America's Blood Centers announces 2026 Awards of Excellence winners

America's Blood Centers announced its 2026 Awards of Excellence at the organization's Annual Meeting in Tucson, naming individuals and organizations recognized for contributions to the national blood supply.

America's Blood Centers announced its 2026 Awards of Excellence during the organization's Annual Meeting in Tucson, Arizona. The awards honor individuals and organizations for contributions to supporting the nation's blood supply. ABC is the national association of community-based, independent blood centers that supply about 60 percent of the U.S. blood supply and was founded in 1962. The meeting brought together blood center leaders and national partners to discuss industry topics, advocacy, regulatory updates, and technical affairs. Key facts: - The 2026 Awards of Excellence were presented during ABC's Annual Meeting in Tucson, Arizona. - America's Blood Centers represents community-based independent blood centers that provide roughly 60 percent of the U.S. blood supply and serve more than 150 million people. - The William M. Coenen President's Awards honored BET on Blood for Sickle Cell Disease Initiative for work on red blood cell exchange therapy and Janet Howard for 45 years of service at Western Kentucky Regional Blood Center. - Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management was named National Partner of the Year for developing and delivering the Executive Fellows leadership program with ABC. - Additional recognitions included advocates Juan Cotto and Nick Gehrig; Outstanding Blood Drive to the Florida Strawberry Festival; Outstanding Public Relations Campaign to New York Blood Center Enterprises; Corporation of the Year to Perdue Farms; the Larry Frederick Award to Diane Golden; and the Thomas F. Zuck Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Kip Kuttner. - The awards highlighted efforts in donor recruitment, advocacy, training, partnerships, and improving access to recommended blood therapies. Summary: The awards recognize a range of contributions across clinical initiatives, community partnerships, volunteer service, advocacy, and leadership development within the blood community. Recipients include initiatives addressing sickle cell care, long-serving leaders, academic partners, corporate donors, and volunteer advocates. Undetermined at this time.