Medical Experts

Bonfils’ medical team not only plays a key role in maintaining regulatory compliance of the blood center, but our experts can also speak to a variety of issues related to the blood banking industry. Our doctors are also available round-the-clock to assist hospital partners in identifying the best possible blood products for patients in need.

	Joe Chaffin, MD Medical Director and Vice President of Medical Affairs Dr. Joe Chaffin joined Bonfils Blood Center as its medical director and vice president of medical affairs in August 2010. In addition to serving as the blood center's regulatory head, Dr. Chaffin provides medical and scientific direction related to our high-quality products and components, laboratory testing, donor collections and counseling, hospital relations and clinical research. Dr. Chaffin is well known among the Colorado medical community. From 2006 to 2008, he served as Bonfils’ associate medical director. Prior to returning to Bonfils in his newest role, Dr. Chaffin served as medical director of donor and transfusion services for North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley and Poudre Valley Hospital System in Ft. Collins, working in multiple hospitals with busy trauma centers and cardiothoracic and oncology services. He has been the primary transfusion medicine lecturer for the Osler Institute Pathology Review Course since 1997 and has taught thousands of pathology residents the basics of blood banking. Dr. Chaffin is also the creator of  www.bbguy.org, a popular website aimed at teaching healthcare professionals and the public-at-large the basics of transfusion medicine. A board-certified blood banking/transfusion medicine specialist who is also board certified in anatomic and clinical pathology, Dr. Chaffin brings more than 15 years experience to his new appointment. He is a fellow in the American Society of Clinical Pathology and College of American Pathologists and is a member of AABB, the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management, and the Colorado Medical Society. After earning his medical degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine located in Loma Linda, Calif. in 1990, Dr. Chaffin completed a transitional internship at Letterman Army Medical Center in 1991 in San Francisco. He then fulfilled a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington where he also served as chief resident from 1994 to 1995. Publications 1. DM Gribble, DJ Chaffin and BJ Bryant. Cost-effectiveness of FDA variance for Blood Collection from Individuals With Hereditary Hemochromatosis at a 398 bed Hospital-based Donor Center. Immunohematology, 2009;25:170-173.  2. DJ Chaffin. Pseudomonas fluorescens-related Septic Transfusion Reaction Resulting from Contaminated Cold Cloths. Transfusion 2002; 42(Suppl):41S 3. D. Joe Chaffin, MD. Blood Groups; Blood Component Therapy; Blood Donation. Chapters in Clinical Laboratory Pearls 2001. 4. Keith Kaplan, MD and D. Joe Chaffin, MD. Development of a web-based Study Set in Multi-Institutional Environment. Archives of Pathology/Lab Medicine. October 2001. 5. DJ Vick, JC Byrd, CL Beal, DJ Chaffin. Mixed-type Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia Occurring in a Patient with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL). Vox Sanguinis 1998;74(2): 122-6. 6. MJ Kuehnert and WR Jarvis, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA, DA Schaffer and DJ Chaffin, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington. Platelet Transfusion Reaction Due to Yersina Enterocolitica. Journal of the American Medical Association 1997 Aug 20;278(7):550.
	Tuan N. Le, MD Medical Director of Clinical Services Dr. Tuan Le joined Bonfils Blood Center as the medical director of clinical services in July 2009. Prior to joining Bonfils, Dr. Le served as medical director of transfusion services at Denver Health Medical Center. He also worked as a transfusion medicine specialist at The Children's Hospital from 2000 to 2007. After earning his bachelor's degree in molecular biology from the University of Colorado in 1989, Dr. Le completed his medical degree at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) in 1993.  He then fulfilled a residency in pathology at UCHSC prior to his transfusion medicine fellowship at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn. His clinical interests include therapeutic apheresis, blood management, education and patient safety.  Research interests include 1) Peripheral blood progenitor cell collection management, 2) Massive transfusion protocols and 3) Blood utilization review strategies. Publications 1. Le T, Lane P et al.  Erythrocytapheresis using an implantable dual lumen port in sickle cell patients.  J. Clinical Apheresis 18:75, 2003. 2. Foreman NK, Schissel D, Le T, et al. A study of sequential high dose cyclophosphamide and high dose carboplatin with peripheral stem-cell rescue in resistant or recurrent pediatric brain tumors. J Neurooncol. 2005; 71(2):181-187. 3. Sidhu RS, Le T, et al. Midpoint CD34 measurement as a predictor of PBPC product yield in pediatric patients undergoing high dose chemotherapy.   J. Clin. Apheresis. 2006; 21:165-168. 4. Sidhu RS, Le T, et al. Study of coagulation factor activities in apheresed thawed FFP kept at 1-6ºC for five days.  J. Clin. Apheresis. 2006; 21:224-226. 5. Nuss R, Cole L, Le T, et al.  Pinch-off syndrome in patients with sickle cell disease receiving erythrocytapheresis.  Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2008;50:354-356.
	Daniel R. Ambruso, MD Medical Director of Research and Education For nearly 30 years, Dr. Daniel Ambruso has led Bonfils Blood Center's Research department and has been a medical director for as many years. His research interests include, but are not limited to, antibody-mediated disorders of red cells, platelets and neutrophils; alloimmunization in response to red cell and platelet transfusions; neutrophil function and disorders of deficient or excessive immune response such as transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI). Additionally, Dr. Ambruso is a practicing pediatric hematologist at Denver's University of Colorado Hospital and The Children's Hospital as well as a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Ambruso earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in Rochester, N.Y.  He completed his pediatric residency at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Rainbow Babies' and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio and fellowships in Hematology/Oncology and Immunology at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Science Center and National Jewish Health in Denver. Publications 1. Ambruso DR, Knall C, Abell AN, Panepinto J, Kurkchubasche A, Thurman G, Gonzalez-Aller C, Hiester A, deBoer M, Harbeck RJ, Oyer R, Johnson GL, Roos D: Human neutrophil immunodeficiency syndrome is associated with an inhibitory Rac2 mutation.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2000;97:4654-4659. 2. Ambruso DR, Cusack N, Thurman G. NADPH oxidase activity of neutrophil specific granules: requirements for cytosolic components and evidence of assembly during cell activation.  Mol Genet Metab 2004;81:313-321. 3. Abell AN, DeCathelineau AM, Weed SA, Ambruso DR, Riches DW, Johnson GL: Rac2D57N, a dominant inhibitory Rac2 mutant that inhibits p38 kinase signaling and prevents surface ruffling in bone-marrow-derived macrophages.  J Cell Sci 2004;117:243-255. 4. Silliman CC, Ambruso DR, Boshkov LK: Transfusion-related acute lung injury.  Blood 2005;105:2266-2273. 5. Hillyer C, Mondoro T, Josephson C, Sanchez-Rosen R, Sloan S and Ambruso DR.  Pediatric transfusion medicine (PTM): Development of a critical mass.  Transfusion 2009;49(3):596-601.
	Christopher Colton Silliman, MD, PhD Senior Independent Researcher Dr. Christopher Silliman joined Bonfils as a research fellow in 1990 and was later appointed as an associate medical director in 1998. In addition, Dr. Silliman has received independent funding for grants and fellowships from the Margery Wilson Memorial Transfusion Medicine Fellowship, The Bugher Scientific Fellowship, the National Blood Foundation, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Silliman is also currently a tenured professor in the department of pediatrics and has a joint appointment in the department of surgery at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. His research interests include inflammation via the innate immune system, receptor mediated signaling in neutrophils, lipid biochemistry and transfusion medicine with an emphasis on transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI). Dr. Silliman has published more than 130 papers in peer-reviewed journals, written 24 invited reviews and chapters, has presented 80 papers at national meetings and has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international meetings or symposia. In addition, he reviews for some 15 medical and basic science journals and is a study section member for both the Small Business Innovation Research, and the Erythrocyte and Leukocyte Biology, National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, NIH. Dr. Silliman earned a bachelor's degree from Haverford College in Haverford, Pa. in 1981 and was awarded doctor of medicine in 1985 and a Doctorate in Cell Biology in 1987 from Tulane University in New Orleans. Dr. Silliman completed his residency training in general pediatrics at The University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Va. in 1989 and his fellowship training in pediatric hematology/oncology/bone marrow transplantation at University of Colorado at Denver School of Medicine in 1992. Publications 1. McLaughlin NJ, Banerjee A, Kelher MR, Gamboni-Robertson F, Hamiel C, Sheppard FR, Moore EE, Silliman CC. Platelet-activating factor-induced clathrin-mediated endocytosis requires beta-arrestin-1 recruitment and activation of the p38 MAPK signalosome at the plasma membrane for actin bundle formation. J.Immunol. 2006 Jun 1;176(11):7039-50. 2. Silliman CC, Curtis BR, Kopko PM, Khan SY, Kelher MR, Schuller RM, Sannoh B, Ambruso DR. Donor antibodies to HNA-3a implicated in TRALI reactions prime neutrophils and cause PMN-mediated damage to human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells in a two-event in vitro model. Blood 2007 Feb 15;109(4):1752-5. 3. Kanter J, Khan SY, Kelher M, Gore L, Silliman CC. Oncogenic and angiogenic growth factors accumulate during routine storage of apheresis platelet concentrates. Clin.Cancer Res. 2008 Jun 15;14(12):3942-7. 4. McLaughlin NJ, Banerjee A, Khan SY, Lieber JL, Kelher MR, Gamboni-Robertson F, Sheppard FR, Moore EE, Mierau GW, Elzi DJ, et al. Platelet-activating factor-mediated endosome formation causes membrane translocation of p67phox and p40phox that requires recruitment and activation of p38 MAPK, Rab5a, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in human neutrophils. J.Immunol. 2008 Jun 15;180(12):8192-203. 5. Kelher MR, Masuno T, Moore EE, Damle S, Meng X, Song Y, Liang X, Niedzinski J, Geier SS, Khan SY, et al. Plasma from stored packed red blood cells and MHC class I antibodies causes acute lung injury in a 2-event in vivo rat model. Blood 2009 Feb 26;113(9):2079-87.
	Sanjana Mehrotra, MD Transfusion Medicine Fellow Sanjana Mehrotra, MD joined Bonfils Blood Center in July 2011 as a Fellow in Transfusion Medicine. She is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, Baystate Medical Center/Tufts University and is a graduate of Topiwala National Medical College, University of Mumbai in India. Dr. Mehrotra believes that transfusion medicine/blood banking is a complex and tightly regulated industry that she always wanted to learn more about since she was exposed to this field in her residency. She expects to gain experience in specialized collections like stem cell collections, apheresis, donor selection, complicated serological work ups, molecular genetics and safety.   Research and Poster Presentations 1. A physiologic imaging pilot study breast cancer treated with AZD2171. Kathy D. Miller, Michael Miller, Mehrotra S, Beamon Agarwal, Bruce H Mock, Qi-Huang Zheng, Sunil Badve, Gary D Hutchins, George W Sledge Jr. Clin Cancer Res. 2006 Jan 1; 12(1):281-8. 2. Microsomal Prostaglandin E2 synthase-1 in breast cancer, a potential target for therapy. Mehrotra S, Morimiya A, Agarwal B, Konger R, Badve S. J Pathol. 2006 Feb; 208(3):356-63. 3. The sesquiterpene lactone parthenolide in combination with docetaxel reduces metastasis and improves survival in a xenograft model of breast cancer. Sweeney CJ, Mehrotra S, Sadaria MR, Kumar S, Shortle SH, Roman Y, Sheridan C, Campbell RA, Murry DJ, Badve S, Nakshatri H. Mol Cancer Ther. 2005 Jun; 4(6):1004-12. 4. The macrophage inhibitory cytokine integrates AKT/PKB and MAP kinase signaling pathways in breast cancer cells. Wollman W, Goodman ML, Bhat-Nakshatri P, Kishimoto H, Goulet RJ Jr, Mehrotra S,Morimiya A, Badve S, Nakshatri H. Carcinogenesis. 2005 May; 26(5):900-7. 5. CD44+/CD24- breast cancer cells exhibit enhanced invasive properties: an early step necessary for metastasis. Sheridan C, Kishimoto H, Fuchs RK, Mehrotra S, Bhat-Nakshatri P, Turner CH, Goulet R Jr, Badve S, Nakshatri H. Breast Cancer Res. 2006;8(5):R59. 6. Prostanoid EP1 receptor in breast cancer. Thorat MA, Morimiya A, Mehrotra S, Konger A, Badve S. Mod Pathol. 2008 Jan;21(1):15-21. 7. COX-2 expression does not correlate with microvessel density in breast cancer. Thorat MA, Morimiya A, Mehrotra S, Badve S. Pathobiology. 2009;76(1):39-44. 8. T-Cell Large Granular Lymphocytic Leukemia Mimicking Idiopathic Myelofibrosis: A Report of Two Cases. Abstract publication. Sanjana Mehrotra, Rebecca Levy, Jonathan K Freeman, Vandita Johari. American Journal of Clinical Pathology, 2009; 132: 632 9. The tumor lysis syndrome in a child with multicentric Castleman disease. Blanchet GV, Allen HF, Mehrotra SP, Richardson MW. Journal of Pediatric Hematologic Oncology. 2010 Apr 32(3): 247-9 10. SCABB review article (to be published in November 2011) : Incidence and Management of Ischemic Stroke and Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Patients on Dabigatran Etexilate Treatment.
	Rachel S. Bercovitz, MD Transfusion Medicine Fellow Rachel S. Bercovitz, MD became a Fellow in Transfusion Medicine for Bonfils Blood Center in July of 2011. She is board certified in Pediatrics, graduated from the University of Illinois, College of Medicine in 2005 and completed her pediatric residency at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Dr. Bercovitz is currently pursuing a fellowship in Transfusion Medicine at the Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in association with Children’s Hospital Colorado and Bonfils Blood Center. She is also the recipient of the National Blood Foundation Scientific Research Grant and an Awardee of the American Society of Hematology Clinical Research Training Institute. Her research interests lie in blood utilization in pediatric patients and optimizing prophylactic transfusion practices in pediatric oncology and transplant patients.   Research and Poster Presentations 1. Bercovitz RS, Kelher MR, Khan SY, et al. The pro-inflammatory effects of platelet contamination in plasma and mitigation strategies for avoidance. Vox Sanguinis (in press) 2. Bercovitz RS, Greffe BS, Hunger SP. Tumor lysis syndrome in a 7-month-old with hepatoblastoma. Curr Opin Pediatr. 2010 Feb; 22(1):113-6. 3. Silliman CC, Kelher MR, Gamboni-Robertson F, Hamiel CR, England KM, Dinarello CA, Wyman TH, Khan SY, McLaughlin NJ, Bercovitz RS, Banerjee A. Tumor Necrosis Factor-a Causes Release of Cytosolic Interleukin-18 from Human Neutrophils. Am J Cell Physiol. 2010 Mar; 298(3):C714-24. 4. Bercovitz RS, Dietz AC, Magid RN, et al. What is the role of red blood cell transfusion threshold on number of transfusions in pediatric patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplant? Poster presentation. 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, San Diego, CA, December 2011. #1263 5. Bercovitz RS and Quinones, RR. A survey of transfusion practices in pediatric stem cell transplant patients. Poster presentation. 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, San Diego, CA, December 2011. #3370 6. Bercovitz RS, Andrews J, Dietz A, Quinones R. Blood component utilization in pediatric stem cell patients in the first 100 days post-transplant. Poster presentation. 24th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Baltimore, MD, April 2011. #106 7. Bercovitz RS, Kelher MR, Khan SY et al. Reduction of sCD40L in transfusable plasma: a potential TRALI mitigation strategy. Oral presentation, 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, Orlando, FL, Dec 2010. Blood (ASH National Meeting Abstracts); 116:2: #664, 290-1. 8. Bercovitz RS, Kelher MR, Khan SY et al. Reduction of biologic response modifiers in transfusable plasma: a potential TRALI mitigation strategy. Poster presentation, Annual Meeting of the AABB, October 2010, Baltimore, MD. SP7 9. Bercovitz RS, Khan SY, Kelher MR et al. Anti-HLA-A2 antibodies cause neutrophil priming in HLA-A2 homozygotes. Poster presentation, Annual Meeting of the AABB. October 2010, Baltimore, MD. SP171 10. Bercovitz RS, Khan SY, Kelher MR, et al. Platelet contamination in plasma: a possible source of biologic response mediators linked to Transfusion-Related Acute Lung Injury. Poster presentation. 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, New Orleans, LA, December 2009. Blood (ASH National Meeting Abstracts); Nov 2009; 114:2: #2109, 831-2. 11. Bercovitz RS, Ball JB, Kelher MR, Silliman CC (2011). TRALI in patients with hematologic malignancies. Azoulay E, ed. Pulmonary involvement in patients with hematologic malignancies. Heidelberg, Springer: 461-76.