Chairperson and committee
Chairperson:
Reinhard Henschler (Germany)
Vice Chair: Christian Gabriel (Austria)
Secretary: TBC
Treasurer: Thierry Burnouf (Taiwan)
Educational Officer: Joanne Tan (Australia)
Subcommittee chair on Platelet Lysates: Katharina Schallmoser (Austria)
Subcommittee chair on Serum eyedrops: Denese Marks (Australia)
Subcommittee chairs on Apheresis: Nina Worel (Austria); Josef Schwartz, (USA); Hans Vrielink, (The Netherlands)
Membership
The Working Party has 52 members with representation from all 5 continents. In the reporting period, 14 new members were recruited.
Meetings and Teleconferences
Bi-monthly online meetings were held within the steering group. Our annual business meeting was held during the Barcelona 2024 ISBT Congress. Here, activities of the subcommittees were planned and monitored, workshops and budget, integration of the YPs into the work on the website, webinars and webpage, strategies for the acquisition of new members, of young professionals.
Activities during the period
- A Meeting of the Steering Committee was held at ISBT Central Office in Amsterdam in April 2024. Here, the Working Party´s annual work plan was established. The subgroup of apheresis was founded and is led by Nina Worel (Austria), Josef Schwartz (USA), Hans Vrielink (The Netherlands).
- During the International ISBT Congress in Barcelona in June 2024, Dr Thierry Burnouf, Recipient of the ISBT Presidential Award 2024 and Secretary of the Working Party reported on the activities towards standardization of Human Platelet Lysate. The annual business meeting of the WP was held, and the formation of the new apheresis workgroup was formally announced. The WP contributed to the Young Persons Breakfast Session, and several WP members were active as session chairs or speakers.
- The Working Party discussed positions towards Cellular Therapies and Biotherapies with the ISBT Standing Committee on Ethics.
- The subgroup on Human Platelet Lysate conducted a survey on the use of platelet concentrates for the production of Human Platelet Lysate starting in August 2024. The aims are to determine the current status and conditions of use, new standardization efforts and future challenges in manufacturing and regulations of Human Platelet Lysate.
- A webinar on the requirements and optimization of mononuclear cell collections as starting material for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) was held by the subgroup on apheresis and the educational officer of the Working Party in January 2025. The speakers were Dr Nina Worel from our Working Party and Dr Oleg Bobr from the University of Nebraska, USA.
- The Working Party contributed to the organization of Cellular Therapies Sessions during the 2025 ISBT Regional Congress in Milan, and several members contributed to abstract reviewing.
- A concept for collaboration with the Stem Cell Evidence Library with the CTWP was discussed, which shall be further developed during the Milan meeting.
- Mickey Koh continues to represent ISBT at the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (WBMT).
