BARCELONA, Spain, March 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Grifols, a global healthcare company and biopharmaceutical manufacturer based in Barcelona, Spain today announced that it has established an Expert Advisory Council in Transfusion Medicine drawing on the expertise of internationally renowned physicians and researchers from across the globe. The role of the Expert Advisory Council is to provide insight, advice and guidance to Grifols' own transfusion medicine research and development activities.

"Bringing together these leaders in transfusion medicine underscores our longstanding commitment to being a world leader in blood diagnostics and transfusion medicine," said Eva Bastida, Ph.D, Scientific Director of Grifols. "Working with this team of experts will bring new perspectives to shape our strategic goals and plans," continued Dr. Bastida. Grifols Diagnostics is focused on the development of cutting-edge technologies for use in clinical laboratories and blood banks.

"It is an honor to serve with my transfusion medicine colleagues on the Grifols Expert Advisory Council," said Mr. John Moulds, MT (ASCP) director of Scientific Support Services at LifeShare Blood Centers, Shreveport, Louisiana who serves as the Council Chair. "Working with such a highly esteemed group of thought leaders will no doubt bear fruit that will help shape future directions in transfusion medicine," stated Mr. Moulds.

Grifols has a seventy-year history of advancing blood diagnostics and transfusion medicine remains a core part of its business today. With input from the Expert Advisory Council Grifols will continue to advance its mission of improving hemovigilance, transfusion safety, and the quality of life for people who receive blood transfusions. The broad geographic diversity of Advisory Council members is expected to stimulate creative new approaches to current transfusion medicine challenges.

Grifols portfolio of products and services cover every link of the transfusion chain: blood bags and donation kits, blood component separators, autoanalyzers and reagents for pre-transfusion analytical tests (blood typing and donor-recipient compatibility studies) and blood bank management software, among others.

Members of the Advisory Council

The Advisory Council is chaired by Mr. John Moulds, MT (ASCP) director of Scientific Support Services at LifeShare Blood Centers, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA, and its membership consists of nine globally respected experts from different countries. Members of the Grifols Advisory Council on Transfusion Medicine include:

Dr. Jill R. Storry, Ph.D. Docent / Assoc. Professor KIT / Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine Labmedicin Skane University and Regional Laboratories Lund - SWEDEN Prof. Dr. Lilian Castilho, PhD Coordinator, Blood Center of Campinas CEP Campinas SP - BRAZIL Dr. Miquel Lozano, MD, PhD Chief of the Hemotherapy Section of the Department of Hemotherapy and Hemostasis, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Arthur Bracey, MD Medical Director, Transfusion Services St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital Houston, TX - US Prof. W. John Judd, FIBMS, MIBiol President and CEO Immunohematology Consulting, LLC Supply, NC - US Dr. Mark Yazer, MD FRCPC Associate Professor of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Director, RBC Serology Reference Laboratory, Centralized Transfusion Service, The Institute for Transfusion Medicine Pittsburgh, PA US Dr. Yoshihiko Tani, MD, PhD Japanese Red Cross Osaka Blood Center - JAPAN Prof. Neil Avent Head of School School of Biomedical and Biological Sciences University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK Dr. Jacques Chiaroni Directeur de l'Etablissement Francais du Sang Alpes-Mediterranee Marseille, FRANCE