The James Isbister Award, proudly sponsored by the National Blood Authority (NBA), will be presented for the first time at the Blood 2025 conference in Perth.
Emeritus Professor James Isbister AM is a former Chair of the NBA’s Patient Blood Management (PBM) Steering Committee, a long-time friend of the NBA, and an Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion (ANZSBT) member. He sits on a World Health Organization (WHO) Steering Committee that recently published ‘Guidance on implementing patient blood management (PBM) to Improve Global Blood Health Status’.
James was an early advocate for moving from a blood product focus to a patient health and safety focus. This prestigious award honours his interesting and varied career spanning more than 40 years, with clinical, research, and teaching interests in haematology, transfusion medicine, and PBM for which he received a Membership of the Order of Australia in 2014.
The recipient of the James Isbister Award is nominated by ANZSBT members as acknowledgement of a significant contribution to one or more of the following areas:
- Research into the nature and roles of blood and blood products.
- Education of the medical community and special interest groups in the field of transfusion medicine and/or patient blood management.
- Encouraging and promoting the importance of blood and plasma donation and their appropriate clinical use leading to better healthcare in Australia or New Zealand.
James is humbled by this new award and credits his lifetime achievements to not just his own efforts and fulfilment from the work itself, but also inspiration from influential researchers, guidance from great mentors, and the support, encouragement, and collaboration of many people throughout his career.
Last updated: 23 Oct 2025