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What next for Dr Chloë George and her PhD project?

In September 2024 Dr Chloë George qualified as a Consultant Clinical Scientist, the first in transfusion medicine at the Welsh Blood Service.

 

Her project looked at platelet metabolism in cold-stored environments and compared that to platelets stored at standard room temperature.

Platelets need energy to perform their function in the body and the idea was to see whether when they are stored at cold temperatures, the platelets go into a form of stasis where they are not using much energy which could facilitate longer storage periods.

This research was performed with platelets from apheresis donors, and corroborated research done by others around the world – bio-energetic profiles didn’t show significant difference between cold-stored and room temperature stored platelets when taken from one donor, despite other metabolic markers suggesting that the cold slowed metabolism.

The next step is to test cold-stored pooled platelets using combined platelets from four donors which is the usual process for manufacturing platelet donations.

It is hoped that in the future the WBS will head up a clinical trial to test the use of cold-stored platelets in the pre-hospital environment in collaboration with the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Services (EMRTS).

 

“The clinical trial is a really exciting progression for the project – this would be the first clinical trial for the Welsh Blood Service and the first for cold-stored platelets in pre-hospital setting in the world.

“We are still at least 18 months away from being ready for a clinical trial as we gain funding, ethics approval, and all the other processes that go with setting up a trial.”

 

Chloe George

As well as continuing on with her research role, Chloë has a clinical role within the organisation providing clinical patient advice alongside medical colleagues and taking part in the medical on call rota.

“I have been a scientist at WBS for 23 years and when working in the labs I didn’t often get to see the effect the work we do has on the patient side, which is one of the things I love about my current post.

“Being in the position to give clinical advice for complex transfusion cases across Wales, advising on cross matching and compatible blood really brings home how life saving blood donation is.

“My future ambitions are to continue to consolidate my clinical knowledge and to grow the Component Development Research Lab – after six years I think I can say I am definitely done with studying for now!”