This American physician conducted breakthrough research on blood plasma in the years leading up to World War II:
Charles Drew, an African-American physician and surgeon, conducted breakthrough research on blood plasma in the years leading up to World War II. While working on his doctorate at Columbia University, Drew researched ways to use and preserve blood plasma for use in transfusion. He quickly became a leading authority on "blood banks? and oversaw programs in the U.S. and Britain in the early years of World War II. He left this enterprise when the armed forces insisted on storing the blood plasma of blacks and whites separately. Taking jobs at Howard University and Freedman`s Hospital in Washington, DC, he worked as an educator until his untimely death in a car accident in 1950.
