Many life-saving treatments in hematology depend on removing blood cells or their precursors from one person then reinfusing them back into another person, or the same individual after alteration. In some cases, this product can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars because a complex manipulation must be done for each person. In other cases, a compatible donor is very rare or nonexistent. This session will focus on universal donor solutions in hematology. The three talks will span the field of hematology, from cellular immunotherapy to hematopoietic cell transplantation to red cells and platelets for transfusion. Making effective hematologic therapies available to more people requires universal donors to increase access.

Dr Gay Crooks will discuss a range of innovative approaches to cellular immunotherapy, including gene editing and stem cell engineering, that are focused on the next critical phase for the field: the production of universal, off-the-shelf cellular immunotherapies with targeted and consistent potency, that are rapidly available and effective for all patients.

Dr. Bronwen Shaw will discuss the recent innovations which have significantly expanded the possibility of identifying a donor for every patient requiring an allogeneic stem cell transplant. Advances in graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis, novel pre-transplant conditioning, tissue typing technologies and donor availability have addressed previous barriers and disparities in access.

Dr. Stella Chou will discuss the progress and challenges of generating induced pluripotent stem cell-derived universal platelet or red cell products, as well as customized cells lacking specific antigens to benefit patients with rare blood types. Her talk will review where the field stands on manufacturing clinically relevant cell numbers and achieving the same functionality as donor-derived blood products.