James Zimring, MD, PhD, transfusing five million Americans a year who need transfusions to survive.

James Zimring, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Pathology
Transcript:
Investigating nature is basically an exploration in figuring out the workings of the world and the magic of the natural world. And so it's a great adventure and curiosity and exploration and discovery. And because it's in biomedical sciences, it's also tied to the ability to treat human disease, to mitigate suffering, and to basically improve the human condition. So those things all combined make it a wonderful thing to explore.
My name is James Zimring. I'm a professor here at the University of Virginia, and I'm a physician-scientist, meaning that I am involved in medical care and also the research of diseases and biological functions. Currently, I predominantly drive a basic research program studying blood biology,
I run a laboratory and I'm deeply invested in graduate education and making sure that the next generation of scientists gets the training and information that they need to keep the effort going in the next generation. So, we studied the biology and the diseases of red blood cells, which are the most abundant cells in the human body. And not only are they a source of disease during infections like malaria, but also they are themselves a treatment because we transfuse five million Americans a year who need those transfusions to survive, and that blood comes from altruistic donors. There are problems in the treatment of diseases of red blood cells. There are problems in giving transfusions correctly, and my lab focuses on the mechanisms by which those problems work with a goal of solving them with new technologies.