Denese Marks, PhD elected President, effective Oct 2026

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8 May 2026

Lebanon, NH -The Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative has announced that Denese Marks, PhD has been elected as its new President, effective October 15, 2026.

Dr. Denese Marks is currently the National Research Program Leader for Product Development and Transfusion Studies at Australian Red Cross Lifeblood and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Medical School. She is responsible for laboratory and clinical development and evaluation of blood products in Australia, leading research that has been implemented into routine practice and policy at Lifeblood. Denese has published over 140 peer-reviewed papers. She is currently a Section Editor for the Vox Sanguinis journal and Chair of the International Society for Blood Transfusion (ISBT) Blood Components Working Party. Denese currently sits on the Board of Cambium Bio Pty Ltd and was previously a member of the ISBT Board as Regional Director (Western Pacific) from 2020 - 2024.

Denese completed her PhD at the University of Technology, Sydney and subsequently held a Leise Meitner post-doctoral fellowship with the University of Vienna, Austria. She has previously held post-doctoral positions at the University of Melbourne and Great Ormond Street Children’s hospital in London.

“I am absolutely delighted that Denese will be taking over from me as the next President of BEST,” said Dr. Rebecca Cardigan, current President of the BEST Collaborative. “Denese has been a scientific member of BEST for some years and more latterly the Co-Lead for the Conventional Components Team and member of the Board of Directors. As someone who has led multiple research programmes and teams as part of her substantive post in Australia’s Lifeblood, she is very well placed to lead BEST through the next 4 years of its journey. I am looking forward to supporting Denese in my role as Treasurer.”

“I am particularly thrilled with the election of Denese as the next BEST President. In this historic election, the membership has chosen an outstanding scientist and a dedicated contributor from the Conventional Components team. As the first BEST President from Australia, her appointment underscores the truly global nature of our organization,” said Dr. Ziggy Szczepiorkowski, current Treasurer and Immediate Past President of the BEST Collaborative. “I look forward to seeing her continue to develop BEST Collaborative as a unique scientific venture for years to come.”

“It’s an immense honour to become the next President of BEST,” stated Dr. Marks. “I joined the Conventional Components Team in 2018 under the leadership of Rebecca Cardigan and Dana Devine and became a team co-leader in 2022. BEST is incredibly unique in the way it brings together so many like-minded researchers, together with our supporting blood service and industry members to work collectively to answer important research questions. I look forward to ensuring that BEST continues to have an impact in transfusion and cellular therapies for the benefit of donors and patients.”

Dr. Marks will serve a four-year term.

About the BEST Collaborative: The Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative is an international research organization whose objective is to improve the safety of transfusion and cell therapy and related services through standardization of analytic techniques, development of new procedures, and execution of clinical trials in hemotherapy and cell therapy. More than 178 scientific publications have resulted from the Collaborative's work.

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CONTACTS:
Rebecca Cardigan, PhD, FRCPath; President, BEST Collaborative
Zbigniew Szczepiorkowski, MD, PhD; Treasurer, BEST Collaborative
Ernest Ho, BA, PMP; Executive Director, BEST Collaborative; +1 604 416 5173; ernest.ho@bestcollaborative.org