SBB Project ideas

[heathervaught]

I was almost certain that someone out there has made this request before, but after many searches, I am unable to find a thread...so here it goes.

I am a SBB student in need of a project. I had a perfect project -- I was going to paralell some research that had already been done (by G. Moroff) and expose platelets to 18 degree temperatures for up to 24 hours and study theeffects on in vivo markers after 7 days (Moroff's work only covered 5-day platelets). I thought it was a slam dunk...until the PASSPORT study was suspended...so maybe it was more like a Mike Vanderjagt field goal, where you think that something is a sure thing, only to shank it 30 yards to the right.

So it was back to the drawing board, and I was able to come up with another idea with my med director about determining HLA phenotypes on male donors with high titers of non-specific anti-HLA antibodies and determining if there were any antigens of higher frequency than that of the normal population and if the antigen had any known disease associations...but that one turned out to be too $$$$.

So I'm back to the drawing board (again), and I was wondering if anyone had any other good SBB project ideas. Thanks for your input!

Heather

[OPUS104]

I'm afraid I don't have any ideas....but had to tell you how much I LOVED the "Vanderjagt" comment! GO COLTS! Went to UT with Peyton.....good luck!

[Mabel Adams]

I keep hoping someone will test thawed FFP (and its varied cousins) after 30 min at Rm Temp. for factors and bacterial contamination rates so we know whether we really need to use the same issue/return rules for it.

[jhaig]

My senior research project was on differentiation of megakaryocytes in rodent bone marrow, but unless you've got some rats handy, you're out of luck.:cool:

Great Vande-jerk reference. That playoff shank couldn't have happened to a better person.

What about something like a family genetic study? Maybe drawing a family's blood and phenotyping them out, a family tree-type thing?

Here's some projects I'd like to see myself:

1) What STAT really means

2) How nurses got so much smarter that blood bankers

3) Who financed the pyramids (obscure 80's comic reference - bonus points to whoever knows where it came from)

[CarolK]

In the past, there have been some studies of FDA licensed anti-Ds vs. different Rh variants and weak Ds. Now that Alba has several anti-Ds on the market and Biotest is about to have a couple of more licensed by the FDA, you might want to do a new study on the comparison of these new products with the products already on the market. I'm sure the vendors would give you the reagents, you would just need to have access to some good D antigen examples.

[Mary]

I would also be interested in these results. There are a lot of Anti-D reagents out there now.

[Mabel Adams]

Wally Flegal at the Rh site in Germany is a very nice person and might be able to help you find D antigen variants.

I think it is still the "Rh site" online.