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Paul M. Ness, M.D.

Paul M. Ness, M.D.

Headshot of Paul M. Ness
  • Senior Director, Division of Transfusion Medicine
  • Professor of Medicine

Expertise

Pathology

Research Interests

Blood donor epidemiology studies; Clinical trials in transfusion recipients; Transfusion alternatives; Immune hemolysis; Transfusion medicine ...read more

Locations

The Johns Hopkins Hospital (Main Entrance)

1800 Orleans St.
Sheikh Zayed Tower
Baltimore, MD 21287 map
Phone: 410-955-9790

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center

4940 Eastern Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21224 map
Phone: 410-955-9790

Background

Dr. Paul Ness is a professor of pathology, medicine and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His area of clinical expertise includes transfusion support of hematology and oncology patients, autoimmune hematologic disorders, and massive transfusion protocols.  Dr. Ness served as the director of the Division of Transfusion Medicine and program director of the Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program in the Department of Pathology for 38 years before relinquishing these responsibilities in 2017.

Dr. Ness has an extensive background in clinical transfusion medicine and research activities related to blood safety. He was a co-investigator with Dr. Kenrad Nelson on the FACTS study, which followed cardiac surgery patients to determine their risk of seroconversion to viral agents such as HIV and hepatitis. He is a consultant on the REDS III program for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Along with Dr. Hua Shan, he is PI of the China project for the international REDS III program. He has also conducted a major study documenting the risk of bacterial contamination of platelets, and was the PI for the Johns Hopkins site in the NHLBI Transfusion Medicine Hemostasis Clinical Trial Network.

He has extensive experience in blood safety education programs internationally. He has worked with Drs. Shan and Nelson to teach blood safety in China, India and Laos/Thailand through the Hopkins Fogarty program. Additionally, he has had extensive teaching roles in Vietnam, India, Egypt and Africa.

Dr. Ness received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned his M.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo. He completed his residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and performed a fellowship in oncology at the University of California, San Francisco.

His research interests include transfusion medicine, immune hemolysis and transfusion alternatives.

He was editor of Transfusion for 15 years and a past president of the American Association of Blood Banks.

...read more

Titles

  • Senior Director, Division of Transfusion Medicine
  • Training Program Director, Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine
  • Professor of Medicine

Departments / Divisions

Centers & Institutes

Education

Degrees

  • M.D.; State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (Buffalo) (New York) (1971)

Research & Publications

Research Summary

Dr. Ness has an extensive background in research activities related to blood safety. In past years, his laboratory has emphasized the development of assays for detecting red cell antibodies and small populations of heterogeneous red cells using a quantitative enzyme-linked antiglobulin test. This assay has proved useful in the study of fetal-maternal hemorrhage, red cells survival studies and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. The division has also studied the pathophysiology of delayed hemolytic transfusion reactions using a rabbit model and is undertaking studies of red cell alloimmunization in mice and rabbits.

Ongoing clinical studies in transfusion medicine include the use of hemodilution in elective surgery; assessment of the risk of viral and bacterial infections in blood recipients; research on the recurrence of cancer as related to the immunosuppressive effects of blood transfusions, the development and use of hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers as blood substitutes, and the use of pathogen inactivated platelets in Oncology and whole blood in Uganda.

Selected Publications

She L, Wang JX, Stevels L, Ness P, Shan H. “Blood safety and availability: continuing challenges in China’s blood banking system.” Transfusion. 2014 Feb;54(2):471-82.

Savage W, Tobian AAR, Ness PM, Kaufman RM. “Desensitization in allergic transfusion reactions: Evidence from the trial to reduce alloimmunization to platelets.” Transfusion. 2014;54(2):496-498.

Stonemetz JL, Allen PX, Wasey J, Rivers RJ, Ness PM, Frank SM. “Development of a risk-adjusted blood utilization metric.” Transfusion. 2014.

Kakcer S, Ness PM, Savage WJ, Frick KD, Shirey S, King KE, Tobian AAR. “Economic evaluation of a hypothetical screening assay for alloimmunization risk among transfused patients with sickle cell disease.” Transfusion. 2014.

Hervig T, Doughty H, Ness PM, Badloe JF, Berseus O, Glassberg E, Heier HE. “Prehospital use of plasma: The blood bankers’ perspective.” Shock. 2014; 41 (SUPP. 1):70-75.

Steiner ME, Ness PM, Assman SF, Triulzi DJ, Sloan DR, Delaney M, Granger S, Bennett-Guerrero E, Blachman MA, Scavo V, Carson JL, Levy JH, Whitman G, D'Andra P, Pulkrabek S, Ortel TL, Bornikova L, Raife T, Puca KE, Kaufman RM, Nuttall GA, Young PP, Youssef S, Engelman R, Greilich PE, Miles R, Josephson CD, Bracey A, Cooke R, McCullough, J, Hunsaker R, Uhl L, McFarland JG, Park Y, Cushing MM, Klodell CT, Karanam R, Roberts PR, Dyke C, Hod EA, Stowell CP. Effects of red-cell storage duration on patients undergoing cardiac surgery. N Engl J Med 372:1419-29, 2015.

Frank, S. M., Rothschild, J. A., Masear, C. G., Rivers, R. J., Merritt, W. T., Savage, W. J., & Ness, P. M. Optimizing preoperative blood ordering with data acquired from an anesthesia information management system. , Anesthesiology 118(6), 1286-1297, 2013

Anderson KC, Ness PM. Scientific basis of transfusion medicine: Implications for clinical practice. Second Edition, WB Saunders, Philadelphia PA 1999.

Savage WJ, Tobian AAR, Savage JH, Hamilton RG, Ness PM. Atopic predisposition of recipients in allergic transfusion reactions to apheresis platelets. Transfusion 51; 2337-2342, 2011.

Activities & Honors

Professional Activities

  • Editor, Transfusion, 2004 - 2018
  • President, American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), 1999 - 2000
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