Charles Drew: Inventor of the Blood Bank

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Charles DrewInventor of the Blood Bank
(1904-1950)
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Biography

• Born in Washington, D.C.
• Great athlete, Average student
• Middle class interracial neighborhood
• He was African American, but part English, Scot,
  and Indian
• Athletic scholarship to Amherst College

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Accomplishments

• 1938- Residency at McGill University, Canada
• 1940- Doctor of Medical Science degree from
  Columbia University
• 1941- Established American Red Cross Blood Bank
  and resigned the same year
• 1935-1950 Professor at Howard University

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Importance

• Civil Rights- accomplishments of an African
  American
• Education- Charles R. Drew University of Medicine
  and Science in Los Angeles
• Medicine- universal use of plasma as a blood
  substitute
• Science- understanding properties of blood and
  transfusions

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Acceptance

• His research was accepted immediately. His
  findings saved lives of American Citizens and
  therefore was not questioned because of race.
• However his resignation as Director of the ARC
  Blood Bank and his death are both surrounded by
  racial tensions.

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Myth?

• Dr. Drew died in a car accident near Burlington,
  N.C. It has been rumored that he was denied
  treatment by a whites only hospital. It has been
  documented by the other African American doctors
  in the car that the owner of the hospital himself
  helped attempt to save Dr. Drew.
• Time Magazine March,1968 printed an article
  stating that he bled to death after he was
  turned away by an all white hospital.

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Relevance to Biology Curriculum

• Competency Goal 2
• 2.03 Investigate and analyze the cell as a living
  system including
• Maintenance of homeostasis.
• Movement of materials into and out of cells..
• 2.03, 3) Discussion of Charles Drew and his
  impact on blood donation and blood banks. Energy
  use and release in biochemical reactions
• 2.04 Investigate and describe the structure and
  function of enzymes and explain their importance
  in biological systems.
• 2.05 Investigate and analyze the bioenergetic
  reactions

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Relevance to Biology StrandScience and
Technology in Society

• Science and technology also reflect a culture's
  values. Consider, for example, how the acceptance
  of new ideas can be constrained by the
  environment in which they are conceived.
  Galileo's efforts to change perceptions of
  Earth's place in the solar system

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References

• http//www.cdrewu.edu/
• http//www.galegroup.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/dr
  ew_c.htm
• http//www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/science/
  scos/1999/biology/resources/
• Gordon, R.C. Charles R. Drew surgeon, scientist,
  and educator. Journal of investigative surgery
  the official journal of the Academy of Surgical
  Research. 2005 Sep-Oct18(5)223-5
• Black Vacuum. Time Magazine, March 29, 1968.
• Trice, Linda. Charles Drew Pioneer of Blood
  Plasma. New York McGraw-Hill, 2000.
• Wynes, Charles E. Charles Richard Drew The man
  and the myth. University of Illinois Press.
  1988.
• Human body systems at work. V.1 Circulatory
  system the plasma pipeline. The Cambridge
  Research Group, Ltd. Storyline Pictures.
  Publisher Lawrenceville, NJ. Cambridge
  Educational, c2005.