These publications showcase research conducted in collaboration with the CTTG, highlighting our ongoing contributions to transfusion science and clinical trials.
Data Working Group
The following publications demonstrate progress in terms of the anticipated significant outcomes of ‘dissemination of methodology for use of large transfusion datasets via publication(s)’ and ‘formation of collaborations with other data curators (GEMINI, etc).
Raza S, Callum J, Modi D, Sztainert T, Shih AW, Schull MJ, McGrail K, Verma A, Razak F, Russell A, Tinmouth A, Pambrun C, Chargé S, Lewin A, Petraszko T, Alam A, Webert K, Dieudé M, Zeller M, Heddle N, Hooda S, O’Brien S, Ning S, Malkin A, Khan T, Li N, Nguyen PU, Liu Y, Arnold DM; on behalf of the Canadian Transfusion Trials Group. Canadian Donations and Transfusion Database (CANDAT): From Blood Donors to Transfusion Recipients. Accepted for publication in Transfusion 2025 Apr 3.
Risk M, Callum J, Trentino K, Murray K, Zhao L, Shi X, Verma A, Razak F, Raza S. Transfusion probability as an alternative measure of lab-guided medical decision-making. Transfusion. 2025 Apr 2. doi: 10.1111/trf.18235.
Arya S, Akbari-Moghaddam M, Liu Y, Press E, Muraca GM, VanderMeulen H, Barrett J, Zeller MP, Hacker MR, Callum J. Anemia Near Delivery Is Prevalent, Pernicious, and Associated With Lower Neighbourhood Income: An Analysis of Over 50 000 Pregnancies. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2025 Feb;47(2):102721. doi: 10.1016/j.jogc.2024.102721.
Li N, Lewin A, Ning S, Waito M, Zeller MP, Tinmouth A, Shih AW; Canadian Transfusion Trials Group. Privacy-preserving federated data access and federated learning: Improved data sharing and AI model development in transfusion medicine. Transfusion. 2025 Jan;65 (1):22-28. doi: 10.1111/trf.18077.
Clinical Trials
The following publications describe a large, multi-centre trial where several CTTG members played key roles at Canadian sites.
Karkouti K, Callum JL, Bartoszko J, Tanaka KA, Knaub S, Brar S, Ghadimi K, Rochon A, Mullane D, Couture EJ, Lin Y, Harle C, Zeller M, Tran DTT, Solomon C, Rao V, Law M, Butt AL, Chen EP, Martins MR, Saha T, Shih AW, Vézina MC, Moussa F, Pereira Cezar Zamper R, Syed S, Buyukdere H, Werner S, Grewal D, Wong D, Vandyck KB, Tanzola R, Hughes B, Royer O, Wong S, Levy JH; FARES-II Study Group. Prothrombin Complex Concentrate vs Frozen Plasma for Coagulopathic Bleeding in Cardiac Surgery: The FARES-II Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2025 Mar 29:e253501. doi: 10.1001/jama.2025.3501.
Karkouti K, Callum J, Bartoszko J, Solomon C, Knaub S, Levy JH, Tanaka KA; FARES-II Study Group. Protocol for a phase 3, randomised, active-control study of four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate versus frozen plasma in bleeding adult cardiac surgery patients requiring coagulation factor replacement: the LEX-211 (FARES-II) trial. BMJ Open. 2024 Aug 21;14(8):e091381. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-091381.
Bartoszko J, Peer M, Grewal D, Ansari S, Callum J, Karkouti K. Delayed cold-stored vs. room temperature stored platelet transfusions in bleeding adult cardiac surgery patients-a randomized multicentre pilot study (PLTS-1). Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2024 Jun 15;10(1):90. doi: 10.1186/s40814-024-01518-z.
Knowledge Translation
The articles below describe results of various types of research being disseminated in a variety of publication formats.
Crawshaw J, Callum J, Chargé S, Lorencatto F, Presseau J, Raza S, Relke N, Wolfe A, Stanworth S. How do we leverage implementation science to support and accelerate uptake of clinical practice guidelines in transfusion medicine. Transfusion. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/trf.18234
Taneja S, Heddle NM, Hillis C, Lane S, Karunakaran M, Maze D, Modi D, Khalaf D, Arnold DM, Zahreddine H, Webert K, Hess L, Cook R, Stanworth S, Gernsheimer T, Vanstone M. Healthcare provider’s perceptions of bleeding in patients with acute leukaemia undergoing induction chemotherapy: A qualitative study. Transfus Med. 2024 Aug;34(4):268-277.
Callum JL, George RB, Karkouti K. How I manage major hemorrhage. Blood. 2024 Jun 7:blood.2023022901. doi: 10.1182/blood.2023022901.
Radford M, Estcourt LJ, Sirotich E, Pitre T, Britto J, Watson M, Brunskill SJ, Fergusson DA, Dorée C, Arnold DM. Restrictive versus liberal red blood cell transfusion strategies for people with haematological malignancies treated with intensive chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or both, with or without haematopoietic stem cell support. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024 May 23;5(5):CD011305. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011305.pub3.PMID: 38780066
Tse P, Yan J, Liu Y, Jamula E, Heddle N, Bazin R, Robitaille N, Cook R, Turgeon A, Fergusson D, Glesby M, Loftsgard KC, Cushing M, Chassé M, Daneman N, Finzi A, Sachais B, Bégin P, Callum J, Arnold DM, Xie F. Quality of life and cost-effectiveness of convalescent plasma compared to standard care for hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the CONCOR-1 trial. Transfusion. 2024 Apr;64(4):606-614.
The CONCOR-1 trial was a large impetus for the creation of the CTTG. The study protocol, results, and other outputs are described below.
Callum J, Bégin P, Jamula E, Liu Y, Kron AT, Auclair MC, Cushing M, Arnold DM. Lessons learned from the CONCOR-1 trial. Transfus Med 2023 Feb;33(1):21-25. doi: 10.1111/tme.12882. Epub 2022 May 28.
Bégin P, Callum J, Cook R, Jamula E, Liu Y, Finzi A; CONCOR-1 Study Group, Arnold DM. Reply to: Concerns about estimating relative risk of death associated with convalescent plasma for COVID-19. Nat Med. 2022 Jan;28(1):53-58. doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01639-5. Epub 2022 Jan 10.PMID: 35013612
Bégin P, Callum J, Jamula E, Cook R, Heddle NM, Tinmouth A, Zeller MP, Beaudoin-Bussières G, Amorim L, Bazin R, Loftsgard KC, Carl R, Chassé M, Cushing MM, Daneman N, Devine DV, Dumaresq J, Fergusson DA, Gabe C, Glesby MJ, Li N, Liu Y, McGeer A, Robitaille N, Sachais BS, Scales DC, Schwartz L, Shehata N, Turgeon AF, Wood H, Zarychanski R, Finzi A; CONCOR-1 Study Group, Arnold DM. Convalescent plasma for hospitalized patients with COVID-19: an open-label, randomized controlled trial. Nat Med. 2021 Nov;27(11):2012-2024. doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01488-2. Epub 2021 Sep 9.PMID: 34504336
Bégin P, Callum J, Heddle NM, Cook R, Zeller MP, Tinmouth A, Fergusson DA, Cushing MM, Glesby MJ, Chassé M, Devine DV, Robitalle N, Bazin R, Shehata N, Finzi A, McGeer A, Scales DC, Schwartz L, Turgeon AF, Zarychanski R, Daneman N, Carl R, Amorim L, Gabe C, Ellis M, Sachais BS, Loftsgard KC, Jamula E, Carruthers J, Duncan J, Lucier K, Li N, Liu Y, Armali C, Kron A, Modi D, Auclair MC, Cerro S, Avram M, Arnold DM. Convalescent plasma for adults with acute COVID-19 respiratory illness (CONCOR-1): study protocol for an international, multicentre, randomized, open-label trial. Trials. 2021 May 4;22(1):323. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05235-3.PMID: 33947446
Li N, Zeller MP, Shih AW, Heddle NM, St John M, Bégin P, Callum J, Arnold DM, Akbari-Moghaddam M, Down DG, Jamula E, Devine DV, Tinmouth A. A data-informed system to manage scarce blood product allocation in a randomized controlled trial of convalescent plasma. Transfusion. 2022. http://doi.org/10.1111/trf.17151