Transfusion Committee and performs on-call duties for the entire province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
When she is not working, Stacey enjoys spending time with her 7 year old son, husband and 100lbs Goldendoodle.