Publications & Presentations

This summer, Vice President of Scientific Affairs Marion Lanteri and former Chief Scientific Officer Phillip Williamson engaged with industry partners and collaborators to address emerging infectious disease (EID) risks, donor and patient safety, and the future of plasma-derived therapies at the International Plasma and Fractionation Association (IPFA) meeting in Bilbao, Spain. Dr. Lanteri serves as a member of the IPFA board and helped develop the scientific program.

She moderated a session on the importance of antibody content in plasma. Dr. Lanteri presented on the approach for preparedness to EID response, as well as the optimization of plasma products enriched in specific IgG for patient protection against current and future emerging or reemerging agents. Dr. Lanteri joined a panel discussion, where leaders in the blood and plasma industry discussed approaches to future EID surveillance and response. Later this summer, Dr. Lanteri joined the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. CTS leadership and contributions to conversations about how organizations prepare for new health threats, evaluate testing strategies, and protect the blood and plasma supply, is well aligned with our core mission.
 

IPFA Meeting Highlights

The meeting focused on preparedness: identifying risks earlier, responding faster, and making decisions grounded in the best available science. Speakers covered emerging pathogens, mosquito- and tick-borne diseases, hepatitis testing, genomic surveillance and new technologies for detecting infectious disease threats.

Speakers also emphasized the need to balance caution with practicality. Blood and plasma organizations must act when meaningful risks emerge but avoid unnecessary changes when science is still uncertain or the risk is low. For CTS, that balance matters because testing decisions can affect donors, workflows, regulatory expectations, and supply continuity. The IPFA Executive Board, of which Dr. Lanteri is a part, also visited the new LFB Plasma fractionation plant in Arras, France. (See photo.)

ISBT Congress Highlights

At ISBT, the discussion centered on how blood services can stay ahead of emerging risks while maintaining a stable supply. Presentations reinforced the need for geographically responsive surveillance, flexible donor screening strategies, and evidence-based policy decisions as threats such as dengue, chikungunya, Zika, Usutu, Japanese encephalitis, respiratory viruses, and malaria continue to evolve. A recurring takeaway was that blood safety, and supply continuity must be planned together. We must connect surveillance data, donor eligibility, testing approaches, inventory management and operational preparedness before a crisis occurs.

CTS contributed to five ISBT abstracts: one oral presentation and four posters. The work highlighted:

• how blood donation screening data can help monitor infectious disease marker incidence as donor policies evolve;
• how repeat blood donor cohorts and multiplex serology can support respiratory virus surveillance; and
• how HIV biomarker changes related to antiretroviral use may affect interpretation of donor screening results.

See below for the abstracts. Dr. Lanteri is also a member of the ISBT Transfusion Transmitted Infectious Diseases (TTID) working party, where members recently reviewed emerging viral threats, arbovirus preparedness, bacterial contamination mitigation, donor eligibility policy, and the use of AI for horizon scanning.

Together, the meetings underscored CTS’ role in the global effort to keep blood and plasma products safe, dependable and available. The conversations connected directly to CTS’ testing expertise, from emerging virus preparedness and assay development to donor-based surveillance and the evidence needed to guide future policy decisions.

CTS’ contribution to abstracts presented at ISBT
 

Oral PA28-L04. Incidence and residual risk of transfusion transmissible infections in U.S. blood donors: Comparison of FDA policies on 3-month deferral and individual donor assessment

E. Huseynova, E. Notari, G. Conti, S. Stramer, R. Dodd, B. Custer, R. Reik, B. Engel, M.C. Lanteri, H. Yang, B. Whitaker, B. Hailu and TTIMS collaborators

• Highlighted blood donation screening data as resources for monitoring of infectious disease marker incidence in the context of changing blood donor policies switching from group to individual donor-based assessment (IDA).
• Demonstrated repeat donor incidence remained stable and overall reactive rates under 1 per 1 million in IDA. However, there are concerns over increasing incidence for HIV and HBV in first time and overall, although based on small numbers of NAT-yield positive donations.

Poster 286. Analytical Performance Evaluation of a Multiplexed Serology Assay Designed to Support a Nationwide Repeat Blood Donor–Based Respiratory Virus Serosurveillance Program

M.C. Lanteri, E. Grebe, V. Green, M. Stone, C. Di Germanio, G. Sigal, S. Smith-Jeffcoat, J. Jones, M. Busch, M. Coughlin, CDC collaborators and RV-RDC investigators

• Validated a multiplex serology platform measuring antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, RSV, influenza, parainfluenza viruses, and human metapneumovirus.
• Demonstrated strong reproducibility and analytical performance supporting nationwide donor-based respiratory virus surveillance.

Poster P287. Development and Evaluation of Methods for Serologic Identification of Respiratory Virus Infections in Blood Donors

M. Stone, X. Deng, E. Grebe, H. Sulaeman, C. Di Germanio, M.C. Lanteri, V. Green, E. Grebe, L. Doukhan, H. Chu, A. Naleway, S. Smith-Jeffcoat, M. Busch, CDC collaborators and RV-RDC investigators collaborators

• Developed approaches to distinguish infection-derived and vaccine-derived antibody responses.
• Enabled repeat blood donations to be used for monitoring infection incidence, reinfection, and population immunity.

Poster P289. Surveillance of respiratory virus infections using surveys of a cohort of U.S. blood donors initiated in 2025

B.R. Spencer, J. Haynes, K. Zurita, R. Buccheri, H. Sulaeman, E. Grebe, B. Custer, M. Stone, R. Fink, E. Eisenhauer, A. Erciulescu, M.C. Lanteri, V. Green, E. Grebe, M. Busch, CDC collaborators and RV-RDC investigators

• Demonstrated feasibility of administering quarterly surveys to a large repeat-donor cohort, in addition to real-time antibody testing, for respiratory virus surveillance.
• Supported longitudinal assessment of infection, reinfection, vaccination responses, and correlates of protection.

Poster P462. Relationship between serological detection and antiretroviral use among HIV repeat reactive U.S. blood donors

E. Grebe, M. Stone, R. Reik, B. Engel, M.C. Lanteri, V. Green, B. Hailu, B. Whitaker, H. Yang, E. Notari, M. Busch, B. Custer and TTIMS collaborators

• Antiretroviral (ARV) use alters HIV biomarkers and may result in antibody (Ab) ‘seroreversion,’ potentially impacting detection of HIV infections in blood donation screening.

Assays used by large testing laboratories in the U.S. demonstrated robust ability to serologically detect HIV infection, likely because donors had started ARVs after seroconversion (Fiebig HIV stages III or later) and establishment of a viral reservoir.