The CSTM Board revised the Education Subcommittee Terms of Reference in 2023 to focus on the provision of virtual education sessions. This blog series seeks to highlight both the Education Subcommittee and the various virtual events hosted throughout the year. For information on upcoming and past virtual events, check out the
CSTM Virtual Education Days webpage.
Co-Authors: Crystal Brunk and Jessyka Deschenes
Virtual Education – A Sticky Summer!
Focussed on the platelet, and held on July 16, 2025, this was CSTM’s second virtual education event of the year. Welcoming nearly 200 live attendees with more than 40 taking advantage of the French translation option, the event was another success. We had the usual attendee demographics with mostly laboratory professionals, but also included other clinical professionals such as nurses and physicians. The live polls continue to drive engagement during the event and are now posted on social media prior to the event to tickle curiosity and promote registration.
Our first presentation, held in English and translated in French, was presented by Natasha Rickards and Dr. Akash Gupta. They talked about the prodigious team work behind the HLA/HPA selected platelet program at Canadian Blood Services, and special transfusion needs of patients who are refractory to platelets. The objectives of the session were to recognize the common causes of platelet refractoriness, to describe what clinical conditions would lead to considering HLA/HPA Selected Platelets for a patient and to understand the HLA/HPA Selected Platelet program at Canadian Blood Services.
The second presentation, presented in French and translated in English, was presented by Dr Valerie Arseneault. She talked about a very interesting case of stem cell transplantation in a patient with CD36 deficiency and anti-CD36 antibodies. During this session, we were able to better understand the implication of CD36 in the body, the impacts of CD36 alloimmunization and to learn how to manage a patient with CD36 deficiency with anti-CD36 antibodies during an hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
Both talks offered live question and answer periods that were well attended with interactivity between many members of our transfusion medicine community – if you have not attended one of these events live yet we encourage you to do so in order to get the full experience.
On the Virtual Horizon
Stay tuned for one more CSTM Education Day in 2025, which is tentatively scheduled for November 5. All CSTM members can access the recordings of previous virtual education events on the CSTM Members page
CSTM - Member Log-in. If you are interested in speaking about a specific topic or want to join the Subcommittee, reach out via
[email protected]