About the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA)

The American Society for Apheresis was formed in 1982. It grew out from two organizations, the Society of Hemapheresis Specialists (S.H.S.) and the original ASFA.

The S.H.S. developed from predominantly nursing and allied health personnel, who were responsible for actually doing the donor and therapeutic procedures and operating the various blood cell separators, who formed an organization to deal with educational and networking matters not being addressed in the detail which the original members needed. It became a national forum for exchange of views, and the forerunner of the efforts directed toward practitioner certification.

The original ASFA grew out of predominantly physician-scientists symposia, developed for the purpose of scientific presentation of studies of donor and therapeutic apheresis topics.

The first Apheresis symposium was held in Chicago in 1979, and became the first of annual symposia, which were subsequently named ASFA symposia. Most of the initial Officers and Board of Directors of ASFA presented at these symposia, from which the structure of the organization grew.

In 1982, John Verrier-Jones, became the first president of ASFA. He noted that the term “apheresis” had been in use since 1914, and that the appropriate terms was “apheresis”, not “pheresis” as was quite widely used at the time.

ASFA Mission

ASFA is an organization of physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals whose mission is to lead the field of apheresis through patient and donor care, research, education, and advocacy.

ASFA represents a broad range of professionals involved in:

Donor apheresis
Apheresis in transplantation
Therapeutic apheresis
  • Hematology
  • Medical Oncology
  • Neurology
  • Rheumatology
  • Nephrology
  • Hepatology
  • Gastroenterology
  • Cardiology
  • Ophthamology

ASFA Vision

The vision of ASFA is to be the pre-eminent forum for the dissemination of evidenced-based knowledge, introduction of new information, and the exchange of new ideas in the field of apheresis medicine. We will serve as the voice of investigators and practitioners to advance the development and delivery of programs and services in the field of apheresis medicine, benefiting patients, donors, and the general public.


ASFA Past Presidents

John Verrier Jones, MD (1982-1983)
Alvaro Pineda, MD (1984)
Harvey G. Klein, MD (1985)
Edwin Taft, MD (1986)
Gail Rock, PhD, MD, FRCP (1987)
Ronald G. Strauss, MD (1988)
Thomas H. Price, MD (1989)
Jeanne A. Miller, RN (1990)
Francis S. Morrison, MD (Deceased; 1991)
Bruce C. McLeod, MD (1992)
Nancy McCombie, MD (1993)
David Civarella, MD (1994)
M. Joleen Pavelka, RN, BSN (1995)
Samuel Pepkowitz, MD (1996)
Wanda Koetz, RN, HP(ASCP) (1997)
James W. Smith, MD, PhD (1998)
Robert Weinstein, MD (1999)
Martha Weiland, RN, HP(ASCP) (2000)
David Wuest, MD (2001)
Irene Zielinski, RN, HP(ASCP) (2002)
Anna Koo, MD (2003)
Patricia Jost Golden, RN, HP(ASCP) (2004)
Mark Brecher, MD (2005)
Chester Andrzejewski, PhD, MD (2006)
Christine Fernandez-Roig, RN, BSN (2007)
Christina Anderson, RN, BSN, HP(ASCP) (2008)

ASFA continues to grow as a Society to represent a broad range of professionals involved in donor and therapeutic apheresis