ASH to present honorific awards to hematologists
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Several hematologists will be honored during this year’s ASH Annual Meeting.
ASH’s honorific awards recognize clinicians and scientists who have made important contributions to the field.
“Each of these individuals has left a lasting mark on our field,” ASH President Robert A. Brodsky, MD, director of the division of hematology and a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a press release. “Their unwavering dedication to the betterment of patient care, research and education in classical and malignant hematology has significantly enhanced the lives of those afflicted with blood disorders. ASH values the opportunity to acknowledge visionary leaders who are tirelessly advancing the field of hematology.”
Blanche P. Alter, MD, MPH, who retired in 2021 after 21 years of service to NCI, will receive the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology.
Alter — who most recently served as senior clinician in NCI’s clinical genetics branch — will be recognized for accomplishments that revolutionized research for inherited bone marrow failure syndromes.
Johnny Mahlangu, MBBCh, head of school at University of the Witwaterstrand, Johannesburg, and Takehisa Kitazawa, DVM, PhD, head of the discovery pharmacology department at Chugai Pharmaceutical, will receive the Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize.
The award honors one person for enabling advances in basic science and another for using clinical science or translational research to carry basic science advances through to tangible improvements in patient care.
Mahlangu will be recognized for his research on paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. Kitazawa will be recognized for the development of a novel therapeutic molecule that functions instead of the deficient blood coagulation factor for hemophilia A, leading to effective hemostasis.
Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH, chief of the division of hematology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, will receive the ASH Award for Leadership in Promoting Diversity.
Thompson will be recognized for her leadership in addressing the health care needs of an underserved population, as well as for mentoring trainees from communities historically underrepresented in hematology.
Omar Abdel-Wahab, MD, Edward P. Evans chair in myelodysplastic syndrome at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and chair of the molecular pharmacology program at Sloan Kettering Institute, will receive the William Dameshek Prize.
The award is presented to an early or mid-career hematologist who made a recent outstanding contribution to the hematology field.
Abdel-Wahab will be recognized for his research characterizing the genetic mutations that drive blood cancers.
Katy Rezvani, MD, PhD, section chief for cellular therapy and director of translational research in the department of stem cell transplantation at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, will receive the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize.
The award recognizes pioneering research achievements that represent a paradigm shift or significant discovery.
Rezvani will be recognized for her contributions to cancer research.
Rodger McEver, MD, vice president of research at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, and James B. Bussel, MD, professor emeritus of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, will receive the Henry M. Stratton Medal.
The award honors two senior investigators who made important contributions to basic and clinical/translational hematology research over several years.
McEver, the basic science awardee, will be recognized for his discovery and characterization of a protein, known as P-selectin, and its ligand, PSGL-1, that play important roles in bridging the processes of blood clotting and inflammation.
Bussel, the clinical/translational awardee, will be recognized for his contributions to the development of agents that increase platelet counts in patients with immune thrombocytopenia and other conditions.
Stephen Sallan, MD, Quick family chair in pediatric oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and Helen Heslop, MD, DSc, director of Center for Cell and Gene Therapy and professor in the departments of medicine and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, will receive ASH Mentor Awards for their contributions to the professional development of several hematology trainees.
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