Countdown to CSTM 2025: A young investigator’s perspective

The Canadian Society for Transfusion Medicine (CSTM) annual conference, held in partnership with Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec, is taking place May 29 – June 1 in St. John's, Newfoundland. Each year, the CSTM conference provides opportunity for health-care professionals and researchers in transfusion medicine to share knowledge, learn about recent advancements in transfusion medicine, and connect with colleagues.

In lead-up to the event, we invited members of our research and education network to submit blogs previewing their contributions to CSTM 2025. This blog was prepared by Dimpy Modi, a trainee member of Canadian Blood Services’ research and education network.

How will you be contributing to CSTM 2025?

I will be presenting an oral presentation at CSTM titled “The Association Between Anemia and Bleeding in Thrombocytopenic Patients with a Hematological Malignancy” at 3:30pm on May 30th. This is a sub-study of the PREPAReS trial, which compared pathogen-reduced and untreated platelets and assessed its impact on bleeding outcomes in patients with hematological malignancies.

The study had found no significant difference between the two blood products in bleeding outcomes, and so we considered the daily hemoglobin levels and bleeding assessments as a good reflection of natural outcomes. This patient population has a heightened risk of bleeding, due to their low hemoglobin levels, platelet counts, and their chemotherapy treatment.

The objective of this sub-study was to determine the association between severe anemia and the risk of major bleeding. Future research stemming from these findings will inform red blood cell transfusion guidelines to manage anemia and bleeding in patients with hematological malignancies.

What key takeaways do you hope attendees learn from your presentation?

This study provides hypothesis-generating evidence suggesting that maintaining a higher hemoglobin level may mitigate bleeding events and should be evaluated in prospective transfusion trials.

What are you most looking forward to about attending the conference this year?

I am looking forward to sharing a component of my graduate thesis work as an oral presentation to the transfusion medicine community. As a young investigator, this conference is an excellent networking opportunity to meet colleagues from across Canada and foster new collaborations.

Is there a particular CSTM 2025 presentation, workshop or session that you are most interested in?

I am most excited to attend the “AI applications in the Transfusion Medicine World” talk and learn about applications ranging from minimizing blood wastage and lab on a chip and multiplex biosensors. I’m interested in learning about how transfusion medicine researchers can leverage this exciting new technology and address existing gaps, optimize blood product usage, and improve clinical outcomes.

We are excited to see the contributions of emerging researchers like Dimpy Modi at CSTM 2025, and to explore the many ways transfusion medicine continues to evolve through innovation and collaboration.

The theme for CSTM 2025 is “No lab is an island”. Visit the CSTM website for more information about the conference and follow along with #cstm_scmt as it unfolds in May! 

Canadian Blood Services – Driving world-class innovation 

Through discovery, development and applied research, Canadian Blood Services drives world-class innovation in blood transfusion, cellular therapy and transplantation—bringing clarity and insight to an increasingly complex healthcare future. Our dedicated research team and extended network of partners engage in exploratory and applied research to create new knowledge, inform and enhance best practices, contribute to the development of new services and technologies, and build capacity through training and collaboration. Find out more about our research impact.

The opinions reflected in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Canadian Blood Services nor do they reflect the views of Health Canada or any other funding agency.