Grants from the Blood Service Research Fund for research on the blood supply chain and tissue donation

The research fund allocates grants to scientific research conducted outside the Blood Service that supports the research and development of current and future products and services of the Blood Service. 

In 2025, the fund received a total of 15 applications. 

“We are very pleased that our research fund has received applications from various scientific fields. The fund supports research in a multidisciplinary manner, including the field of social sciences,” notes Blood Service Research Professor Jukka Partanen. 

This year, two grants were awarded to researchers at the University of Turku. Heli Harvala’s research project on virus studies in the blood supply chain develops new methods to identify in advance viruses that could be transmitted to patients via donated blood. This research is important for the blood supply chain, as new viruses are constantly emerging and blood services need to anticipate the risks they pose. 

Samuel Piha’s research at the Turku School of Economics, part of the University of Turku, investigates factors that promote regular blood donation from a consumer research perspective. The study seeks to understand what motivates blood donors to commit to regular donations and what factors hinder it. This understanding is crucial to ensure that there will be enough blood donors for patients in the future as well. 

Fabricio Oliveira’s research project at Aalto University is developing a mathematical model to optimize the production of blood products. The project comprehensively examines current factors affecting the demand, use, and production of blood products.  The aim is to develop and analyze scenarios that provide solutions to emerging challenges affecting the resilience and efficiency of the blood supply chain. 

Ilkka Helanterä’s research at Helsinki University Hospital focuses on the long-term follow-up of living kidney donors. The study examines the long-term health effects and quality of life of those who have donated a kidney. The goal is also to establish international follow-up in collaboration with other research institutions. Through this research, care for donors can be improved and the donor experience enhanced. 

Doctoral Researcher Ronja Tammi was awarded a grant for ethnographic research in sociology, which addresses the ethical issues of human tissue donation. Tammi is conducting her doctoral research at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki. The study follows the ethical practices of donating various tissues, eggs, blood, and corneas. Its purpose is to promote ethically sound tissue donation practices and guidelines. 

Grants awarded: 

• Professor Heli Harvala (University of Turku): The challenges in the blood supply chain in a changing infectious diseases landscape, 55 000 €, 2-year funding.  

• Samuel Piha, PhD (University of Turku): Time is blood: Identifying strategies to routinize consumer blood donation behaviour, 30 000 €, 2-year funding. 

• Fabricio Oliveira, PhD (Aalto University): Future-ready blood services: strategic foresight to optimise the Finnish blood supply chain, 45 000 €, 2-year funding   

• Docent Ilkka Helanterä (Helsinki university hospital): Long-term consequences of donating a kidney – a multidisciplinary study over 60 years, 35 000 €, 3-year funding.  

• PhD student Ronja Tammi (University of Helsinki): Following tissue journeys: Ethnographic study on ethics of biogenetics of donated human tissues in Finland, 5 000 €, 1-year funding. 

More info: Jukka Partanen, jukka.partanen@veripalvelu.fi