Depending on the characteristics of the donor, the product and the recipient, transfusion can lead to lead to minimal, maybe beneficial to moderate or even lethal inflammation symptoms. Factors related to the product can be controlled for the most part; conversely, despite our knowledge of some patient-related factors (e.g., TRALI pathophysiology), we have little control over recipient factors because diverse patients with varying degrees of disease severity require transfusions. Little attention has been given to donor-related factors and yet identification of donor characteristics associated with improved transfusion outcomes could represent a path for improvement of the overall transfusion process. In this session, we will review and highlight clinical and experimental data obtained with RBC and platelet transfusions, and propose potential donor factors and selection criteria that we hope will lead to improvements in transfusion outcomes and minimize complications associated with transfusions.