
DeGowin Blood Center
200 Hawkins Drive Iowa City, IA 52242 United States
Saturday & Sunday: Closed

About the DeGowin Blood Center
The DeGowin Blood Center is a hospital-based blood center that collects blood for University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital patients.
The UI DeGowin Blood Center provides service in four major areas:
Donor Collections
Therapeutic Apheresis
Tissue and Cellular Therapies
Transfusion Service
Following medical school graduation in 1928 from the University of Michigan, DeGowin's meteoric rise in American medicine was the consequence of his pioneering work in the banking, storage and transportation of blood.

In 1938, a group of investigators under his leadership established the blood transfusion service at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. Their blood bank was the first established west of the Mississippi River. Under his direction a series of studies proved conclusively the beneficial role of glucose in extending the useful life span of blood and the safety of blood stored in the cold for prolonged periods. Anticipating needs that were soon to be acute in the armed forces, DeGowin's group demonstrated in the autumn of 1940 the viability of several dozen samples of blood after airplane voyages half way across the continent in ice-packed containers. His contributions to blood transfusion and banking culminated in his service for five years as Secretary on the Subcommittee of Blood of the National Research Council.
In addition to his pioneering work in the expanding field of blood transfusion, he was a tireless student and scholar of internal medicine. He was among the first physicians to use sulfonamides and penicillin at the UI Hospitals & Clinics and was instrumental in designing the hospital's charting system. From his many years as a teacher, he compiled a medical student's pocket companion for guidance on the ward and in the clinic. His Bedside Diagnostic Examination was used frequently by American medical students and their European counterparts.
Elmer DeGowin served two terms as Iowa's leader for the American College of Physicians from 1965-71 and in 1974 was designated a Master of that organization.
His contributions to American medicine survive in the competence of his students, the relevance of his writings, the accomplishments of his son Richard DeGowin, MD, and the excellence of the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. In recognition of his efforts, the Elmer L. DeGowin Memorial Blood Center was dedicated in December of 1981.
Support Us
The UI DeGowin Blood Center relies on a wide variety of businesses, churches, schools, community groups and members of the University community to host blood drives. If you have a group that is interested in hosting a blood drive, please contact our Blood Drive Coordinator, 1-319-356-8327.
Refreshment Area Host
Community volunteers serve refreshments to donors after they've donated at area blood drives. As a refreshment host, volunteers help donors feel comfortable and appreciated as they rest the required post donation time. In addition, hosts educate donors about automated donations and help restock refreshments.
Telerecruitment Volunteer
Telerecruitment Volunteers come to the Donor Center to call donors, reminding them that it is time to schedule another donation.
All volunteers at UI Hospitals & Clinics must attend volunteer training through Volunteer Services.
DeGowin Blood Center Faculty and Staff Directory
Medical Director, Blood Bank and Donor Collections

Medical Director, Tissue and Cellular Therapies and Patient Services

Annette J.
Schlueter
MD, PhD
Director, Pathology Informatics

John L.
Blau
MD
Vice President for Medical Affairs

Denise
Jamieson
MD, MPH
Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH, began as the University of Iowa vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine on Aug. 1, 2023. As vice president for medical affairs, she is responsible for integrated planning and operations for UI Health Care, which comprises UI Hospitals & Clinics; the UI Carver College of Medicine; and UI Physicians, the health system’s multispecialty physician group practice.
As dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, Jamieson leads Iowa’s only comprehensive allopathic medical school, which inspires, educates, and trains future health care providers, scientists, educators, and policymakers for Iowa and the global community.
Jamieson came to Iowa from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as chair of the school’s Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics and chief of gynecology and obstetrics for Emory Healthcare.
Jamieson’s scientific work focuses on emerging infectious diseases in pregnancy, including in the areas of influenza, Ebola, Zika, COVID, and maternal immunization. In addition, her work incorporates a population health perspective, with projects addressing health disparities and social determinants of health in the context of maternal morbidity and other adverse pregnancy outcomes.
From 1997 to 2017, Jamieson worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she served in leadership positions such as leading CDC’s Zika emergency response as incident manager. Upon retirement from the U.S. Public Health Service as a captain in July 2017, she received the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award granted to an officer in the Commissioned Corps, for “notable contributions to reproductive health and public health practice.”
Jamieson serves on several American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) committees, including the Immunization, Infectious Disease, and Public Health Preparedness Work Group and the COVID Expert Work Group. She has been an oral board examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) since 2007, and she served on the ABOG board of directors from 2020 to 2023. In 2020, she was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Jamieson received a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Duke University School of Medicine, and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed postgraduate education in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California at San Francisco and as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer in the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Staff Directory
Beth
Alden
MT (ASCP)
Contact
Phone: 1-319-384-5291
Email: [email protected]

Natalie
Chambers
MT (ASCP), MBA
Contact
Phone: 1-319-353-7603
Email: [email protected]

Laura
Collins
RN, BSN, HP (ASCP)
Contact
Phone: 1-319-356-1837
Email: [email protected]
Farah
El-Zein
MT (ASCP) SBB
Contact
Phone: 1-319-384-6653
Email: [email protected]
Mandy
McClenahan
MA
Contact
Phone: 1-319-356-8327
Email: [email protected]
Laura
Nicks
MT (ASCP)
Contact
Phone: 1-319-384-5289
Email: [email protected]
Michelle
Smith
Contact
Phone: 1-319-356-7401
Email: [email protected]