Blood Bank Home

>

Faculty

>

Ralph R. Vassallo, Jr., M.D., FACP

Ralph R. Vassallo, Jr., M.D., FACP

Dr. Ralph Vassallo is the Chief Medical Officer of the American Red Cross Blood Services, Heritage Division, based at the Penn-Jersey region in Philadelphia. He has been a member of Penn-Jersey’s regional medical team since 2002.

He received his bachelor’s and medical degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, and subsequently completed a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to joining the Red Cross, Dr. Vassallo was the Director of Medical Education and a hospital administrator for the Frankford Health Care System in Philadelphia for almost ten years. He served as Program Director for the Thomas Jefferson University Transitional Year Residency at Frankford Hospitals and as Internal Medicine rotation liaison for 4 additional programs based at Frankford.

An AABB member, Dr. Vassallo chairs their Circular of Information Committee and is a member of the Selection of Abstracts Program Unit. He is on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Association of Blood Banks and New Jersey Society of Blood Bank Professionals. He is also a member of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion Collaborative. His research interests lie in platelet physiology, platelet transfusion and transfusion performance improvement efforts. Dr. Vassallo currently serves as Medical Director for all three Red Cross basic science laboratories, devoting most of his time to the platelet and red cell radiolabeling laboratory at the Philadelphia facility, which partners with industry in developing and testing new transfusion medicine technologies.

Selected Research Publications:

1. Vassallo RR , Adamson JW, Gottschall JL, Snyder E, Lee W, Houghton J, Elfath MD.  In vitro and in vivo evaluation of apheresis platelets stored for 5 days in 65% platelet additive solution / 35% plasma.  Transfusion 2010; in press.
   
   
2. Vassallo RR , Hsu S, Einarson M, Barone J, Brodsky J, Moroff G.  A comparison of two robotic platforms to screen plateletpheresis donors for HLA anti bodies as part of a TRALI mitigation strategy.  Transfusion 2010;50:1766-1777.
   
   
3. McAteer MJ, Dumont LJ, Cancelas J, Rugg N, Vassallo R , Whitley P, Graminske S, Friedman K.  The hemolysis levels generated during 42-day refrigerated storage of RBC units are donor-specific.  Vox Sang 2010;99:34-43.
   
   
4. Vassallo RR , Wagner SJ, Einarson M, Nixon J, Ziegler D, Moroff G.  Maintenance of in vitro properties of leukoreduced whole blood-derived pooled platelets after a 24-hour interruption of agitation.  Transfusion 2009;49:2131-5.
   
   
5. Vassallo RR .  Recognition and management of anti bodies to human platelet antigens in platelet transfusion-refractory patients.  Innumohematology 2009;25:119-24.
   
   
6. Wagner SJ, Vassallo R, Skripchenko A, Einarson M, Seetharaman S, Moroff G.  Comparison of the in vitro properties of apheresis platelets during 7-day storage after interrupting agitation for one or three periods.  Transfusion 2008;48(12):2492-500.
   
   
7. Wagner SJ, Vassallo R, Skripchenko A, Einarson M, Seetharaman S, Moroff G.  The influence of simulated shipping conditions (24- or 30-hour interruption of agitation) on the in vitro properties of apheresis platelets during 7-day storage.  Transfusion 2008;48(6):1072-80.
   
   
8. Vassallo Jr RR .  Changing paradigms in matched platelet support (editorial).  Transfusion 2008;48:204-6.
   
   
9. Vassallo Jr RR .  New paradigms in the management of alloimmune refractoriness to platelet transfusions.  Current Opinion in Hematology 2007;14(6):655-53.
   
   
10. Vassallo RR , Murphy S.  A critical comparison of platelet preparation methods.  Current Opinion in Hematology 2006;13:323-330.
    
    
11. Reik RA, Burch JW, Vassallo Jr RR, Trainor L.  Unique donor-suitability issues.  Vox Sanguinis 2006;90:255-256.
    
    

Selected Book Chapters:

1. Vassallo RR .  Preparation of whole blood-derived platelet concentrates.  in Blajchman M, Cid J, Lozano M, eds.  Blood Component Preparation.  Bethesda , MD : AABB Press, in press.
   
   
2. Vassallo R , Murphy S.  Apheresis Platelet Collection, Storage, Quality Assessment and Clinical Use.  in McLeod BC, ed.  Apheresis: Principles and Practice. Bethesda , MD: AABB Press, in press.
   
   
3. Murphy M, Vassallo R , Murphy S.  Preservation and Clinical Use of Platelets.  in Kaushansky K, Lichtman MA, Beutler E, Kipps TJ, Seligsohn U, Prchal J, eds.  Williams Hematology, 8 th Ed. New York , NY : McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2010.
   
   
4. Vassallo Jr RR.   Preparation, Preservation and Storage of Platelet Concentrates.  In Stowell CP, Strauss RG, Solheim B, Snyder E, Petrides M, eds.  Rossi’s Principles of Transfusion Medicine, 4 th Ed. Bethesda, MD: AABB Press, 2008.
   
   
5. Miller Y, Bachowski G, Benjamin R, Eklund DK, Hibbard AJ, Lightfoot T, Meena-Leist C, Quraishy N, Sapatnekar S, Squires J, Strupp A, Vassallo R , Weiss J.   Practice Guidelines for Blood Transfusion: A Compilation from Recent Peer-Reviewed Literature.  American Red Cross Publication 2 nd Edition, April 2007.
   
   
6. Vassallo R .  Donors with Impaired Hemostasis.  in Eder A, Bianco C, eds.  Screening Blood Donors: Science, Reason and the Donor History Questionnaire .  Bethesda, MD: AABB Press, 2007.