GREAT AMERICANS—CHARLES RICHARD DREW

A man, whose name no one remembers, should never be forgotten. Charles Drew has saved millions of lives in the almost 70 years since his discoveries that allowed blood banks around the world.  Drew, an African American who lived in a period of serious discrimination, was born (1904) in Washington, D.C. He was a physician, researcher, and surgeon who revolutionized the understanding of blood plasma -- and found a practical application for his work in the concept of the blood bank. In 1929, he started medical school at McGill University in Canada. In 1938, Drew accepted a fellowship at Columbia University. There he developed a method for processing and storing blood plasma that allowed it to be dehydrated, shipped, and then reconstituted just before transfusions. It was a tremendous breakthrough. Up until then, unprocessed blood was perishable and would become unusable after about a week. Drew's innovation would immediately be put into practical use.

Drew focused his own work on the challenge of separating and storing blood components, particularly blood plasma, as this might extend storage periods. Dr. Drew earned his Doctor of Medical Science degree from Columbia University in 1940 , with a doctoral thesis under the title Banked Blood: A Study in blood Preservation. While supervising this program, Drew was also able to prove that water could help preserve blood too, thus helping lay the foundation for using "dry plasma" in blood preservation. He was a very intelligent man. He helped us to be living today. In late 1940, just after earning his degree, Dr. Drew was called upon by John Scudder to help set up and administer an early prototype program for collecting, testing, and distributing blood plasma in Britain. Called “Blood for Britain” the program and what followed was an incredible success. Dr. Drew created protocols and procedures for the collection, testing, and shipping of blood to England.

Many thousands of lives, that could have been lost by our Allies in that terrible war, were saved because of his discoveries. Drew accepted the Chair of Surgery at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1943, Drew became the first African American surgeon to serve as an examiner on the American Board of Surgery. He received the Spingarn Medal in 1944 for his contributions to medicine. (he was one of the first black teachers) and he was head of the first Red Cross Blood Bank program. Charles R. Drew died at the age of 45 in 1950 from injuries suffered in a car accident. How sad that this giant in medicine would be taken so early. But we, the young and survivors, feel and benefit from his contributions and presence every day.