January is National Blood Donor Month, when people 17 and older are encouraged to donate blood. Doctors use the donations for transfusions to provide blood to patients undergoing surgery, suffering from illnesses, or who have been in an accident. This treatment wouldn’t be possible without Dr. Charles Drew, a Black surgeon who pioneered groundbreaking techniques for blood storage in the 1930s.
Drew invented a process for separating out plasma—the liquid portion of blood—and freezing it. This extended its shelf life from two weeks to several months. “Charles Drew’s impact on modern medicine is almost immeasurable,” says Yvette Miller, the current executive medical director of the American Red Cross.