By Anna Razatos
For blood centers, navigating the fast-changing worlds of healthcare regulation, industry developments and fluctuations in donor base – never mind unexpected events such as a global pandemic – is a massive challenge. That's why our
Blood Center Solutions (BCS) scientific marketing team can be such a valuable partner.
Our BCS scientific marketing team has worked closely with blood donation centers as well as industry leaders to create exceptional value for everyone involved, including (and especially) patients.
And in one instance highlighted below, we even worked with our partners to update an FDA guidance document to overcome operational challenges.
To better understand our scientific marketing approach, our communications team sat down for a brief conversation with our Senior Manager in Global Scientific Marketing, Anna Razatos.
Q: What is scientific marketing at Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies?
The Blood Center Solutions (BCS) scientific marketing team serves as a liaison between Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies and the greater scientific community in transfusion medicine. We are responsible for collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to drive evidence supporting the development, promotion and adoption of BCS value-based solutions.
Q: Describe typical ways you support customers and the industry as a whole.
Our overall goal is to provide scientific support to both internal and external stakeholders, who can then pass that value along to their customers, caregivers and patients.
To achieve this, we generate evidence and publish real-world experiences in collaboration with users of our devices, which helps the industry better understand their value and impact. This information can then help our customers create an optimal user experience for donors and caregivers.
We also develop, organize and participate in internal and external educational programs, and we regularly interface with international scientific groups, key opinion leaders (KOLs) and working parties to advance transfusion medicine, regulatory policy and patient care.
Q: Can you highlight an experience that illustrates the long-term value your team provides?
One exciting experience was working with industry partners to include large-volume delayed sampling (LVDS) in the FDA bacterial guidance document on bacterial mitigation strategies. The original guidance included only pathogen reduction and point-of-issue testing, both of which had operational challenges. We were instrumental in rallying the industry to include LVDS as a third option in the FDA guidance document. It took several years to accomplish, but this is a perfect example of how our scientific marketing team was able to identify a market need and partner with industry leaders to drive regulatory change.
Q: You recently authored an article for the journal Transfusion and Apheresis Science titled "Using automation to manage donor engagement and fine-tune supply and demand during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic." Can you summarize your findings?
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the global blood supply was already struggling to meet transfusion needs for patients around the world. Even countries successful in keeping up with the demand for blood products were profoundly impacted.
Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center in the United States implemented strategic changes in blood product collection and donor recruitment with the primary goal of maintaining blood donor engagement. Specifically, they used focus lists through the Vista Information System to centrally control collections on the Trima Accel® Automated Blood Collection System. They were able to maintain donor appointments and engagement but collect only what was needed. Through these changes, the blood center increased donation frequency while balancing blood product supply with demand.
The strategies used by Gulf Coast may in turn be beneficial to blood centers across the globe that continue to struggle with donor engagement and maintaining blood supplies.
Access the article
here.
Access the Transfusion download
here.
Next: Customer Personas and Journey, a look at the work of Pan Phyu, Director of Donor Experience, Canadian Blood Services
Disclaimer: The Vista Information System and Trima Accel System are available in select markets.
BIO:
Anna Razatos has been with Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies for over 18 years and is currently Senior Manager, Global Scientific Marketing, supporting the Blood Center Solutions business. She is responsible for external and internal education, as well as strategy around evidence generation, unmet clinical needs and publication planning. Previously she was Senior Clinical Scientist responsible for execution of clinical trials that brought new products to the U.S. market, including platelet additive solution and plasma frozen within 24 hours. She has authored several manuscripts and more recently is a contributor to the 20th AABB Technical Manual. Prior to joining the company, Anna was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Arizona State University. Her research focused on bacterial adhesion, biofilm formation and colloidal interactions.
For more information on BCS Scientific Marketing, please use the contact email below for Anna Razatos, Senior Manager, Global Scientific Marketing, and Marcia Cardoso, Senior Manager, Global Scientific Marketing.