ICCBBA Board of Directors

MD from Odense University (1981). Specialist in clinical immunology (1990) after training in Aalborg Hospital and State University Hospital (Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet). Assistant Medical Director (1991), later Medical Director (2001), Department of Clinical Immunology, Odense University Hospital. Former secretary, treasurer and chairman of the Danish Society for Clinical Immunology. Current Chairman of this Society’s Working Group on Transfusion Medicine. Editor of the Danish Transfusion Medicine Standards. Chairman of the Organisation of Transfusion Centres in Denmark. Member of the Board of the European Blood Alliance. Former member of the ISBT WPADP. Former chairman, current member of MEETAG. Member of ICCBBA’s Editorial Board. Member of Board of ICCBBA.

Carter BloodCare’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Merlyn H. Sayers, is a physician with 25 years experience in blood banking and transfusion medicine. 

He was born in Reading, Berkshire, England, and received his medical degree and Ph.D. from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in 1978. 

He held position of President and Chief Executive Officer at Carter BloodCare in Dallas/Fort Worth/Waco since its formation in 1998. 

Before coming to Texas, Dr. Sayers spent 15 years in Seattle with the Puget Sound Blood Center where he was also on the faculty at the University of Washington in the Department of Medicine. 

He has previously held positions of Chairman of the Food and Drug Administration’s Blood Products Advisory Committee, Vice Chairman of the Washington State Board of Health, committee member on the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability, and Vice Chairman of the American Association of Blood Bank’s Scientific Section Coordinating Committee. 

Richard E. Brown has spent over 35 years in the clinical laboratory, blood banking, and executive administration positions.  He is a retired US Army Colonel who started his career operating and managing military hospital laboratories in small hospitals to Army Medical Centers including the largest US military medical center in Europe.  He specialized in blood banking and had an extensive career technically and administratively directing blood collection first in hospitals and medical centers and then for the entire US Army Medical Department.  He became the Army Blood Program Manager responsible for the collection and transfusion of blood and blood products Army wide.  He was the Alternate Responsible Head for the US Army FDA license, setting up the compliance structure in place 10 years later. He served as blood banking consultant to the US Army Surgeon General for nearly 6 years.  In his final military assignment he directed the individual training of all Army Medical Laboratory Technicians (MLT), Pharmacy Technicians and Radiology Technicians.  He was recruited by the American Red Cross to restructure their manufacturing operation in Atlanta, GA and then went on to their Los Angeles region.  He helped design, build, commission, and place into operation the largest blood processing laboratory at that time in the American Red Cross system.  He served as Vice President for Global Laboratory Operations at StemCyte Inc., an umbilical cord blood stem cell bank.

Deirdre Fehily is a biologist who has worked in the field of blood and tissue banking since 1987.  She recently developed, and now leads, the Italian National Transplant Centre's (CNT) program of inspection of tissue and cell establishments. In parallel, she is technical co-ordinator of a European Commission funded project (EUSTITE), led by CNT, which aims to harmonise the inspection and surveillance activities of EU Member States in the field of tissue and cell banking.

Prior to moving to Italy in 2003, she was Head of Tissue Services for the English National Blood Service.  She has held positions such as President of the British Association of Tissue Banks, Vice-President of the European Association of Tissue Banks, Member of the UK Blood Services Standing Advisory Committee on Tissue Banking (SACTB) and Standing Advisory Committee on Information Technology (SACIT).  She has represented the UK and Italy at various expert and regulatory committee meetings related to the development and implementation of the EU Directives on Tissues and Cells and has provided technical support to the WHO in the definition of minimal global requirements for tissues and cells for transplantation and to EU-funded training programs in Spain, Slovakia and Poland.

Suzanne Butch, MA, MT(ASCP) SBB

USA

Ms. Butch is the Administrative Manager of the Blood Bank and Transfusion Service of the University of Michigan Hospitals in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree from Central Michigan University.  She is certified as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist and Laboratory Director from the NCA, as a Medical Technologist and a Specialist in Blood Banking from the ASCP and as a Certified Quality Auditor from the American Society for Quality.

She has been active in state, national and international professional societies and edited books on irradiation and information technology in transfusion medicine.  She currently serves as a member of the  AABB Coding and Reimbursement Committee, the AABB Annual Meeting Program Unit, and as chair of the Management Examination Committee of the National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel. She has served as a member and advisor to the CLSI Committee on Automation and on the US Technical Advisory Group for ISO/TC 212 and ISO/TC 76.

Dr. Faten Moftah is currently the Director General for the National Blood Transfusion Services, Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) in Egypt since 1999.  Not only is she the Director General, she also sits as the Chairperson on the Board of Directors.  She is a member of ICCBBA’s Middle East and European Technical Advisory Group (MEETAG) and the International Society for Blood Transfusion (ISBT), where she served as the Regional Director from 2002 to 2006.

Ineke C.M. Slaper-Cortenbach is the Director of both the Gene and Cell Therapy Facility and the Stem Cell Transplantation Laboratory at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) in the Netherlands. She has nearly 25 years of experience as laboratory director of a stem cell transplantation lab and her current focus is on Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and translational research.

At the UMC Utrecht, she works closely with investigators and clinicians from different divisions in the Regenerative Medicine Program. 

She has been involved in several professional organizations and has served as the president and vice-president of JACIE (Joint Accreditation Committee of ISCT and EBMT).

Her present activities include:

• Co-chair of the FACT/JACIE processing standards committee
• Representative for ISCT in AHCTA (Alliance for Harmonisation of Cellular Therapy Accreditation)
• Regional vice president-elect for ISCT in Europe
• Member of the Board of ISCT-Europe
• Chair of the ISCT European Legal and Regulatory Affairs Committee
• Editor of the journal Cytotherapy
• Chair of the scientific committee of the second ISCT-Europe regional meeting (Belgirate 2010)
• Co-chair of the scientific committee of the annual ISCT-meeting in 2011

Since 2009, she has been a member of the Expert Group on Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products of the Medicines Evaluation Board (CBG) in the Netherlands. She is also the current chair of the International Cellular Therapy Coding and Labeling Advisory Group.

Graduated from National University of Singapore in 1982 with an M.B.,B.S. degree. Obtained Master of Science degree in Medical Immunology from the University of London, followed by Membership of the Royal College of Pathologists, UK in 1993, and Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists in 2001. Accreditated by the UK General Medical Council Specialist  Register in the Speciality of Immunology, and Certificate of Specialist Accreditation, Ministry of Health, Singapore in the Speciality of Pathology. Awarded the Singapore National Day Honours Public Administration Medal  (Silver) in 2008.

 Appointed Director, Centre for Transfusion Medicine, Health Sciences Authority (HSA) since January 2003, and the Group Director, Blood Services Group, HSA since August 2008.  Chairman of the HSA Professional Board since January 2009. The Blood Services Group is the national blood service in Singapore, and is AABB-accredited in blood banking and transfusion medicine and ASHI accredited in tissue typing. The Blood Services Group is also a WHO Collaborating Centre for Transfusion Medicine. Other relevant appointments include the Ministry of Health Specialist Training Committee for Haematology, President of the Singapore Society of Haematology from 2002 to 2004,  Member of the Board of Directors (Asia-Pacific Region Director) for International Society of Blood Transfusion, Vice Chair of the Asia Pacific Blood Network, Member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel for Transfusion Medicine, and Member of the Board of Directors for ICCBBA.  

Main interests within Transfusion Medicine include organizational and quality systems in blood transfusion services, blood safety, and global development in transfusion medicine.

Qualified in Medicine from Bristol University UK (1973) and specialized in clinical hematology (Royal Free, Hillingdon & Hammersmith Hospitals). Worked in Transfusion Medicine and as Consultant Specialist for Tissue Services for the National Health Service Blood & Transplant (NHSBT) from 1993.  Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians MRCP 1977, FRCP 1997 & Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists MRCPath 1980,  FRCPath 1992.  Immediate past President of the European Association of Tissue Banks (2007-2009), past President of British Association for Tissue Banking (2006-8), Chairman EC CEN ISSS Workshop on Coding & Traceability of Tissues & Cells (2007-8). Has had national & international experience in policy setting  such as the founder Chair of the  National Institute for Biological Standards & Controls /UK Blood Services Tissues Advisory Committee for Tissues and Haemopoietic Stem Cells (1995-2001), Consultant for the Council of Europe Expert Group on Organs Tissues & Cells (1999- 2001) & advisory roles for the English Department of Health Transplant Policy Unit & Human Tissue Authority.  She has over 100 published papers, edited volumes including lead editor of a multinational book in Tissue Donation (published 2009), chapters, and letters

Diane Wilson is the Chief Operating Officer of Community Tissue Services.  Diane has more than 20 years experience in Tissue Banking.  She has held numerous positions in the American Association of Tissue Banks “AATB” (Board of Governors, Chair of the Standards Committee, Accreditation Inspector, Chair of the Membership Committee, and Chair of the Tissue Bank Council). She is the President for the American Association of Tissue Banks. She also served as a Member of the Committee for the Coalition on Donation.  She has been an educator for the AATB Certified Tissue Bank Specialist Training Course for the past 10 years.  She is a member of the American Association of Tissue Banks, the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses, The Ohio Transplant Recovery Council, The American Association of Operating Room Nurses, and American Association of Blood Banks. 

Diane Wilson is currently a board member of ICCBBA, a Board Member of Life Connection of Ohio, a Board Member of Mid-South Tissue Bank, and is the Chairman of the Board for Joint Restoration Foundation, Inc.  She is a Registered Nurse and holds an Associate of Science in Nursing degree from Everett Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Phoenix.