Organizing Committee
Jerry Radich
Seattle, USA
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Advisory Committee
François Guilhot
Poitiers, France
University of Poitiers
François Guilhot
Prof. Guilhot founded the Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) French Group and he is the President of the haematological section of the National Council of French Physicians. Professor François Guilhot is the past Director of the Clinical Investigation Centre (CIC) 1402 INSERM. He is a member of the Academie of Medecine and has published over 400 communications and articles appearing in journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Blood, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Haematologica, Leukemia, Cancer, Cancer Research, and Seminars in Hematology. He has been involved in the European LeukemiaNet as a member of the work package devoted to research in CML. He is the principal investigator of the large French CML trial (the SPIRIT trial) exploring doses of imatinib and combination strategies.
Pierre Laneuville
Montreal, Canada
McGill University
Charles Schiffer
Detroit, USA
Wayne State University
Charles Schiffer
Charles A. Schiffer, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Oncology and the Joseph Dresner Chair for Hematologic Malignancies at Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, Michigan. He is the director of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Multidisciplinary Program.
Dr. Schiffer earned his BA cum laude at Brandeis University and his M.D. at New York University School of Medicine. He completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in Internal Medicine at Bellevue Hospital under the auspices of New York University School of Medicine and had subsequent training and positions at the Baltimore Cancer Research Institute, National Cancer Institute and the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he served as Chief of the Division of Hematology. He has also served as Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Director of Clinical Research at the Karmanos Cancer Institute.
Dr. Schiffer has authored and co-authored more than 330 articles and 80 book chapters on topics concerning the treatment of leukemia in adults, platelet transfusion, and granulocyte transfusion therapy, among others. He has served on the Editorial Boards for Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, International Journal of Hematology, Transfusion Medicine Reviews and Transfusion, and reviews articles for multiple journals. Committee memberships have included Chairman of the Leukemia Committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, Chairman of the Food and Drug Administration Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee, member of the American Board of Internal Medicine – Medical Oncology Board, and grant reviews for the NCI, ASH, DOD, ASCO and Leukemia/Lymphoma Society of America. Dr. Schiffer has been named among Castle Connelly’s “Best Doctors in America,” and Newsweek’s “Best Cancer Specialists in the US.” In 2006, he received the Dr. John J. Kenney Award from the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society of America and the Celgene Award for Career Achievement in Hematology. He has received numerous teaching awards from the School of Medicine and was recently inducted into the Academy of Scholars of Wayne State University, the highest recognition accorded to academic faculty at the University.
Peter Valent
Vienna, Austria
Medizinische Universität Wien
Peter Valent
Peter Valent is a medical doctor, senior scientist, and group leader at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. He is the Scientific Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Hematology and Oncology (LBI HO) since 2008 and leads a special research program (SFB) on myeloproliferative neoplasms in his University. He also coordinates the Vienna cancer stem cell club (VCSCC), an international working group on eosinophil disorders, and the European competence network on mastocytosis (ECNM). Professor Valent is also coordinator of the CML platform and MDS platform of the Austrian society for Hematology and Oncology, runs a Center of Excellence of the MDS Foundation, a Center of Excellence and Reference Center of the ECNM, and a Reference Center in CML. The aim in his clinical studies and research are to improve diagnosis, classification, prognostication, management and curative therapies in patients with myeloid neoplasms. Professor Valent also participates in several other research clusters in Vienna, including one dedicated to cardiovascular research and one dedicated to allergic and inflammatory diseases. During the past 20 years, Valent organized a number of top international meetings in Vienna, including several working conferences and consensus conferences on diagnostic criteria and diagnostic standards in myeloid neoplasms. Special focus and topics in his research are neoplastic stem cells, the identification of novel markers and targets in myeloid neoplasms, the development of disease-related criteria in myeloid neoplasms, the evaluation of target interaction profiles and side effects of novel drugs, and the development of stem cell-eradicating, curative, treatment approaches in myeloid neoplasms. Professor Valent is member in diverse Medical Societies, including ASH, EHA and ESH and serves in various editorial boards and as a reviewer in most top hematology journals. He published more than 800 peer-reviewed articles, including original articles and review articles as well as numerous chapters in major textbooks and WHO books in his areas of expertise, lectured widely in Europe, North America, and Japan, and received numerous scientific awards. His h index arrived at 97, first-author h index at 40, and total citations >38,000.
Richard Van Etten
Irvine, USA
University of California
Richard Van Etten
Dr. Van Etten received an MD and PhD in Biophysics from Stanford University School of Medicine, where he worked with David Clayton on molecular genetics of mammalian mitochondrial DNA. After postgraduate training in internal medicine and hematology at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, he was a Visiting Scientist with Nobel Laureate David Baltimore at the Whitehead Institute at M.I.T. He was a faculty member in the Departments of Genetics and Medicine at Harvard Medical School until 2003, when he joined Tufts Medical Center and the Molecular Oncology Research Institute as Professor of Medicine and Director of the Hematologic Malignancies Program in the Tufts Cancer Center. He became Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Tufts Medical Center in 2006, and was named Director of the Tufts Cancer Center in 2009. In October 2013 he moved to the University of California, Irvine where he is Professor of Medicine (Division of Hematology/Oncology) and Biological Chemistry, and Director of UCI’s NCI-designated Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He holds the Chao Family Endowed Director’s Chair in Cancer Research & Treatment. As Cancer Center Director, he serves as Principal Investigator on the P30 Cancer Center Support Grant from the NCI, oversees a team of more than 200 basic, translational, and clinical cancer investigators, and has global responsibility for cancer research across the institution.
Dr. Van Etten has authored over 150 scientific articles, reviews, and book chapters. He directs a research laboratory funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute that investigates the molecular pathogenesis of leukemia and myeloproliferative neoplasms with an emphasis on dysregulated tyrosine kinases and mouse model systems. He was named a Stohlman Scholar of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in 2003 and is a recipient of the 2008 Zucker Family Research Prize at Tufts University School of Medicine and the 2015 Janet Rowley Prize from the International CML Foundation. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation. He served on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, as an Associate Editor of Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), and was the Scientific Program Co-Chair for the 2009 ASH Meeting. Dr. Van Etten serves on the Leukemia Committee of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group/ACRIN, is a past member of the Hematopoiesis Study Section of the NIH Center for Scientific Review, and is currently a member of National Cancer Institute Subcommittee A on Cancer Centers.
Faculty
Please click here to download the list of citations.
Jane Apperley
London, United Kingdom
Imperial College London
Jane Apperley
I qualified in Medicine from the University of Birmingham in 1979 and completed specialist training in haematology in Birmingham, London and Cambridge. Throughout this time I developed an interest in stem cell transplantation (SCT), and by default in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), which was the primary indication for SCT in the 1990s. I also spent two years as a post-doctoral fellow at the Children’s Hospital in Boston, USA, training in gene transfer and therapy. I returned to the Hammersmith Hospital in 1993, given a personal chair in Haemato-Oncology in 2002, and became the Clinical Director for Clinical Haematology at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and the Chair of the Centre of Haematology at the Imperial College in 2003/4. My interests remain the biology and management of CML, and my group at the Imperial College has extensive experience in the use of first, second and third generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors, particularly in the areas of molecular monitoring, mechanisms of drug resistance and adverse events. I have a long-standing interest in the impact of haematological diseases and their treatment on fertility, pregnancy and foetal outcome. I have been a member of the ELN CML Working Party since the creation of the ELN in 2004 and have been involved with the ELN Consensus Guidelines since the first recommendations in 2006, initially as the ‘expert’ in SCT. I have also been a member of the UK NCRI CML study group for >20 years. Some years ago we recognised that there were issues in the management of CML peculiar to the UK because of the influence of NICE and the need for financial restraint, and under the leadership of Graeme Smith (Leeds) developed the current BCSH guidelines.
Ravi Bhatia
Birmingham, USA
O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB
Ravi Bhatia
Ravi Bhatia, MD joined UAB in January 2015 as Professor in the Department of Medicine, Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology, and Deputy Director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center (OCCC) at UAB. He served as Interim Director of the OCCC in April-December 2019. Dr Bhatia received his Hematology and Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant training from the University of Minnesota. He joined the Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at the City of Hope National Medical Center in 1996, where he developed his career as an internationally recognized physician-scientist, and was Professor and Director of the Division of Hematopoietic Stem Cell and Leukemia Research and Co-Leader of the Hematologic Malignancies Program in the Comprehensive Cancer Center. His clinical interest is in treatment of hematologic malignancies and in hematopoietic cell transplantation, with emphasis on myeloid leukemias. His research interests are in studying the regulation of normal and malignant hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, therapeutic targeting of malignant stem cells, and hematopoietic stem cell therapeutics. Dr. Bhatia’s most significant contribution has been to advance our understanding of the biology and targeting of leukemia stem cells (LSC) in myeloid malignancies. He has systematically characterized the molecular and cellular events which underpin abnormal stem cell behavior in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). He has been able to translate original research observations from his laboratory into investigator-initiated clinical trials of novel anti-leukemia approaches. He is the author of over 160 publications, and the recipient of grant funding by the NIH since 2006, a Scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and a charter member of the NIH Hematopoiesis study section. He is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, a member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Medical and Scientific Advisory Board, and past chair of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Translational Research Project Review Panel. He has demonstrated his ability to effectively collaborate with other researchers, and communicate effectively with project members. He is highly committed to the training and mentorship of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty. He currently mentors one graduate student and two post-doctoral fellows, and has mentored four graduate student, 21 post-doctoral fellows and numerous clinical fellows in the past 10 years. Several of his past mentees hold faculty positions in academic centers in the US, Europe or Asia.
Susan Branford
Adelaide, Australia
University of South Australia
Susan Branford
Professor Sue Branford is Head of the Leukaemia Lab in the Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology at SA Pathology. She is an National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellow and Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Faculty of Science. Her research is focused on understanding the factors that predict for response to tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy and the mechanisms of drug resistance for patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia. Dr Branford leads the International Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Genomics Alliance, which aims to establish a genomically based risk classification system. She was the recipient of the International Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Foundation Prize in 2016 for outstanding contributions to the improvement of treatment in emerging economic regions, and the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Distinguished Award in 2017 for significant contributions in molecular diagnostics.
Massimo Breccia
Rome, Italy
Department of Translational and Precision Medicine, Sapienza University
Massimo Breccia
Dr Massimo Breccia is a medical assistant at Sapienza University of Rome, Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, and head of DH unit. His scientific interests are mainly focused on biological and clinical aspects of acute and chronic myeloid leukemias (AML, CML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and he has authored or co-authored over 450 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He is a peer reviewer for several journals including Blood, The Lancet, The Lancet Hematology, Haematologica, British Journal of Haematology, and Cancer, and is a member of the editorial board and an associate editor of several journals, including Frontiers in Oncology.
He is a member of SIE, SIES, EHA and participates as PI and SI in several clinical trials (in particular phase 1) for CML, AML, and MDS. He is secretary of the GIMEMA QoL Working Party and an elected member of four other GIMEMA Working Parties.
Tim Brümmendorf
Aachen, Germany
Uniklinik Aachen
Tim Brümmendorf
Since 2009, Prof. Tim Brümmendorf is head of the Department of Hematology and Oncology at University Hospital Aachen, and director of the Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen (CIOA), Germany, which is part of the Cancer Center Network CIOABCD, a member of the German Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCC) of Excellence funded by the Deutsche Krebshilfe (DKH).
He earned his medical degree from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He did his residency in haematology, oncology, and immunology at University Hospital Tübingen, Germany, followed by a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Terry Fox Laboratory, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
In 2004, he received an appointment as attending and then deputy head, Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. In Hamburg, he was co-fouder of the University Cancer Center Hamburg (UCCH).
Prof Brümmendorf’s research focus is on translational and clinical studies in the field of chronic myelogenous leukaemia, myeloproliferative neoplasms, hereditary and acquired bone marrow failure and myelodysplastic syndromes.
He serves as a referee for several international scientific journals and funding organizations. Prof Brümmendorf is a member of the German Cancer Society (DKG), the German Society of Hematology and Oncology (DGHO), and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and current chair of the German Association of Academic Hematology and Oncology (VUHO).
Pavel Burda
Prague, Czech Republic
Institute of Pathological Physiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University
Pavel Burda
After graduation at Faculty of Science (Charles University, Prague) he joined First Faculty of Medicine (Charles University, Prague) for PhD. and postdoctoral studies concerning transcriptional regulation in leukemogenesis. Pavel currently works as a researcher in laboratory of Molecular genetics at Institute of hematology and Blood transfusion in Prague in Czech Republic (laboratory of Katerina Machova-Polakova). Research of the laboratory is aimed at improving the molecular diagnostics of CML for clinical practice (e.g. detection of MRD and detection of resistant mutations) and the molecular mechanisms of the disease (e.g. the role of microRNA, transcription factors, CML stem cell). Pavel´s work has centered on the molecular mechanisms concerning transcription and epigenetic regulation of genes involved in oncogenic pathways (in chronic myeloid leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia). Furthermore, his interest is now in the impact of imatinib treatment to biochemical processes within CML and muscular cells. Since 2012 Pavel works also as Assistant Professors at First faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague.
Caroline Busch
Glasgow, United Kingdom
University of Glasgow
Caroline Busch
Dr. Caroline Busch performed her doctoral studies at the University of Glasgow (UoG) where she worked in the Centre of Cellular Microenvironment and the Paul O’ Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre (POG-LRC). Her studies focused on eliminating stem cell persistence in CML, hereby identifying additional pathway targets in combination with current TKI therapies. Prior to her doctoral studies she studied Biology with a focus on Molecular and Cell Biology at the Freie University Berlin where she started her passion for haematology research performing her masters project at the Charite Berlin. Currently she is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Strathclyde developing in vitro disease models using microfluidic devices.
Virginia Camacho
Birmingham, USA
Division of Hematology & Oncology, University of Alabama Birmingham
Virginia Camacho
My scientific interests are in understanding how immune cells contribute to tissue homeostasis and probing how these regulatory mechanisms are altered under oncogenic and inflammatory pressures. Specifically, I am interested in interactions between immune cells and their local environments with the long-term goal of devising therapeutic interventions to restore immunity, tissue function, and alter disease trajectory in cancer.
For my doctoral training, I developed a project defining how Regulatory T cells (Tregs) in bone marrow condition the stromal cell niche and enhance hematopoietic stem cell support via IL-10, and how loss of this regulatory mechanism promotes leukemic progression. This was expanded to dissect the role of Tregs in the context of hematological malignancies and optimizing therapeutic interventions to restore Treg function in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and myelodysplastic syndrome. This work revealed Treg secreted IL-10 can be applied to limit leukemic expansion and outlined an unexpected mechanism by which this cytokine regulates hematopoiesis both in steady-state and disease. We were able to demonstrate that leukemic inflammation promotes pathogenic skewing of both regulatory and effector T cells and that Treg/Th17 ratios are disrupted in leukemia and that influence disease progression. My training in the lab of Dr. Robert Welner allowed me tomerge my interdisciplinary interests and build foundational skills in immunology, hematopoiesis, and single-cell genomics.
Bing Carter
Houston, USA
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Bing Carter
My research focuses on understanding the regulation of apoptotic regulators and cell survival pathways within leukemia cells and by the bone marrow microenvironment and targeting anti-apoptotic proteins and the deregulated cell survival pathways as therapeutic strategies in acute and chronic myeloid leukemia (AML and CML). I am investigating targeting of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins with BH3 mimetics as a therapeutic strategy in AML and mechanisms of resistance and developing mechanism-based combinations of BH3 mimetics with kinase inhibition including FAK in the context of bone marrow microenvironment, FLT3 in FLT3 mutated AML. I demonstrated the critical role of Bcl-2 in the survival of CML stem cells and potential of curing CML by combined targeting of Bcl-2 or activation of p53 (acting in part by regulating Bcl-2 family proteins) and Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase. This concept is currently under clinical development. I investigated the role of WNT/β-catenin signaling in AML and CML stem/progenitor cells and demonstrated that targeting this signaling pathway alone and in combinations with other targets eradicate leukemia cells and stem cells. My other research interests involve targeting IAP family of proteins as therapeutic targets in AML and currently menin inhibition in subsets of AML.
Piotr Chroscicki
Warsaw, Poland
Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology
Piotr Chroscicki
Dr. Piotr Chroscicki graduated from the University of Warsaw in 2013. As a PhD student he joined a group of Prof. Agnieszka Chacinska at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology/Centre of New Technologies at the University of Warsaw to study the process of mitochondria biogenesis and obtained PhD with specialization in molecular biology in 2018. The same year he joined the group of Prof. Katarzyna Piwocka at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences at the position of postdoctoral researcher, which he continues to this date.
His research is focused on studying the role of cell-cell interactions within leukemic bone marrow microenvironment on leukemogenesis and development of drug-resistance. In particular, his studies concentrate on metabolic reprogramming of CML cells due to TNT-mediated communication with mesenchymal stromal cells.
Emmanuelle Clappier
Paris, France
Hôpital Saint-Louis
Emmanuelle Clappier
Emmanuelle Clappier is Associate Professor in Hematology of the University of Paris and in charge of the Molecular Diagnosis in the Hematology Laboratory at Saint-Louis Hospital, Paris.
After completing her PharmD and PhD degrees at Paris-Descartes and Paris-Diderot Universities in Malignant Hematology, she was a postdoctoral fellowship in the Laboratory of Hematopoietic and Leukemia Stem cells at CEA, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France. On the hospital side, she worked at the children hospital Robert Debré (2007-2014) on acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL), and then moved to Saint-Louis hospital in 2014 where she currently leads the molecular hematology lab for adult malignant blood diseases.
Dr Clappier’s main focus includes genetics, therapeutic targets and minimal residual disease in acute leukemia, especially B-cell precursor ALL (BCP-ALL). As the coordinator for biology of adult BCP-ALL in the French national cooperative group on adult ALL (GRAALL), she set up a referent molecular diagnosis laboratory and research group. She is a member of several scientific boards including the EuroMRD consortium and the French Society of Hematology.
Mhairi Copland
Glasgow, United Kingdom
University of Glasgow
Mhairi Copland
Mhairi Copland is Professor of Translational Haematology and Honorary Consultant in Haematology at the University of Glasgow. She graduated in Medicine from Aberdeen University in 1996 and obtained a PhD in Cancer Sciences from the University of Glasgow in 2007. She currently splits her time between the Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, where she is Director, and the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, Glasgow. She has clinical and research interests in chronic myeloid leukaemia and acute leukaemias and was chair of the UK NCRI CML Subgroup (2013-2019). Specific areas of research interest are leukaemia stem cells, novel, stem-cell directed therapies, treatment resistance and studies of the leukaemic microenvironment. She is Chief Investigator for the Phase 1 MATCHPOINT and Phase 2 TASTER clinical trials; co-chief investigator for LI-1, and local principal investigator for several acute leukaemia and CML trials and leads the Cure Leukaemia Trials Acceleration Programme at the Beatson.
Jorge Cortes
Augusta, USA
Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University
Jorge Cortes
Jorge E. Cortes, MD serves as Director of the Georgia Cancer Center in Augusta, Georgia. He came to GCC after 23 years at MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he served in the Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, including Deputy Department Chair, Chair of AML and CML Sections, and Deputy Division Head for the Cancer Network. Cortes also held the title of Jane and John Justin Distinguished Chair in Leukemia Research, developed and led the Leukemia Fellowship Program, and was Chair of Executive IRB at MD Anderson.
Cortes obtained his undergraduate and post-graduate training in Mexico City before completing his fellowship in Houston, TX. He has over 230 grants and contracts in which he was principal investigator. He has authored over 1,000 peer-review original research articles. He has counducted multiple clinical trials and led the development of the second generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor bosutinib and the third generation ponatinib, as well as omacetaxine, also approved for patients with CML. He also led the development of glasdegib, approved for treatment of patients with AML unfit for chemotherapy, for which Cortes was the leader for the development.
Cortes is currently the Cecil F. Whitaker Jr. GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Cancer, and as director, Cortes continues Georgia Cancer Center’s quest of obtaining National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation, while adhering to the mission of ‘reducing the burden of cancer in the State of Georgia and across the globe through superior care, innovation and education’.
Ana Cvejic
Cambridge, United Kingdom
University of Cambridge
Ana Cvejic
Ana Cvejic is a Faculty member at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and a Group leader at the Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge. In 2008 Ana received her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Bristol. She then moved to the University of Cambridge/Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute to start a Postdoctoral Fellowship, with Professor Willem Ouwehand. In 2012 Ana was awarded the CRUK Career Development Fellowship to start her independent group. In 2015 Ana was awarded ERC Starting Grant and in 2016 EMBO Young Investigator award. With the principal expertise and research interest in the molecular regulation of blood stem cell fate choices Ana’s research sits at the intersection of molecular biology, genetics and systems biology and it closely couples experimental approaches and “big” biological data analysis.
Hervé Dombret
Paris, France
Hôpital Saint-Louis
Hervé Dombret
Hervé Dombret, M.D., is Professor of Hematology at the University of Paris, France. He is Director of the Saint-Louis Institute for Research in Hematology, Immunology and Oncology (member of the Paris Alliance Cancer Research Institutes) and Head of the Clinical Adult Hematology Unit at Hospital Saint-
Louis (AP-HP) in Paris. Professor Dombret’s areas of scientific interest include clinical and translational research on acute leukemia (AML and ALL), as well as preclinical and early clinical R&D in this field. He is President of the Group for Research on Adult ALL (GRAALL) and the Acute Leukemia French Association
(ALFA). He is also member of the European LeukemiaNet (ELN) expert panels for AML and ALL, Chair of the European School of Haematology (ESH), Associate Editor for Blood, and reviewer for many journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology and The Lancet. Professor Dombret has authored or co-authored more than 350 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, with an h-index of 83.
Benjamin Ebert
Boston, USA
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Benjamin Ebert
Dr. Benjamin Ebert is the Chair of Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the George P. Canellos, MD and Jean S. Canellos Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and an Institute Member of the Broad Institute.
The Ebert laboratory focuses on the molecular basis and treatment of hematologic malignancies and its non-malignant precursor conditions, with a particular focus on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and clonal hematopoiesis. The Ebert laboratory demonstrated that lenalidomide, a derivative of thalidomide, binds the CRL4-CRBN E3 ubiquitin ligase and induces degradation of specific substrates. Subsequent research from the Ebert laboratory has examined the potential of thalidomide analogs to induce degradation of a broad array of zinc finger transcription factors and other proteins, and to identify novel mechanisms of drug-induced protein degradation.
Dr. Ebert is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. He served as President of the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2017. He received the William Dameshek Prize from the American Society of Hematology in 2017, the Meyenburg Prize for Cancer Research in 2019, the Sjöberg Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2021, and the Korsmeyer Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2021.
Dr. Ebert received a bachelor’s degree from Williams College and a doctorate from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in the laboratory of Sir Peter Ratcliffe. He completed an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, a residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Todd Fehniger
St Louis, USA
Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis
Thoas Fioretos
Lund, Sweden
Lund University
Thoas Fioretos
Thoas Fioretos is a professor and senior consultant at the Department of Clinical Genetics, Lund University, Sweden. He is also the Director of national Clinical Genomics platform at SciLifeLab, a national facility offering expertise and service in next-generation sequencing for clinical research and that develops new diagnostic assays for improved precision diagnostics. He is a Wallenberg Clinical Scholar, a highly prestigious award given to top Swedish clinical researchers. Professor Fioretos research is focused on translating genomic discoveries in acute leukemia into improved clinical decision-making and new therapies. Fioretos is a founding member of Genomic Medicine Sweden, aiming at implementing genomics-based precision medicine in Sweden, and is the co-coordinator of the Hematology Working Group within GMS. He has published >120 research articles, many in top tier journals, and is an Associate Editor of Genes Chromosomes and Cancer. Fioretos has co-founded two spin-out companies active in bioinformatics (Qlucore AB) and antibody-based therapies of cancer (Cantargia AB).
Robert Gale
London, United Kingdom
Imperial College London
Robert Gale
Robert Peter Gale is currently Visiting Professor of Haematology at the Haematology Research Center, Division of Experimental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London; Honorary Professor of Hematology at the Institute of Hematology at Peking Union Medical. Prof. Gale is also an expert on the medical response to nuclear and radiation accidents. He is also an honorary member of the Russian and Chinese Academies of Medical Science as well as a fellow with the Royal College of Physicians in London.
Carlo Gambacorti-Passerini
Monza, Italy
UNIMIB, Dept. of Medicine and Surgery
Carlo Gambacorti-Passerini
Carlo Gambacorti-Passerini (born 26 August 1957) is an Italian oncologist and hematologist known for his contributions to cancer research. He is Professor of Internal Medicine and Hematology at the University of Milan Bicocca in Italy and Director of the Hematology Department at S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy. He was Senior Investigator and Head of the Oncogenic Fusion Proteins Unit at the National Cancer Institute, Milan Italy from 1990 to 2003, and Professor of Oncology and Hematology at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from 2004 to 2007.
His main scientific contribution relates to the preclinical and clinical development of imatinib. His publications between 1997 and 2000 are among the earliest original reports on this revolutionary drug. Specifically, he showed that apoptosis, or programmed cell death, was the predominant mechanism through which imatinib eliminates leukemic cells, that leukemic animals could be cured using imatinib, and that resistance to imatinib could be mediated by gene amplification of BCR-ABL1.
Dr. Gambacorti-Passerini is the Chairman of the ILTE (Imatinib Long Term side Effects) study, an independent clinical study aimed at assessing the long-term effects of imatinib in 948 CML patients worldwide, which showed for the first time that CML patients in remission have a normal life expectancy. From 2006 to 2011 Dr. Gambacorti-Passerini was the first researcher to develop at preclinical and clinical level another drug for CML named bosutinib.
He is also the first researcher who (in June 2010) successfully treated a patient affected by ALK+ lymphoma with an ALK inhibitor (crizotinib).
In 2012 and 2015 Dr. Gambacorti-Passerini discovered SETBP1 and ETNK1 as two novel oncogenes and identified specific mutations of these genes in patients affected by atypical Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (aCML).
Jan Geissler
Munich, Germany
Patvocate
Jan Geissler
As a CML patient since 2001, Jan co-founded the patient advocacy organisations LeukaNET, European Cancer Patient Coalition, CML Advocates Network, Acute Leukemia Advocates Network and Workgroup of European Cancer Patient Advocacy Networks (WECAN). He was Director of the European Patients’ Academy (EUPATI) and manages the German EUPATI platform. Jan represents patient perspectives in committees e.g. in the EU Cancer Mission Assembly, European Cancer Organisation, EHA, EuroBloodNET, ISPOR, Berlin Institute of Health, iCMLf, German National Decade Against Cancer and the Ethics Committee of the Bavarian Chamber of Physicians. He is CEO of Patvocates, a think tank, consultancy and social enterprise on patient advocacy, health policy and patient engagement in research. He is work package leader in the IMI big data project HARMONY.
Robert Hasserjian
Boston, USA
Massachusets General Hospital
Robert Hasserjian
Dr Robert Hasserjian is Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and a Hematopathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is Director of the Hematopathology Fellowship Program. Dr Hasserjian received his MD from Harvard and trained in Anatomic Pathology and Hematopathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is currently President-Elect of the Society for Hematopathology and he was co-organizer of the 2017 Society for Hematopathology/European Association for Hematopathology Annual Workshop, with the topic of “Molecular Genetics of Hematopoietic Neoplasms”. His research interests are in the discovery of pathologic and genetic features associated with the biologic behavior of myeloid and lymphoid neoplasms, particularly myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia. Dr Hasserjian is an author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications, reviews, and chapters and is the editor of the textbook “Diagnosis of Blood and Bone Marrow Disorders” (Springer, 2018). He was a Senior Reviewer and author of multiple chapters of the Revised 4th Edition WHO Classification of Myeloid Neoplasms published in 2017. Dr Hasserjian is strongly committed to education in hematopathology and has lectured on the diagnosis of leukemias, other bone marrow disorders, and lymphomas at numerous courses and international pathology meetings across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
Rüdiger Hehlmann
Mannheim, Germany
ELN Foundation
Rüdiger Hehlmann
Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h. c. Rüdiger Hehlmann, chief of medicine at the Mannheim Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University until 2007. Founder and chair of the German CML Study Group 1982-2017, the German Competence Network for Acute and Chronic Leukemias 1997 to present, and the European LeukemiaNet (ELN) 2002 to present. Past president of the German Society of Hematology and Oncology, past Dean of his faculty and past Secretary General of the International Association of Comparative Research on Leukemia and Related Diseases (IACRLRD). He is honorary member of the Polish and German Societies for Hematology and Oncology. His focus is fostering cooperative research for curing leukemia.
Andreas Hochhaus
Jena, Germany
Uniklinikum Jena
Andreas Hochhaus
Professor Andreas Hochhaus is Head of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology and coordinator of the University Tumor Center (UTC) at the Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany. He was awarded the Endowed Professorship for Leukaemia Research from the German José Carreras Leukaemia Foundation in 2007. He has been interested in treatment optimisation of chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) and has been involved in the management of randomised CML studies of the German CML Study Group for more than 30 years. As co-chair of the German CML Alliance his focus is to enhance access to clinical trials for all patients. Professor Hochhaus’ special interests are the molecular monitoring of minimal residual disease and mechanisms of resistance in CML. He is a member of the European Hematology Association (EHA), the American Society of Hematology (ASH), and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). He served as president of the Annual Meeting of the German, Austrian, and Swiss Societies of Hematology and Oncology in 2016 and the German Cancer Congress in 2020. Professor Hochhaus has published over 560 peer‑reviewed papers and is regularly invited to speak at national and international symposia.
Tim Hughes
Adelaide, Australia
Sahmri
Tim Hughes
Professor Timothy Hughes is the Precision Medicine Theme Leader at SAHMRI and Consultant Haematologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. He is also the Cancer Council Professor at the University of Adelaide, Chair of the International Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Foundation and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. Professor Hughes has published over 300 papers that have been cited over 50,000 times. Professor Hughes was awarded the GSK Award for Research Excellence in 2017 and the Ramaciotti Prize in 2019.
Brian Huntly
Cambridge, United Kingdom
University of Cambridge
Brian Huntly
Prof Brian Huntly is a clinical research scientist who combines running a laboratory research group with his practice as a Consultant Haematologist in Addenbrooke’s Hospital. He is also Head of the Department of Haematology at the University of Cambridge and has recently been elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences. He is also a member of the European Haematology Association Board and Chair of their Research Committee. He studied Medicine at Edinburgh, trained in Haematology in Dundee and Cambridge and is a member of the Royal College of Physicians and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. He studied for his PhD in Cambridge and performed post-doctoral work at Harvard, prior to winning the EHA-José Carreras Young Investigator Award and returning to Cambridge to set up his own research group. The interest of his group is in understanding how normal stem and progenitor cell function is subverted during the step-wise evolution of haematological malignancies, particularly leukaemias and lymphomas. The group focuses particularly on transcriptional and epigenetic alterations and combine functional, genomic and proteomic techniques in mouse and cell line models, as well as human primary tumour tissue, to identify disease mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets.
Catriona Jamieson
La Jolla, USA
UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center
Catriona Jamieson
Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD is a leading physician-scientist in the cancer stem cell biology field. She is a Professor of Medicine, the Koman Family Presidential Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, Deputy Director of the Moores Cancer Center and the Director of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). Dr. Jamieson is the Director of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Alpha Stem Cell Clinic at UCSD, which provides infrastructure to accelerate the bench to bedside development and implementation of cancer stem cell targeted and cellular immunotherapy trials for hematologic and other malignancies. Dr. Jamieson discovered malignant reprogramming, RNA hyper-editing and splice isoform switching as mechanisms governing human pre-cancer stem cell generation and cancer stem cell maintenance in selective niches. This pioneering cancer stem cell research has informed the developed of cancer stem cell targeted therapies, including JAK2 and sonic hedgehog inhibitor trials, which resulted in two FDA approvals for myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) and leukemia. Dr. Jamieson’s research focuses on developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to obviate initiation, progression and therapeutic resistance of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), MPNs and hematologic malignancies, including secondary acute myeloid leukemia.
Lando Janssen
Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Department of Hematology, Radboud University Medical Center
Lando Janssen
Lando Janssen is a medical doctor and PhD Candidate at the departments of Hematology, Physiology and Pharmacology & Toxicology of the Radboudumc in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. His research is focused on the adverse effects of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in CML patients, on the population, patient, and molecular level. Currently, his research is aimed at TKI-induced skeletal muscle toxicity, fatigue and glucose dysregulation. In 2018 he received an award for “best clinical abstract” at the 20th annual John Goldman Conference in Miami for his research on skeletal muscle toxicity. His goal is to improve quality of life in CML patients by getting more insight into the mechanisms underlying adverse effects of TKI therapy.
Craig Jordan
Aurora, USA
University of Colorado
Craig Jordan
Dr. Craig T. Jordan is currently the Nancy Carroll Allen Professor and Chief of the Division of Hematology at the University of Colorado Denver. He has been studying human leukemia stem cells for over 20 years, using molecular and genetic analyses to identify characteristics that may enhance targeted therapy for leukemia. Dr. Jordan completed his doctoral studies at Princeton University and then went on to perform post-doctoral studies at MIT’s Whitehead Institute. He has been an editorial board member for several journals including Cell Stem Cell, Leukemia, and PLoS Biology. Dr. Jordan has published over 150 peer-reviewed original research articles, review articles and book chapters. His honors include the Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship, the Stohlman Scholar Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Wehrheim Professorship in cancer research, and the NCI Outstanding Investigator award.
Kazuharu Kamachi
Saga, Japan
Saga University
Kazuharu Kamachi
Dr Kamachi graduated from Saga Medical School, Japan in 2010. He has worked for 8 years as a clinical doctor specialized in hematology and reported some clinical case reports. He has started research carrier in 2018 as a Ph.D. student at Saga University. He is studying about epigenomics in CML pathogenesis and investigating the efficacy of a novel DNA demethylation agent under prof. Shinya Kimura.
Göran Karlsson
Lund, Sweden
Lund University
Göran Karlsson
Goran Karlsson is an Associate Professor in Molecular Hematology at Lund Stem Cell Center, Lund University, Sweden. Karlsson is a stem cell scientist with a PhD in hematopoietic stem cell biology from Lund University, and postdoctoral research experience from University College London Cancer Institute, UK. Dr Karlsson established his independent research group and founded an advanced single-cell genomics core facility at Lund Stem Cell Center in 2014. His research currently focuses on hematopoietic- and cancer stem cell heterogeneity, where he applies single-cell methods to gain insights on stem cell function, lineage commitment and therapy resistance.
Daniela S. Krause
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Georg-Speyer-Haus
Daniela S. Krause
Dr. Daniela S. Krause graduated from the Free University Berlin, Germany, in 1998. After an internship in haematology/oncology at the Charité in Berlin (Humboldt University) she performed her postdoctoral work on cellular therapies of leukaemia in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Van Etten at Harvard Medical School in Boston. She then completed her residency in clinical pathology and her specialist training in transfusion medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard and after that worked as a clinician scientist in the laboratory of Dr. David Scadden on the biology of the leukaemic stem cell niche while fulfilling some clinical duties. In July 2014 Dr. Krause moved back to Germany to establish her own research group at the Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Tumour Biology and Experimental Therapy, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where the Krause Laboratory focuses on the role of the bone marrow microenvironment in haematopoiesis and particulary leukaemia. In October 2015 she was awarded a professorship in cell and gene therapy from the Goethe University in Frankfurt and has, previously, received funding from the National Cancer Institute in the USA.
Valeriya Kuznetsova
Birmingham, USA
Division of Hematology & Oncology, University of Alabama Birmingham
Valeriya Kuznetsova
I earned my specialist’s degree in biology at Novosibirsk State University (NSU, Novosibirsk, Russia). During my undergraduate training I have developed a great interest in translational immunology, particularly in cell-based immunotherapy of cancer, which inspired me to build a career in academia. As an undergraduate student in the Laboratory of Immunogenetics (IMCB SB RAS) I was optimizing a platform for adoptive immunotherapy of cancer based on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-expressing cells. Upon graduation, I have decided to pursue my career goal in the environment nourishing translational research and joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) as a visiting scholar in 2017. During my research as a visiting scientist in Dr. Zdenek Hel’s lab, I was investigating phenotypic and functional diversity of neutrophils and their role in immune system regulation during different pathological conditions including HIV-1 infection and cancer. Two years later, I have applied for the Immunology PhD program offered by GBS at UAB. I started my training in August of 2019 with a strong dedication to pursue a project in the area of cancer immunotherapy and joined Dr. Welner’s laboratory for my thesis. With Dr. Welner, I explore the mechanisms of natural killer (NK) cell dysfunction in the context of myeloid malignancies. My aims are to identify the role of the pro-inflammatory cytokine network – a hallmark of acute and chronic myeloid leukemias – In NK cell impairment, and to reveal inflammation-associated pathways that can be targeted to boost NK cell anti-tumor activity. With an incredible support from my mentors and the graduate school, I am confident to say that my ongoing work has a potential to uncover exciting aspects of NK cell biology and bring them to a clinical point of view.
Jeff Lipton
Toronto, Canada
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Wei Liu
Glasgow, United Kingdom
Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow
Wei Liu
Wei Liu is a computational biologist in the Institute of Cancer Sciences at the University of Glasgow. She received a PhD in computer science from the University of Southampton in 2013. Till 04/2016, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute at the University of Cambridge. From 08/2016 — 14/2018, she was a research associate in the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal health and Comparative medicine. She joined the Institute of Cancer Sciences at the University of Glasgow in 04/2019.
Marcel Lorch
Mannheim, Germany
Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg
Marcel Lorch
We have compared German general population norm data for Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) (Nolte et al., 2020), obtained by using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire, to 454 CML patients at diagnosis, who are registered in the CML-V (TIGER)-trial.
On the one hand, clinical meaningful differences, for which we applied a cutoff of ≥ 10 such as ≤ -10, could not be found for men and the total sample. Looking at sex or age, CML patients HRQoL wasn’t worse regarding symptom subscales, emphasizing the fact that CML is diagnosed mostly in asymptomatic patients.
On the other hand, especially young women and patients younger than 50 years show worse functioning compared to the general population regarding emotional, role and social functioning. Fatigue, Dyspnea and Appetite loss are the most significant symptoms, especially in female patients between 18-39 years.
In the end, we established a profound basis for QoL assessment in CML patients both for prospective assessment within the CML study V and between German trials.
François-Xavier Mahon
Bordeaux, France
Bergonié – Unicancer Nouvelle-Aquitaine
François-Xavier Mahon
Pr François-Xavier Mahon obtained a medical degree at University Bordeaux Segalen in 1993. The same year, he was awarded a post-graduate diploma in Clinical Hematology. In 1999, he was researcher at the Imperial College of London. Three years later, he became hospital practitioner and professor of hematology at the University Hospital of Bordeaux.
Currently, Pr Mahon is Director of the Cancer Center of Bordeaux (Bergonie Institute), President of the French Group of CML (FI-LMC), and Director of The research team “Genetic Diversity and Resistance to Therapy: Mammary and Leukemic” in the research INSERM unit 1218.
Pr Mahon graduated in clinical haematology from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Bordeaux and received his PhD for the work on the topic “Selection of normal cells in chronic myeloid leukaemia”. He completed a research fellowship at the Imperial College of London.
His research is focused on the improvement of care and treatment of cancers, especially by the mean of clinical trials: new pharmaceuticals or combinations of pharmaceuticals against the disease or his side effects.
He is member of American Society of Hematology (ASH), European Haematology Association (EHA), French Society of Haematology, European Investigation of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (EICML), European school of Haematology (ESH), The European LeukemiaNet (ELN), international CML foundation (iCMLf), Society of hematology and oncology (SOHO).
Pr Mahon received many awards in recognition of his scientific activity:
- Scientific excellence award (2009 and 2013)
- Henri Choussat Price of OAREIL (Office Aquitain de Recherches, d’Etudes, d’Information et de liaison) (2011)
- European LeukemiaNet merit award (2015)
- iCMLf John Goldman Prize (2019)
- Medal of the City of Bordeaux (2009 and 2020)
He has authored or co-authored more than 250 articles in peer reviewed journals.
Giovanni Martineli
Meldola, Italy
IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori “Dino Amadori”- IRST
Giovanni Martineli
U.O. RESPONSIBLE PROFILE
Name: Giovanni Martinelli
Institution: Istituto Scientifico romagnolo per lo Studio e la cura dei Tumori (IRST) – IRCCS, Italy
Position Title: Scientific Director
Unit: Hematology Unit
ORCID: 0000-0002-1025-4210
H-Index: 87
Education:
-Degree in Medicine at Verona University in 1985
-Residency in Hematology at Verona University in 1988
-Residency in Medical Genetics at Verona University in 1992
Careers:
-Scientific Director of Hematology Unit at Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS, Italy (2018-today)
-Medical doctor at University of Bologna Institute of Hematology “L. E A. Seràgnoli”, Italy (1993-2001)
-Professor at Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna, Italy (2001-2017)
Achievements:
-Responsible of the individual program – “Diagnosis and treatment of acute leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes” Sant’ Orsola Hospital, Bologna.
-Was the coordinator of Next Generation Sequencing platform for targeted Personalized Therapy of Leukemia (NGS-PTL) Eu-funded project
-Winner of 2016 Investigator Grant, AIRC, Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro
-WP LEADER (2017), IMI2 consortium “healthcare alliance for resourceful medicines offensive against neoplasms in hematology”
-WP LEADER of H2020 project ONCORELIEF
-WP LEADER of Erapermed Project SYNTHERAPY
Michael Mauro
New York, USA
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Michael Mauro
Michael Mauro is Professor of Medicine and leader of the Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. After receiving his BS and MD from Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire, he completed both residency and fellowship training at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan. Before joining Memorial Sloan Kettering, Dr. Mauro was on the faculty of Oregon Health and Sciences University for 13 years, where he directed the CML clinical trial program and was involved in the early development and sentinel clinical studies of ABL kinase inhibitors for CML. Dr. Mauro’s clinical expertise is in treating patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) as well as other myeloproliferative disorders, including myelofibrosis, polycythemia, and thrombocytosis as well as less common conditions such as eosinophilic and mast cell disorders. He holds positions on the boards of the International CML Foundation, the MAX Foundation, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Dragana Milojkovic
London, United Kingdom
Imperial College London
Dragana Milojkovic
Dragana Milojkovic is a Consultant Haematologist and Professor of Practice at The Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College, London UK whose research and management focuses on chronic myeloid leukaemia and transplantation. Dr Milojkovic is also Director of the Clinical Trials unit at The Hammersmith Hospital and has published extensively in peer reviewed journals regarding the biology and clinical management of CML. Dr Milojkovic has participated in CML ELN recommendations and BSH guidelines, is a member of EBMT Chronic malignancies working party and EICML and is current chair of the UK NCRI CML sub-group.
Charles Mullighan
Memphis, USA
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Charles Mullighan
Charles Mullighan is a member of the Department of Pathology, Co-leader of the Hematologic Malignancies Program, Deputy Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center and Director of the Biorepository at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He gained his medical degree from the University of Adelaide, Australia, undertook doctoral studies in immunogenetics in Oxford, and specialist training in hematology and hematopathology at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science in Adelaide. He joined St Jude as a postdoctoral fellow in 2004, and joined faculty in 2008.
Professor Mullighan’s research examines the genetic determinants of leukemogenesis and treatment response in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and high risk leukemias. His work has defined the genetic pathogenesis of multiple new subtypes of ALL, and several genetic alterations that have entered the clinic as new diagnostic and therapeutic targets. He is the recipient of numerous awards including an National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award, the Meyenburg Prize for Cancer Research and the American Society of Hematology Dameshek Prize.
Satu Mustjoki
Helsinki, Finland
University of Helsinki
Satu Mustjoki
Dr. Satu Mustjoki, MD, PhD is a professor of Translational Hematology at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She received her medical degree (1997) and PhD degree (2001) at the University of Helsinki, after which she did her specialty degree in Clinical Chemistry (laboratory hematology).
Satu Mustjoki started her own research group in 2008 at the Helsinki University Hospital, and her research experience includes basic and applied cancer research on leukemia and hematopoietic stem cells, cancer cell invasion, tumor immunology, and molecular genetics. She has also led several translational immunological biomarker studies in conjunction with the international clinical trials in leukemia. Her current research interests focus both on tumor immunology and on the molecular mechanisms of T-cell malignancies and associated autoimmune disorders.
Currently Satu Mustjoki is leading the Translational Immunology Research Program at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland (www.helsinki.fi/trimm). Her own research group at the Hematology Research Unit Helsinki (www.helsinki.fi/hematology) consists of 30 members involving both basic and clinical scientists in hematology and immunology. In 2015 she received a 5-year European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant, which relates to molecular mechanisms of autoimmune disorders. Satu Mustjoki has more than 150 publications in international peer reviewed journals, such as New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, Blood, and Cancer Cell.
Kazuhito Naka
Hiroshima, Japan
Hiroshima University
Kazuhito Naka
Dr. Kazuhito Naka is an associate professor of Department of Stem Cell Biology, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University, Japan, from 2015. He obtained his Ph.D. degree at Department of Pathology, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, Japan, in 2000. His work focuses on the molecular mechanisms regulating tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) stem cells via TGF-b-FOXO signaling pathway and metabolic pathway. The long-term outcome of his investigation will hopefully be the development of agents that can specifically eradicate CML stem cells, and thereby open up a novel avenue for curative CML patient therapy.
Franck Nicolini
Lyon, France
Centre de Recherche contre le Cancer, Centre Léon Bérard
Franck Nicolini
Dr Nicolini received his medical degree from the University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France in 1993 and his certification in haematology the same year, from the University Claude Bernard, Lyon, France. He was co-responsible for the stem cell transplantation unit and the stem cell apheresis unit in the hematology department of Grenoble University Hospital for 3 years. Between 1996-1999 he completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Terry Fox Laboratory (Pr CJ Eaves), in the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver, BC, Canada, studying i) normal and HbS erythropoiesis, ii) retroviral gene transfer in normal and pathological hematopoietic stem cells, iii) Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia hematopoiesis in vitro and in vivo in immunodeficient mice. He got his PhD in University Claude Bernard in 2001 and his “ability for directing research” in human biology in 2004, from the same university. He worked as a hospital practitioner in the
hematology department of the university hospital of Bordeaux (Pr J Reiffers) between 1999-2001, mostly focusing on CML, AL, MPNs and autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplant. He further headed, 2001-2017, a stem cell transplantation & acute leukemia ward in the hospices civils de Lyon and was in charge of the clinical CML and MPNs programs in this institution (Pr M. Michallet). Since April 2017 he joined the blooming Hematology team of the Cancer Center Léon Bérard in Lyon where he is responsible for the development of the CML and MPNs programs. This centre has been labelled as a centre for excellence for CML by the ELN and the iCMLf. In addition, he is the president of the French group of CML (Fi-LMC) since October 2018. He has led several CML national academic trials on CML since 2000. Dr Nicolini teaches as well at the University Claude Bernard in Lyon, France, since 20 years.
Finally, Dr Nicolini is also a senior scientist in the Inserm research unit 1042 in the “Centre de Recherche Contre le Cancer” Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, where he leads with Dr V. Maguer-Satta and Dr S. Lefort a scientific program of basic scientific research on CML, AML and normal hematopoiesis, mostly focused on the role of the hematopoietic niche in CML resistant to TKIs, and maintenance of Ph+ stem cells and in relapsed AML.
Dr Nicolini has more than 100 original publications and book chapters in the field of hematology, stem cell transplantation, CML and MPNs, and is or has been a reviewer several times >25 peer-reviewed journals in the field of hematology, as well as for EHA, FSH, ESH, EBMT and ASH meetings.
Tiong Ong
Singapore, Singapore
Duke NUS Medical School
Tiong Ong
Dr. Ong is a practising haematologist/oncologist who directs a lab within the Cancer & Stem Cell Biology Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. His group studies mechanisms of cancer drug resistance. He received his undergraduate degree in Medical Sciences from Cambridge University, and his clinical training at the Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine. He completed both a UK medical residency at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and the National University Hospital Singapore, and a US residency in the University of California. His subspecialty training was at the University of Chicago, where he was mentored by Dr. John Ultmann in the clinic, and Dr. Michelle Le Beau in the lab. Prior to returning home, he was on the faculty at the University of California at Irvine, where he worked on blood cancers. While at UCI, he was able to translate his bench findings into Phase I clinical trials targeting translational regulators in drug-resistant leukaemia patients. During his US sojourn, Dr. Ong received several intramural and extramural awards for his work, including the Dean’s Young Clinician Scientist Award, and a Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He was also inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation, one of the oldest medical honour societies in the US. In 2007, Dr. Ong was recruited back to Singapore to join Duke-NUS, where he expanded his research portfolio to include genomics-based studies, drug development, as well as solid tumours, such as lung and brain cancers. His Singapore-based discoveries include the first East Asian gene variant to confer general resistance to cancer targeted therapies, novel drug targets in the cancer cell’s translational machinery, and bioinformatics-based approaches to dismantling cancer cell states. His work has been published in the highest level of scientific journals, including Nature Medicine, Cancer Research, Blood, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. His laboratory work has received past and current funding from the US NIH, National Medical Research Council Singapore, and the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society of America.
Ilaria Pagani
Adelaide, Australia
School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Adelaide
Ilaria Pagani
Dr Pagani is a passionate biomedical researcher working at the South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute, SAHMRI, in Adelaide, Australia. She is investigating new therapies for curing CML patients, collaborating with clinicians and associations of patients. Originally from Italy, she relocated to Adelaide 7 years ago to join the laboratory of Professor Timothy Hughes.
In 2019 she was awarded the inaugural international ESH John Goldman Research Award in a highly competitive global competition, requiring her to develop a predictive model of treatment-free remission in CML. Her ground-breaking work clarified how we can identify CML patients who may be able to achieve remission and discontinue therapy safely. She has been recently granted funding from the Leukaemia foundation of Australia, for continuing her predictive work, with the aim that this model of prediction will be used by clinicians worldwide.
As recipient of the prestigious Beat Cancer Project Mid-Career Research Fellowship she is additionally developing therapies targeting metabolic vulnerabilities for eradicating CML stem cells and cure CML patients.
Katia Pagnano
Campinas, Brazil
University of Campinas
Katia Pagnano
Katia Pagnano is a Hematologist and Researcher from Hematology and Hemotherapy Center at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas-SP, Brazil. She received her MD at the Faculty of Medicine-UNICAMP (1991) and completed residency and fellowship training in Hematology, Hemotherapy and Bone Marrow Transplantation at Hospital das Clinicas at UNICAMP (1992-1995). She did a split fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia,USA) in Dr. Gewirtz lab (1998). She received her PhD in Internal Medicine at UNICAMP (2002). Dr. Pagnano’s expertise is in treating patients with hematologic malignancies, in particular CML, myeloproliferative disorders (MPN) and AML. Dr. Pagnano has participated in Brazilian CML, AML and MPN guidelines and in the CML Latin America Leukemia Net (LALNET) TFR recommendations. She is a member of the CML Committee from the Associação Brasileira de Hematologia, Hemoterapia e Terapia Celular (ABHH). She has participated in several CML clinical trials.
Raquel Pereira
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Georg-Speyer-Haus
Raquel Pereira
Raquel Pereira completed her Bachelor degree in Biotechnology from the University of Coimbra and Master degree in Molecular Genetics from the University of Minho, Portugal. Throughout her studies, Raquel had the opportunity to work in reputable international research institutes, including the biomedical research institute IBILI (Portugal) and the European research institute ERIBA (Netherlands) where she conducted her Master’s thesis focused on Biology of Ageing and aneuploidy under the supervision of Dr. Floris Foijer. She is currently working as PhD student at Georg Speyer Haus in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Daniela Krause, leading haematologist in the study of bone marrow microenvironment (BMM). As PhD student, Raquel sought opportunities within a novel translational approach for the treatment of leukemia, with special emphasis on the targeting of the BMM. Her current work is focused on the influence of chemical factors and their signaling in the supportive leukemic BMM. Aside from academics, Raquel is integrated in some orchestras and the practice of sport and a healthy lifestyle are part of her identity.
Katarzyna Piwocka
Warsaw, Poland
Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology
Katarzyna Piwocka
Dr. Katarzyna Piwocka graduated from the Warsaw University, obtained PhD with specialization in biochemistry from the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences in 2001 and habilitaton in 2013. She completed postdoctoral fellowship at the Cork Cancer Research Centre, University College Cork in Ireland. In 2004 Dr. Piwocka started her independent career as Associate Professor and in 2010 established her own research group with activity in leukemia biology and advanced flow cytometry (http://piwocka-lab.nencki.edu.pl). Since 2018 she is a Professor of the Nencki Institute.
K, Piwocka research is mainly focused on studying the prosurvival signaling and microenvironment in myeloid leukemias, to propose novel molecular targets and therapeutic personalized strategies. Currently, her group concentrates on the studies of cell-cell interactions within the leukemia microenvironment like bone marrow niche and immune system, and their role in disease progression and development of the resistance.
She serves as referee for international scientific journals and funding organizations. K. Piwocka is also intensively involved in different activities of the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC), is former ISAC Scholar, was Co-chair of the ISAC Marylou Ingram Scholar Program Committee and is current member of the Leadership Development Program and Life Education Delivery Task Force.
Stéphane Prost
Fontenay-aux Roses, France
Institute of Emerging Diseases and Innovative Therapies
Jerry Radich
Seattle, USA
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Aleksandar Radujkovic
Heidelberg, Germany
University Hospital of Heidelberg
Cathy Wu
Catherine J. Wu, MD is a Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston. She received her M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine and completed her clinical training in Internal Medicine and Hematology-Oncology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA. She joined the staff at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2000. At DFCI, she has initiated an integrated program of research and clinical activities that focuses on dissecting the underlying mechanisms of pathobiology of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) as a means to more rationally generate effective therapies for this common adult leukemia. Through large-scale genome analysis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, her laboratory has discovered key mutated genes and pathways involved in CLL, systematically analyzed tumor genotype – phenotype relationships and mechanistically dissected the impact of novel CLL driver genes. Ongoing studies in her laboratory focus on systematically analyzing tumor genotype – phenotype relationships, understanding CLL tumor heterogeneity and clonal evolution; and mechanistically dissecting the impact of novel CLL driver genes.
Delphine Réa
Paris, France
Hôpital Saint-Louis
Delphine Réa
Dr Rea is appointed at Saint-Louis hospital, Paris, France, where she works as a physician specialized in hematology since 2000. Her main clinical and research interest focuses on myeloid diseases and she is responsible for the chronic myeloid leukemia clinical care and research program. She has been the principal investigator or investigator of many academic- or industry-sponsored clinical trials dedicated to CML, including pivotal studies that have led to the approval of tyrosine kinase inhibitors or treatment-free remission studies.
She belongs to the board of directors of the French cooperative group of CML (FI-LMC), to the European LeukemiaNet and ESH iCMLf. She has authored and co-authored over 80 publications in the field of haematological malignancies, immunology and cellular therapy.
Johan Richter
Lund, Sweden
Lund University
Johan Richter
Johan Richter M.D. Ph.D, is professor in Hematology at University of Lund, and senior consultant at Department of Hematology, Oncology and Radiation Physics, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden. He completed his basic medical training and thesis work at University of Lund. His main research interests are in chronic myeloid leukemia, both from a pre-clinical and clinical perspective, and gene transfer to hematopoietic stem cells. Johan Richter is a former chairman of the Swedish Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Study Group and the steering committee of the Nordic Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Study Group (NCMLSG). He has published more than 120 peer–reviewed articles.
Paulo Rodrigues-Santos
Coimbra, Portugal
Fac Med Univ Coimbra
Ingo Roeder
Dresden, Germany
TU Dresden, Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine
Ingo Roeder
After studying mathematics at the Technische Universität (TU) Dresden, Ingo Roeder worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology (IMISE) at the University of Leipzig. In 2003, he obtained his PhD in the field of Theoretical Biology from the University of Leipzig, where he also worked as an independent group leader from 2003 to 2010. During this time, Ingo Roeder stayed as guest scientist, e.g. at the “Center for Nonlinear Dynamics in Physiology and Medicine“, McGill University, Montréal, Canada and at the Department of Computing, Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK.
In 2010, he was appointed to become chair of Medical Biometry and Statistics at the TU Dresden. From then on, he worked as full professor and head of the Institute for Medical Informatics and Biometry (IMB) at the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden. Alongside this work, Ingo Roeder led the working group „Computational Stem Cell Biology” within the GermanStemCellNetwork (GSCN). Since 2015, he is scientific head of the Core Unit for Data Management and Analytics of the “National Center for Tumour Diseases (NCT)” at the partner site Dresden. In 2018, he became Dean of studies (Medicine) at the Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden.
His major research fields are systems medicine and theoretical biology. Additionally, he is active in the areas of biostatistics and bioinformatics. His current work focuses on mathematical modelling of disease and treatment dynamics (e.g. in leukemia), theoretical stem cell biology, and the application of statistical models and computer simulations in the field of experimental and study design. Beyond these fields, Ingo Roeder is also involved in the development and implementation of new teaching formats, such a hybrid teaching or the use of automatic, e.g. sensor-based, feedback and assessment techniques.
David Ross
Adelaide, Australia
Royal Adelaide Hospital
David Ross
A/Prof David Ross is a Consultant Haematologist with clinical appointments at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide. His clinical and research interests include CML and Ph-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms, with a focus on treatment-free remission and the use of genomics for prognostication and monitoring of response. He has co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed papers. He is head of the RAH Haematology Clinical Trials Unit and the South Australian Cancer Research Biobank. He is an examiner for the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, and holds research appointments in the Centre for Cancer Biology (Uni SA) and the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute.
Gianantonio Rosti
Bologna, Italy
University of Bologna
Gianantonio Rosti
Gianantonio Rosti, graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Bologna in 1982, after which he became a fellow at the John Hopkins University Hospital (Baltimore, USA) until 1986. From 1988 to 1993 he was a Medical Assistant at the Institute of Hematology “Seràgnoli”, Bologna University, St Orsola Hospital and from 1994 to date. As an expert in the conduction of clinical trials according to the GCP IHC (good clinical practice; International Committee on Harmonization), his specific scientific pursuits are numerous and include becoming a Scientific Secretary (from 1992 onwards) to the former Italian Cooperative Group for Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (now the Italian Group For Adult Hematologic Malignancies [GIMEMA] Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Working Party [CML WP]). The GIMEMA CML WP is based on a collaborative effort of more than 100 Italian hematologic institutions (university hospitals and general hospitals) performing clinical trials in CML. Samples for molecular biology follow-up are centralized in Bologna and examined in three Laboratories (Bologna, Naples and Turin), with overall accrual of early chronic phase patients reaching up to 500 in just 24 months.
Professor Rosti is also a member of the European Investigators on CML (EICML) and of the steering committee for the European Treatment and Outcome Study (EUTOS) registry, member of the ELN panel writing ELN recommendations. And of the scientific board of the Max Foundation and of the iCML foundation. In addition to being an author or co-author to more than 300 papers and meetings abstracts.
Philippe Rousselot
Versailles, France
Centre Hospitalier de Versailles
Philippe Rousselot
Following graduation as a medical doctor in 1994 and his clinical hematology experience gained at Saint-Louis Hospital, Professor Philippe Rousselot obtained a PhD in cellular biology in 1999. Professor Rousselot has been involved in CML since 1995 and is a founder member of the French CML Group. Pr Rousselot is a member of the French ALFA and GRAALL group and a participant of the European Working Group for ALL and CML.
Professor Rousselot has worked on topics such as minimal residual disease in CML, the possibility of CML stem cells eradication with STAT5 modulation, and optimization of tyrosine kinase inhibitors therapy. He was an investigator of the STop IMatinib (STIM) French trial. He is also involved in Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) therapy as the coordinator of the European EWALL-PH trials testing the combination of TKIs and low intensity chemotherapy in older Ph+ ALL patients.
Giuseppe Saglio
Turin, Italy
University of Turin
Giuseppe Saglio
Giuseppe Saglio is a Professor of Haematology and Internal Medicine at the University of Turin. He is Head of the Division of Haematology at the Mauriziano Hospital in Turin. Professor Saglio is coordinator of the PhD programme in Medicine and Experimental Therapy of the University of Turin. He has published more than 500 peer-reviewed articles in the fields of molecular pathogenesis of haematological diseases, molecularly targeted therapy and molecular characterization of haematological malignancies.
Koji Sasaki
Houston, USA
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Koji Sasaki
Dr. Koji Sasaki is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the United States. Dr. Sasaki serves as Leader at the Section of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.
Dr. Sasaki graduated from Tokyo Medical and Dental University with a degree in Medicine in 2006, and obtained postgraduate training in Medicine and Hematology in both Japan and the United States. Since 2013, Dr. Sasaki joined MD Anderson as a fellow and has been working on leukemia research, particularly focusing on chronic myeloid leukemia. During the post-graduate training, Dr. Sasaki obtained a Ph.D. degree from Tokyo Medical and Dental University in 2018.
Dr. Sasaki has expertise in biostatics, bioinformatics, and data analysis including machine learning. His recent publication includes The LEukemia Artificial Intelligence Program (LEAP) in chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase at American Journal of Hematology (Am J Hematol. 2021 Feb 1;96(2):241-250.)
Susan Saussele
Mannheim, Germany
Universitätsmedizin Mannheim
Susan Saussele
Susanne Saußele studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg and specialized in Internal Medicine and Hematology/Oncology. She completed her thesis in the laboratory of Prof Dr Hehlmann and made her habilitation in Internal Medicine in 2013. In 2017, she was appointed as professor of the University of Heidelberg. Currently, she is the leader of the CML Excellence Center in Mannheim including the molecular laboratory and the Study Centre of the Mannheim Cancer Center. She is acting as chief resident of the policlinic at the III. Med. Klinik, Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim, University of Heidelberg. Prof. Saußele is also active as a project leader in EUTOS (European treatment and Outcome Study of CML) and in the E-MPN network (European network for MPN) and as active member in the ELN CML Working Party. Additionally she has been member of the Scientific Program Committee of EHA 2014-2019.
Veronika Sexl
Vienna, Austria
University of Veterinary Medicine of Vienna
Veronika Sexl
Dr. Sexl studied medicine at the University of Vienna. After a postdoctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN with C. Sherr and J. Ihle she started her own research group in Vienna in 2001. In 2007 she became full Professor for “Signal transduction and molecular targeted therapies” at the Medical University of Vienna. Since 2010 she is Head of the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Veterinary University Vienna.
Her main research focusses around leukemogenesis and the signalling networks maintaining disease and regulating tumor immune surveillance. The cell cycle kinase CDK6 and its role in regulating transcription became a more recent focus of the group. Her lab employs genetically modified mice as well as human tumor patient samples to unravel the molecular mechanisms leading to cancer development and maintenance.
Rebekka Schneider
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Institute for Cell Biology at University Hospital RWTH
Neil Shah
San Francisco, USA
University of California San Francisco
Neil Shah
Neil P. Shah, MD, PhD, received his BS from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MD and PhD degrees from the UCLA School of Medicine. He remained at UCLA for his Internship and Residency training in Internal Medicine, as well as his fellowship training in Hematology and Oncology. He performed postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Charles Sawyers, where his translational studies led directly to the clinical investigation and FDA approval of dasatinib, a transformative therapy for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.
He joined the faculty at UCSF in 2006, and is presently the Edward S. Ageno Distinguished Professor in Hematology-Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. He also serves as Leader of the Hematopoietic Malignancies Program within the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF, and Director of the UCSF Molecular Medicine Residency Program. His laboratory efforts remain firmly rooted in molecular studies of human leukemias and attempts to translate expanding knowledge of the genetics of these diseases toward the development of more active and better tolerated targeted therapeutics.
Tomasz Skorski
Philadelphia, USA
Temple University, Lewis Katz School of Medicine
Catherine Smith
San Francisco, USA
Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Catherine Smith
Dr. Smith is a physician-scientist whose laboratory focuses on therapeutic resistance mechanisms and novel treatment strategies for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). She has a particular interest in AML associated with mutations in oncogenic signaling mediators such as FLT3, KIT and BCR-ABL. She has been involved in the development of multiple targeted therapies in AML as a clinical-translational investigator. Dr. Smith was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She attended Yale University where she majored in Chemistry, graduated cum laude, and was awarded the Howard Douglas Moore Prize for excellence in chemistry. She attended medical school at Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Smith has been the recipient of numerous career development awards, including an NIH K08 award and a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Special Fellow in Clinical Research Award.
Douglas Smith
Baltimore, USA
Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Douglas Smith
B. Douglas Smith is Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and is on the active staff of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Smith joined the Faculty of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at the completion of his Oncology Fellowship and his research focuses on taking new and promising laboratory insights and developing them into biology-based treatment approaches for patients with acute leukemia, CML, and MDS. He is recognized as a national leader in novel therapeutics in leukemia, he serves as Co-Director for Clinical Research Operations for the Division of Hematologic Malignancies, and he manages the clinical trials portfolio for the Leukemia Program. He has served on the NCCN Guideline panel for CML for the past 18 years. Dr. Smith has a passion for teaching and education of trainees and he has served on the Fellowship Executive Committee since 2009 focusing on the program’s educational platforms. In recognition of his outstanding clinical care and teaching, Dr. Smith was elected into the Miller-Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence at Johns Hopkins in 2020.
Simona Soverini
Bologna, Italy
University of Bologna
Simona Soverini
Dr Simona Soverini is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine of the University of Bologna, in Italy.
Dr Soverini graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences in 1999 and subsequently earned a PhD in Clinical and Experimental Haematology from the University of Bologna. She currently works in the Molecular Biology Unit of the Institute of Hematology “Lorenzo e Ariosto Seragnoli”, where she coordinates the Myeloid Leukemia Research group. Since 2003, her main interests lie in the biology and therapy of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblast leukaemia (ALL), with a particular focus on the mechanisms of resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In this field, she has worked with many internationally renowned scientists and has earned honours and awards. Over the past years, Dr Soverini has also cultivated a growing interest in the application of novel technologies – next generation sequencing in particular – as diagnostic tools.
Dr Soverini has participated as an invited speaker or chairperson in more than two hundred national and international meetings. She sits in the Editorial Board of the Journal of Hematology & Oncology, the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and Stem Cell Investigation. She also serves as a reviewer for journals like Blood, Leukemia, Haematologica and Clinical Cancer Research, for the European Hematology Association (EHA) and for the American Society of Hematology (ASH).
As an active member of the European LeukemiaNet, she has coordinated the panel of CML experts that in 2011 compiled the recommendations for BCR ABL kinase domain mutation analysis in CML patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Dr Soverini is the first or contributing author of over 150 publications in international peer reviewed journals (H-index, 44) and of over 500 meeting abstracts.
Ruth Stuckey
Las Palmas, Spain
University Hospital of Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín
Ruth Stuckey
Dr. Ruth Stuckey, PhD, is a post-doctoral researcher working on molecular genetics in the Hematology department at the University Hospital of Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín, located in Las Palmas, Spain, since August 2017. Previously she carried out her PhD thesis at the University of Sevilla/CABIMER on DNA replication and genomic stability. She carried out her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Imperial College London and had a year’s research placement in the Molecular Toxicology group at Syngenta.
At the Hospital Dr. Negrín, she has received extensive training in NGS. Her current research focus is on the integration of molecular data in the routine clinical practice for a more personalized management of patients with hematological malignancies, particularly myeloid neoplasms.
Julian Swatler
Warsaw, Poland
Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology
Julian Swatler
Julian Swatler graduated (molecular biotechnology, honors MSc) from Inter-Faculty Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Warsaw (Poland), in 2016. During studies, he also trained at the University of Sheffield (UK). In 2016, he has started PhD studies at the Laboratory of Cytometry (head: Dr. Katarzyna Piwocka) at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Warsaw (Poland). His research is focused on CML-immune system interactions. He has identified leukemic extracellular vesicles as drivers of regulatory T cells’ suppressive activity in CML (Eur J Immunol, 2020), as well as contributed to other studies on microenvironment in leukemias and gliomas (Nat Commun, 2021; Cell Rep, 2020). His expertise and research include immunology of T cells and myeloid cells, as well as advanced, multicolor flow cytometry, to extensively characterize and identify new subsets of immune cells in mouse and human tissues. He is currently funded by grants from Foundation for Polish Science and his own grant from National Science Centre (Poland).
Kendra Sweet
Tampa, USA
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
Kendra Sweet
Kendra Sweet, MD, MS, is currently an associate member in the Malignant Hematology Faculty at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL. She completed her medical education at the Medical College of Virginia – Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Her internal medicine residency was completed at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, and her hematology and medical oncology fellowship training was done at Moffitt Cancer Center/The University of South Florida. She was awarded a 3-year career development award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in order to support her research efforts for the first 3 years on faculty. She is board certified in medical oncology and internal medicine.
Dr Sweet is a clinical investigator with a focus on AML and CML. She has opened 2 multi-center Phase II clinical trials for which she is the national PI. These 2 trials build on her previous work with ruxolitinib in combination with TKIs for treatment of chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). One trial is being run through the Southwest Oncology Group Leukemia Committee and the second will be with the J Khoury Cure CML Consortium. Dr. Sweet has also just opened a Phase I investigator initiated clinical trial in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) combining CPX-351 plus the FLT3-inhibitor gilteritinib. In addition to this, she has been the PI in a number of sponsored clinical trials in AML and BPDCN, and much of her work has led to abstract submissions and presentations at ASH, ASCO and the European School of Hematology Annual Meetings.
Hiroshi Ureshino
Saga, Japan
Saga University
Hiroshi Ureshino
2006/Apr-2008/Mar: Saga Prefectural hospital: Fellow
2008/Apr-2011/March: Kakarashima Clinic: Medical Doctor.
2011/Apr-2015/March: Karatsu Red Cross Hospital, Department of Internal medicine: Medical Doctor.
2015/Apr-2017/March: Saga University Hospital, Department of hematology and Oncology: Fellow.
2017/Apr-2020/Dec: Saga University, Department of drug discovery and biomedical sciences: Assistant professor
2021/Jan-now: Saga University Hospital, Department of hematology and Oncology: Lectuer
Peter van Galen
Boston, USA
Harvard Medical School
Peter van Galen
Our laboratory studies molecular mechanisms that sustain the human blood system throughout life. Specific projects focus hematopoietic stem cell biology, diminished immune cell function with age and changes that underly the development of blood cancer (leukemia). We develop and apply new methods to analyze blood cells, including sequencing technologies to acquire information from single cells, and computational innovations to integrate multiple layers of information. The goal is to leverage newly gained knowledge to improve people’s health.
David Vetrie
Glasgow, United Kingdom
University of Glasgow
David Vetrie
David is the Professor of Translational Leukaemia Genomics in the Institute of Cancer Sciences at the University of Glasgow. His area of expertise the identification of tractable drug targets in CML stem cells by applying systems biology approaches. His recent research has included the pre-clinical evaluation of EZH2, Mdm2 and BET inhibitors in chronic and blast phase CML, with the view of introducing these agents into early phase clinical trials. Ongoing activities include studying the effects of novel agents in combination with TKI in mouse models at the single cell level and understanding the transcriptional and epigenetic effects of biological aging on CML stem cell biology.
Michelle West
Brighton, United Kingdom
University of Sussex
Michelle West
Professor Michelle West is Deputy Head of the School of Life Sciences (Research and Enterprise) at the University of Sussex, UK where she is a Professor of Tumour Virology. She obtained her Batchelors degree in Biochemistry from the University of Warwick and carried out her PhD work in the Department of Cancer Studies at the University of Birmingham working with Professor Martin Rowe on the regulation of transcription by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Professor West continued her gene regulation work at the University of Leicester working with Professor Anne Willis on translational regulation of the MYC oncogene. She returned to Virology in her second postdoctoral position at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge working with Professor Jon Karn on transcriptional regulation by Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1. Professor West then established her own group at Sussex studying the molecular mechanisms involved in B cell transformation by EBV. Her research investigates how B cells are transcriptionally re-programmed by EBV with a focus on long-range gene control and 3D chromatin interactions and cell cycle control mechanisms and the structure and function of EBV transcription factors.
Deborah L. White
Adelaide, Australia
Australian and New Zealand Children’s Haematology/Oncology Group
Deborah L. White
Professor White is the Director of the Cancer Program and Deputy Precision Medicine Theme Leader at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) in Adelaide. She is a NHMRC Research Fellow, a Beat Cancer Principal Research Fellow and Senior Principal Research Fellow with SAHMRI. She is a Professor in Health and Medical Sciences, and in the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Adelaide.
Prof White’s research focus is genomics and rationally targeted therapies in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) and she has presented more than 170 papers at scientific meetings, and authored more than 120 scientific publications.
Prof White is the National Lead for the ALL Stream of Australian Genomics, and ALL Co-Chair for Zero Children’s Cancer.
Prof White has received a number of awards: Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) Leading Light (2014), the University of Adelaide James McWha medal (2016), the prestigious NHMRC Research Excellence Award (2019) and the Beat Cancer Women in Leadership Award (2020).
Dominik Wolf
Innsbrück, Austria
Medizinische Universität Innsbruck
Dominik Wolf
Dominik Wolf is Director of the Hematology and Oncology Department at Innsbruck Medical University in Austria and speaker of the local Comprehensive Cancer Center. His Research interests are Tumor Microenvironment in MPN and lung cancer.
Agnes Yong
Adelaide, Australia
The University of Adelaide
Agnes Yong
Associate Professor Agnes Yong trained in stem cell transplantation in London at the Hammersmith Hospital under Professor John Goldman, and obtained her PhD in chronic myeloid leukaemia under Professor Junia Melo. Her post-doctoral research at the National Institutes of Health in the USA with John Barrett focused on the immunogenicity of CML, and leukaemia-associated antigens. She has continued research into the immunobiology of CML and treatment-free remission in Adelaide, Australia. She is Associate Editor of the British Journal of Haematology and Frontiers in immunology.
Martha Zarou
Glasgow, United Kingdom
Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow
Martha Zarou
My name is Martha Zarou and I am currently a 4th year PhD student in the lab of Vignir Helgason, based at the Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre in Glasgow. My project, funded by Cancer Research UK, aims to investigate the impact of inhibition of folate metabolism in leukemic stem cells. More specifically, I am investigating the metabolic and signalling changes that happen upon pharmacological or genetic inhibition of the pathway. I very much enjoy bench work and being a member of a team, therefore my future career plan is to continue with academic research and secure a Post-Doc position at an internationally recognised research institute.