Chairperson and committee
Executive committee members:
Co-chairs: Christoph Gassner (Austria) and Catherine Hyland (Australia)
Vice-Chair: Nicole Thornton (UK)
Secretary: Margaret Keller (USA)
Treasurer: Thierry Peyrard (France)
ISBT Board Liaison: Jill Storry (Sweden)
Cell-free (cf)DNA Subgroup: Frederik Banch Clausen (Denmark)
WP member appointments:
Education officers: Vanja Crew (UK) and Peter Ligthart (The Netherlands)
Invited guests: Young professionals: Nysa McGowan (Sweden/Australia) and Gloria Wu (Sweden/Taiwan)
ISBT supported role: Co-ordinator / Curator: Harry Obergasser (Austria)
Membership
The RCI & BGT working party currently comprises 29 members representing 14 countries.
In June 2023 our long serving member, Dr Connie Westhoff, announced that she would be stepping down from the Working Party, transitioning into retirement. At a zoom business meeting held in November, members thanked Connie for her contributions to the Working Party. Connie’s wealth of knowledge, wisdom and guidance after serving on the Working Party for over 15 years is missed.
We have been pleased to welcome younger members representing ISBT Young Professionals to our Business meetings. The last year also saw the appointment of members into the developing roles of Educational Officers.
Meetings and Teleconferences
Business Meetings
Two formal business meetings were held in the last year. The first was a hybrid ‘face to face’ and zoom meeting held at the ISBT congress in Gothenburg, Sweden on 17th June 2023. This was remarkable as the first ‘in person’ meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 26 members attended, including 7 on zoom, as well as 16 guests. The second business meeting was a virtual meeting held on the 17th November 2023, the seventh virtual zoom meeting since COVID, attended by 23 members and 16 guests.
One new blood group system and four new antigens were acknowledged and registered at the Gothenburg meeting after extensive scientific review and discussion. The new blood group system was designated ISBT 045 or CD36. The four new antigens were assigned to four different blood group systems (KEL, RHAG, KN or Knops, and LU or Lutheran). At the zoom meeting the molecular (i.e. genetic) basis for a red cell antigen first reported in the 1960s was presented resulting in the antigen moving from the Collection series (i.e. unresolved) into the blood group system called CTL2 and numbered ISBT039.
Following these two meetings the ISBT now registers 45 blood group systems with a total of 362 antigens, arising from 1800 allelic (genetic) variants in respective blood group antigen and allele tables. Both business meetings discussed the ongoing responsibilities of the 29 WP members and the ISBT Co-ordinator and Curator in maintaining and curating these antigens and the increasingly complex number of alleles in the respective Tables on the ISBT Web Site.
Both business meetings heard updates from the cell-free DNA subgroup and special projects, particularly that related to the development of the Blood Group Allele Database.
Other meetings
A genomic workshop was also held at the ISBT congress in Gothenburg which, though not a decision-making body, permitted discussions on a range of topics including blood group nomenclature and the impact of improved genomic technologies on blood group assignments.
All other meetings have been virtual. The Executive meetings are held, on average, a quarterly basis and at present include discussions relating to the development of the Blood Group Allele Database. In addition, small subgroups have met to discuss the allele tables for specific blood groups (examples are Knops, P1Pk and Lewis). The Co-chairs continue with informal WhatsApp discussions on about a fortnightly basis.
Activities during the period
Cell-free DNA subgroup
Working party members Frederik Banch Clausen and Åsa Hellberg ran the 5th International Meeting on Cell-Free DNA in Copenhagen, May 2023. The outcomes of this meeting were then presented and discussed at the cfDNA Subgroup meeting at the ISBT Meeting in Gothenburg, in June 2023. The Cell-free DNA Subgroup will next meet at the face-to-face at the ISBT Congress in Barcelona.
Management of the ISBT Blood Group Tables for Systems, Antigens and Alleles.
The RCI&BGT Working Party is responsible for preparing and curating blood group tables which appear on the ISBT web site. These Table(s) capture all blood group allelic variants that impact on blood group antigen expression and therefore have a potential clinical significance. A thank you to all members for their ongoing commitment and a special thank you and call out to our ISBT supported co-ordinator and curator, Harry Obergasser, who works tirelessly co-ordinating and managing these uploads.
Blood Group Allele Database (BGDB) Project
This project was formed to manage the increasing complexity inherit in blood group diversity. The BGDB project will see all the tables, currently in fixed pdf format, on the ISBT web site transition to an electronic format. The project involved developing specifications for the BGDB after which a formal tender and review process was conducted independently through the ISBT office on behalf of the ISBT Board. The development of the database was awarded to Bloodomics Ltd. and a contract drawn up between Bloodomics Ltd and the ISBT. We acknowledge the co-ordinator and curator, Harry, who contributed significantly to the specifications and is preparing for the validation which will involve all members of the WP over the next 12 months.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to all the staff at the ISBT office for their support and to all member of the working party and to the co-ordinator and curator.
