ASH chooses two for medical faculty development program

ASH selected Natasha Archer, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and Rayne Rouce, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine to participate in the American Society of Hematology-Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program.

The program — designed to increase the number of underrepresented minority scholars in the field of hematology — provides 4-year research awards, including an annual stipend of up to $75,000 and an annual research grant of $30,000, for a total of $420,000 over the course of the program.

Archer and Rouce will spend at least 70% of their program-funded research under the mentorship of senior faculty at their respective institutions.

Rouce — instructor at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers and at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine — will explore strategies for reducing relapse and risk for viral infection after hematopoietic stem cell transplant among patients with B-cell malignancies.

Archer — instructor of pediatrics at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, as well as staff physician at Boston Children’s Hospital — will study how fetal hemoglobin inhibits P.falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria. Her project is designed to lay the groundwork for more widespread use of hydroxyurea in the management of sickle cell disease.

“Drs. Archer and Rouce are already making notable contributions to hematology, and we are excited to see how their participation in the [American Society of Hematology-Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program] will help them continue to grow as leaders in this field,” ASH President Charles S. Abrams, MD, of University of Pennsylvania, said in a press release. “ASH has supported the development of minority hematologists with this program for more than a decade, and we look forward to seeing Drs. Archer and Rouce’s wonderful accomplishments as they advance in their careers.”