Blood Veins for Hire: Social Inequality and the Blood Plasma Industry

APPLICATION DEADLINE 07/12/2024 11:59 P.M. EST

The University of Michigan Blood Plasma Study is accepting applications for research assistants through the Sociology Undergraduate Research Opportunities program. The UM Blood PlasmaStudy Project is a mixed-methods research project that examines the emergence of the global blood plasma industry, the expansion and consolidation of the industry, and the experiences of the people who give plasma throughout the 1000+ centers in the U.S. in exchange for compensation. In doing so, this work interrogates the extent to which the expansion of the blood plasma industry in the US is linked to growing inequality.

Project Background:

As therapeutic uses of blood plasma have expanded, the demand for plasma protein therapies(PPT) has skyrocketed, propelling the rapid expansion of the multi-billion-dollar blood plasma industry. Coined “liquid gold”, blood plasma is the raw material for PPT, life-saving medicines that treat a range of coagulation disorders such as hemophilia and immunodeficiency (PlasmaProtein Therapies Association). Blood plasma is so valuable because it cannot be created artificially; it “is produced by the perfect bioreactor developed over millions of years of evolution: the human body” (Octapharma Annual Report 2015). Today, 70% of the world’s plasma is collected at for-profit plasma donation centers throughout the U.S., where regulations allow donors to be compensated for their blood plasma up to twice per week (U.S.Food & Drug Administration 2021, Hotchko & Robert 2018, Plasma Protein TherapiesAssociation). This reality has led pharmaceutical companies to focus their donor recruitment efforts in the United States, the country with the least restrictive plasma regulations in the world (Hotchko and Robert 2018, Robert 2017).

While donors often experience short-term side effects such as blackouts and fatigue, long-term health consequences remain largely unknown (Greenberg 2019, McCollum 2019, Wellington2014). Plasma centers are overrepresented in high poverty areas, where racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to reside (Ochoa, Shaefer, & Grogan-Kaylor 2021, James &Mustard2004). These findings, coupled with ethnographic and journalistic accounts that reveal how people are motivated to donate plasma to earn cash, suggest that plasma donation has become a common economic coping strategy among Americans experiencing economic hardship(Desmond 2016, Edin & Shaefer 2015, Goldstein 2017, Guendelsberger 2019, Tirado 2014,Valiente, Abdelmalek, & Pearle 2017).

Mixed Methods positions (2):

• Archival research data organizing: I have collected documents that trace the emergence of the blood plasma industry and the bodies that have historically served as the vessels for the “raw material” required for plasma-derived therapies (preliminary research indicates that black and brown bodies in the global south, U.S. prisons, and skid rows, made up much of the plasma donor population). The RA will assist with organizing these documents to facilitate data analysis.
• Quantitative data collection: The RA will use Excel to update the list of addresses of plasma centers throughout the US by accessing the list of FDA approved licensed blood establishment centers on a monthly basis. These addresses will then be uploaded to GIS for further analysis. 
• Quantitative data cleaning and analysis: The RA will use Excel assist with cleaning survey data results to facilitate analysis. The RA will work on retrieving and cleaning data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates to be joined with spatial data. STATA and ArcGIS will be used for data analysis. Experience with Excel is required. Experience with STATA and GIS is preferred. 
  

Desired Qualifications:

Desired Qualifications:I am looking for candidates who will have availability as an enrolled UM student for fall 2024 and winter 2025. Freshmen will NOT be considered. Students who identify as members of demographic groups that are underrepresented at UM, including students of color, students who have experienced poverty, students who identify as first generation and/or working class, students who identify as a religious minority, students with disabilities, student veterans, student parents and caregivers, nontraditional students, transfer students,international students, and LGBTQIA+ students are strongly encouraged to apply.

Interested applicants should send a short bio (1 paragraph) describing your interest in this project along with a resume/cv to Analidis Ochoa at aoch@umich.edu, with the subject“Interest in SURO RA”.

Applications are due by July 12th, 2024 . Interviews will take place the week of July 15th and decisions will be sent out by Friday July 16th.

Supervising Faculty Member: Jeff Morenoff

Graduate Student Contact: Analidis Ochoa

Contact information: aoch@umich.edu

Average hours of work per week: 6-12

Range of credit hours students can earn: 2-4

Number of positions available: 2