Charles R Drew, Pioneer in Blood Plasma Research

In this mini biography of Charles R Drew, you can learn from him by studying how he lived. Charles Drew lived for only 45 years, but he made those years count, despite the barriers and challenges he faced because of his race. Drew developed a method to process and preserve blood plasma, which meant that patients could now receive plasma from any blood type. He was the first African American doctor to earn a Doctor of Medical Science degree.

Name: Charles R. Drew
Birth Date: June 03, 1904 – April 01, 1950
Job Functions: Surgeon
Fields: Medicine
Known For: First African American to Earn Doctor of Medical Science and Blood Plasma Research

Application of Ideas That Matter from Charles R Drew: How to Develop the Leader in You

1. To progress in your career, manage your career by accepting opportunities that are directly or tangentially related to your field.
2. Solve big problems in your field.
3. If you have an important dream, find a way to make it come true, even if it means delaying it for a short time.

Charles R. Drew's Steps to Success

Early Life & Athletics

1. Charles Drew grew up in a comfortable home filled with books and classical music. He was a good student and gifted athlete who participated in multiple sports – swimming, track, football, basketball and baseball.
2. Secured an athletic scholarship, which granted him access to Amherst College in Massachusetts.
3. Selected for the All Little Three Elevens as the halfback in 1924 and 1925 and won the Thomas W. Ashley Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player on the football team.
4. As a senior in college, Drew was elected captain of the track team, won the National Junior AAU Championship in the 120-yard hurdles, and won honorable mention for All-American Eastern halfback in football.
5. Honored by Amherst with the Pentathlon Award for his exceptional performance and accomplishments in five sports. Awarded the Howard Hill Mossman Trophy for contributing the most to athletics during his four years at Amherst.
6. While attending Amherst, Drew had a serious football injury requiring surgery, and that opened his mind to pursuing a career in medicine.

Medical Training

7. Because of financial constraints, worked two years as the director of athletics and instructor of biology at Morgan College in Baltimore, Maryland. During that time, Drew elevated the performance levels of the teams to “championship caliber.”
8. Applied to Howard University Medical School but was denied admission. In 1928, was accepted at McGill Medical College in Montreal, Canada.
9. Excelled at McGill – Won first prize in the annual neuroanatomy competition, membership in Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honorary scholastic fraternity; received a $1,000 Rosenwald Fellowship, and awarded the William's Prize which is given to the top five men in the graduating class.
10. As a McGill medical student, Drew was introduced to research on the chemical composition of blood and blood groups by John Beattie, a British medical researcher.
11. In 1933, at age 29, received the M.D. and C.M. (Master of Surgery) degrees from McGill. Interned for one year at Royal Victoria, and was a resident for another year at Montreal General Hospital in Canada.
12. After his residency, switched from internal medicine to surgery.
13. In 1935, accepted a faculty position at Howard University Medical School as an instructor in pathology.
14. In 1936, became a resident in surgery at Freedmen's Hospital, which had an affiliation with Howard.

Groundbreaking Research at Columbia

15. In 1938, awarded simultaneously a two-year Rockefeller fellowship for graduate work at Columbia University and a residency in surgery at Presbyterian Hospital.
16. Research assistant to John Scudder and worked with a team on blood chemistry at Columbia. Worked at figuring out how to increase the length of time blood could be stored.
17. Although Drew was a member of the research team, and an assistant to a surgeon, he was able to complete his Doctor of Medical Science degree. In 1940, Columbia University awarded him the degree, making him the first African American to earn it.
18. Published his dissertation thesis, “Banked Blood: A Study of Blood Preservation,” which proposed the storing of plasma rather than whole blood in blood banks.
19. With the assistance of his research team, Drew demonstrated that plasma, unlike whole blood, could be stored for months unrefrigerated without spoiling.
20. Co-invented two patented medical instruments with Philip P. Goland: a surgical needle (US Patent 2,389,355) and a surgical suction apparatus (US Patent 2,397,257).

Blood for Britain & the American Red Cross

21. His former anatomy teacher, John Beattie, recommended him for the position of medical supervisor of the Blood for Britain Project, and he took a leave of absence from Howard.
22. Successfully collected and shipped blood plasma to Great Britain.
23. In 1941, appointed director of the American Red Cross Blood Bank at New York's Presbyterian Hospital, and became assistant director of blood procurement for the National Research Council, in charge of blood for use by the U.S. Army and Navy.
24. By 1941, Great Britain started to oversee the program and the American Red Cross had to establish blood donor stations to collect blood plasma for the American war effort.
25. After operating the American Red Cross program successfully for three months, Drew was forced to step down as director of the American Red Cross Blood Bank because he criticized the policy of segregating blood racially as having no scientific basis. The armed forces' stance was only to accept Caucasian blood for transfusion to members of the military forces.

Howard University & Later Career

26. In October 1941, Drew returned to Howard as head of the department of surgery and was made an examiner for the American Board of Surgery; Chief of staff of Freedmen's Hospital from 1944 to 1946; and appointed the medical director of the hospital for 1946–1947.
27. At Howard, he firmly established a progressive modern surgery program.
28. During his six years as chairman of the surgical section of the National Medical Association, Drew introduced rigorous standards to the group.
29. In 1946, became a fellow of the International College of Surgeons and served in 1949 as surgical consultant to the surgeon general, U.S. Army.
30. Published 19 papers, the first 13 dealing with blood therapy.
31. An excellent instructor, and many of his students rose to prominence in the medical field.

Honors & Legacy

32. In 1976, Drew's portrait was unveiled at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health, making him the first African American to join its gallery of scientists.
33. Memorialized and honored with a postage stamp, issued as part of the U.S. Postal Service's “Great Americans” series.
34. In 1992, inducted into the Engineering & Science Hall of Fame, recognized for pioneering research into blood plasma preservation and establishing the first large-scale blood banks.
35. In 2000, inducted into the McGill Sports Hall of Fame, honoring his outstanding athletic achievements as a student at McGill Medical College.
36. In 2015, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony was held on May 12, 2016, at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. — making him only the fourth McGill graduate to receive the honor.

Biggest Accomplishments/Why Charles R. Drew's Contribution Matters

• Drew developed a method to process and preserve blood plasma so that it could be stored and shipped great distances.
• His work became the blueprint for the first large-scale blood banks in the United States, including the American Red Cross blood program, and he helped introduce mobile donation units later known as “bloodmobiles.”
• He publicly condemned the military's policy of racially segregating blood donations as unscientific, and resigned from his Red Cross post in protest.
• He worked to open doors for Black physicians, challenging their exclusion from medical societies and advocating for equal professional opportunities.

Lessons from Charles R. Drew

1. Try at all times to take the high road: “Drew endured racial slurs both on and off the field. The insults made him flush the dangerous, dark red color that earned him the nickname ‘Big Red.' He controlled his temper though, for he had decided that our people – any people – could make more real progress by doing and showing than by any amount of violent demonstration.”
2. Get the best possible education you can: Drew worked hard to secure the credentials he needed.
3. Tackle problems that can change the world: Drew found the solution to improving the length of time blood can be stored for.
4. Stand on principle: When ordered to enforce a racist blood-segregation policy he knew to be wrong, Drew resigned rather than comply — placing integrity above career convenience.
5. Say “yes”: Drew accepted opportunities that advanced his career and the field of medicine.
6. Invest in others: Drew focused on training a new generation of Black surgeons to meet the most rigorous standards, placing them in key positions nationwide.

Further Reading

National Library of Medicine announces a suite of educational resources for The Charles R. Drew Papers

Sources Cited/Referenced

Encyclopedia of World Biography
Notable Black American Men
Notable Scientists
Decades, “Blood Researcher Whose Work Saved Lives In World War II”
Science and Its Times
Scientists: Their Lives and Works
National Inventors Hall of Fame — Charles R. Drew inductee profile

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