Speakers

International Speakers

Abiy Belay Ambaye

Mr Abiy Belay Ambaye is a National Consultant for Blood Safety at the Ethiopian Blood and Tissue Bank Service with the WHO country office in Ethiopia. He also serves as the Africa Representative and Chair of the Young Professionals Council (YPC) of the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT). He holds an MSc degree in Clinical Laboratory Science, specializing in Laboratory Management and Quality Assurance, from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. Additionally, he has completed the AABB Cellular Therapies Certificate Program in collaboration with George Washington University. Abiy is dedicated to promoting voluntary blood donation and ensuring equitable access to safe blood and blood products. His expertise spans strengthening quality management systems, implementing advanced technologies, enhancing information systems across blood banks, improving monitoring and evaluation, and advancing good manufacturing practices in blood banks. He has played a key role in the launch of the Blood Establishment Computer System in Ethiopia’s national blood service and supporting the strengthening of the Quality Management System toward accreditation. He is also committed to making blood safety an integral part of the public health agenda, advocating for policies that promote equitable access to safe blood and blood products. Through these efforts, he envisions a future where blood and biotherapies are universally accessible, ensuring that no patient is left without the life-saving resources they need, both across the continent and globally.

Brian Custer

Dr Brian Custer is the Director of Vitalant Research Institute in San Francisco, a Senior Vice President of Research and Scientific Programs at Vitalant, and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at UCSF. He holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and PhD in Health Outcomes Research from the University of Washington in Seattle. He is the chair of the ISBT Transfusion Transmitted Infectious Diseases Working Party, and member of several AABB committees. He is a principal investigator of several US NHLBI and FDA-funded national and international research studies and has authored over 250 publications.

Martin Olsson

Prof Martin L. Olsson received his M.D. in 1991 and Ph.D. in 1997 from Lund University in Sweden where he is a Professor and Senior Consultant in Transfusion Medicine. He has was a Visiting Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School in 2003-2008 and served as Vice and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University in 2018-2023. He is Medical Director of the Nordic Reference Laboratory in Lund since 2001. His main clinical and research interest is the molecular genetics of blood groups and their functional roles in health and disease. He and his team have laid the foundation for the establishment of six new blood group systems so far – GLOB, FORS, VEL, SID, MAM and CD36 (from 2004 to 2024). Currently, Prof. Olsson’s research focuses on improving our understanding of the role of the red cell surface in hemolysis, hematopoiesis and hemostasis. In the latter two innovative projects, his team investigates the role of blood groups as regulators of human erythropoiesis and explores a more active role of red cells in clot formation than previously appreciated. A particularly interesting such interaction is the discovery of two novel families of bacterial enzymes which were applied to create ABO-universal red blood cells for transfusion in 2007. This resulted in clinical trials and revelation of novel atypical ABO-related blood group antigens, respectively. In a breakthrough paper published in 2024, a cocktail of exoglycosidases from mucolytic gut microbiota was shown to improve signifi-cantly the compatibility of ABO-universal blood. Prof. Olsson has published >180 peer-reviewed articles and >300 peer-reviewed congress abstracts. He is a co-author of the popular Blood Group Antigen FactsBook. His numerous awards include prestigious prizes from the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT), Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (formally known as American Association of Blood Banks, AABB), the British Blood Transfusion Society (BBTS), the Fernström foundation and many others. He is a Wallenberg Clinical Scholar (2016-2026) selected by the Royal Academy of Sciences in Sweden. He was President of ISBT from 2018 to 2020 and is currently the President of the Swedish Society of Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine.

Alton Russell

Prof W. Alton Russell, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the McGill School of Population and Global Health. His research aims to inform policies that improve the efficient, effective, and equitable use of finite healthcare resources using methods from statistics, machine learning, and simulation modelling. In collaboration with blood collectors in several countries, including South Africa, his work has informed policies around blood donor iron management, prevention of transfusion-transmitted infections, and conducting population health surveillance using blood donor samples. His research has been published in journals such as Transfusion, Annals of Internal Medicine, and The Lancet Haematology. Before joining McGill, Dr. Russell studied Industrial Engineering and Public Health at North Carolina State University (BS), Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University (MS and PhD), and completed a postdoc at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Technology Assessment and Harvard Medical School.

Graham Sher

Graham is the Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Blood Services, the agency charged with managing Canada's national blood, plasma, stem cell, and organs and tissues programs in all provinces and territories across Canada, excluding Quebec. He has been with Canadian Blood Services since it began operations in September 1998, when he joined as its first Vice President Medical, Scientific & Clinical Management. He was appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer in June 2001. In this capacity, Graham continues to lead Canadian Blood Services through an extensive, multiyear Transformation journey which has seen the organization diversify its product and service offerings, drive innovation and knowledge creation, and pursue a relentless strategy focused on business excellence and value creation. Graham is a recognized expert in transfusion medicine and science, is widely published in this field and regularly sought after as a speaker nationally and internationally. He sits on several blood system and health care related advisory bodies and has provided consulting support to other countries in the transformation of their blood systems. Graham is a founding member and the current Chair of the Alliance of Blood Operators. He was the first international director on the Board of the AABB and served as its president in 2013-14. He served on the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) board from 2012-22, serving as Chair from 2016-22. He sits on the C.D Howe Institute’s Health Policy Council. Beyond blood system governance, Graham has a passion for health system design, management and governance, health system transformation, and is active in several areas of health system performance improvement. He also has achieved Director’s Certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In September 2015, Graham was named as one of the 20 most powerful physicians and medical leaders in Canada. He received the AABB President’s award in 2018 and again in 2022. Graham was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in December 2021 and was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) (honoris causa) from the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine in May 2024. Graham is constantly struggling to find more time for his other passion in life: photography and adventure travel, which includes hanging out of helicopters to get the best aerial view! In 2013 Graham led a successful climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro, in a fundraising effort that raised over $675,000 toward Canada’s umbilical cord stem cell bank.

Mars Stone

Dr Mars Stone completed her PhD in Molecular Virology at the University of California, Davis working on non-human primate models of HIV infection and vaccination and as a post-doctoral scholar focused on HIV viral evolution and phylogenetics. Dr Stone is Senior Director of Core Laboratories and Research Operations at Vitalant Research Institute where her research continued in areas of virology and infectious disease, leading studies on ultra-sensitive HIV reservoir assays, and response to emerging infectious diseases. This included rapid response to the emerging Zika virus epidemic characterizing the dynamics of infection and currently co-leading a large national serosurveillance study monitoring SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses of public health concern, and related studies including dynamics of antibody response to natural infection and vaccines.

Jill Storry

Prof Jill Storry is an Adjunct Professor at the Division of Haematology & Transfusion Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Sweden, and responsible for the Immunohematology laboratories within the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Lund. Her interests are the study of human blood group systems, both from a clinical perspective in the provision of providing blood to alloimmunised patients and also their role in health and disease. Her research focuses on the investigation and characterisation of erythrocyte membrane glycoproteins carrying blood group polymorphisms. Jill was inaugurated to the National Blood Foundation’s Hall of Fame in 2015 for the characterisation of the Vel blood group system. Other awards include the Margaret Kenwright and Race & Sanger Awards (British Blood Transfusion Society), as well as the AABB Sally Frank Award. She has authored over 100 original papers, reviews and textbooks related to serological and molecular aspects of blood groups, and given numerous talks at international and national conferences and courses. Jill is a member of the Editorial Boards of Blood, Transfusion and Immunohematology, Section Editor for Vox Sanguinis and a peer reviewer for these and other scientific journals. She is senior Vice-President of the ISBT, and a member of the ISBT Working Party on Red Cell Immunogenetics and Red Cell Nomenclature.

Erica Wood

Prof Erica Wood AO is head of the Transfusion Research Unit at Monash University and a consultant haematologist at Monash Health in Melbourne, Australia. She is an National Health and Medical Research Council Leadership Fellow and leads the NHMRC Blood Synergy research program (bloodsynergy.org). Erica is the co-chair of the WHO Advisory Group on Blood Regulation, Availability and Safety; and past president of the International Society of Blood Transfusion and the International Haemovigilance Network. Erica serves on a number of Australian government advisory committees. She is a former president of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion, and served as Chief Examiner (Haematology) for the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. Erica is an Associate Editor for Blood and member of the American Society of Hematology Scientific Committee on Transfusion Medicine. Erica is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, and in 2023 was awarded an Order of Australia for distinguished service to haematology and transfusion medicine.

Local Speakers

Brett Anderson-Terry

Brett brings 25 years of business consulting experience across Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, with deep understanding of diverse cultural and organisational contexts. His entrepreneurial background—founding, building, and selling a television production company—informs his strategic approach to leadership development and communication. As a transition coach and organisational change practitioner, Brett specialises in navigating complex transitions toward sustainable futures. Brett is a founding director of LifeLab and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Development (cum laude) from the Sustainability Institute at Stellenbosch University. His professional credentials include Master NLP Practitioner and Coach certification (ABNLP), Marketing certification (IMM), and accreditation as a Master Practitioner coach with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC Global).

Claire Barrett

Dr Claire Barrett is a specialist physician and patient blood management enthusiast based at the University of the Free State, South Africa. Her work centres on iron deficiency, transfusion medicine, and optimising blood health, particularly in resource-limited settings. She is actively involved in research on anaemia and iron deficiency, advocating for improved blood health policies in low- and middle-income countries. Claire’s interests extend into medical ethics, with a focus on research ethics and integrity, transfusion ethics, and healthcare disparities. Beyond her research, she is passionate about education, mentoring students and healthcare professionals in ethical research practices and evidence-based medicine. She regularly presents at national and international conferences on topics related to blood health, patient blood management, and the ethical dimensions of transfusion medicine. Her current projects explore iron deficiency in diverse populations and the impact of heavy menstrual bleeding on young women. Outside of medicine, Claire finds joy in meaningful conversations and uncovering the nuances of language—words fascinate her!

Riana Cockeran

Dr Cockeran is a PhD scientist trained in the field of medical immunology and is presently heading the Department of Translational Research and Cellular Therapy at the South African National Blood Service. She has extensive experience in laboratory research, management, teaching and training. Dr Cockeran is the author and co-author of 43 peer-reviewed manuscripts, has presented her research at national and international forums, received several national grants, is a committee member of national bodies and international working parties.

Eduard Grebe

Dr Eduard Grebe is an infectious diseases epidemiologist with a focus on transfusion transmissible infections. He has developed models for estimating the residual risk of HIV transfusion transmission, worked on major blood donor infectious disease surveillance programmes such as the U.S. Transfusion Transmissible Infections Monitoring System and the Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study, including arbovirus surveillance in Brazil, and played a leading role in SARS-CoV-2 surveillance programmes in blood donors. He has also conducted extensive work on HIV incidence estimation methods, including on the performance of laboratory assays and algorithms for identifying recent HIV infections. He is the director of Eduard Grebe Consulting and an affiliate investigator at Vitalant Research Institute in San Francisco, where he was previously a full-time scientist. Eduard is a member of the International Society for Blood Transfusion and an active member of the latter's working party on transfusion transmissible infectious diseases. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cape Town and received postdoctoral training at at UCT and the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis at Stellenbosch University. He lives in Cape Town.

Paddy Knox

Dr Paddy Knox has worked in clinical medicine for over 30 years in regional hospitals in the Western and Eastern Cape, South Africa. In the last two decades Paddy has focused on her clinical work in haematology and transfusion medicine. Paddy joined Border Blood Transfusion in 1997 and continued to work in Donor Management and the Clinical Interface of Transfusion Medicine for South African National Service (SANBS) till 2008. In 2009, Paddy began consulting with the International Technical Assistant (ITA) team of the AABB and has continued to do so. During this period, she has had the privilege of working in Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia and Angola. After serving on the SANBS Board for nine years and being a jack of all trades,master of none Paddy still finds the diverse field of Blood Transfusion interesting enough to continue to consult for ITA, be a founder member of the South African National Haemovigilance Committee and recently join the South African National Bioproducts Board. Paddy lives in the Eastern Cape, one of the poorest provinces economically but offers a wonderful lifestyle for a retiree rich in natural beauty and interesting people.

Roger Maitland

Roger partners with leaders, teams, and organisations as they navigate transitions to more sustainable futures. His coaching approach focuses on developing adaptive capacity in fast-changing environments. His experience spans emerging and developed economies across Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Europe, and the USA, fostering his expertise in contextual understanding and systems thinking. As a founding director of LifeLab, Roger helps organisations navigate transitions through individual and group coaching. He serves as an adjunct lecturer for the M.Phil Leadership Coaching and research fellow at the University of Stellenbosch Business School. Roger holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Cape Town and an M.A. in Professional Development (Coaching) with distinction from Middlesex University. He is accredited as a Master Practitioner coach with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC Global).

Michael Pepper

Prof Michael Pepper has made significant contributions in cellular and molecular medicine to the fields of vascular medicine/biology and immunology. He has held prominent positions at both the University of Geneva and the University of Pretoria, where he is currently Director of the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the South African Medical Research Council Extramural Unit for Stem Cell Research and Therapy. Prof. Pepper has published over 360 scientific papers and received numerous awards, including the South African Health Excellence Award for Scientific Excellence in 2019. He is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, and is currently ranked as the top biology and biochemistry scientist in South Africa by Research.com (1 November 2023). His work has had an impact on the development of cell and gene therapies in South Africa, and he continues to be a leading figure in addressing ethical, legal, and social implications of research in these areas.

Rucien Petersen

Rucien Petersen is a seasoned marketing strategist with over 14 years of experience spanning both traditional and digital marketing. With a background rooted in the insurance and fitness industries, he holds a Diploma, Degree, and Honours in Brand Management, equipping him with a well-rounded and results-driven approach to marketing. In 2017, Rucien founded Spottmedia, a forward-thinking marketing agency built on the insight that many business owners lack the time, tools, and knowledge to implement effective marketing strategies. Under his leadership, the agency has successfully partnered with over 100 businesses and entrepreneurs across industries — from finance and tech to tourism and beauty. His work and marketing insights have been featured across notable media platforms such as SABC News, ETV and Bizcommunity, where he consistently promotes practical, innovative and scalable marketing solutions for the modern business landscape. In recognition of his dedication to business growth and education, Rucien was named the 2024 Top Achiever of the Small Business Academy Programme at Stellenbosch Business School. As digital trends evolve, so has Spottmedia. Today, Rucien is at the forefront of integrating AI marketing tools into client strategies and internal operations. From content creation and automation to data analysis and customer engagement, his agency continues to test and implement cutting-edge AI solutions that enhance campaign effectiveness, streamline processes and drive measurable growth. Beyond his role at Spottmedia, he actively serves on the Tygerberg Cape Chamber of Commerce Committee and is a certified coach and trainer through the Combined Skills Group. His leadership, deep industry knowledge and passion for empowering others continue to position him as a trusted advisor and partner to entrepreneurs across South Africa — especially in a fast-changing digital economy driven by innovation and AI.

Wolfgang Preiser

Prof Wolfgang Preiser heads the Division of Medical Virology at the University of Stellenbosch. This includes a large SANAS-accredited diagnostic laboratory under the South African National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) in Tygerberg, Cape Town. Having graduated as a medical doctor, Preiser specialised in medical virology in his hometown Frankfurt, Germany, and at University College London. His research interests cover three broad themes: improving and advancing diagnostic virology; the epidemiology, diagnosis, and monitoring of opportunistic viral infections; and emerging and potentially zoonotic viral diseases. During the SARS outbreak in 2003, he contributed to isolating and characterising the causative novel coronavirus. Later, his research group in Tygerberg identified a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus in South African bats and defined zoonotic hepatitis E virus infection as a significant health issue in South Africa. As a member of the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, Virology Stellenbosch played an important role during the Covid pandemic. Preiser is founding member of the Stellenbosch University Public Square with the theme "One Health approach to find solutions for infectious diseases under conditions of rapid environmental change" and of the Southern African Society for Virology (SASV).

Monique Schreiner

Monique Schreiner is a Communications professional with over 15 years of experience at the South African National Blood Service (SANBS). She has built her career within the Donor Relations department, focusing on Public Relations and operational marketing to drive donor engagement and awareness. Having served as Head of Donor Relations, she now holds the position of Senior Manager for Donor Relations, where she leads strategic initiatives to retain and grow the donor base. Monique is passionate about building lasting relationships, promoting a culture of blood donation, and strengthening the impact of SANBS’s lifesaving mission.

Michelle Vermeulen

Michelle Vermeulen has worked in the Marketing, Public Relations, and Eventing environment for over 20 years. After completing her internship in Public Relations at a large corporate company, she pursued her interest in Eventing. She also spent a few years at an advertising agency where she could learn more about above-the-line (ATL) and below-the-line advertising (BTL). In 2015 she joined the Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) as a Marketing Practitioner before taking on the Manager: Public Relations role. She has held the position of the Head of Marketing and Public Relations at the Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) for the past 5 years. Michelle has a passion for saving lives through blood donation.