Walter Dzik

Dr. Walter Dzik serves as Associate Pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School, where he co-directs the Blood Transfusion Service. His clinical expertise spans coagulation disorders, hematology, and transfusion medicine, with particular focus on patient safety and evidence-based transfusion practices.

Dr. Dzik's research interests include:

• Management of coagulopathy in liver disease
• Clinical use of blood components
• Massive transfusion protocols
• Biologic consequences of recipient exposure to allogeneic donor leukocytes
• Transfusion-related acute lung injury prevention
• International blood banking standards

His publication record demonstrates sustained scholarly activity with impactful contributions to transfusion medicine, including development of the PLASMIC score for thrombotic microangiopathies and leadership in international BEST Collaborative studies. Recent work focuses on advanced therapies like recombinant ADAMTS13 for thrombotic disorders and machine learning applications for transfusion prediction.

Notable achievements include:

• Founding membership in the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative
• Leadership of international studies on blood grouping errors (2002)
• Pivotal trial on universal leukoreduction (2008)
• Groundbreaking research on oxygen delivery by stored blood (2016)

As Co-Director of the Blood Transfusion Service at MGH, Dr. Dzik oversees an FDA-licensed, full-service blood bank supporting approximately 70,000 annual transfusions and providing specialized services for cardiac surgery, bone marrow transplantation, and trauma care. His work with the NHLBI Clinical Trials Network continues to shape evidence-based transfusion practices worldwide.