Asian Associations of Transfusion Medicine

The Asian Association of Transfusion Medicine (AATM) is a trans-national organization operating in Asian region for the development of blood transfusion services (BTS) in this part of the world. AATM started functioning in 1999. It has members from forty five countries from across the world. In ninteen countries from greater Asia (from Turkey to China), AATM has branches (Country chapters) which are self-administered. There are also members from seven Balkan and East European countries.

AATM is a manifestation of the determination of leading specialists in Transfusion Medicine from Asian countries to work together towards finding solutions for their common problems in the spirit of friendship, trust and understanding and to create an order based on mutual respect, equality and shared benefits. The primary objective of the Association is to accelerate the scientific progress and common standard in Blood Transfusion Services (BTS) in member countries in the Asian region.

AATM is committed to establishing inter organizational relationship among various scientific Societies/ Associations related to Transfusion Medicine (technical and motivational field) in Asian countries including SAARC countries. It also intends to work in close co-ordination with various National governments, government organizations like SAARC, BIMTECH, ASEAN etc. for the development of the standards of Blood Transfusion Services in member countries. It may also act as a technical advisory body to member states at various levels, whenever needed. AATM intends to initiate a close liaison with International agencies like World Health Organization (WHO), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society etc. to promote the standard of BTS in this part of the world and to transmit the benefits to member countries.

AATM membership is open to all nationalities. There are annual individual memberships, institutional and corporate membership of AATM. It works on the principle of decentralization. AATM members have formed Country chapters for operation in member countries to work independently and they follow procedures as per constitution. AATM has country chapters in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Iran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.

Learning is an ongoing process and considering that AATM has developed this e- learning platform for updating knowledge of health care professionals working in Transfusion Medicine specialty. To comply with its philosophy of expanding the knowledge horizon of its members / associates and allied medical professionals AATM has deeply researched and developed this online learning platform, wherein participants can not only undergo development courses but also get certification for career advancement. This course is designed to keep abreast of the latest knowledge and techniques in the field.

AATM’s e-learning program is developed and led by renowned experts and intended to help and promote professional development. AATM’s e-learning platform has a wide selection of topics in blood transfusion domain, which includes Immunohematology, Blood donation& Apheresis, Therapeutic Apheresis, Immunohematology, Blood Components, Transfusion Transmitted Infections, Clinical transfusion practices, Total Quality management system, Hemovigilance and Recent advances. It helps in acquiring and updating knowledge while offering flexibility in learning also enables participants to learn new trends in Transfusion Medicine. The key benefit is flexibility of learning anytime anywhere.

This certificate program is an assessment based program focusing on current practices in Transfusion Medicine to provide a learning platform. This Advance certificate course is designed to evaluate competence of different levels of professionals according to their work areas to ensure that the participants get the best relevant knowledge. This course consists of concept based objective evaluation. Participants can take advantage of resource material provided on website. On successful completion of Certificate course participants will be awarded with certificate. Earning certificate can advance knowledge and add distinction to credentials, besides representing a significant personal achievement.

Advance Certificate in Transfusion Medicine is endorsed by AATM and efforts are on to get the endorsement from other international societies.

DR. NABAJYOTI CHOUDHURY - Program Conceiver

As initiator of this online program Dr Nabajyoti Choudhury is well known figure in the field of Transfusion Medicine. Presently he is working as Director (Admin) at Health City, Guwahati, Assam (India) and before joining present assignment he held the post of Additional Director and Head, Department of Transfusion Medicine at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon (India). He is an alumnus of Department of Transfusion Medicine at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow (India). He is an MBBS, PhD, MBA, MNAMS who has extensive research and administrative experience in the field of Transfusion Medicine. He has 78 research publications, 12 book chapters and 15 research projects to his credit besides supervising 10 theses. Dr Choudhury had been the founder editor of Asian Journal of Transfusion Science. He has delivered presentations in over 228 scientific forums. He is the chief editor of three volumes text book “A Text Book on Laboratory & Clinical Transfusion Medicine” published by Nova Biomedical, New York 2017. He is the President of Asian Association of Transfusion Medicine (AATM) from 2017-20. He is/has been member of national and international organizations including WHO where he is a resource person for SEARO in Transfusion Medicine in India. He was a member of National Blood Transfusion Council, Govt of India from 1999-2002 and member of Technical Resource Group on Blood Safety and Transfusion services of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt Of India from 1999-2006. He is the lead assessor for blood bank accreditation, NABH, QCI, Govt of India. He received a patent award in 2017 besides being awarded national and international fellowships throughout his career. He is also chairman of National Standards for Blood Banks & Blood Transfusion Services (review & revise) under NACO, Govt of India. He has visited 59 blood centers abroad. As consultant he has helped in development of blood transfusion services in many countries.

DR. ANANDA GUNASEKERA - Program Observer

Dr.Ananda Gunasekera , MBBS, Msc(Med.Admin), MCMA is a former Deputy Director General of Health (Medical Services) , Sri Lanka who has served as a Medical Faculty at University of Colombo, Sri Lanka from 1975 to 1980 with postgraduate training experience from Birmingham University, UK in 1990 and Long Beach University, USA in 2000. He has many national and international publications and has delivered keynote addresses at international forums. He has been conferred with Provincial Productivity Award, 2009; Commendation, Taiki Akimoto 5S Award, 2009, Gold’ National Green Award, 2011, Silver; National Health Excellence Award, Large Campaigns, 2009- 2010, Gold; ISO 15189 Accreditation for Laboratory Services, from 2011 – 2014; National Quality Award Ceremony, 2011, Merit Award; ISBT Best Transfusion Service in the developing world, 2009 to 2011 and President’s Award of the AABB for the International services rendered in Transfusion Medicine, October 2018. He has served as President of AATM from 2009 to 2013 and as an Executive committee Member of Asian Federation of Sports Medicine 2011 to 2017, Member of the Sports medical council of Sri Lanka 2011 to 2017, Secretary General of AATM From 2018 onwards, International Coordinator for AABB/AATM Quality Assurance, Vice Chair Global Transfusion Forum (guided by AABB) From 2018, Member of Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Peradeniya , Sri Lanka from 2019 onwards.

DR. ANUPAM VERMA - Program Director

Dr Anupam Verma, presently working as Professor in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, (SGPGI) Lucknow, (India) holds an MBBS, MD degree (Pathology) from AMU, Aligarh and PDCC (Apheresis Technology & Blood Component Therapy) from SGPGI, Lucknow. He has also done “Intermediate Transfusion Medicine Course” from National Blood Services, Tooting in London in 2006. He has more than 20 years of experience in blood banking with special interest in clinical transfusion medicine including hemostasis. He has 42 research publications in national & international journals to his credit besides 3 book chapters. He has supervised more than 15 theses of students pursuing MD and DM courses. He was selected for the prestigious “Princess of Wales” award by British Blood Transfusion Society and received international travel fellowships for UK in 2006 and then for Australia in 2007. He has received Harold Gunsen fellowships twice from ISBT ( China in 2008 and Germany in 2010). He is also recipient of ISBTI Young Scientist Fellowship Award. He received 'Award for Excellence in Transfusion Medicine' under the Medical Specialty from Venus International Foundation in 2019. He has presented papers in 12 countries besides taking guest lectures in 62 regional and national conferences. He has served as State Nodal Officer for Hemophilia for more than 3 years ensuring factors availability at 26 hemophilia centers besides improving diagnostic and physiotherapy services in the most populous state in India. He has held various other administrative posts including Sub-Dean (Faculty) and member Governing Body at SGPGI. He has been an external and internal expert for NACO training on blood safety. He has been appointed external examiner for MD exit examinations in India. Dr Verma is also a member of American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) , International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) , Asian Association of Transfusion Medicine (AATM) and Indian Society of Transfusion Medicine (ISTM).

Dr. Priti Elhence - Lead Faculty

Dr Priti Elhence, currently working as Professor, Dept of Transfusion Medicine, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow. She is an M.D (Transfusion Medicine) from SGPGI, Lucknow and joined as Faculty in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at SGPGI since 2000. She has also served as Professor & Head of the Dept. of Transfusion Medicine at Dr RMLIMS, Lucknow for almost 2 years till June 2019. She was involved with the training and teaching of MD Pathology Residents and MBBS students. She is actively involved in teaching, research and patient services. Her core work areas include blood component therapy, patient safety programs, Immunohematology, component & therapeutic apheresis, Stem cell & organ transplant program, pediatric & obstetric transfusion, ABO incompatible renal transplant, management of platelet refractoriness, platelet cryopreservation. She served as Nodal Officer for starting MSc Medical Technology Course in Transfusion Medicine at SGPGI. She has been awarded ‘Princess of Wales’ Scholarship of British Blood Transfusion Society in 2003 for attending BBTS annual conference at Manchester, England and ‘Intermediate Transfusion Medicine Course’ at Sheffield in October 2003. Besides a Certificate of Appreciation was awarded to her by Lions Clubs International for the year 2006-7. She has >30 publications in national and international journals; 3 Book Chapters. She is a member of blood safety committee of National Hepatitis control committee. She has presented >50 papers in national and international conferences besides taking many Guest Lectures in National conferences. She is also a Guest Faculty for Indira Gandhi National Open University for Post Graduate Diploma in Hospital and Health Management course since 2005. She has provided her services as Telemedicine Faculty for blood transfusion for Kabul, South Africa and other linked medical colleges. She has been an Expert for Faculty selection at AIIMS, ILBS, PGIMR, Chandigarh. Dr Priti is member of AABB and ISBT besides having membership of AATM , ISBTI, ISTM, Indian Society of Organ Transplantation, Indian Medical Association.

Dr Nidhi Bhatnagar - Lead Faculty

Dr Nidhi Bhatnagar is working as Associate Professor in the Department of Immunohaematology & Blood Transfusion, B J Medical College, Ahmedabad , Gujarat (India) since April 2009. She is a pioneer in this field in her state, since the inception of the department in 2004 in B J Medical College, Ahmedabad. The department was separated from Pathology and a post graduate course in Transfusion Medicine was started which was the first in Gujarat. She has done MBBS, DCP (Pathology & Bacteriology) and M D (Pathology) from B.J. Medical college, Gujarat University. She has organized a number of workshops for the rational use of blood and components for residents and faculty of Civil Hospital as well as conducted a number of training programs for the blood bank medical officer’s and technicians. She was instrumental in getting the accreditation as Quality Manager in Department of IHBT, Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, which was the first blood bank in Government sector in India to be accredited by NABH. She is also Lead Assessor for Blood Banks for NABH, QCI. She has been invited as speaker in national conferences, presented papers in national and international conferences. Dr Nidhi is Reviewer for many national and international journals. She has good number of publications in international & national journals to her credit. She is also Member of International Society for Blood Transfusion ( ISBT), Member of American Association of Blood Banks( AABB), Executive Member of Asian Association of Transfusion Medicine(AATM), Member of Indian Society of Blood Transfusion & Immunohaematology ( ISBTI) and Member of Indian Society of Transfusion Medicine (ISTM) besides being Executive Member of ISBTI- Gujarat Chapter.

DR. PRITI DESAI - Lead Faculty

Dr Priti Desai is presently working as an Associate Professor in Department of Transfusion Medicine at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. She is an MMBS, DCP, MD (Pathology) with 18 years of experience. She has number of research publications in peer review journals including 2 book chapters. She is member of Indian Society of Blood Transfusion and Immunohematology, Indian Society of Transfusion Medicine, Asian Association of Transfusion Medicine, International Society of Blood Transfusion, Executive committee member –Federation of Bombay Blood Banks and Resource Person-National AIDS Control Society, Govt of India. She is also a NABH Assessor for Blood Banks in India.

DR. RAHUL KATHARIA - Lead Faculty

Dr Rahul Katharia , MBBS, MD (Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion) is currently working as an Additional Professor in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India. SGPGI is a 1200 bedded academic tertiary care hospital which not only conducts teaching and training of postgraduate but also caters medical needs of different category of patients especially lower economic strata. His areas of interest include apheresis particularly plateletpheresis, therapeutic plasma exchange in various categories of patients. He has established antenatal serology laboratory to manage pregnant females having bad obstetrics history pertaining to alloimmunization and providing compatible blood for intrauterine transfusions. He is actively involved in teaching and training of postgraduate students besides undertaking research projects. He has received Harold Gunson Fellowship of ISBT in 2018 and Apheresis Award for best project , Award for excellence by ISBTI and Young Investigator award, KSH South Korea.

DR. SUCHET SACHDEV - Lead Faculty

Dr Suchet Sachdev is currently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research at Chandigarh, India. He is an MBBS from BJMC & Sassoon Hospitals Pune , MD from Seth GS Medical College & KEM Hospital Mumbai. He has done Senior Residency from GMCH Sector 32 Chandigarh. His areas of interest include voluntary blood donation & transfusion transmissible infectious disease testing. He is an Associate Editor for Indian Journal of Hematology and Blood Transfusion. He has 29 National & International Publications to his credit.

Dr. Md. Ashadul Islam

Dr. Md. Ashadul Islam , MBBS, DBS&T (Dhaka University) is working as Professor in the Department of Transfusion Medicine & Additional registrar in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka (Bangladesh). His areas of interest include Apheresis, Blood Component Therapy, Clinical & Rational Use of Blood and Blood Component, Transfusion Serology, lmmunohematology, Voluntary Counseling and Testing, and Voluntary Blood Donation. He has 58 publications in national and international publications besides 4 research projects. He is Vice President of Asian Association of Transfusion Medicine (AATM). He is also General Secretary, National Safe Blood Transfusion Expert Committee (NSBTEC); President, National Voluntary Blood Donor Committee (NVBDC) and Senior Vice-President, Blood Transfusion Society of Bangladesh (BTSB). He is a member of International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT). He has attended many national and international conferences and other academic events. He is a pioneer in blood transfusion in Bangladesh.

DR.MANOJ KAHAR (MD) , CONSULTANT PATHOLOGIST, NAVSARI, INDIA

.Advanced Certificate in Transfusion Medicine with reasonable fees is a welcome initiative from AATM. I had the privilege to appear for the examination and get the certificate as the first successful candidate. The examination covers all aspects of T.M. and assesses candidates from basics to advanced topics in T.M. Preparing for the examination revises T.M. after passing PG examinations. The questions are nicely framed and kudos to the team of AATM who have prepared the question set. The online format of the examination is also easy to follow while appearing.I highly recommend all professionals working in T.M. to enroll & appear for the exam, get awarded by AATM with a certificate having global competency.

Fawziya Ahmed, BB(ASCP)CM, ÁCTM Manager HGH and External Clients-Transfusion Service, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Doha-State of Qatar

.When I decided to take the exam, it was for the purpose of exploring important information that might develop my technical as well as my practical experiences. It was a really more than wonderful experience and really pleased with it because it is not just an exam that I pass only, but the benefit of asking questions and answers was like an advanced scientific material in Blood transfusion field and it was presented in a correct and appropriate way, a big thank to everyone who contributed to the mechanism of the exam . Indeed, I considered it a subject taught and from a scientific point of view, I advise everyone in the field of blood transfusion to apply for ACTM , as it gives you experience in addition of developing your professional knowledge and gives you a competitive ability in your field of work and career and supports your CV.

Mr.Abdullah Ghadeer Alharbi (MSc, Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therepy ) Central Blood Bank Supervisor King Fahad Specialist hospital ,Qassim- Buraydah , Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

I was really excited to enroll for this program. It covered important subjects from Transfusion Medicine that we sometimes forget to revise particularly when we do not cover them in our daily practices. As well as, it makes me feel that I have to challenge myself and read more about my field and not stop my learning process.

Dr. Puneet Jain (MD, DNB IHBT) Specialist, Transfusion Medicine, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabi

There is a constant focus on upskilling, continuous education and virtual learning in today’s world to keep up with the advancements in one’s profession. I found the ACTM a welcome step by AATM as there are not many certifications on offer in TM (at different career levels). As soon as I came to know about ACTM, I enrolled and appeared for the exam to test the waters! As a mid- career level professional with physician profile my experience with the certification was very good! I found the questions and difficulty level relevant to my work profile and the certification motivated me to get back to books to revisit identified knowledge gaps. The enrollment and exam process was user friendly.

Dr Abhishekh B (MD,DNB) Additional Professor in Transfusion Medicine ,JIPMER, Puducherry,India

I completed the Advance Certificate in Transfusion Medicine (ACTM) in February 2022 as one of the earliest candidates. The course is designed in such a way that we need to think and apply before answering the questions. The questions are fresh and up to date. The interface is appealing and well structured. All levels of difficulty are included so as to keep you motivated as well competitive at the same time. The content covers all the aspects of transfusion medicine and surely will serve as a refresher to all the participants. I really enjoyed as well as learnt at the same time being part of the program.

Dr Neha Singh Assistant professor Pathology Katihar Medical College,India

I want to thank AATM members for creating such a great program. The exam has given me a road map to understand transfusion medicine in a better way. Though the level of questions are quite tough and without studying in detail no one will able to pass this exam. But through this program i am able to go in details about each and every side of transfusion medicine. At last I would recommend this program to everyone practicing transfusion medicine!

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