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 Colcha ...

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 eas ...

and raised in 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, who ...

, 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 la ...

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 ther ...

and has remained there ever since. She retired in February 2007 as national director for diagnostics, development and research for the National Blood Service (NBS) after working for the organisation for over 20 years. Her directorate consisted of nine functions, which included red cell immunohaematology;

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 of ...

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 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 res ...

. She is Professor of transfusion medicine 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 ...

(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