New research publications: April 2026

Each month, our R.E.D. blog showcases the activities of our research and education network and the innovation and collaboration that drives our scientific community forward. Included in these activities are the peer-reviewed publications in academic journals that are a main avenue for researchers to share their scientific findings. With a focus on methodology and a rigorous review process prior to publication, these publications are recognized as credible and reliable sources of scientific information.

This blog – part of a recurring monthly recap – provides an overview of the latest research publications that have been authored by Canadian Blood Services staff scientists in discovery, development, medical microbiology and donation policy & studies; adjunct scientists; medical experts and trainees; and/or resulting from supported projects or partnerships.

Visit blood.ca to learn more about Our Research Team and to search our full publication database (updated annually).

By the numbers

For the month of April, we are reporting a total of 13 peer-reviewed research articles. Beginning April 1, 2026, the categories used in this section have been modified to better align with our research network’s current focus areas:

Discovery (6): These papers describe blood’s biological characteristics and storage implications by investigating a variety of conditions, including lung cancer, diabetes, coronary artery disease, blood clots, and sickle cell trait.

Medical microbiology (1): This paper describes the development process for a simple, scalable, in house blood test to detect a tick borne infection (Anaplasma phagocytophilum) in blood samples.

Other (6): These publications include observational studies, surveys, implementation analyses, a systematic review, and a retrospective analysis undertaken by members of the international Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion Collaborative (BEST).

Where we published

Our research appeared in 6 journals, including Journal of Biochemical Chemistry, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, and Transfusion.

Figure 1: Total April publications represented by the publishing journals’ H-index number, where the chart area corresponds to each H-index value in descending order.

Spotlight on select publications

• An in-house nucleic acid test for detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in whole blood donor samples.

  “Tick-borne illnesses like those caused by the parasite Babesia and the intracellular bacterium Anaplasma are transmitted by Ixodes ticks and can be transfusion-transmitted. The geographic distribution of Ixodes tick populations has expanded into new regions in Canada driven in large part by climate change. Consequently, following a risk-based decision-making process, a multi-year nucleic acid testing (NAT) surveillance program was initiated in 2024 to assess the potential impact of Babesia and other tick-borne pathogens on the blood supply.

  We developed a simple and scalable protocol for the extraction and detection of Anaplasma nucleic acids in whole blood samples. Early estimates suggest that the developed protocol would be capable of detecting clinically relevant levels in blood donors.”

  Dr. Dilini Kumaran, Canadian Blood Services research associate, medical microbiology

• Glycemic control and blood product quality of Canadian blood donors with diabetes.  

  "As Canadian Blood Services was one of the first blood centres to remove insulin-based deferral criteria, our team was uniquely positioned to leverage existing resources – including de-identified donor records and routine expiry quality control data – to provide empirical evidence to the global transfusion community on “what’s in the bag” of blood products from donors with diabetes. This study was a highly collaborative effort initiated by Dr. Dana Devine, bringing together national testing laboratories, information technology teams, Canadian Blood Services medical director Dr. Mindy Goldman, and research groups in Vancouver and Alberta.

  We found that nearly half of donors with diabetes had suboptimal glycemic control at the time of donation. We also observed modest differences in product quality at expiry, including higher hemolysis in red cell concentrates and lower pH in apheresis platelet concentrates from donors with type 2 diabetes. However, these effects were small and do not support additional donor deferral criteria. Building on this work, we conducted a deeper in vitro characterization of blood products from donors with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, with results to be submitted for publication in the coming month – stay tuned!"

  Elyn Rowe, Phd candidate, Centre for Blood Research (CBR)

Our April publications list

This list includes any articles published this month, as well as those that have been e-collected or e-published on PubMed that have not previously appeared in our monthly publications list*.

• Clinical significance of anti-M in pregnancy and self-reported ancestry: The BEST collaborative study.
  Lu W, Ziman A, Yin C, Yan MTS, Virk MS, Dilly Stephens L, Raval JS, Radwi G, Morrison D, Marrero-Rivera G, Ly J, Juskewitch JE, Ikeda K, Hasan RA, Hands K, El Malti S, Eichbaum QG, Duncan J, Covello T, Clarke G, Chang S, Brancamp RL, Bakhtary S, Badawi M, Au N, AlMozain N, Shan H; Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion Collaborative. Transfusion. 2026 Apr 6. doi: 10.1111/trf.70210. PMID: 41937612

• LL-37-ApoB-100 Complex Serves as a Biomarker of Coronary Artery Disease.
  Fang Y, Zhang Z, Cao Q, Li Y, Duan Y, Meng P, Duan Z, Wang G, Gao J, Hua M, Huang B, Zhou T, Zhang H, Kong F, Zhang Y, Li M, Ma ZS, Li Y, Wang Z, Cheng R, Lu Q, Ni H, Lai R. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2026 Apr 9. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.125.323486. PMID: 41953980

• An in-house nucleic acid test for detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in whole blood donor samples.
  Kumaran D, Charlton C, Pambrun C, Drews SJ, Ramirez-Arcos S. Transfusion. 2026 Apr 13. doi: 10.1111/trf.70194. PMID: 41968968

• Diagnostic Utility of Immunofixation and Free Light Chain Assay in AL Amyloidosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
  Azzam M, Hamarsha Q, Kawtharany H, Nazzal J, Alkhader A, Khraise T, AlMasri MM, Abou Zeid HK, Alwan I, Jaber N, Seftel MD, Aguirre MA, Boedicker D, Bumma N, Carroll AS, Comenzo R, Cook J, Dasgupta NR, De La Torre A, Dispenzieri A, Jamal F, Khouri J, Picken MM, Raza S, Leung N, Sanchorawala V, Sarswat N, Shaikh H, Singh D, Kukreti V, Mustafa RA. Blood Adv. 2026 Apr 14:bloodadvances.2025019530. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2025019530. PMID: 41979328

• Lower efficacy of transfusion of red blood cells from donors with sickle cell trait.
  Dzieciatkowska M, Stephenson D, Hay A, Wang X, Keele GR, Nemkov T, Deng X, Stone M, Hansen KC, Kleinman S, Norris PJ, Busch MP, Page GP, Spitalnik SL, Roubinian N, Zimring JC, Thein SL, D'Alessandro A. Hemasphere. 2026 Apr 14;10(4):e70360. doi: 10.1002/hem3.70360. PMID: 41987905

• Glycemic control and blood product quality of Canadian blood donors with diabetes.
  Rowe EM, Shew M, Ali-Mohamad N, Phan C, Goldman M, Acker JP, Devine DV, Johnson JD. Transfusion. 2026 Apr 16. doi: 10.1111/trf.70223. PMID: 41988799

• Vein-to-vein data: what predicts platelet response?
  Relke N, Cook RJ, Arnold DM. Blood Adv. 2026 Apr 28;10(8):2646-2647. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2025019441.PMID: 41990200

• Improved red blood cell storage quality of blood from donors carrying the hypermorphic PIMT I120 variant.
  Bevers S, Issaian AV, Hay A, Keele GR, Dzieciatkowska M, Reisz JA, Haiman ZB, Nemkov T, Stephenson D, Moore AL, Deng X, Stone M, Hansen KC, Kleinman S, Norris PJ, Busch MP, Palsson BO, Roubinian NH, Janetzko J, Vӧgeli B, Page GP, Jones DN, Henen MA, Eisenmesser EZ, Zimring JC, D'Alessandro A. Hemasphere. 2026 Apr 16;10(4):e70361. doi: 10.1002/hem3.70361. PMID: 42007445

• CD47 promotes mitogen-activated protein kinase and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition molecular programs to drive prometastatic phenotypes in non-small cell lung cancer.
  Lau APY, Zhai LG, Hoshi R, Rousseau Z, Zakhary A, Wu YF, Saleeb RM, Ni H, Thu KL. Mol Oncol. 2026 Apr 20. doi: 10.1002/1878-0261.70237. 42007973

• Assessment of implementation of ferritin testing on donor return.
  Goldman M, Wang C, Khandelwal A, O'Brien SF. Transfusion. 2026 Apr 21. doi: 10.1111/trf.70236. PMID: 42015462

• Residual risk of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C, and hepatitis B following implementation of sexual risk behavior-based screening in Canada.
  Wang C, Drews SJ, Goldman M, O'Brien SF. Transfusion. 2026 Apr 23. doi: 10.1111/trf.70244. PMID: 4202367

• Red blood cell transfusion thresholds in acute leukemia: Current practice and physician perspectives from a national survey. 
  Modi D, Houston BL, Leber B, Jamula E, Heddle N, Hillis C, Zeller MP, Berg T, Arnold DM. Transfusion. 2026 Apr 24. doi: 10.1111/trf.70202. PMID: 42032976

• Platelet CLEC-2 activation leads to GPIb⍺ shedding: implications for doxorubicin chemotherapy and thrombosis.
  Rousseau Z, Ma W, Long T, Slavkovic S, Qiu X, Lao X, Wu XG, Joshi K, Zhu YA, Zhu G, Thu KL, Ni H. J Biol Chem. 2026 Apr 27:113074. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2026.113074. PMID: 42055323

*Items in this list are identified using a process that relies on the PubMed database. While we aim to capture all relevant research articles, limitations in database indexing and search parameters may occasionally cause articles to be missed. If you are the author of an article that you believe has been missed from this monthly list, or have recently published an article that you think may be possible to include in an upcoming post, we encourage you to contact us at centreforinnovation@blood.ca to inquire.

We are proud of the remarkable work being done across Canadian Blood Services’ network. Stay tuned for more blog posts as we continue to advance scientific discovery and innovation for the Canadian blood system.

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.