Kamille Aisha
West-Mitchell, MD
Chief, Blood Services Section
301-594-5357
Dr. Kamille Aisha West-Mitchell is the medical director overseeing blood collection for NIH Clinical Center transfusion support, the Research Blood program, and Dowling Apheresis Clinic for therapeutic procedures and Cell Therapy collections.
MBBS, University of the West Indies, Jamaica
Dr. Kamille West-Mitchell is Chief of the Blood Services Section at the NIH CC Department of Transfusion Medicine director, overseeing blood collection for NIH Clinical Center transfusion support, the Research Blood program, and Dowling Apheresis Clinic for therapeutic procedures and Cell Therapy collections.
Dr. West-Mitchell graduated from medical school at the University of the West Indies in her home country of Jamaica in 2005, with a first-class honors degree. After medical and surgical internship, she served as a Senior House Officer and Resident in Pathology and Hematology at the University Hospital of the West Indies. She completed residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology in New York, where she served as Chief Resident. She then completed a 2-year-fellowship at the NIH Department of Transfusion Medicine where she has remained as Clinical Faculty.
The NIH Blood Bank Donor Center in Building 10 and Fishers Lane Apheresis Center in Rockville collect blood products from volunteer donors to provide transfusion support for Clinical Center patients. The Research Blood program collects blood components for in vitro research use from paid healthy donors for distribution to NIH and FDA investigators. The Dowling Clinic serves adult and pediatric patients requiring apheresis collections for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, cellular therapies, therapeutic apheresis and phlebotomy procedures, and collections for in vitro research use.
Dr. West-Mitchell supervises BSS staff and Transfusion Medicine Fellows in the management of blood donors and Clinical Center patients requiring blood transfusions. Her research focus includes hereditary hemochromatosis, blood donor safety, the diversity and sustainability of the blood supply, and optimizing apheresis techniques for cell and gene therapies. She is an associate investigator on clinical protocols in collaboration with NCI and NHLBI. She has authored and co-authored books, chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles on various topics in Transfusion Medicine.
- NIH Clinical Center CEO Individual Award (COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma), December 2020
- NIH Clinical Center CEO Group Award (Optimizing Pediatric Transfusion Practices), December 2019
- NIH Clinical Center CEO Group Award (Pathogen Reduction of Apheresis Platelets), November 2017
- Jamaica Association of Clinical Pathologists' Prize, November 2007
- Pediatric Association of Jamaica Prize, November 2007
- First Class Honors Graduate (MBBS, Hons) and Valedictorian, UWI, November 2005
- The Professor Stanley-Brooks Prize in Pathology, UWI, June 2004
Chen LN, Collins-Johnson N, Sapp N, Pickett A, West K, Stroncek DF, Panch SR. How do I structure logistic processes in preparation for outsourcing of cellular therapy manufacturing? Transfusion. 2019 May 28. doi: 10.1111/trf.15349. [Epub ahead of print]
Szymanski JM, Waldman M, Conry-Cantilena C, West KA. Treatment-resistant PLA2R-negative membranous nephropathy responsive to low-density lipoprotein apheresis. J Clin Apher. doi: 10.1002/jca.21677. Epub 2018 Dec 10.
Pagano MB, Morton S, Cohn CS, Gross S, Kutner J, Lewin A, McCullough J, Schweitzer I, Tinmouth AT, West K, Stanworth SJ. An International Registry of Granulocyte Transfusions. Transfus Med Hemother 2018;45(5):318-322.
Blaine KP, Cortés-Puch I, Sun J, Wang D, Solomon SB, Feng J, Gladwin MT, Kim-Shapiro DB, Basu S, Perlegas A, West K, Klein HG, Natanson C. Impact of different standard red blood cell storage temperatures on human and canine RBC hemolysis and chromium survival. Transfusion Transfusion 2019 Jan;59(1):347-358.
Morton S, Stanworth S, Lozano M, et al [including West KA and 28 others]. Vox Sanguinis International Forum on provision of granulocytes for transfusion and their clinical use. Vox Sang 2017;112(7):e48-e68.
Sheela S, Ito S, Strich JR, et al [including West KA and 10 others]. Successful salvage chemotherapy and allogeneic transplantation of an acute myeloid leukemia patient with disseminated Fusarium solani infection. Leuk Res Rep. 2017;18(8):4-6.
West KA, Gea-Banacloche J, Stroncek D, Kadri S. Granulocyte Transfusion in Invasive Fungal Infections. Br J Haematol 2017;177(3):357-374.
Allen ES, Stroncek DF, Ren J, Eder AF, West K, Fry TJ, Lee DW, Mackall CL, Conry-Cantilena C. Autologous Lymphapheresis for the Production of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Cells. Transfusion 2017;57(5):1133-1141.
West K, Barrett ML, Moore BJ, Miller JL, Steiner CA. Trends in Hospitalizations with a Red Blood Cell Transfusion, 2000–2013: Statistical Brief #215. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Statistical Briefs. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2006-2016 Dec.
West K, Eder AF. Editorial: Hereditary Hemochromatosis Donor Programs: Ask Not Why, Ask Why Not. Transfusion, 2016;56(12):2907-2909.
Eder A, Yau YY, West K. The effect of iron balance on platelet counts in blood donors. Transfusion 2017;57(2):304-312.
Goldman M, Magnussen K, et al [including West KA and 36 others]. International Forum regarding practices related to donor haemoglobin and iron. Vox Sang 2016;111(4):449-455.
Cid J, Lozano M, Ziman A, West KA et al. Low incidence of anti-D alloimmunization following D+ platelet transfusion: The Anti-D Alloimmunization after D-incompatible Platelet Transfusions (ADAPT) study. Br J Haematol 2015;168(4):598-603
West K, Leitman SF, Flegel WA. Muddy waters in therapeutic plasma exchange. Transfusion 2014;54(9):2157
Panch SR, Yau YY, West K, Diggs K, Sweigart T, Leitman SF. Initial Serum Ferritin Predicts Number of Therapeutic Phlebotomies to Iron Depletion in Secondary Iron Overload. Transfusion 2015;55(3):611-22.
Graham RP, Plummer JM, West K, Williams NP. Adequacy of lymph node harvesting in colorectal cancer management: improving standards, ensuring quality. West Indian Med J 2012;61(2):134-8.
Brady-West DC, Buchner-Daley LM, McGrowder DA, Taylor-Houston J, West K. Multiple Myeloma Presenting as Cervical Lymphadenopathy in a 16-Year-Old Boy. JAMA 2009;101:810-812
Books and Chapters
West K. Blood donors with Hereditary Hemochromatosis In: Eder A, Goldman M, Bianco C, eds. Screening Blood Donors with the Donor History Questionnaire, 2nd edition, Bethesda, MD: AABB Press, 2019.
Friedman MT, West K, Bizargity P, Annen K, Jhang JS. Immunohematology and Transfusion Medicine A Case Study Approach, 2nd Edition. Springer International Publishing, 2018, ISBN 978-3-319-90959-2.
Friedman M, West K, Bizargity P. Immunohematology and Transfusion Medicine– A Case Study Approach. Springer International Publishing, 2016, ISBN 978-3-319-22342-1.
West K, Leitman SF. Therapeutic Apheresis in Hematologic Disorders- When & Why? In: Non-Malignant Hematology: Expert Clinical Perspective, Springer International Publishing, 2016, ISBN 978-3-319-30352-9.
West K, Cantilena C. Transfusion Support–Indications, Efficacy & Complications. In: Non-Malignant Hematology: Expert Clinical Perspective, Springer International Publishing, 2016, ISBN 978-3-319-30352-9.