- Blood Bank
- Cellular Therapy Laboratory
- Apheresis Center
Our team has over 60 passionate, skilled, and specially trained professionals including board certified physicians, scientists, registered nurses, licensed medical technologists, technicians and associates. Our laboratories and facilities are registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, licensed by the New York State Department of Health and accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks, the College of American Pathologists, and the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy.
The Blood Bank
The Blood Bank supports both the inpatient and outpatient transfusion services at Mount Sinai Hospital with immunohematology testing and by providing more than 45,000 units of blood, plasma, platelets, and derivatives for transfusion.
Our Medical Directors include physicians who are board certified in Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine. The Blood Bank Laboratory staff includes licensed medical technologists and technicians performing testing and preparing blood products to ensure the safest possible transfusion for our patients. Testing includes blood ABO/Rh typing, screening for possible transfusion reaction-related antibodies, and cross matching blood units in preparation for transfusion. We use the most advanced methods of testing, with automation designed to provide rapid, accurate test results.
A Note to Patients on Blood Donations
The Mount Sinai Health System relies entirely on voluntary blood donations from carefully screened voluntary donors. All blood donated for transfusion undergoes extensive testing in compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations.
Some patients prefer to donate their own blood for transfusion, as part of their preparation for elective surgery. This is known as autologous blood donation, and we encourage it whenever possible. For some patients, autologous blood donation will not be possible, due to their age, medical status, or the timing of surgery. In this setting, family members or friends may donate blood for a patient to use, known as directed blood donation.
If you would like to arrange for autologous or directed blood donations, contact your physician to arrange the donation through the New York Blood Center, which has donor collection centers throughout the metropolitan area. Autologous and directed blood donations require special handling, for which the Blood Center charges a fee. At least five working days are needed to test, process, and ship the blood to Mount Sinai. For information on autologous and directed donations or to schedule a donation, contact the New York Blood Center or call (800) 439-6876.
Blood Bank Contacts
Director: Suzanne A. Arinsburg, DO
Assistant Directors: Ian Baine, MD, PhD Yoon Choo, MD Kathleen Leonard, MD
Manager: Louella Rudon
We are open 24 hours a day and 7 days per week, to contact us please call 212-241-6101.
The Cellular Therapy Laboratory
The Cellular Therapy Laboratory (CTL) provides services that enable more than 300 stem cell transplants and infusions of cell-based therapies performed annually within the Bone Marrow Transplant, Cellular Therapy and Multiple Myeloma Services at the Mount Sinai Hospital. Our laboratory is responsible for processing, storage and preparation for infusion of autologous and allogeneic cellular therapy products including stem cells, immune effector cells and other cell-based therapeutics. Quality Assurance programs have been implemented to ensure compliance with regulatory and accreditation requirements. Our team includes scientists and licensed medical technologists and has been honored with a “Recognition of Excellence Award.”
Cellular Therapy Clinical Services
The staff of the Cellular Therapy Laboratory performs over 1,000 procedures annually including but not limited to the following:
- Processing of bone marrow, peripheral and cord blood stem cells collected by the Apheresis Center or shipped to Mount Sinai Hospital by external collection facilities. Processing procedures include volume, red cell and plasma reduction, product quality evaluation and cryopreservation.
- Preparation of stem cell product for infusion including thawing, reconstitution or washing, quality control assays and delivery to the bedside inpatient or outpatient.
- Handling FDA-approved CAR-T cells (Kymriah, Tecartus, Yescarta, Breyanzi, Carvykti and Abecma) including shipping of patient’s cellular collections for manufacturing, receipt of final cellular products, preparation for infusion and delivery to the bedside.
- Managing inventory and storage of thousands of cryopreserved cellular therapy products in safe and controlled conditions in vapor phase liquid nitrogen freezers at our site and offsite storage facilities.
Cellular Therapy Research Services
Our laboratory supports various clinical research studies utilizing investigational cellular therapy products. Such products include but are not limited to CAR-T cells, umbilical cord-derived stem cells, mesenchymal stromal cells, virus-specific T cells, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, etc. Investigators interested in conducting clinical research studies involving cellular therapies are encouraged to refer to this informational sheet and to contact our directors for consultancy on regulatory compliance and feasibility.
Cellular Therapy Laboratory Contacts
Laboratory Director: Camelia Iancu-Rubin, Ph.D
Medical Director: Luis Isola, MD
Manager: Yelena Sinitsyn, MS
We are open from 9AM to 6PM, Monday-Friday. To contact us please call 212-241-0001.
Apheresis Center
Apheresis is a medical procedure that separates a patient’s blood into its different components (red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma), and allows for the selective removal of specific blood components. This is done either to collect a certain type of cell (for example, hematopoietic stem cells, T cells, NK cells, platelets, etc.), or to remove a specific component of blood and exchange it with a replacement product as a part of a treatment plan for different medical conditions.
The Apheresis Center performs the following types of therapies:
- Therapeutic Plasma Exchange. In this procedure, a patient’s plasma is removed and is replaced with either albumin 5% solution or units of donor plasma. It is used to treat a variety of diseases and conditions in areas such as Hematology/Oncology, Neurology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, Solid Organ transplant rejections, and others.
- Leukocytapheresis. In this procedure, also known as Therapeutic White Cell Depletion, a patient’s excess white blood cells are removed to treat dramatically elevated white cell counts that can occur in acute leukemia crises.
- Erythrocytapheresis. Also known as Therapeutic Red Cell Exchange, this procedure can be used to treat and prevent complications of Sickle Cell Disease, treat severe Babesiosis, and for other specific conditions.
- Plateletpheresis. This procedure, also known as Therapeutic Platelet Depletion, can be used in combination with other treatments for Essential Thrombocythemia in symptomatic patients.
- Extracorporeal Photopheresis. In this procedure, a portion of a patient’s white blood cells are separated from their blood, combined with a medication and exposed to ultraviolet light, and then re-infused into the patient. It is used to treat Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma and Graft-Versus-Host Disease, and to treat and prevent rejection of solid organ transplants.
- Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) Collection. PBSC collection is the extraction of stem cells from peripheral blood for potential use in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and gene therapy applications.
- Mononuclear Cell (MNC) Collection. MNC collection is the extraction of mononuclear cells and lymphocytes from peripheral blood for potential manufacture and infusion in standard-of-care CAR T-cell therapy.
- Gene Therapy. Recent advances in gene therapy for the treatment of red blood cell disorders such as HbSS Sickle Cell Disease and beta-thalassemia have opened new options for affected patients. The Apheresis service at Mount Sinai, in collaboration with the Sickle Cell treatment team and the Bone Marrow Transplant service, is at the forefront of these treatments, and conducts autologous hematopoietic stem cell collections for the manufacture of both Lyfgenia® and Zynteglo® gene therapies.
Our Apheresis Physicians are available for medical consultations.
Apheresis Center Clinical Research
We participate in clinical trials and studies utilizing FDA-approved investigational cellular products by enabling collections and handling of cells for various cellular therapies. We perform collection of mononuclear cells for manufacturing of investigational CAR T-cell therapies for patients with hematologic cancers. We also perform PBSC collections as part of clinical trials studies for infusion for patients with non-hematologic conditions, such as refractory Crohn’s disease.
Investigators interested in research requiring apheresis services are encouraged to contact us to seek advice on the most appropriate cellular component collection protocols. We provide consultations during study development and grant-in-writing process.
Apheresis Center Team
The Apheresis Center’s Team includes 5 physicians and over 18 skilled and specially trained nurses and associates.
Ian Baine, MD PhD, Medical Director
Tamarah Kent, BSN, RN, Nurse Manager
Luke Brennan, BSN, RN, Quality Clinical Coordinator
Contact the Apheresis Center at 212-241-6104.