Kathy Waldman Washington, DC
Kathy Waldman has more than 31 years of experience in support of the Red Cross blood program. She was named Senior Vice President, Quality & Regulatory Affairs for Biomedical Services in August, 2010 and served in this capacity until her successor took over in January 2017. After demonstrating five years of sustained compliance, the Red Cross vacated the FDA Consent Decree under Kathy’s leadership of Q&RA. Kathy is now serving as Senior Vice President, Special Projects until her planned retirement at the end of 2017.
Prior to her role as SVP, Q&RA, Kathy served the Red Cross in various capacities. She began her Red Cross career in January 1985 in Information Technology (IT), providing support to blood regions and their use of the standard blood establishment computer system. After five years in IT, Kathy moved to Biomedical Services to support the interface between testing instrumentation and the various blood applications still in place. Kathy was a key member of the team that established the national testing laboratories (NTLs) between 1992 and 1995, and led the group that provided support to the nine NTLs initially established.
From 1998 through 2000, Kathy served as the senior project director in establishing the first nucleic acid testing laboratory (NAT) for HIV and HCV in the Red Cross, where testing began in March 1999. For this accomplishment, Kathy was one of four industry leaders who were recognized by America’s Blood Centers as recipients of the 2000 Laboratory Public Service National Leadership Award.
She was promoted to VP, Quality Systems & Compliance Improvement in late July, 2001 and held various positions within Quality and Compliance before her appointment as SVP.