McMaster professor emeritus named recipient of Canadian Blood Services Lifetime Achievement Award

McMaster University Professor Emeritus Ted Warkentin has been recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from Canadian Blood Services.

The Canadian Blood Services Lifetime Achievement Award, established in 2002, honours individuals whose landmark contributions have significantly advanced the fields of transfusion and transplantation medicine, stem cell, or cord blood research. Recipients are recognized for improving the safety and quality of blood products and making notable advancements in medical practices.

Warkentin retired from the Department of Medicine and the Department of Pathology & Molecular Medicine in February 2024. He was previously the regional director of Transfusion Medicine in the Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program, and hematologist in the Service of Clinical Hematology with Hamilton Health Sciences. In retirement, Warkentin continues to be active in teaching, lecturing, research, writing, and consulting.

“This award from Canadian Blood Services recognizes that discoveries related to unusual platelet-activating antibodies crosses many disciplines including transfusion medicine. I am delighted to be in Ottawa with my wife, Erica, to participate in the ceremonies and accept this award,” says Warkentin.

Warkentin’s work has focused on understanding and treating blood-clotting disorders, such as heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and severe limb damage due to poor blood flow and increased blood clotting in critically ill patients. He devised the “4Ts” scoring system, widely-used by medical professionals to determine the likelihood of a patient having HIT.

Warkentin also discovered “spontaneous HIT”, a rare condition that mimics HIT but occurs without preceding exposure to heparin. Additionally, he characterized “autoimmune HIT,” a severe subgroup of HIT that has provided valuable insights into vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), a rare but serious clotting condition linked to some adenoviral vector vaccines. More recently, Warkentin identified VITT-like antibodies in some patients with blood clotting rarely associated with certain unusual blood proteins (VITT-like monoclonal gammopathies). He is a proponent of using the blood product, high-dose immunoglobulin, to treat blood clotting associated with severe HIT and VITT.

Warkentin is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Royal College of Surgeon of Edinburgh, and the American College of Physicians. He has co-edited five editions of a book, Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia, has authored over 100 book chapters and 400 peer-reviewed articles, and has given over 890 lectures to national and international audiences. In recognition of his contributions, he received the 2015 Prix Galien Canada Prize, a top honour for Canadian scientists in pharmaceutical research.

“Our national awards celebrate the exceptional dedication, generosity and impact of individuals and partners who strengthen Canada’s Lifeline,” says Graham Sher, CEO of Canadian Blood Services.

“Each of the honourees, through their remarkable contributions — from lifetime achievement, to committed partnerships, to recruitment and awareness efforts and lifesaving donations — embodies the spirit of community that drives our vision; to help every patient, match every need and serve every Canadian. Their contributions are invaluable in inspiring people across Canada to join in the critical work to help save lives.”