Meet Dr. Charles Drew, A Local Who Revolutionized Our Understanding of Blood Plasma

In honor of Black History Month, learn more about Dr. Charles Drew, the man with local roots who revolutionized our understanding of blood plasma. Ernie Kyger, Van Metre’s Resident Lifestyle Blogger and Diversity & Inclusion Council member, explores Dr. Drew’s history.

Key takeaways:

• Dr. Charles Drew revolutionized the understanding of plasma, the liquid portion of blood without cells. Plasma lasts much longer than whole blood, making it possible to be “banked” for long periods of time.
  
  
• Drew was an exceptional athlete, starring in football, baseball, basketball and track and field at Washington, D.C.’s, Dunbar High School.
  
  
• After becoming the first African-American to get his doctorate from Columbia University in 1940, Drew was the world’s leading authority on blood transfusions and storage, just as the United States and Great Britain were becoming deeply involved in World War II.
  
  
• His research established protocols on how blood should be collected and refrigerated, how donors should be recruited and screened, and training methods for people who would collect and test blood.
  
  
• As medical director of the American Red Cross National Blood Donor Service, Drew led the collection of tens of thousands of pints of blood for U.S. troops.
  
  
• The U.S. military ruled that the blood of African-Americans would be segregated and not used on white troops, although blood has no racial characteristics. Outraged, Drew resigned from the Red Cross and returned to Howard University as a professor and head of surgery at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.,