Dr Charles Drew inventor blood bank

Dr. Charles Drew was born in 1904 in Washington, D.C.  He was not only an intellectual but also excelled in athletics.  After completing his medical studies, he worked as a college instructor. At Columbia University, he completed his thesis ‘Banked Blood’ and invented the process to store and separate blood plasma for subsequent use.

How many hundreds of thousands of people would have lost their lives without the contributions of African-American inventor Dr. Charles Drew? This physician, researcher and surgeon revolutionized the understanding of blood plasma that resulted in the invention of blood banks.

At the onset of World War II, Dr. Drew was called upon to put his techniques into practice. He emerged as the leading authority on mass transfusion and processing methods, and went on to head the American Red Cross blood bank. When the Armed Forces ordered that only Caucasian blood be given to soldiers, Drew protested and resigned.