“White Coats” is an AABB News series that interviews the experts that are transforming the fields of transfusion medicine and biotherapies. Join AABB today to read the rest of this month’s issue
Chloe Homich, MLS(ASCP)CMSBBCM, CQA(ASQ), is the manager of the immunohematology reference laboratory (IRL) at New York Blood Center Enterprises (NYBCe) Blood Bank of Delmarva (BBD). She started her career at BBD in the IRL and donor screening laboratories supporting testing during the overnight shift upon her graduation from University of Delaware’s medical laboratory science program.
In 2020, just before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Homich moved to work in quality and regulatory affairs and served as the internal auditor and regulatory specialist for Blood Bank of Delmarva. Her responsibilities included knowledge of the infectious disease testing performed on donors, state laboratory and Department of Health regulations, CLIA requirements and AABB standards, as well as familiarity with all technical areas of operation at the blood center.
In August 2022, she earned her SBB certification following studying through the program at LifeShare Blood Center and returned to the IRL at BBD as a supervisor. Her role transitioned to that of manager in 2024. In her current role, she is responsible for the people in her department as well as all aspects of the laboratory’s technical operations. BBD directly serves as the IRL for hospitals in Delaware and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, but also supports samples from throughout the New York Blood Center Enterprise IRL network.
In addition to her role as an IRL manager at NYBCe/ BBD, Homich also instructs immunohematology laboratory courses at University of Delaware's Medical Laboratory Science program, serves as an AABB assessor and is a founding member of the AABB Social Media Committee.
What drew you to the transfusion medicine field and blood banking?
As an undergraduate student, I found medical laboratory science by a (very happy) accident. As someone with a chronic medical condition, I was no stranger to having blood drawn. Although I had never actively considered where my lab results had come from, I had now encountered something that had been present in my life for years—both through personal and family experience. A lover of science throughout my education, I knew I had found where I was supposed to be.
I was first exposed to transfusion medicine at 13 years old; my grandfather experienced an aortic aneurysm. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the blood on the shelves in the hospital allowed him to survive surgery and remain present in my life for an additional 13 years.
My clinical rotation in blood banking was at the local pediatric hospital, and I found myself drawn towards the life-saving, life-changing magic of transfusion medicine more than the other areas of my laboratory training. When I left my blood bank rotation, I knew without a doubt that my career would be in blood banking and transfusion medicine. I do it for the memory of my Pop and his opportunity to have more time to spend with his children and grandchildren; for the pediatric patients getting their exchange transfusions or surgeries so that they can enjoy being kids; and for everyone in between.
What do you find most rewarding about your work in transfusion medicine? What energizes you?
The knowledge that my work directly helps save lives is the biggest driving factor in my love for my work. I started my career working in the donor testing laboratory, where I also provided overnight coverage for any IRL or out-of-hospital transfusion service requests.
Working in an IRL in New York Blood Center Enterprises, where we serve many hospitals, work with other IRLs to support patient cases, and helped NYBCe collect and distribute 100,000 convalescent plasma units during the COVID-19 pandemic, I have gained an appreciation for the far-reaching impact of our work. There are days where this realization hits me as freshly as it did my first day on the job. I find these to be sacred moments that keep me grounded and remind me of why I love what I do so much.
What are the biggest challenges in providing transfusion services outside a hospital setting?
Having an out-of-hospital transfusion service certainly poses unique challenges. Ensuring proper patient identification both at sample collection and at time of transfusion are quintessential in safe transfusions.
A clear challenge is that outside of a hospital location, you introduce much more variability to the process, as patients are still going about their day at their long-term care facility or nursing home. Working with transfusion administration service partners to develop effective, quality policies and SOPs allows us to effectively mitigate risks and provide safe transfusions outside of the hospital setting.
This is truly a team effort and requires the expertise of transfusion medicine physicians, medical laboratory scientists, nurses, phlebotomy staff and quality and regulatory experts to navigate the challenges that arise. Providing this patient-centric service while maintaining high-quality care and safety is an incredibly rewarding endeavor.
How do you ensure the safety and quality of blood products?
Quality is built into the NYBCe laboratories at every turn. I am responsible for our IRL and provision of antigen-negative red blood cells, but I also oversee the release of donor infectious disease testing results that allow products to be labeled and distributed.
Our IRL also performs product isoagglutinin titers for anti-A and -B to provide low-titer group A plasma and low-titer group O whole blood for use in trauma scenarios, as well as performing some aspects of blood product quality control. It is humbling to know the degree to which my team and I help ensure that the products people receive are safe and effective.
You served as an #AABB24 social media champion during the 2024 AABB Annual Meeting in Houston. Can you share a highlight/favorite moment from the premier educational event?
AABB24 was a wonderful AABB Annual Meeting! I have two personal highlights:
- Presenting my two posters. This is the first time I’ve gotten to do so, and it was a very rewarding experience. I enjoyed the many discussions I had with folks about best practices and new ideas.
- The opportunities to connect or re-connect with and learn from the many experts in our field and my coworkers from all the NYBCe divisions. I am very grateful for the community in the blood banking and transfusion medicine field that I have built, and I owe many friendships and mentorships to connecting with others through social media and virtual spaces.
Looking ahead, what do you see as the future of immunohematology in clinical practice? How do you see the field evolving?
I love immunohematology because there are always innovations and new things to learn, but the skill sets of immunohematology laboratory scientists can never be replaced. I think the immunohematology skill set will broaden and deepen, especially those working in hospitals with complex testing capabilities and for those working in IRLs.
For example, we have been talking about genotype-matched blood products for a while as a field. As we navigate alloimmunization to highly polymorphic antigen and blood group systems, finding genotype-matched units becomes the best choice for transfusion. Of course, many of our computer systems are not built to handle this information well, and labeling units with genotype information also provides its own challenges.
Additionally, phenotype- and genotype-matching for some blood group systems can statistically increase exposure to low frequency antigens, adding to the case complexity in the case of alloimmunization against those antigens. Understanding the ties between serology and genomics and translating those to clinical practices in transfusion takes time and cultivation of knowledge and expertise of all involved, from the laboratory bench to pathologists and bedside clinicians.
What is the best career advice you’ve ever received?
You can learn from everyone, regardless of their title or amount of experience.
As an early-career professional, what advice would you give to future leaders in laboratory management?
The clinical laboratory is a demanding field. As we all well know, the clinical laboratory generates the information that more than 70% of medical decisions regarding treatment are based on. This can create a stressful environment, especially considering that many folks do not think the lab is run by people.
Future leaders of laboratory management—the clinical laboratory team is comprised of highly educated, qualified individuals that are as essential to patient care as those who have direct patient contact. We may have to churn out lifesaving and life-changing information, but we are still humans! Lead with compassion and empathy. Advocate for your team. Ensure we do not burn out and have the resources we need. Encourage education and growth, invest in your people. This may be a challenge, but it is one worth rising to. The clinical laboratory is full of the most passionate and compassionate people I have ever met, and they need encouragement and support from their management teams to allow them to excel and take care of themselves as well as our patients.
Can you share a professional goal you have that no one knows about?
I don’t think I’ve shared this particular goal with anyone, but I would love to serve on the AABB standards committees for either the IRL or BB/TS Standards or be a contributing author or editor for the Technical Manual at some point in my career.
What book has had a significant impact on your life, and why?
As a blood banker, the easy answer is the Technical Manual! In reality, one of my main hobbies outside of work is reading fiction; it is not often that a non-fiction book graces my reading list. That being said, two of my favorite books are Untamed by Glennon Doyle, and The Beauty in Breaking by Dr. Michele Harper. Both are well worth the read.
