Dame Carmen Marcela Contreras Arriagada, DBE (born 4 January 1942)Debretts biodata
/ref> is a Chilean-born British leading blood expert, immunologist and university educator. Born in

Curicó Curicó (), meaning "Black Waters" in Mapudungun (originally meaning "Land of Black Water"), is the capital city of the Curicó Province, part of the Maule Region in Chile's central valley. The province lies between the provinces of Colchagu ...

in central

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and raised in

Coelemu Coelemu is a Chilean commune and city in Itata Province, Ñuble Region. According to the 2002 census, the commune population was 16,082 and has an area of . Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Coelemu ...

, she originally obtained her

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

degree from the

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, in 1968. As a recipient of a

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

, she went to the UK in 1972 to study

immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...

and has remained there ever since. She retired in February 2007 as national director for diagnostics, development and research for the

National Blood Service NHS Blood and Transplant is an executive non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom's Department of Health and Social Care. It was established on 1 October 2005 to take over the responsibilities of two separate NHS agencies: UK Transplan ...

(NBS) after working for the organisation for over 20 years. Her directorate consisted of nine functions, which included

red cell Red Teams or Red Cells are United States government terms for the National Security Co-ordination Team (NSCT). These teams or units are designed to test the effectiveness of American tactics or personnel. In 1984, Red Cell was formed after Rich ...

immunohaematology Immunohematology is a branch of hematology and transfusion medicine which studies antigen-antibody reactions and analogous phenomena as they relate to the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of blood disorders. A person employed in this field ...

;

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

s and

immunotherapy Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...

; and

histocompatibility Histocompatibility, or tissue compatibility, is the property of having the same, or sufficiently similar, alleles of a set of genes called human leukocyte antigens (HLA), or major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Each individual expresses many uni ...

and

immunogenetics Immunogenetics or immungenetics is the branch of Medical Immunology and Medical Genetics that explores the relationship between the immune system and genetics. Autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, are complex genetic traits which result ...

. She is Professor of

transfusion medicine Transfusion medicine (or transfusiology) is the branch of medicine that encompasses all aspects of the transfusion of blood and blood components including aspects related to hemovigilance. It includes issues of blood donation, immunohematology ...

at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School, London. In January 2008 she was appointed President of the National Commission of Blood and Tissues of the Chilean Ministry of Health.

Writings

Contreras has more than 370 publications to her name, including the textbook ''Blood Transfusion in Clinical Medicine'', which she co-authored. She has been invited to lecture and chair sessions at international and national meetings in over 30 different countries.

Honours

Contreras was named

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(DBE) for "services to medicine".

References

External links

*http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6757091.stm *http://society.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2104182,00.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20070930095842/http://www.mlwmagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=201&storyCode=2045179 *http://www.bbts.org.uk/news/details.cfm?newsId=105 ' {{DEFAULTSORT:Contreras, Marcela 1942 births Living people People from Curicó British science writers British women scientists Chilean emigrants to England Chilean expatriates in England Chilean scientists Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire British immunologists University of Chile alumni Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Academics of University College London