The Chair in Transfusion Medicine
Héma-Québec Foundation – Bayer at the University of Montréal

Increasingly, blood products are used in medicine and surgery for treatment in major areas, including transplants, heart surgery, hematology-oncology and in the delivery of emergency services. Although physicians do acquire knowledge in these fields during the course of their studies, there are few or no specific teaching programs on the optimal use of labile and stable blood products in Québec universities. It is essential that a new generation of doctors be efficiently trained in the use of blood products in scientific, clinical and economic terms. In a joint effort involving Héma-Québec and its Foundation, the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), its Foundation and other partners, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montréal has agreed to develop such a program.

The Chair in Transfusion Medicine allows for both the training of young doctors and the development of a research program focused on gaining a better understanding of how blood products work, thereby resulting in a better use of these products.

The teaching and research programs target the following objectives:

• To define the specific indications for the different labile and stable blood products in various clinical contexts;
• To define the optimal use of transfusions;
• To reduce the infectious and immunological complications related to transfusions;
• To optimize the overall use of this resource through the dissemination of knowledge based on meaningful data.

The Chair in Transfusion Medicine is truly an innovative project. In short, it aims to make a breakthrough for the greater benefit of patients. For this reason, the Héma-Québec Foundation proposed a partnership with Bayer Inc. in order to carry out this major project with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montréal and the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal.