Red Cross honors Northwestern student as 2025 Blood Services Hero

Undergrad helped organize drives that collected enough blood to help save more than 2,000 lives

Northwestern undergrad led a student-driven campaign across five states
Inspired by her grandmother’s surgeries and early exposure to blood donation
She is available for interviews ahead of April 30 Red Cross Heroes Breakfast in Chicago

CHICAGO --- The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago is honoring Aparnaa Ananthakrishnan, a 19-year-old Northwestern University second-year student as this year’s Blood Services Hero for her extraordinary efforts to mobilize blood donations across college campuses in the Midwest.

A double major in global health and biology with dreams of becoming a doctor, Ananthakrishnan has led a campaign to make blood donation more visible among young people. As the National Collegiate Officer for the Red Cross’ North Central Division, she launched the Spring Collegiate Blood Drives in 2024, rallying student-leaders to organize blood drives at 17 universities in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

With the help of 180 volunteers, the campaign collected 686 units of blood — enough to help save more than 2,000 lives, according to the Red Cross. Now in its second year, the initiative is expanding to even more campuses.

“College students are busy,” Ananthakrishnan said, “but if you can give an hour of your day and save up to three lives — that’s an incredible opportunity to do good.”

About every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. It could be for a car crash victim, a cancer patient or someone with sickle cell disease. A single blood donation can help save up to three lives, yet only 3% of eligible Americans donate each year. Ananthakrishnan is working to change that — one student donor at a time.

Her passion is rooted in personal experience. “My grandmother has been needing blood regularly for surgeries related to arthritis,” she said. “Even as a kid, I saw how critical blood donation was to her recovery.”

That early exposure inspired her to co-found a Red Cross club in high school. At Northwestern, she dove deeper, co-leading the campus club her freshman year and taking on national leadership to scale her impact.

Her early exposure to blood donation didn’t just spark a passion for service — it also shaped her academic path. At Northwestern, she is taking classes at an immunology lab at the Feinberg School of Medicine, where she hopes to one day apply to medical school.

“The lab experience has been phenomenal,” she said. “Northwestern has supported me in so many ways — from research opportunities to funding and hosting our campus blood drives.”

Ananthakrishnan, who grew up in Aurora, Illinois, turns 20 on April 29 — the day before she’s honored as a 2025 Red Cross Hero at the organization’s annual Heroes Breakfast in Chicago.

She is available for print and broadcast interviews ahead of the April 30 event.