Doctor feeds off positive nature

BLOOD AND SWEAT: Dr. Carolyn T. Young, center, says she loves the community aspect of Rhode Island. Also pictured is Jennifer Landry, left, senior donor-management specialist and Rachelle Laurent, donor specialist. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
BLOOD AND SWEAT: Dr. Carolyn T. Young, center, says she loves the community aspect of Rhode Island. Also pictured is Jennifer Landry, left, senior donor-management specialist and Rachelle Laurent, donor specialist. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

MANY doctors fall in love with a specialty during their residency, and Dr. Carol Young, vice president and chief medical officer of the Rhode Island Blood Center, is no exception.

“It’s hard to say what is the best thing about this work, but I really think it’s helping people,” Young said. “Donors are dedicated and it’s an optimistic urge they have to help others. It demonstrates how good people can be.”

Young began work at the RIBC during her pathology residency with Brown University School of Medicine in the mid-1990s. After a two-week rotation there, she asked to be placed back for another month. This was an anomaly and caught the eye of Dr. Richard Yankee, medical director of the center. He promptly offered her a job upon completion of her residency.

“I love the community aspect of Rhode Island. It really feels the whole state is one big city,” Young said. “I like how committed and dedicated people here are in giving. It’s a good place.”

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For the last five years, Young has helped lead a clinical trial to test donor blood for a tick-born pathogen that can cause babesiosis, a disease that can be life threatening for certain populations, including infants. The RIBC is the first center to initiate testing for this pathogen. The trial now is working on obtaining a licensed test for the pathogen.

Working with Imugen, a clinical lab in Norwood, Mass., RIBC has tested more than 12,000 donations thus far. Out of all the donated blood that tested negative for the pathogen, none has resulted in the transmission of the disease.

Having built a very successful career in her field – she also has been a visiting professor at many prestigious schools, including Yale University – Young has encountered her fair share of challenges as a businesswoman.

“Women have to be able to be brave and courageous and to do and say what they think is right,” she said. •

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