For Black History Month, our next series is going to focus on a few of the influential Black scientists that history books tend to overlook. We already introduced Marie Maynard Daly, the Black woman who discovered the health hazards of cholesterol, back in our December series on female scientists. Another 20th-century Black scientist whose discoveries have directly saved lives is Charles R. Drew, the father of the modern blood bank. Drew pioneered the process that allowed blood and plasma to be separated, stored, and transported. During WWII, Drew was instrumental in organizing a massive blood banking effort in America—called Blood for Britain—which facilitated the collection and transport of over 14,000 blood donations and 5,000 liters of plasma for English hospitals during the Blitz. After the war, the Red Cross continued using Drew’s blood banking template to collect, store, and distribute blood and plasma for use in hospitals across the country.
Charles Drew was born in a Washington, DC borough called Foggy Bottom in 1904. In high school, he was reasonably bright and interested in electrical engineering, but his ambitions and talent lay primarily in athletics. In 1922, after graduating from high school, he got an athletic scholarship to attend Amherst College, where he was one of only thirteen Black students. He excelled at track and football at Amherst, where he also developed an interest in medical science that pushed him to apply to medical school. Being Black, Drew had fewer options available to him for medical school—at least in America. He ended up going to McGill University in Montréal, which was known for its fair treatment of minorities.
At McGill, Drew continued to excel in athletics while also winning scholarships and awards for his academic work. In 1933, he graduated second in his class of 137 students with MD and CM (Master of Surgery) degrees. After graduating, he had a two-year surgical residency at Montréal Hospital where he worked with bacteriology professor John Beattie, looking for ways to treat shock with transfusions and fluid replacement. Shock is a medical condition that occurs when there is a sudden drop in blood volume due to excessive bleeding, dehydration, or loss of circulation. It is accompanied by a dramatic decline in blood pressure and body temperature, rapid pulse, shallow breathing, and reduced circulation. At the time, very little was known about the mechanisms of shock, but it was known that blood transfusion was the most reliable way to reverse the condition. However, there were no reliable ways of storing blood in the long term and no established blood banks to collect it. So doctors had to rush to find and type a compatible donor to treat a shock patient.
After his Montréal residency, Drew hoped to do a surgical residency at one of the bigger US institutions, but he received no offers. Many of these institutions were unwilling to accept minority applicants due both to their elitist institutional standards and the stark reality that patients were less likely to trust minority doctors. So instead, Drew got a faculty position at Howard University’s College of Medicine and became the chief surgical resident at Freedman’s Hospital. In 1938, Drew received a fellowship to train with renowned surgeon Allen Whipple at New York Presbyterian Hospital while earning a doctorate in medical science from Columbia.
In New York, Drew worked in John Scudder’s lab continuing his research into transfusion and the treatment of shock. He also studied blood chemistry and developed a blood test that could diagnose shock in the early stages. But his research primarily focused on finding methods to process blood so it could be stored long term. As soon as blood is collected, it starts to clump together (clot), the white blood cells break down, and the balance of electrolytes changes. Around the time of WWI, scientists had discovered ways to keep blood from clotting and preserve it for up to two weeks in refrigeration. This allowed small scale blood banks to be set up for treating soldiers. But these procedures had variable success and could not be scaled up for larger, ongoing operations.
As part of his doctoral dissertation, Drew sought to apply his knowledge of blood chemistry and transfusion to the problem of blood banking. He and Scudder set up an experimental blood bank at the New York Presbyterian Hospital to test out different collection and storage procedures. Beyond the scientific challenges, Drew soon discovered that blood banking was a massive administrative undertaking. Donors had to be recruited and screened for health problems. Nurses and lab techs had to be trained in the collection, testing, and storage procedures. The blood had to be collected and stored sterilely, treated with anticoagulants to prevent clotting, kept consistently refrigerated, typed, and tested for communicable diseases. Despite the challenges, Drew succeeded and published his dissertation “Banked Blood: A Study in Blood Preservation” in 1940, earning him a doctorate in medical science.
In the meantime, World War II had just broken out in Europe, and Germany had begun a bombing campaign targeting British cities. The Allied forces struggled to meet the demand for transfusion blood and plasma for both the war front and civilian hospitals. The National Research Council (NRC) and the American Red Cross decided to organize a massive relief program called Blood for Britain to collect blood and plasma for transport to the UK. Drew and Scudder’s experience with blood banking made them uniquely qualified to organize this effort. They took the blueprint they established at New York Presbyterian Hospital and scaled it up to facilitate blood collection at up to nine different hospitals. They also needed to develop a method to separate out the blood plasma—the fluid portion of blood that contains salts and electrolytes but no cells. Even without the blood cells, plasma can be effective at treating shock and reestablishing fluid balance, and it is generally easier to store, transport, and administer.
Drew and Scudder were able to separate the plasma from the blood cells using centrifugation and sedimentation. Centrifuges work by spinning a set of tubes, which are tilted out from the center, very fast, creating an artificial force known as the centrifugal force. A fun example of centrifugal force at work can be seen if you have ever spun around holding a bucket of water (one of my favorite childhood activities). The water is held in the bucket by the centrifugal force. In a centrifuge, this force pushes the contents of each tube to the bottom. Since forces pull harder on more massive objects, the more massive contents get pushed to the bottom first. In the case of blood, the massive red and white blood cells get pushed to the bottom, while the lighter plasma and proteins float near the top, creating distinct layers that can be separated out. From there, the samples can be decontaminated, treated with antibiotics, diluted with saline, sealed, packed, and shipped overseas.
While Blood for Britain was underway, Drew was able to pass the American Board of Surgery exams, licensing him to practice surgery. But he continued to supervise the blood collection program and help the Red Cross establish a permanent blood banking infrastructure in the US. Drew even established the first mobile blood donation trucks—called bloodmobiles—with working refrigerators for storage. Despite the importance of Drew’s work, the Red Cross’ policy at the time was to reject or segregate blood from Black donors. Drew vocally criticized this policy as ignorant and unscientific, noting it was “unfortunate that such a worthwhile and scientific bit of work should have been hampered by such stupidity.”
In 1941, Drew returned to Howard University to take a position as the Head of the Department of Surgery and the Chief of Surgery at Freedman’s Hospital. He also became the first Black person to be appointed as an examiner for the American Board of Surgery. At Howard University, his core mission was to train excellent Black surgeons and “place them in strategic positions throughout the country where they could, in turn, nurture the tradition of excellence.” Drew also campaigned the American Medical Association, The American College of Surgeons, and many other groups to open up membership to Black doctors. In 1950, in Burlington, North Carolina, Drew fell asleep at the wheel of his car on the way to a conference and crashed. Critically injured, he was taken to the nearby hospital and given blood transfusions, but several hours later he died.
Check out last month’s series on the history and science of immunity and the development of the new Covid-19 vaccines! Comment on this post or email me at contact@anyonecanscience.com to let me know what you think about this week’s blog post and tell me what sorts of topics you want me to cover in the future. And subscribe below for weekly science posts sent straight to your email!
