Inequities in transfusion

26 Oct 2025

This ANZSBT / ISBT Symposium was held on October 26, 2025, during the 36th Regional ISBT Congress in Perth, Australia.

The Inequities in transfusion symposium included the following presentations:

1.Yuyun Maryuningsih: Global inequities in blood supply and safety
2. Marion Vermeulen: Blood transfusion safety in Africa
3. Martin Smid: Delivering blood everywhere

Moderators: Jenny White, Thierry Burnouf

Did you know? You can jump to any presentation by clicking the “Chapters” icon (three horizontal lines) within the video player.

Find below the complete congress programme (pdf) and the link to the Perth congress abstracts, which were published in Vox Sanguinis.

Perth programme book

Perth abstract book

Yuyun Maryuningsih

Scientist, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland

Yuyun Maryuningsih

Scientist, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland

Marion Vermeulen

ISBT Regional Director Africa, Individual Member Representative at the ISBT TTID WP, Executive, Transfusion Medicine and Technical Services, South African National Blood Service (SANBS)

Marion Vermeulen

ISBT Regional Director Africa, Individual Member Representative at the ISBT TTID WP, Executive, Transfusion Medicine and Technical Services, South African National Blood Service (SANBS)

ISBT Regional Director Africa (2024-2028)

Marion Vermeulen is the Executive: Transfusion Medicine and Technical Services at the South African National Blood service (SANBS). She has worked for most of her 35 years in Transfusion Transmissible Infections. Her current role consists of the development of the SANBS strategy with direct responsibility for the donation screening, processing, crossmatching, issuing, transportation and logistics of 1 million donations per annum. She obtained her PhD from Stellenbosch University in advancements of transfusion safety with regards to Transfusion Transmissible Infections (TTI). She is an active member of the international society for blood transfusion (ISBT) TTID working party and is the chairperson of the I TRY IT program that provides mentorship to young early career researchers through the ISBT.

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Martin Smid

ISBT Treasurer, Global Blood Safety Working Party Treasurer, Managing Director, Sanquin Consulting Services, The Netherlands

Martin Smid

ISBT Treasurer, Global Blood Safety Working Party Treasurer, Managing Director, Sanquin Consulting Services, The Netherlands

Martin Smid, MD Medicine, PhD, MBA, has more than 25 years’ experience in blood bank management, transfusion medicine and coagulation. He is managing director of Sanquin Consulting Services and director of the Academic Institute IDTM. He has been a member of the ISBT WP Global Blood Safety from the start in 2010 and was chair from 2018 till 2023. In essence, the WP develops solutions for the low resource environment with already available knowledge. The stepwise access to safe plasma products initiative is a good example. Martin’s main responsibilities include international cooperation and knowledge sharing in international projects and the Management of Transfusion Medicine programme at the Graduate School of Medical Science of the University of Groningen. He has over 60 publications, mainly in the area of blood products and transfusion medicine. In 2024 he was awarded the AATM excellence award.

The Moderators

Jenny White

Executive Director, ISBT

Jenny White

Executive Director, ISBT

Jenny has a background in biomedical science and worked both in the English National Blood Service and as a hospital transfusion laboratory manager before specialising in External Quality Assessment (EQA). Jenny’s work with the UK EQA scheme (UK NEQAS), most recently as Director, has given her a great opportunity to get involved in many different aspects of transfusion medicine and leadership both within and outside of the UK.

Thierry Burnouf

Cellular Therapies Treasurer, Vice-Dean, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan

Thierry Burnouf

Cellular Therapies Treasurer, Vice-Dean, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan

Thierry Burnouf, PhD, is Vice-Dean, Professor, and Director of the International PhD Program in Biomedical Engineering at Taipei Medical University, Taiwan. He previously served as Director of Research and Development and Production at the Regional Blood Transfusion Center in Lille, France, and as Scientific Director at LFB (Laboratoire Français du Fractionnement et des Biotechnologies).

He has played a key role in the development and industrial implementation of plasma fractionation technologies and viral inactivation and removal procedures, supporting both domestic and contract plasma fractionation programs worldwide. Dr Burnouf has acted as a WHO consultant and temporary advisor, contributing to major international guidelines on viral safety, GMP in blood establishments, and plasma fractionation.

He is a member of ISBT Working Parties on Cellular Therapies and Global Blood Safety and has authored over 230 scientific publications. His current research focuses on bioengineering virally-safe platelet growth factor preparations and extracellular vesicles for regenerative medicine and cell therapy.

Thierry Burnouf received the ISBT Presidential Award in 2024.

Inequities in transfusion

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