Faculty
Lionel Adès
France
Lionel Adès
Luca Arcaini
Italy
Luca Arcaini
Farrukh Awan
USA
Bio
Farrukh Awan
Farrukh Awan, M.D., is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a member of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at UTSW’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center where he leads the Lymphoid Malignancies Program. He specializes in stem cell transplant, cellular therapies and evaluation of novel therapies for the treatment of patients with lymphoid malignancies and chronic lymphocytic leukemias.
Amer Beitinjaneh
USA
Bio
Amer Beitinjaneh
Dr. Amer Beitinjaneh is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is a nationally recognized expert in cellular therapy and stem cell transplantation for aggressive hematologic malignancies. His research is focused on advancing the field of adoptive T-cell transfer, including T-cell therapy against EBV virus-driven lymphomas and chimeric antigen T-cell therapy. He serves as the principal investigator for several novel clinical trials at the Sylvester NCI-designated Cancer Center and has more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts to his credit. Additionally, Dr. Beitinjaneh actively contributes as a member of the CTN steering committee, and various CIBMTR and EBMT working committees, proposing and reviewing national trials related to stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy.
Stephane De Botton
France
Stephane De Botton
Matteo Della Porta
Italy
Bio
Matteo Della Porta
My research interests mainly concern myeloid neoplasms (MN, including myelodysplastic syndromes, MDS; acute myeloid leukemias AML; and myeloproliferative neoplasms, MPN)
These investigations led to the identification of recurrent gene mutations in myelodysplastic syndromes. In particular, in 2010, I joined the International Cancer Genome Consortium Chronic Myeloid Disorders Working Group. This collaboration led to the identification of somatic mutations of SF3B1, a gene encoding a core component of RNA splicing machinery, in myelodysplasia with ring sideroblasts [N Engl J Med. 2011;365(15):1384-95]
I extensively studied the genotype-phenotype correlations of recurrent gene mutations in MN, and we found a close association between ring sideroblasts and SF3B1 mutations, which is consistent with a causal relationship. Moreover, we found that SF3B1 mutations were independent predictors of favourable prognosis, providing the first evidence that the identification of the mutant gene responsible for the initial clone in MN is relevant to clinical outcome. [Blood. 2011;118(24):6239-46, J Clin Oncol. 2013;31(28):3557-64; Blood. 2013 ;122(22):3616-27 Blood. 2015 Jul 9;126(2):233-41, Leukemia. 2015;29(1):66-75].
According to these progresses in defining the genomic landscape of MN, in recent years there was a shift from clinical and morphologic classification/prognostication schemes to those that are based on genomics which are closer to the disease biology and better capture clinical-pathological entities. In this context, by using advanced statistical models, we developed a proof of concept for the definition of a molecular classification of myelodysplastic syndromes [Nat Med. 2020;26(10):1549-1556; J Clin Oncol. 2021;39(11):1223-1233], thus providing evidence that MDS with SF3B1 and TP53 mutations are distinct disease entities.
In addition, my research activity showed that gene mutations may influence survival and risk of disease progression in MN, and that the evaluation of the mutation status may add significant information to currently used prognostic scores. In this context, we contributed to the definition of the new molecular prognostic score for myelodysplastic syndromes (Molecular International Prognostic Scoring System, IPSS-M) including both clinical and genomic features [NEJM Evid 2022;1(7)DOI:https://doi.org/10.1056/ EVIDoa2200008] and we provided an extensive validation of its prognostic value. [J Clin Oncol, 2023 in press]
In last years, as scientific and clinical coordinator of EU-funded initiatives (GenoMed4all – www.genomed4all.eu and SYNTHEMA – www.synthema.eu), I approached the study of Artificial Intelligence as a toll to improve personalized medicine in hematology. We developed solutions to improve clinical decision making process; in particular, we build decision models to better define candidate patients and optimal timing of stem cell transplantation, the only curative treatment for MN [J Clin Oncol. 2016;34(30):3627-3637; Leukemia. 2017;31(11):2449-2457; Lancet Haematol. 2023;10(2):117-28]
Overall, my research activity contributed to the development and clinical implementation of personalized medicine programs in MN, including improved disease diagnosis and classification, definition of optimal treatment and prediction of future outcomes.
María Díez Campelo
Spain
Bio
María Díez Campelo
Prof. Díez Campelo has been working at the Department of Hematology at the University Hospital of Salamanca, IBSAL in Spain and is an Associate Professor of Hematology at the University of Salamanca in Spain. Head of Myelodysplastic Syndromes team President of the Spanish MDS group (GESMD) since 2018. She also is involved in the European Myelodysplastic Syndromes Cooperative Group (EMSCO).
Pierre Fenaux
France
Bio
Pierre Fenaux
Prof. Sebastian Giebel is an internal medicine, hematology and clinical transplantation specialist. He is head of the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Onco-Hematology and Deputy Director for Clinical Matters in Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology in Gliwice, Poland. Prof. Giebel is the President of the Polish Adult Leukemia Group (PALG) and the Polish Lymphoma Research Group (PLRG), the Secretary of the Acute Leukemia Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), board member of The Polish Society of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, member of the European Working Group for Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. An author of over 250 scientific papers, mainly in the field of hematology and hematopoietic cell transplantation. In 2017 he was awarded Jedrzej Sniadecki Medal of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the highest national distinction in the field of medicine.
Nilanjan Ghosh
USA
Bio
Nilanjan Ghosh
Nilanjan Ghosh, MD, PhD, FACP is the Chair Department of Hematologic Oncology and Blood Disorders, Chief, Lymphoma Division at Levine Cancer Institute and Professor at Wake Forest School of Medicine. His clinical and research expertise is in lymphoma and CLL. His research focuses on efforts to improve treatments in lymphoma, evaluation of novel therapies as well as transplant and cellular therapies in lymphoma. He is a member of the SWOG Cancer Research Network lymphoma committee and has been a principal investigator of multiple clinical trials in lymphoma.
Mehdi Hamadani
USA
Bio
Mehdi Hamadani
Claire Harrison
UK
Bio
Claire Harrison
Professor Claire Harrison graduated from Oxford Univeristy Medical School and became a consultant at the Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital in 2001, where she is now a deputy medical director.
The focus of her clinical work is myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), for which she has a national and international reputation. Key areas of interest are clinical trials and associated translational research. In addition to the PT-1 trial, MAJIC, COMFORT-II, JAKARTA-2 and PERSIST-1 where she is currently the global chief or co-chief investigator, she has a leadership role in over 20 clinical trials. This work has led to the approval of new therapies such a ruxolitinib, fedratinib and pacritinib. Translational research has been supported with a grant income of over £10M in the past 5 years. JAK2 exon 12 mutations, genetic suseptibility and the impact of the order of mutations in MPN. In the past 10 years she has published widely (>250 academic articles).
In addition she has a strong interest in patient advocacy and founded the UK MPN group www.mpnvoice.org.uk.
The clinical MPN service at GSTT is large, comprehensive and is internationally recognised as a centre of excellence.
Mohamed Kharfan-Dabaja
USA
Bio
Mohamed Kharfan-Dabaja
Mohamed A. Kharfan-Dabaja, MD, MBA, FACP
Professor of Medicine
Vice-chair, Hematology
Director, Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapies
Medical Director, Cancer Research Office (Florida Campus)
Director, Inpatient Hematology Unit
Mayo Clinic Florida
Jacksonville, FL
Dr. Kharfan-Dabaja is a Professor of Medicine, Vice-Chair of Hematology, and the Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Immune Therapies programs at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. His main interests are chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy for lymphoid neoplasms and reduced intensity allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for various hematologic malignancies.
He is Board certified in Medical Oncology and Hematology. He is a co-Chair of the Lymphoma Working Committee of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), the chair of the Payer Relation Committee and a member of the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and a member of the Committee on Investment and Audit of the American Society of Hematology.
He has published over 330 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 21 book chapters and has presented his work at various regional, national and international scientific platforms.
Shahram Kordasti
UK
Shahram Kordasti
Coleman Lindsley
USA
Coleman Lindsley
Stefano Luminari
Italy
Bio
Matthew Lunning
USA
Matthew Lunning
Ruben Mesa
USA
Bio
Ruben Mesa
Dr. Mesa serves as the executive director of the Mays Cancer Center, one of only four National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Centers in Texas. Dr. Mesa is internationally renowned expert on myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), a group of bone marrow disorders that often lead to leukemia. He has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator of more than 100 clinical trials and co-led the research teams leading to the FDA’s approval of 4 drugs including ruxolitinib, fedratinib, ropegylated interferon, and pacritinib. Dr. Mesa earned his Bachelor of Science degrees in nuclear engineering and physiology, with minors in radiation biophysics and bioengineering, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his medical degree, completed his residency in internal medicine and fulfilled his fellowship in hematology/medical oncology from the Mayo Graduate School at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine and medical oncology. Dr. Mesa has been elected to the boards of the American Association of Cancer Institutes and is an officer of the board of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Mohamad Mohty
France
Mohamad Mohty
Arnon Nagler
Israel
Arnon Nagler
Naveen Pemmaraju
USA
Bio
Naveen Pemmaraju
After completing my Internal Medicine training at Johns Hopkins, in the Osler Medical Program, I subsequently completed both hematology and oncology training at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). I was selected as a chief fellow in my second year of training. I obtained ABIM board certification in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology, and continued my career at MDACC as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Leukemia. I have an active clinical schedule during which I see patients: 2 full days of clinic per week, and 2 months of inpatient service per year. I have fellow teaching responsibilities as a Leukemia hematology/oncology Course Director and was the sole recipient of the MDACC Gerald P Bodey Award for Excellence in Education in 2020. My clinical/translational research work has been focused on improving outcomes and developing novel therapies for patients with rare myeloid malignancies, including for adolescents, young adults, and older adult patients with Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm (BPDCN), Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).
Lisa Pleyer
Austria
Lisa Pleyer
Christoph Röllig
Germany
Christoph Röllig
Valeria Santini
Italy
Bio
Valeria Santini
Valeria Santini is Associate Professor of Hematology at the University of Florence, Italy. She runs the MDS Unit- Hematology- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine- AOU Careggi, University of Florence. Her interests are focused on clinical and translational research in MDS and elderly AML. Professor Santini is President of the Scientific Committee of Fondazione Italiana per lo studio delle sindromi mielodisplastiche (FISiM) and Italian Network of MDS Registries. She belongs to ASH, EHA SOHO and MDS Foundation. She is also an author of more than 200 peer-reviewed papers published in international journals, she has been member of the Editorial board of Blood journal, and documented reviewer for high impact factor scientific journals. She has been an invited speaker at numerous international meetings including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO 2007: educational session on MDS), American Society of Hematology (ASH 2012, ASH 2016: educational sessions on MDS), European Haematology Association (EHA 2016, EHA 2020, EHA 2022: Educational sessions on MDS) and national haematology societies of several countries.
Maximilian Stahl
USA
Bio
Maximilian Stahl
Dr. Stahl is a member of the Adult Leukemia Group at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His research focus is on early phase clinical trials in myeloid malignancies including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).
He authored and co-authored more than 100 peer reviewed publications and has presented his research in multiple national and international meetings. He has received the ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award, the ASH HONORS Award, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Translational Research Program Award and several ASH Abstract Achievement Awards. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Leukemia & Lymphoma and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for several journals including Blood, Blood Advances, Clinical Cancer Research, the British Journal of Haematology and Haematologica.
He graduated from Hannover Medical School in Hannover, Germany. He then received his internal medicine residency training at the Yale School of Medicine where he also served as a chief medical resident. He then completed his Hematology and Oncology fellowship training at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
Anna Sureda
Spain
Anna Sureda
Catherine Thieblemont
France
Catherine Thieblemont
Arjan van de Loosdrecht
Netherlands
Bio
Arjan van de Loosdrecht
A.A. van de Loosdrecht passed Medical School (cum laude) in 1989 at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He received his PhD graduation (cum laude) in 1993 at the same University and graduated in Immunology in 1995. From 1993-1998 he followed clinical training in Internal Medicine followed by hematology at the Groningen University Medical Center, Netherlands. From 2000, he is a staff member and since 2012 a full professor of hematology at the department of Hematology, Amsterdam UMC. He is principal investigator of the preclinical and translational immunotherapy programs in AML and MDS. The major research lines focus on the immunopathogenesis of MDS/AML and on the development of leukemic dendritic cell vaccines for active specific immunization in patients with minimal residual disease (MRD). He is coordinator of HORIZON2020, AML-VACCiN program dealing with Dendritic Cell vaccination in AML. In MDS research focuses on the implementation of flow cytometry in MDS diagnosis and prognosis. He initiated a platform within the ELN on the implementation of flowcytometry in MDS. He is chair of the Database Sharing Committee of the International Working Group for Prognosis of MDS (IWG-PM) and board member of the Dutch HOVON working group on AML and MDS.
Amer Zeidan
USA
Bio
Amer Zeidan
Amer Zeidan, MBBS, MHS is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology) at Yale University. He is also the medical director of Hematology Early Therapeutics Research, the leader of the Myeloid malignancies DART (Disease Aligned Research Team), and the director of CME at Hematology division at Yale Cancer Center. Dr. Zeidan has completed a hematology/oncology fellowship and a clinical research fellowship in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) at Johns Hopkins University where he also earned a Master of Health Science (MHS) degree in Clinical Investigation. Dr. Zeidan specializes in the management of myeloid malignancies especially MDS and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The focus of Dr. Zeidan’s clinical/translational research is the development of novel therapies for myeloid malignancies, with a special focus on targeted therapies and immunotherapy-based approaches. Dr. Zeidan is also active in health outcomes and comparative effectiveness research for blood cancers diseases and their therapies.
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