Dr. Michael P. Busch First Response Fund

ISBT is excited to share that the Vitalant Foundation has established the Dr. Michael P. Busch First Response Fund, honouring the ISBT past President's groundbreaking work. Michael Busch was President of ISBT from 2022 - 2024, ISBT Presidential Award Winner in 2018, and is Vice President, Research & Scientific Programs at Vitalant, Director Emeritus at Vitalant Research Institute and Professor of Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He is is one of the world’s leading transfusion medicine scientists, well-regarded for his ground-breaking work in such transfusion-transmitted diseases as HIV, HBV, HCV, HTLV and West Nile virus and protection of the nation’s blood supply from these and other emerging pathogens including ZIKV and SARS-CoV-2.

Vitalant recently announced that the Vitalant Foundation has launched a $1 million fundraising campaign to advance innovative research, accelerate scientific collaboration, and to invest in and mentor the next generation of transfusion science leaders. The campaign hopes to hit its $1 million campaign goal by July 2026 which will coincide with Dr. Busch’s 40-year anniversary with Vitalant and VRI.