The American Society of Hematology will present the following awards and honors at the upcoming Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

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Kanti R. Rai, MD, of the Hofstra North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) School of Medicine, will receive the 2014 Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology-the Society's highest honor-to recognize his 50-year career in clinical leukemia research, as well as his commitment to education, mentoring, and patient care.

He is currently Chief of the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Research Treatment Program at North Shore-LIJ Cancer Institute, an Investigator at the Peter Karches Center for CLL of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, and the Joel Finkelstein Cancer Foundation Professor of Medicine at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, where he also holds the title of Professor of Molecular Medicine.

KANTI R. RAI, MD. KANTI R. RAI, MD

His work has focused on the current standard-of-care CLL treatments, fludarabine and cladribine; the molecular biology of CLL, and the study of new treatments for CLL. He has published more than 200 papers and book chapters; and is regarded for the publication of the "Rai" prognostication categorization in Blood in 1975-a seminal paper that is still used in practice today.

"From the Rai staging system to his many clinical contributions, Dr. Rai is internationally synonymous with CLL, which serves as a testament to the great impact of his career on legions of colleagues, trainees, and patients," ASH President Linda J. Burns, MD, said in a news release.

Michael DeBaun, MD, MPH, Vice Chair of Clinical Research and the JC Peterson Endowed Chair in the Department of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University; and Robert P. Hebbel, MD, Regents Professor and Clark Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, will receive the 2014 Ernest Beutler Prize and present an accompanying lecture, "Sickle Cell Disease: Improved Understanding but Continued Challenges." They are being recognized for their significant research advances in the area of sickle cell disease.

Scott Armstrong, MD, PhD, Director of the Leukemia Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, will receive the 2014 William Dameshek Prize in recognition of his work in leukemia research and cancer stem cell biology. At MSKCC, Armstrong is also Vice Chair for Basic and Translational Research in Pediatrics and a full member of the MSK Cancer Biology and Genetics Program. His research focuses on the biology of epigenetics of a class of leukemias initiated by mixed-lineage leukemia gene translocations.

MICHAEL DEBAUN, MD, MPH. MICHAEL DEBAUN, MD, MPH

ROBERT P. HEBBEL, MD. ROBERT P. HEBBEL, MD

Tomas Ganz, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Director of the Will Rogers Pulmonary Research Laboratory, and Co-Director of the Center for Iron Disorders, all at UCLA, will present the 2014 E. Donnall Thomas Lecture, in recognition of his research in iron homeostasis, including the discovery of the iron-regulatory hormone hepcidin and the investigation of its roles in iron metabolism. The lectureship recognizes pioneering research achievements in hematology that have represented a paradigm shift or significant discovery in the field.

SCOTT ARMSTRONG, MD, PHD. SCOTT ARMSTRONG, MD, PHD

Grover C. Bagby Jr., MD, Professor of Medicine and Molecular and Medical Genetics at Oregon Health & Science University, founding Director of OHSU's Knight Cancer Institute, and former Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology at OHSU and the Portland Veterans Administration Medical Center; and John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, Chief of the Division of Oncology and Deputy Director of the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Pathology/Immunology at Washington University, will receive the 2014 Mentor Awards for their sustained, outstanding commitment to the training and career development of early-career hematologists.

TOMAS GANZ, MD, PHD. TOMAS GANZ, MD, PHD

Geraldine P. Schechter, MD, former Chief of Hematology at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Professor Emeritus of Medicine at George Washington University, will receive the 2014 Henry M. Stratton Medal for Clinical Science; and Timothy Springer, PhD, Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Medicine and Senior Investigator of the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine in Boston Children's Hospital, will receive the 2014 Henry M. Stratton Medal for Basic Science.

GROVER C. BAGBY JR., MD. GROVER C. BAGBY JR., MD

JOHN F. DIPERSIO, MD, PHD. JOHN F. DIPERSIO, MD, PHD

Schechter served at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center for more than 40 years, helping to advance the diagnosis of chronic lymphoid malignancies and autoimmune hematologic disorders. Springer's work has focused on the basic mechanisms of hemostasis, inflammation, and immunology, and he has made landmark contributions to the understanding of the structure-function relationship of adhesion molecules, interaction of blood cells with vascular endothelium, and detailed analysis of shear force on von Willebrand factor biology and its cleavage by ADAMTS-13, which has laid ground for several new therapeutic agents.

GERALDINE P. SCHECHTER, MD. GERALDINE P. SCHECHTER, MD

TIMOTHY SPRINGER, PHD. TIMOTHY SPRINGER, PHD

New Leaders

Also at the Annual Meeting, the following new members of the leadership of the Society will begin new terms:

Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, Director of the Lebow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and the Jerome Lipper Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, will start a one-year term as Vice President, followed by successive terms as President-elect and President. He is also the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair of the Joint Program in Transfusion Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

A long-time member of ASH, he has served in a variety of roles, including being Executive Editor of Hematology and an ASH councillor.

KENNETH C. ANDERSON, MD. KENNETH C. ANDERSON, MD

Susan B. Shurin, MD, Senior Adviser to the Center for Global Health of the National Cancer Institute, will start a four-year term as ASH Treasurer. She was most recently Deputy and Acting Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and has served as a member of ASH's Committee on Government Relations, as well as on the faculty for the Society's Clinical Research Training Institute.

Mary C. Dinauer, MD, PhD, the Fred M. Saigh Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Research and Professor of Pediatrics and of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine; and Terry B. Gernsheimer, MD, Medical Director of the Platelet Immunology Laboratory at Puget Sound Blood Center, Medical Director of Transfusion at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and Assistant Medical Director of Clinical Transfusion Service at the University of Washington Medical Center; have both been elected to serve four-year terms as councillors.

SUSAN B. SHURIN, MD. SUSAN B. SHURIN, MD

Dinauer is also Scientific Director of the Children's Discovery Institute of Washington University and St. Louis Children's Hospital. She is also Associate Editor of Blood and was Scientific Program Co-Chair of the 2011 ASH Annual Meeting.

MARY C. DINAUER, MD, PHD. MARY C. DINAUER, MD, PHD

TERRY B. GERNSHEIMER, MD. TERRY B. GERNSHEIMER, MD

Gernsheimer is also Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Adjunct Professor of Laboratory Medicine at the University of Washington. She currently serves on the ASH Committee on Practice.