New Leadership Elected to the American Society of Hematology
The American Society of Hematology (ASH), the world's largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders, announced the election of four new members to its Executive Committee for terms beginning after the 2022 ASH Annual Meeting, December 10-13, 2022, in New Orleans.
Belinda R. Avalos, MD, will serve a 1-year term as Vice President followed by successive terms as President-Elect and President. Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, will serve a 4-year term as Treasurer, and Christopher R. Flowers, MD, MSc, and Charlotte M. Niemeyer, MD, MA, will each serve 4-year terms as councillors.
"Drs. Avalos, Mikhael, Flowers, and Niemeyer have demonstrated immense dedication to ASH, its members, and the field of hematology. Together, they represent the future of the society and the field. I want to congratulate them on the results of the election and I look forward to their contributions to the society," said current ASH President, Jane N. Winter, MD, a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University. "Under their leadership, the society will be well-positioned to lead our field in education, cutting-edge research, and advocacy on behalf of patients with blood disorders worldwide."
Avalos is a Professor of Medicine and a Senior Advisor to the President of Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute. As a distinguished physician-scientist, she has made significant research contributions in the areas of leukemogenesis, congenital neutropenia, transplantation, and cellular therapy. She has also championed minority recruitment and retention in hematology.
Avalos has demonstrated a deep devotion to ASH's mission through her nearly 30 years of service on a range of ASH committees and working groups. An ASH member since 1993, Avalos most recently served as an ASH councillor and previously as a member of the Health Equity Task Force; Chair of the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and Editor-in-Chief of ASH News Daily.
"Together we will work to build a diverse and inclusive hematology workforce. I look forward to the opportunity to lead this remarkable and distinguished society in serving the global hematology community," Avalos noted.
Mikhael is Professor in the Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope Cancer Center. He is also Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council at TGen, and Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation. Additionally, he serves as a consultant hematologist and Director of Myeloma Research at the HonorHealth Research Institute. Mikhael's research focuses include multiple myeloma, health disparities, education, and health communications. A member of ASH for more than 20 years, he has served on numerous committee and editorial boards, currently serving as Associate Editor of ASH Clinical News. He previously served as Chair of the Communications Committee, annual meeting education program Co-Chair, ASH Councillor, and Director of the Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI).
Flowers is Division Head Ad Interim of the Division of Cancer Medicine and Professor and Chair of the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. His research interests include clinical lymphoma; evidence-based clinical practice guidelines development; and epidemiological, translational, and outcomes research studies. Flowers has been a member of ASH since 2002 and currently serves as Chair of the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He is also an active and supportive mentor in the ASH Minority Medical Student Award Program. Flowers served as Co-Director of the ASH CRTI, Education Program Co-Chair, and member of various ASH committees, including the Program Committee. He will be honored in December as a recipient of the 2022 ASH Mentor Award.
Niemeyer is Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology in the Department of Pediatrics at Freiburg University Medical Center. Her research interests include diagnosis and therapy for bone marrow failure disorders, pediatric myelodysplastic syndromes, and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. An active ASH member since 1996, Niemeyer is a founding member of the European Working Group of MDS in Childhood. She previously served as Chair and Vice Chair of the International Members Committee and Scientific Committee on Blood Disorders in Childhood and Vice Chair of the Blood Editor Search Committee, among other prominent roles in ASH committees.
Saar Gill, MD, PhD, Awarded Grant to Fight Gastroesophageal Cancer
Saar Gill, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded funding to improve immunotherapy in gastroesophageal cancer by using the tools of genetic engineering to modify human blood-forming stem cells to produce highly specialized cancer-eating cells called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) macrophages.
"While chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells have received FDA approvals for hematologic malignancies, their track record in solid tumors is disappointing," Gill noted. "We reasoned that genetically engineered macrophages may be better suited to treat solid tumors since these cells are the major immune component in the tumor microenvironment."
Macrophages are normally produced from the bone marrow as monocytes, which travel around the bloodstream and lodge at sites of infection, inflammation, and cancer. There, monocytes mature to become macrophages. The normal roles of macrophages include: 1) detecting, engulfing, and destroying harmful organisms, and 2) serving as the body's garbage disposal system by engulfing and breaking down old, faulty, or dying cells
This project brings together two technological innovations that were made in Gill's lab and improves on both of them at the same time. They previously made CAR macrophages from blood monocytes and showed that they can be made to eat cancer cells in a targeted manner, but the resultant CAR macrophages have a limited lifespan. By implanting a CAR in stem cells that give rise to monocytes and subsequently macrophages, he is hoping to develop a lifelong supply of cancer-eating cells for the treatment of upper gastrointestinal and other malignances.
"This grant will allow me to develop a high-risk yet potentially high-reward cancer treatment paradigm," Gill noted. "This project combines two disparate innovations made in my lab in the last few years to make a new and hopefully synergistic therapeutic platform."
Jeannie Shen, MD, Appointed Medical Director at the Cedars-Sinai Affiliate
Jeannie Shen, MD, a fellowship-trained breast surgeon who is board-certified in general surgery, has been appointed Medical Director of the Breast Program at Huntington Hospital, an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai, and Medical Director of the International Health Program at Cedars-Sinai Cancer at Huntington Hospital.
"Dr. Shen will support the growth and vision of a comprehensive breast program for the San Gabriel Valley, expanding the community's access to quality cancer diagnostics, treatments, and innovative cancer care," said Armando E. Giuliano, MD, Regional Medical Director of the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Breast Oncology Program.
Shen earned her medical degree and served a general surgery internship and her general surgery residency at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, and completed a breast surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. When she trained in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the idea of a breast surgery specialist was fairly new.
"At the time, no special training was suggested for physicians who wanted to go into breast surgery," Shen said. "But I wanted to be the very best breast surgeon I could be, so I applied for a fellowship. At MD Anderson Cancer Center, I was their second breast surgical oncology fellow, which shows you how new breast fellowships were."
Shen, who is American-born Chinese and speaks Mandarin fluently, said many of her patient visits are about education and are often conducted in Mandarin.
"Many patients come in well-informed, but there's just so much to know," she noted. "Sometimes it can be difficult for patients to understand what applies to them and what doesn't. After one recent consult, my patient told me, 'We've been researching online for a week, but now we actually understand what we were reading. We understand the plan and we feel very optimistic."
Shen also is a trained medical acupuncturist and has collaborated with Huntington Hospital's integrative oncology nurse practitioner in clinical trials to test acupuncture as a complementary therapy to address nausea and other common side effects that can occur after breast surgery.
For Huntington Hospital's Breast Program, Shen hopes to maintain a team of high-quality physicians for surgery, reconstruction, and medical and radiation oncology; provide complementary supportive services; and open up access for San Gabriel Valley patients to innovative treatments. As Medical Director of the Cedars-Sinai Cancer International Health Program at Huntington Hospital, she hopes to broaden the program's reach further.
"Cedars-Sinai serves one of the most diverse patient populations in the country," said Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD, Director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer and the PHASE ONE Distinguished Chair. "As Medical Director of the Cedars-Sinai Cancer International Health Program, Shen will develop initiatives to bring the clinical care and groundbreaking research-such as the Molecular Twin precision medicine initiative-that Cedars-Sinai Cancer is known for [and offer them] to our patients here and internationally."
Award Established for Promising Investigators With a PharmD Degree
The Theresa Mays Endowed Merit Award has been established to promote the education and advancement of oncology research for pharmacists. The award has been established with the support of friends and colleagues to recognize the life and legacy of Theresa Mays, BS, PharmD, BCOP, FASHP, and Vice President of Investigational Drug Services at NEXT Oncology.
The award, established in collaboration with Conquer Cancer and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Foundation, is intended to be given each year to a promising investigator who has submitted research to the ASCO Annual Meeting, as determined by the then-applicable scientific review process for Conquer Cancer Merit Awards, with a preference for recipients who hold a PharmD degree. If there is not an eligible recipient who meets this preference, the award will be given to an eligible recipient planning an investigative career in pancreatic cancer.
Mays began her research career with internationally known cancer researcher, Anthony Tolcher, MD, CEO and founder of NEXT Oncology, more than 22 years ago. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May 2022 and is honored to have this endowed award created in her honor.
"It is my hope that this award will help pharmacists get the education that wasn't available to me when I started my career to be able to interact with patients on clinical trials. I have always found my inspiration from patients on clinical trials," Mays noted. "This offers hope to me and others on the cancer journey. My goal is that this helps provide additional opportunities for people with cancer and to potentially extend their quality of life."
"Theresa is an outstanding and dedicated cancer researcher and pharmacist," Tolcher said. "Theresa and I have worked together for many years. She has impacted the lives of many cancer patients, and this award is a way to say thank you and carry her legacy of advancing new drug therapies forward for the next generation of pharmacists in clinical research."
Abstract submissions for the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting open this month. Details of the award requirements, policies, and guidelines for abstract submissions can be found at the 2023 conference website.
MIB Agents Accepting Applications for Osteosarcoma Research Grants
MIB Agents, a leading pediatric osteosarcoma nonprofit dedicated to Making It Better for its community of patients, caregivers, doctors, and researchers, is accepting applications for its annual OutSmarting Osteosarcoma research grants. This funding was established in 2017 and is awarded to a project focused on moving research forward for osteosarcoma patients.
Over the past 6 years, a total of $950,000 and 11 investigators have been awarded to fund promising osteosarcoma research. In addition to a $100,000 award, the organization supports early career researchers with a $50,000 Young Investigator Research award. Grants are supported by osteosarcoma patients and families who raise funds in honor of an OsteoWarrior, a patient currently battling osteosarcoma, or an OsteoAngel, a loved one who has passed.
Collaboration among the scientific and patient community is a key hallmark of MIB Agents that makes the grant process unique. Not only does the patient community partner to fund this grant every year, but they have an active voice in the grant review process. The review process involves rigorous scientific peer review, which is a collaborative and robust two-tier review process that uniquely incorporates patient and family perspectives.
To submit an application, and for more information about eligibility and requirements, go to https://bit.ly/3Oa9Q03. Applications must be submitted on the Proposal Central online platform by February 3, 2023, and award notification will be in early May 2023.