Charles Drew
Charles Drew is considered by many as one of the most respected figures in the medical field following his development of the blood plasma bank that has saved a million lives. Born in 1904 in Washington, D.C., he became a doctor and worked as a college instructor before heading to Columbia University to do his Ph.D. on blood storage. At Columbia, he wrote a dissertation titled “Banked Blood” in which he described a technique he developed for the long-term preservation of blood plasma. Note that, before his discovery, blood could not be stored for more than two days due to the quick breakdown of red blood cells.
