Dr. Charles Drew was a pioneer in medicine who developed better methods of storing blood plasma for transfusions. Born in 1904 in Washington, D.C, Drew was drawn to sports during his childhood and played football, basketball and swam- a competition that earned him several medals. After high school, Drew went to Amhurst College on a track and football scholarship. After receiving his degree, he worked as a biology teacher and coach before enrolling at McGill University to study medicine. Drew excelled academically, while in med school, earnings honors in neuroanatomy and graduating with Doctor of Medicine, and Master of Surgery.1 He continued his education at Columbia University, during which he earned a fellowship to Presbyterian Hospital in New York, where he worked under Dr. John Scudder, who was working on a grant-funded experimental blood blank. Together the two men researched blood, preservation of blood, and transfusions, which became the focus of Drew’s dissertation, “Banked Blood: A Study in Blood Preservation.” Drew became the first African American to earn a medical degree from Colombia University.2 He continued his work in transfusion medicine and went on to discover methods that significantly increased the storing of blood plasma. Additionally, he organized America’s first large-scale blood bank that made it possible to save 4.5 million Americans each year today.3
To learn more about Dr. Charles Drew, visit:
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/drew-charles-r-1904-1950/
1. https://www.biography.com/people/charles-drew-9279094
3. https://www.bnl.gov/hr/blooddrive/56facts.asp