This morning David T. Scadden, MD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute will receive the William Dameshek Prize for his landmark contributions to stem cell biology. Named for the late William Dameshek, MD, a past president of ASH and the original editor of Blood, this award recognizes a recent outstanding contribution to the field of hematology.

Not only have Dr. Scadden’s contributions altered thinking in the field and given direction for interventions to improve transplantation, his work has increased the fundamental understanding of the stem cell niche and how cells engage it. His laboratory was the first to show that modifying CXCR4 can lead to stem cell mobilization and more recently defined two new molecular regulators of stem cell homing and engraftment. These, combined with real-time imaging of individual stem cells engrafting in their niche, provide new opportunities for understanding and manipulating the processes critical for stem cell transplantation.

Dr. Scadden is the Gerald and Darlene Jordan Professor of Medicine at Harvard University and cofounded and codirects the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and the Harvard University Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. Dr. Scadden is very involved in ASH; he is an associate editor of Blood and an appointed member of the Program Committee, Committee on Investment Audit, and the Small Meetings Oversight Committee.