JJ (Joghem) van Loghem died on August 3, 2005. Dr. van Loghem was the scientific director of the Central Laboratory of the Netherlands Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (CLB) from 1950–78 and was the president of several organizations, including the Society of the Netherlands Cancer Institute.
Among Dr. van Loghem's many accomplishments:
- First person to detect what is now known as human platelet antigen 1a, alloantibodies to which are the most common cause of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) in Caucasians
- One of the founders of Vox Sanguinis (formerly Bulletin of the CLB, founded in1951)
- Served as Vox Sang's first editor (1956–1960)
- Awarded the AABB Karl Landsteiner Memorial Award in 1964
JJ van Loghem truly was one of transfusion medicine's pioneers. To read more about his extraordinary life, if you are an AABB member, see his obituary in Transfusion Nov. 2005; 45(11):1823.
