Immune Response to Rh(D)
Program Code: 5005-S
Saturday, October 21, 2006
10:30 AM to 12:00 PM (ET)

MODERATOR
George Garratty, PhD, FRCPath, American Red Cross Blood Services

SPEAKERS
Stan Urbaniak, MD, PhD, University of Aberdeen
Belinda Kumpel, PhD, National Blood Service
Gregory Denomme, PhD, FCSMLS(D), BloodCenter of Wisconsin

DESCRIPTION
The speakers will review general aspects of the immune response to Rh(D), including the recent findings of the immunogenicity of RBCs with a weak D phenotype (e.g., DEL RBCs which have less than 100 D sites/RBC). Drs. Urbaniak and Kumpel will discuss the history of Rh prophylaxis and the emerging approaches. Dr. Urbaniak will review the history of Rh prophylaxis and his recent research on turning off the immune response in mice using specific Rh epitopes intranasally. The development of monoclonal anti-D has proven to be a difficult task. Dr. Kumpel will discuss the history of development in the UK and the lessons learned about Rh(D) immune responses (e.g., relationship to RBC clearance by macrophages).