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NYBC Welcomes New President / CEONEW YORK, Aug 10, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Dr. Christopher Hillyer, Internationally-Recognized Expert in Blood Banking, Transfusion Medicine, Research Christopher D. Hillyer, M.D., a leading expert in blood banking, transfusion medicine, hematology/oncology, and related research, will join New York Blood Center (NYBC) as its new President and CEO, effective September 1, 2009. Dr. Hillyer is currently the director of the Emory University Center for Transfusion and Cellular Therapies, and has served as a medical director of the American Red Cross. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090810/DC59412) "As one of the most significant non-profit organizations in greater New York, NYBC provides vital patient services, and groundbreaking research, to the 200 hospitals and the 20 million people we serve in the metropolitan area," said Board of Trustees Chairman Howard P. Milstein. "We've been looking for an outstanding leader in the tradition of Dr. Aaron Kellner, NYBC's founding president 45 years ago, to help lead us into our next phase of community service, innovation and excellence, and, in Dr. Christopher Hillyer, we have found just such a person. He possesses a unique mix of achievement, experience, vision, dedication and compassion and we are, therefore, delighted to be able to make this announcement." "New York Blood Center has a long and distinguished history of excellence in transfusion medicine, research and technological innovation - notably in umbilical cord blood banking and cellular therapies," said Dr. Hillyer. "It is an honor to have been chosen to take the helm of such an accomplished institution and to have the opportunity to lead the further growth of NYBC's commitment and service to greater New York and its hospitals and to the patients we serve both in our home area and around the world. I am most eager to work with NYBC's outstanding leadership, staff and investigators and with Mr. Milstein and the rest of the Board of Trustees. I am extremely enthusiastic about our future." About Christopher D. Hillyer, M.D. Dr. Hillyer, a tenured professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Winship Cancer Institute, and the Aflac Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, all at Emory University, was named the Distinguished Service Professor of Pathology, an endowed professorship in 2008. In these capacities, he served as director of the Emory Center for Transfusion and Cellular Therapies with responsibility for all aspects of clinical and academic transfusion medicine at Emory's seven principal hospitals. Dr. Hillyer's service as a medical director for the American Red Cross has been recognized with two Tiffany Awards for his work in advancing national blood transfusion service structure and function, both nationally and in Africa. Dr. Hillyer is chief editor of six textbooks in transfusion medicine, associate editor of the AABB Technical Manual 16th edition, and author of more than 100 articles pertaining to transfusion, blood donor characteristics, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), cytokines, and herpes viruses, most notably cytomegalovirus (CMV), as well as more than 40 book chapters. Dr. Hillyer also is a past-president, board of directors of AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks) and a former trustee of the National Blood Foundation (NBF). Dr. Hillyer has received wide recognition in blood banking, transfusion medicine and hematology, and has been awarded tens of millions of dollars in research and contract funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NBF and other agencies. He currently serves as program director and principal investigator of a program project grant entitled "Mechanisms and Interventions of Serious Hazards of Transfusion," and is also a principal investigator for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's (NHLBI) Transfusion Medicine/Hemostasis Network, and the nation's premier blood donor epidemiology study group, REDS-II, as well as several other R and T mechanism awards. His most recent research foci include improving participation by underrepresented minorities in blood donation programs, the molecular biology of the allo- and autoimmune responses to blood transfusion, massive transfusion for traumatic injuries, transfusion in regions hyperendemic for malaria, and the biology of CMV transmission in neonates. Internationally, Dr. Hillyer is a principal investigator of the AABB/Emory/ARC $12 million contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which provides technical assistance to five developing African nations under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In the past 10 years, Dr. Hillyer has served as chairman, or been a member of, many NIH Study Sections or Scientific Review Panels, holds 18 patents (or patents pending), and is a cofounder of Transfusion & Transplantation Technologies, Inc. (3Ti), a biotechnology venture involved in design, production and testing of automated immunohematology and transfusion medicine-related platforms. Dr. Hillyer is highly regarded as a speaker and has been asked to present to committees of the FDA, HHS, and other governmental bodies nationally and internationally. He is an associate editor of the journal TRANSFUSION and serves on several other editorial boards including the journal BLOOD. Dr. Hillyer is board certified in four specialty areas including transfusion medicine, hematology, medical oncology and internal medicine. He received his BS from Trinity College and his M.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, with postgraduate training and fellowships in hematology-oncology, transfusion medicine and bone marrow transplantation at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston. About NYBC New York Blood Center (NYBC) is one of the nation's largest non-profit, community-based blood centers. NYBC has been providing blood, transfusion products and services to almost 200 hospitals, serving 20 million people, in greater New York since 1964. NYBC is also home to the Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute and the National Cord Blood Program at the Howard P. Milstein National Cord Blood Center, the world's largest public cord blood bank. NYBC provides medical services and programs (Clinical, Transfusion, and Hemophilia Services) through our medical professionals and transfusion medicine physicians. Contact: Jim Fox Director of Corporate Communications [email protected] (212) 570.3136 [office/mobile] SOURCE New York Blood Center |