ASH Scholar Award Recipients, Visitor Training Program Open, and more

2017 ASH Scholar Award Recipients Announced

For more than 30 years, the ASH Scholar Awards have financially supported fellows and junior faculty as they transition from training programs to careers as independent hematology investigators.

Each Scholar Award provides up to $100,000 for fellows and $150,000 for junior faculty over a two- to three-year period. The program funds hematologists in North America who conduct basic, translational, and clinical research that furthers the understanding and treatment of blood disorders.

The 2017 Scholar Award recipients are:

Basic Research Fellows

  • Grazia Abou Ezzi, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO
  • Kelly Arcipowski, PhD, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
  • Jeevisha Bajaj, PhD, University of California – San Diego, La Jolla, CA
  • Tae Kon Kim, MD, PhD, Yale University, New Haven, CT
  • Kellie Machlus, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA
  • Anna Protopopova, PhD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
  • Marco Ruella, MD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
  • Zuzana Tothova, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
  • Andrew Volk, PhD, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Clinical Research Fellows

  • Melanie Fields, MD, MSCI, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO
  • Erin Peckham-Gregory, PhD, MPH, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
  • Eric Smith, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
  • Basic Junior Faculty
  • Margarida Almeida Santos, PhD, MS, BS, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
  • Craig Byersdorfer, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Shuaiying Cui, PhD, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA
  • Jarrod Dudakov, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
  • Renata Grozovsky, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA
  • Sanggu Kim, PhD, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
  • Dan Landau, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Genome Center, New York, NY
  • Emily Mace, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
  • Jeffrey Magee, MD, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO
  • Christopher Ott, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
  • Elli Papaemmanuil, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
  • Vikram Paralkar, MD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Clinical Junior Faculty

  • Premal Lulla, MD, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
  • Alice Mims, MD, MSCR, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
  • Hong Zheng, MD, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA

Joanne Levy, MD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement

Christopher Sturgeon, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, received the 2016 Joanne Levy, MD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement. This award is made possible by the family of past ASH Scholar Award recipient and distinguished Society member Joanne Levy, MD, who passed away in 2004. It is presented to the current ASH Scholar with the highest-scoring abstract for the ASH annual meeting, as determined by the appointed abstract reviewers.

Dr. Sturgeon received his doctorate degree from the University of British Columbia and is currently an assistant professor in the Division of Hematology of the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He was honored for his oral abstract (Publication #883), “Human Definitive Hematopoietic Specification from Pluripotent Stem Cells Is Regulated by Mesodermal Expression of CDX4.”

New Ask the Hematologist Compendium

“Ask the Hematologist” articles published in The Hematologist: ASH News and Reports, ASH’s member newsletter, have been one of the most popular article types, providing a platform for hematologists to discuss and share their treatment approaches to malignant and non-malignant hematologic diseases, as well as very specific cases they have encountered in clinic. A new Compendium providing updated clinical information to “Ask the Hematologist” articles published in The Hematologist from 2010 to 2015 is available. Download the Compendium and access updated articles here.

2016 ASH Annual Meeting Webcasts

Webcasts from the 58th ASH Annual Meeting are available through ASH On Demand. As the premier event in malignant and non-malignant hematology, the ASH annual meeting provides attendees with an outstanding educational experience that examines the latest clinical advances in hematology and explores the year’s most significant scientific discoveries and updates. The videos make this event available for convenient, on-demand viewing.

The 2016 ASH Annual Meeting webcasts include the following sessions:

  • General Sessions
  • Special-Interest Sessions
  • Trainee Simultaneous Didactic Sessions
  • Education Program Sessions
  • Education Spotlight Sessions
  • Scientific Program Sessions
  • Special Scientific Symposia
  • Scientific Spotlight Sessions

Application Process Open for Visitor Training Program

The Visitor Training Program (VTP) helps build hematology capacity in developing countries, ultimately improving patient care. The VTP provides funding for hematologists or hematology-related health-care professionals in the developing world to receive training on a specific topic or technique for up to 12 weeks. Training is carried out in the clinic or laboratory of an ASH member under his or her supervision and mentorship. Upon completion of the training, participants return to their home institutions to implement the skills and knowledge they have acquired that address a specific hematology need.

Visit hematology.org/Awards/Career-Training/436.aspx for application information. Letter-of-Intent submission deadline is January 31, 2017. The application deadline is April 10, 2017.