EBA Board Meeting: Cardiff

Book your hotel now!

The EBA will hold its 39th EBA Board meeting in Cardiff, Wales on 6 and 7 April 2017. We will provide you with more information on logistics in January, but rooms can now be booked via a dedicated website and attendance can be confirmed via this link (Surveymonkey).

Detection of prions in the plasma

The development of a blood-screening assay for both symptomatic vCJD patients and asymptomatic carriers is urgently required. A new publication shows that a diagnostic assay combining plasminogen-bead capture and protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technologies consistently detected minute amounts of abnormal prion protein from French and British vCJD cases in the required femtomolar range.

Science Translational Medicine article

HTA Consultation

The EC has brought to EBA's attention an ongoing public consultation on health technology assessment (HTA). While the focus mainly on HTA at EU level, it is not just meant to cover pharmaceuticals or medical devices. HTA can be performed also for other technologies such as medical and surgical interventions (more information). This is a good occasion to put the spotlight on the effectiveness and usually very positive cost/benefit ratio of transplant therapies with substances of human origin. Input to the public consultation can be provided until 13 January 2017.

Consultation HTA

Article: plasma as strategic resource

In a recent article, Paul Strengers (IPFA) and Harvey Klein debate that plasma should be considered a strategic resource. This article substantiates EBA's position as written in the position paper on self-sufficiency.

Article Transfusion on Plasma

Workshop: Plasma for Fractionation

A last reminder to register for a spot at the Plasmapheresis Workshop! The final programme [PDF, 550kB] is now ready as well. Details:
Date: 7/8 February at Sanquin Blood Supply, Amsterdam
Costs: participation fee €150 | Hotel is set at €145.

EBA Research Grant

EBA Executives and Board annually consider the funding of research or projects not covered by other grants available which improve EBA members’ performance or improve blood, tissues and cells safety. For this, EBA has developed a template for submitting projects. The closing date for submission is June 1st. Download the template and submit your proposal for the Executive's consideration!

Template for funding (EBAse)

New leadership team IPFA

The International Plasma Fractionation Association has unanimously elected Rob van Tuyle (CEO, Blood Source) as its President. The other Executives are: Mr Christian Béchon (Chairman and CEO, LFB, France); Vice President (Europe); Dr Peter Flanagan (Medical Director, New Zealand Blood Service, New Zealand), Vice President (Asia); Mr Benjamin Méry (Managing Director, CAF-DCF, Belgium), Treasurer.

Join an ABO Working Group

New EBA members are invited for the DERG (Donor Engagement and Relations Group) and the CIO (Chief Information Officers) Working Group. For the DERG, the group is looking for high-level managers in the field of donor relations to contribute and liaise with this group on EBA's behalf. And in light of recent events with data security, the CIO Working Group was revived. Any EBA member that would want a representative on the group can contact the EBA Office. The Executive will decide on the nominations.

CIOMS Guidelines

To coincide with release of the revised ethical guidelines from the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences, this article is being published in JAMA Online First. Kari Aranko, EBA Executive Director explains on EBAse the most significant changes of this version.

Changes in CIOMS Guidelines (EBAse)

New Director Blood Bank Sanquin

Daphne Thijssen-Timmer (1975) has been appointed as member of the Board of Directors of Sanquin. She will succeed Jeroen de Wit and will be responsible for the Blood Bank and Tissues and Cells, but will for now also remain Managing Director of the tissue bank BISLIFE.

Calender of Events

2017
January
10-11 | PLUS Conference | Estoril, Portugal

February
2 | EBA Executive Teleconference
7-8 | Benchmarking Workshop "Plasma Collection for Fractionation" | Amsterdam, the Netherlands | Register via email
10-11 | DoHeCa Consortium Meeting | Amsterdam, the Netherlands

March
2-3 | Technological, regulatory and organizational tools to produce plasma for fractionation” | IPFA Asia Workshop on Plasma quality and supply |Yogyakarta, Indonesia
22-24 | Appropriate use of Blood Components | NIBTS | Belfast, Northern-Ireland | Save-the-Date | Programme | Information

April
6-7 | EBA Board meeting | Cardiff, Wales
20-21 | Sanquin Spring Seminar | Amsterdam, the Netherlands

May
16-17 | IPFA/PEI 24^th International Workshop on "Surveillance and Screening of Blood-borne Pathogens" | Zagreb, Croatia

June
17-21 | 27th Regional ISBT Congress | Copenhagen, Denmark

September
11-12 | IPFA/BCA 3^rd Global Symposium | Global need for PDMP's | Atlanta, GA, USA
28-29 | EBA Board meeting, Pistoia, Italy

2018
April
12-13 | EBA Board meeting, Helsinki, Finland