Clinical Research Units

Research Group on Blood Transfusion

Unit Presentation

The GRTS was created in 2009 through a 3-years FRSQ grant (Research program in Transfusion Medicine, Transplantation and Biovigilance–Risks and Clinical Benefits of Blood Product Transfusions in Pediatrics). The grant has just been renewed until 2014 under the title “Risks and Benefits of Blood Transfusion”. As part of this grant renewal, the group has expanded its research to children and adults. The GRTS brings together multidisciplinary experts and researchers from Quebec in collaboration with experts from various backgrounds from Canada and the USA. This research group is particularly important because it includes representatives from various government agencies interested in research on blood products administered to children and adults: Héma-Québec (Quebec), Canadian Blood Services – CBS (Canada) and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute – NHLBI of the National Institutes of Health – NIH (USA).

Over the next three years, the GRTS will continue to undertake a wide variety of projects all interconnected by topics such as age of red blood cell units, allergies and transfusion reactions, EBV infection, the goal-directed red blood cell transfusion therapy, post-transfusion survival, epidemiology of blood transfusion, knowledge transfer and anthropology of transfusion.

The research projects managed by the GRTS will improve current knowledge on blood products and will impact future transfusion practices.

The group works in collaboration with the Clinical Research Group - Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (CRG-PICU).

Co-Investigators

  • ALFIERI, Carolina
  • BEAUNOYER, Mona
  • CAMPBELL, Helen
  • DECARY, Francine
  • DOCTOR, Alan
  • EMERIAUD, Guillaume
  • GREEN, Robert
  • HARRINGTON, Karen
  • HUME, Heather
  • KARAM, Oliver
  • MCINTYRE, LauraLyn
  • PASTORE, Yves
  • RIVARD, Georges-Étienne
  • SPINELLA, Philip
  • THIBAULT, Louis
  • TINMOUTH, Alan
  • TURGEON, Alexis
  • BARDIAUX, Laurent
  • CALLUM, Jeannie
  • CAPELLIER, Gilles
  • DELAGE, Gilles
  • DUVAL, Michel
  • FERGUSSON, Dean
  • GUIDET, Bertrand
  • HÉBERT, Paul
  • JOUVET, Philippe
  • MENUM, Kusum
  • NORRIS, Phillip
  • POPOVSKY Mark
  • ROBITAILLE, Nancy
  • STANWORTH, Simon
  • TIBERGHIEN, Pierre
  • TOLEDANO, Baruch
  • WALSH, Timothy

Affiliations

Membership and collaboration

Joannie Blanchette, BSc Pharmacology, MSc Pharmaceutical Sciences
Clinical Research Assistant
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 6343

Pascal J. Brabant, RN
Clinical Research Consultant (Monitoring)
Tel.: 514-531-3936

Elena Caraman
Senior Research Clerk
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 3873

Lucy Clayton, BSc Microbiology, MSc Microbiology
Project Leader
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 6343

Thierry Ducruet, MSc Biostatistics
Statistician
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 7241

Mariana Dumitrascu, foreign MD (Romania)
Clinical Research Assistant
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 6648

Isabelle Grisoni, Graduate Nurse (France)
Clinical Research Assistant
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 2760

Liliana Gomez Cardona, MSc Anthropology
PhD student in Anthropology

Jeannette Hernandez
Research Administrative Assistant
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 4133

Patrice Hernet, Eng PhD
Information Systems Consultant

Abbas Kerim-Dikeni, foreign MD (Serbia)
Project Manager
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 6343

Noémie Loron-Nguyen Ngoc, foreign MD (France)
Research Assistant
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 4132

Caroline Proulx-Clerc, graduate nurse (Switzerland)
Clinical Research Assistant
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 2760

Nicole Poitras, BSc Biology, DAP (graduate degree in public administration)
Senior Project Manager, Team Leader
Tel.: 514-345-4931, Ext. 2157

Ferima Sanogo, BSc Biology, MSc Health Administration
Clinical Research Assistant
Tel.:514-345-4931, Ext. 2760

Maggy Wassef, MSc Health Technology
Research Assistant

Fellows and students

  • Pierre Demaret
  • Geneviève Dupont-Thibodeau
  • Catherine Latour (résidente en hémato avec le Dr Vincent Laroche)
  • Émilie Lefebvre
  • Gauthier Loron
  • Niina Kleiber
  • Justine Rouette

Significant clinical research publications

1. Tucci M, Lacroix J, Gauvin F, Toledano B, Robitaille N. Transfusion medicine. In: Wheeler DS, Wong HR, Shanley TP, eds. Pediatric critical care medicine: Basic science and clinical evidence. 2nd edition. London: Springer-Verlag 2012:in press.

2. Demaret P, Tucci M, Ducruet Th, Lacroix J – Epidemiology and determinants of red blood cell transfusions in pediatric intensive care. 41st Congress of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA, February 2012 (Accepté).

3. Tucci M, McIntyre L, Fergusson D, Tinmouth A, Hébert P, Lacroix J. Red blood cell transfusion in the intensive care unit. Critical Care Rounds 2011;8(2):1-8.

4. Lacroix J, Hébert PC, Fergusson D, Tinmouth A, Blajchman MA, Callum J, Cook D, Marshall J, McIntyre L, Turgeon A, for the ABLE study group, and the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. The age of blood evaluation (ABLE) randomized controlled trial: Study design. Transfusion Medicine Reviews 2011;25:197-205

5. Leach Bennett J, Blajchman MA, Delage G, Fearon M, Devine D. Proceedings of a consensus conference: risk-based decision making for blood safety. Transfus Med Rev. 2011 Oct;25(4):267-92. Epub 2011 Jul 16

6. Toledano B, Tucci M, Lacroix J. Red cell transfusion in pediatric cardiac patients: fact and fallacies. Pediatr Crit Care Med 2011;12:107-8

7. Robillard P, Delage G, Itaj NK, Goldman M. Use of hemovigilance data to evaluate the effectiveness of diversion and bacterial detection. Transfusion 2011 Jul;51(7):1405-11.

8. Lacroix J, Tucci M. Impact clinique de la durée de conservation des globules rouges avant transfusion (Clinical impact of length of storage before red blood cell transfusion). Transfusion Clinique et Biologique 2011; 18 : 97–105.

9. Katsios C, Griffith L, Lacroix J, Crowther M, Hebert P, Meade M, Rabbat C, Geerts W, Guyatt G,Cook DJ. Red blood cell transfusion and increased length of storage are not associated with deep vein thrombosis in medical-surgical critically ill patients. Crit Care 2011;15:R263

10. Karam O, Tucci M, Ducruet T, Hume H, Lacroix J, Gauvin F, for the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group and the PALISI Network. Red blood cell transfusion thresholds in pediatric septic patients. Pediatr Crit Care Med 2011;12(5):512-518.

11. Gauvin F, Spinella PC, Lacroix J, Choker G, Ducruet T, Karam O, Hébert PC, Hutchison JS, Hume HA, Tucci M, on behalf of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group and the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI) Network. Association between length of storage of transfused red blood cells and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in pediatric intensive care patients. Transfusion 2010 Sep;50(9):1902-13.

12. Karam O, Tucci M, Bateman ST, Ducruet T, Spinella PC, Randolph AG, Lacroix J, for the PALISI Network. Association between length of storage of red blood cell units and outcome of critically ill children. Crit Care 2010;14:R57

13. Willems A, Harrington K, Lacroix J, Biarent D, Joffe A, Wensley D, Hébert PC, Tucci M on behalf of the TRIPICU investigators, for the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group and the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI) Network. Optimal red-cell transfusion strategy after pediatric cardiac surgery. Crit Care Med 2010;38(2):649-56.

14. Rouette J, Trottier H, Ducruet T, Beaunoyer M, Lacroix J, Tucci M. Red blood cell transfusion threshold in post-surgical pediatric intensive care patients: a randomized clinical trial. Ann Surg 2010; 251:421-7

15. Spinella PC, Dressler A, Tucci, M, Carroll CL, Rosen, RS, Hume HH, Sloan S, Lacroix J. Survey of transfusion policies at US and Canadian children’s hospitals in 2008 and 2009. Transfusion 2010;50:2328-35

16. Gauvin F, Spinella P, Lacroix J, Choker G, Toledano B, Hébert PC, Tucci M on behalf of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group and the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators Network. Association between length of red blood cell storage and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in pediatric intensive care. Transfusion 2010; 50:1902-1913.

17. Robitaille N, Delage G, Long A, Thibault L, Robillard P. Allergic transfusion reactions from blood components donated by IgA-deficient donors with and without anti-IgA: A comparative retrospective study. Vox Sanguinis 2010;99(2):136-141

18. Robitaille N, Delage G, Long A, Thibault L, Robillard P. Allergic transfusion reactions from blood components donated by IgA-deficient donors with and without anti-IgA: A comparative retrospective study. Vox Sang. 2010;99, 136-141

19. Lacroix J, Trottier H, Tucci M. Transfuser ou ne pas transfuser : Un choix déterminant pour les enfants hospitalisés en service de soins intensifs. [Improving use of red-cell transfusion in pediatric intensive care units] Médecine/Sciences 2009; 25 (11): 963-965.

20. Lacroix J, Tucci M. A review of the TRIPICU study and clinical implications. Minerva Anestesiologica 2009;75(Suppl 1)(7-8):791-3.

21. Karam O, Tucci M, Toledano BJ, Robitaille N, Cousineau J, Thibault L, Lacroix J, Le Deist F. Length of storage and in vitro immunomodulation induced by prestorage leukoreduced red blood cells. Transfusion. 2009 Nov;49(11):2326-34. Epub 2009 Jul 17.PMID: 19624600

22. Robillard P. Editorial. Transfusion Today 2009;80:3-4.

23. Robillard P. International haemovigilance networks. Transfusion Today 2009;80:4-5.

24. Traore AN, Delage G, McCombie N, Robillard P, Heddle NM, Hyson C, Goldman M. Clinical and laboratory practices in investigation of suspected transfusion-transmitted bacterial infection: a survey of Canadian hospitals. Vox Sang. 2009;96, 157-159.

25. Wiersum JC, Robillard P. Haemovigilance in recipients: definitions for international surveillance. Transfusion Today 2009;80:8-9.

26. Bateman ST, Lacroix J, Boven K, Forbes P, Barton R, Thomas NJ, Jacobs B, Markovitz B, Goldstein B, Hanson JH, Li HA, Randolph AG. Anemia, blood loss, and blood transfusions in North American children in the intensive care unit. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2008; 178:26-33.

27. Delage G, Goldman M, Heddle N, McCombie N, Robillard P, for the Public Health Agency of Canada. Guideline for investigation of suspected transfusion transmitted bacterial contamination. CCDR 2008;34S1:1-8.

28. Gauvin F, Champagne MA, Robillard P, Le Cruguel JP, Lapointe H, Hume H. Long-term survival rate of pediatric patients after blood transfusion. Transfusion 2008; 48:801-8.

29. Lacroix J, Hébert PC, Hutchison JS, Hume HA, Tucci M, Ducruet T, Gauvin F, Collet JP, Toledano B, Robillard P, Joffe A, Biarent D, Meert K, Peters MJ. Transfusion Requirements in Pediatric Intensive Care Units - A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Noninferiority Clinical Trials. for the Canadian Critical Care Trials Groups and the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI) Network. N Engl J Med 2007;356:1609-19.

30. Gauvin F, Lacroix J, Robillard P, Lapointe H, Hume H. Acute transfusion reactions in the pediatric intensive care unit. Transfusion 2006;46:1899-908.

31. Armano R, Gauvin F, Ducruet T, Lacroix J. Determinants of red blood cell transfusions in a pediatric critical care unit: a prospective, descriptive epidemiological study. Crit Care Med 2005;33:2637-44.

32. Robillard J, Gauvin F, Molinaro G, Leduc L, Adam A, Rivard GE. The syndrome of amniotic fluid embolism: a potential contribution of bradykinin. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2005;193:1508-12.

33. Desmet L, Lacroix J. Transfusion in pediatrics. Crit Care Clin 2004;20:299-311.

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Updated on 6/14/2016
Created on 8/8/2014
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