Charles R. Drew
Built the science and logistics of blood banking
At a glance
- Inventor
- Charles R. Drew
- Life
- 1904–1950
- Birthplace
- Washington, D.C.
- Country
- United States
- Region
- United States
- Era
- 1900–1950
- Fields
- Medicine & Health
- Evidence
- Documented
- Records
- 1 in this archive
What they did
Drew's 1940 Columbia doctoral thesis, 'Banked Blood', established how plasma could be preserved and distributed; he then directed the Blood for Britain programme and the first American Red Cross blood bank.
Historical context
Whole blood spoiled within days. Wartime demand made large-scale, shippable, storable supply an urgent problem.
Obstacles
Drew publicly objected to the military's policy of segregating blood by donor race, which had no scientific basis, and left the Red Cross programme.
The legacy
Modern blood banking, plasma processing and mobile collection descend from his protocols.
The evidence
The Charles R. Drew Papers
Primary recordCharles R. Drew, 'Banked Blood' (doctoral thesis, 1940)
Institutional record
Documentation strength
- 2
- Sources
- 1
- Primary
- 2
- Publishers
Calculated from the sources actually attached to this record — the closer a source sits to the original document, the more it counts. It is never asserted by hand.