NJ Association of Blood Bank Professionals

The New Jersey Association of Blood Bank Professionals (NJABBP) is a non-profit organization composed of dedicated individuals and institutions devoted to providing education and a forum for Blood Banking discussion.

The NJABBP Mission – Advancing Transfusion Medicine

Our mission is to influence blood banking and transfusion medicine in New Jersey and our neighboring states to promote high quality, safe, cost effective blood transfusion practices through education and other efforts. The organization works to bring together individuals who are interested in Blood Banking to effect positive change. These individual members are interested in the scientific, medical, technical, recruitment and collection aspects of the blood banking industry and transfusion medicine.

The History of NJABBP

NJABBP started as the New Jersey Society of Blood Bank Professionals (NJSBBP) and was established in February 2000. The organization stemmed from a group of interested, dedicated blood bank supervisors and managers under the guidance of a medical director, Dr. Mercy Kuriyan. The group met several times to describe and put to paper what the mission of the organization would be and what goals the organization would pursue. The Society filled a gap. There was not a statewide organization that represented the blood banking industry from the community to the hospital blood banks, to blood centers and industry partners.

The parent organization NJSBBP, has underneath its umbrella other similar organizations, one of which is the New Jersey Blood Bank Task Force (NJBBTF) which addresses state and local regulations and laws that affect the blood banking industry. NJBBTF utilizes lobbying efforts to positively affect policies that impact the industry, either on the donor collection side or the regulations. NJBBTF looks for ways to bring the community Blood Centers together on projects that they can work on jointly such as donor recruitment and donor awareness. The organization has been very successful in working closely with the NJ State Department of Health on several initiatives affecting donor recruitment. The goal here is to have New Jersey be self-sufficient in its needs for blood for the people of the state.

Another arm of NJSBBP is the New Jersey Blood Bank Supervisors (NJBBS) group which has as its members all of the supervisors and managers of the area hospitals They come together along with the Blood Bank Task Force and NJSBBP organizations to provide a forum to educate and offer opportunity for continuing education for the blood bank supervisors throughout the state.

The first meeting of the NJSBBP was held on February 17, 2000. The first board of trustees shall consist of three trustees : Dr. Mercy Kuriyan, Susan Kusic, and Antoinette Rinella. The goal of the organization was to bring together all facets of blood banking and bring the separate organizations together under one united front. The organization offers a forum in which the membership can voice their opinions and take interest in statewide blood banking initiatives. At the first meeting, the Officers of the organization were voted on. The Board members consisted of interested members that would take an active role in moving the blood banking forum forward in the state and working with the state Department of Health and the blood banking industry partners. The Chairperson then named the volunteer trustees as follows: Dae Un Kim, MD,  Marge Remington, MT (ASCP), Rao Andavalou, MD, David Schoenleber, MT (ASCP) SBB, William Sherwood, MD, Tina Ilao, MS, and Eileen MacNamee, RN.