Series II. Harvard Blood Plasma Project Files, 1941-1949

The Harvard Blood Plasma Project was a World War II clinical chemistry project. It worked to extend the storage life and make more effective use of blood products for the American war effort. Lead by American biochemist Edwin J. Cohn, this wartime project employed blood fractionation techniques developed by Cohn to isolate the serum albumin fraction of blood plasma, which maintains the osmotic pressure in blood vessels. Used in transfusions to mitigate blood loss, this development is credited with preventing numerous battlefield deaths from shock during the war. Laurence E. Strong served as a researcher on the Harvard Blood Plasma Project from 1940 to 1946.

Arranged in its original order, this series contains Laurence E. Strong’s Harvard Blood Plasma Project files. The files in this series document the progress of the Harvard Blood Plasma Project and concern several topics that project researchers worked on, including serum albumin, human plasma protein, and blood substitutes. The contents of these files consist of project reports, memoranda, and articles.