by Jessica Pasley
Isaac Chinnappan, MS, CCP, LCP, a senior cardiopulmonary perfusionist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, has become one of nine certified perfusionists in the country to receive the Patient Blood Management Specialist certification.
The International Board of Blood Management (IBBM) in conjunction with the American Society of Extracorporeal Technology introduced the new certification in January.
Chinnappan was recently inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion (AACP), a distinction given to a select group of perfusion professionals. In the past 45 years, 130 perfusionists have received the recognition, which honors contributions to enhancing perfusion techniques, new findings in perfusion clinical practice, presentations and publications.
“Blood conservation is a key to shorter hospital stay and better outcomes overall,” said David Bichell, MD, William S. Stoney Jr. Professor of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery and chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Children’s Hospital. “We welcome his expertise in keeping us at the cutting edge of blood conservation. This is an honor and we look forward to the innovations he will bring to our team.”
The recognition highlights Chinnappan’s expertise in the areas of data collection, quality reporting and quality improvement projects as they relate to perioperative transfusion.
“In addition to his expertise in the methodology of perioperative autologous blood collection, his recognition by the IBBM will allow him to be nationally recognized in this specialty which will be advantageous to his scientific publications pursuits,” said Nicole Michaud, MS, CCP, LCP, CPBMT, chief pediatric perfusionist at Children’s Hospital. “We should be very proud to have one of the few in the country amongst our team.”