Raisa Balbuena-Merle

Raisa Balbuena-Merle, MD, MHS, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. She holds affiliations with the Apheresis/Transfusion Service, Blood Bank, and Hamburg House. Her academic background includes an MD from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine (2012), followed by residency in Anatomic & Clinical Pathology at the same institution, and fellowships in Hematopathology and Transfusion Medicine at Yale University.

Her research focuses on immunohematology, transfusion medicine, and sickle cell disease, with an emphasis on red blood cell alloimmunization mechanisms, molecular diagnostics in hematologic malignancies, and clinical informatics. Notable contributions include studies on lymphoma subtyping, electronic health record integration for blood smear analysis (PROSER tool), and the immunologic underpinnings of SARS-CoV-2 severity in sickle cell disease.

• Key Research Themes:
  • Alloimmunization dynamics in pregnancy and transfusion contexts
  • Molecular pathogenesis of hematologic malignancies
  • Clinical informatics applications in pathology

Dr. Balbuena-Merle has received the Jatlow Award (2019) from Yale School of Medicine. She actively collaborates with researchers like Christopher Tormey, Alexa Siddon, and Jeanne Hendrickson on projects spanning transfusion safety, immune profiling in sickle cell disease, and diagnostic tool development.

Her work bridges clinical pathology with translational research, emphasizing patient-centered innovations in diagnostics and transfusion medicine.