BLOODSAFE 2026 Symposium | 17 June 2026

This symposium, hosted at UCL, aims to share some of the research on blood availability taking place in Africa. It brings together a wide consortium of actors including academics, industry, national blood services and research funders to chart future pathways in global blood transfusion.

Afternoon Symposium

12:00 Attendee check-in opens

13:00 – Welcome
Prof. Meghan Delaney
Chief, Division of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Children’s National Hospital
Professor of Pathology and Pediatrics, George Washington University

13:20 – Charting the Future for Global Health: The NHLBI Perspective
Dr. Makeda Williams
NHLBI Global Health Senior Program Director

13:35 – Iron Supplementation and Nutritional Counseling Interventions to Improve Availability and Safety of Blood in Ghana
Prof. Yonne Dei-Adomakoh
Associate Professor of Haematology and Acting Dean, University of Ghana Medical School

14:00 – Community-Based Communication Interventions for Increasing the Blood Donor Pool in Ghana
Prof. Lucy Asamoah-Akuoko
Director, Research, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department, National Blood Service Ghana

14:25 – Enhancing Blood Donation Rates at Schools and Beyond Using the Club 25 Blood Donor Programme in Malawi: An Implementation Science Study
Dr. Bridon M’baya
Medical Director, Malawi Blood Transfusion Service

14:50 – Break

15:10 – Developing, Implementing and Evaluating Effective Community–Facility Interactions to Improve Blood Availability and Transfusion in Three Distinct County Settings in Kenya
Dr. Pratap Kumar
Associate Professor of Digital Health Policy, UCL Global Business School of Health

15:40 – An International Repeated Cross-Sectional Observational Study of Blood Donation in Sub-Saharan Africa
Prof. Meghan Delaney
Professor of Pathology and Pediatrics, George Washington University

16:00 – Expert Panel Discussion: Reflections and Thoughts for the Future
Several speakers

16:45 – Closing Remarks

17:00 – 18:30 Reception

Draft agenda – subject to change.