The african american physician and surgeon pioneered the preservation of blood and plasma at the start of world war ii and remained a leading authority on the subject for the rest of his career. Charles richard drew was a black surgeon, professor, and blood transfusion and blood bank pioneer whose work has saved innumerable lives globally Born in washington, dc, in 1904, his father, richard, was a carpet layer and his mother, nora (née burrell), trained as a teacher. Drew’s success in improving blood storage led to his appointment as the first director of the american red cross blood bank in 1942 He was given the responsibility of organizing and overseeing the collection and distribution of blood across the united states. It was during his time at columbia that drew developed his pioneering method to isolate and preserve blood plasma by separating it from the other blood components, allowing scientists to stabilize and freeze it for up to two months.
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