Dr. Merlyn Sayers receives ADRP Lifetime Achievement Award
Carter BloodCare’s Dr. Merlyn Sayers has received the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award from ADRP: The Association for Blood Donor Professionals. The honor was presented at the association’s annual conference in Minneapolis on May 13.
A physician with more than 40 years of experience in transfusion science medicine, Dr. Sayers led Texas-based Carter BloodCare as president and CEO from 1996 until his executive retirement in 2024. Under his leadership, Carter BloodCare grew to become one of the largest blood centers in Texas, providing blood, platelets and plasma to more than 225 hospitals and medical facilities in 59 counties of North, Central and East Texas.
His stewardship propelled Carter BloodCare to establish 27 donor centers, conduct 25 – 30 mobile blood drives every day across its large service area, and distribute more than 450,000 blood products each year.
He continues to serve the public as an experienced, trusted and well-respected advisor with Carter BloodCare.
Education and medical background
Born in Reading, Berkshire in England, Merlyn Sayers went on to pursue and receive his medical degree and Ph.D. from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
After relocating to the United States, he completed fellowships in hematology, oncology, and blood banking and transfusion medicine at the University of Washington. He subsequently joined the UW faculty in the Department of Medicine and served as the medical director for Puget Sound Blood Center in Seattle.
Dr. Sayers also has served on the faculty of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, with a focus on community and public health research.
Service to U.S. and international communities
Dr. Sayers is a strong voice in the national and international blood communities. He has held positions as chairman of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Blood Products Advisory Committee, vice chairman of the Washington State Board of Health, board chairman of the International Council for Commonality in Blood Banking Automation, and president of America’s Blood Centers.
His international, national, state and regional board responsibilities have included the Alliance of Blood Operators; Carter BloodCare; Creative Testing Solutions; the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation; the European Blood Alliance; Group Services for America’s Blood Centers; the National Blood Foundation; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Data Safety Monitoring Board; and the Washington State Board of Health.
He has served on many scientific, medical and technical committees for organizations that include the American Association of Blood Banks; America’s Blood Centers; the Council of Community Blood Centers; the Food and Drug Administration; the Texas Medical Association; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services; and the Washington State Medical Association.
Over the course of his distinguished career, Dr. Sayers’ detailed research and articles have been widely published in more than 100 medical journals.
Dr. Sayers is a member of professional organizations that include the Alliance for Community Transfusion Services, America’s Blood Centers, the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies, British Blood Transfusion Society, the International Society of Blood Transfusion, King County Medical Society, and the South Central Association of Blood Banks.