American Society of Hematology Holds 10th Annual Clinical Research Training Institute

2012-08-07

(WASHINGTON) – The American Society of Hematology (ASH) today announced the names of 20 hematology and hematology/oncology fellows and junior faculty selected to participate in the 10th annual ASH Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI). This unique, year-long education and mentoring program is designed to prepare hematologists and hematologists/oncologists in their second year of fellowship through their third year after fellowship completion at academic medical centers in the United States and Canada for careers in patient-oriented clinical research. The 2012 ASH CRTI participants were selected from among more than 70 young investigators who applied for the program.

Since its establishment in 2002, the ASH CRTI has become one of the Society’s signature career development offerings.

“Looking back on the ASH CRTI 10 years later, I am extremely proud of the program we have developed, now considered the standard for programs dedicated to training the next generation of clinical investigators,” said ASH President Armand Keating, MD, of Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. “Through the ASH CRTI, we have been able to transform young trainees into true leaders of the specialty who have gone on to obtain career-development awards and operating grants to continue their work. We are excited about this 10th anniversary CRTI class and their potential to move hematology forward.”

CRTI participants’ training began with an intensive week-long summer workshop, recently held in La Jolla, California, that focused on the foundation, methodologies, and applications of clinical research. This workshop also included lectures and small-group discussions on topics such as the definition of a research question, methods of observational epidemiology and clinical trial design, navigation of institutional review, and job interviewing and negotiation. In addition to attending these sessions, participants worked to revise plans for their own proposed clinical research projects through formal and informal interaction with faculty.

Having completed the recent summer workshop, participants will now refine their proposals and present them again to their colleagues at the 54th ASH Annual Meeting in Atlanta in December and at ASH Headquarters in Washington, DC next spring. Throughout the year, CRTI mentors will work with the participants to provide advice and support with respect to their research and career development.

Not only does each participant leave the program with a customized career-development plan and a peer-reviewed research proposal that has been extensively refined and critiqued, they also form lifelong bonds with both mentors and colleagues from theirs and other CRTI classes.

“Graduation from the ASH CRTI is the first of many benefits these bright hematology trainees will enjoy having been part of this unique program,” said Dr. Keating. “These graduates now join an established group with an abundance of clinical and laboratory mentors who are ready to help shape their research protocols and guide their professional development.”

The 2012 ASH Clinical Research Training Institute participants are:

  • Staci D. Arnold, MD, MBA, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
  • Vinai C. Bhagirath, MD, FRCPC, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
  • Danielle M. Brander, MD, Duke University, Durham, NC
  • Tyler W. Buckner, MD, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
  • Jonathon B. Cohen, MD, The Ohio State University-James Cancer Center, Columbus, OH
  • Kevin J. Curran, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
  • Alexey V. Danilov, MD, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
  • Adam J. Esbenshade, MD, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
  • Michael W. Evans, MD, MPH, Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, Hershey, PA
  • Saar I. Gill, MD, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, PA
  • Saulius K. Girnius, MD, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
  • Patrick T. McGann, MD, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
  • Kerri Nottage, MD, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
  • Christine Phillips, MD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
  • Rajeev Rajendra, MD, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
  • Kristen M. Sanfilippo, MD, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
  • Edward Allan Sison, MD, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
  • Kendra L. Sweet, MD, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL
  • Rachel M. Thienprayoon, MD, The University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX
  • Kitsada Wudhikarn, MD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

To arrange an interview with a Clinical Research Training Institute participant, please contact Andrea Slesinski at 202-552-4927 or aslesinski@hematology.org.

The American Society of Hematologyis the world’s largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders. Its mission is to further the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting blood, bone marrow, and the immunologic, hemostatic, and vascular systems by promoting research, clinical care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology. The official journal of ASH is Blood, the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, which is available weekly in print and online.

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