Celso Bianco, MD

Dr. Bianco has spent more than 40 years researching, teaching and managing issues related to transfusion medicine, transfusion-transmitted diseases and blood safety. He authored or co-authored more than 200 scientific publications on a wide range of topics, including plasma membrane receptors of lymphocytes and macrophages, immunology, infectious diseases, and transfusion medicine. Throughout the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Dr. Bianco played an important role in the research of transfusion transmitted diseases. His publications regarding screening methodology, donor notification and counselling of infected donors provided strategic support for large blood operators. Over the course of his career, he became a world-renowned expert on blood-related medical practices, diseases and safety, providing breakthrough scientific research and guidance to the Canadian blood system. Through his membership in the Canadian Red Cross Transfusion Transmissible Diseases Working Group (1995–1998) and his position as Chair of the Canadian Blood Services Scientific and Research Advisory Committee (2002–2012), he provided essential counsel and support to Canadian Blood Services.