American Society of Hematology

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Career-Defining Opportunities Through ASH

2010-04-27

Neil A. Goldenberg, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine (Hematology); Associate Director, Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center; Co-Director, Pediatric Thrombosis and Stroke Programs at the University of Colorado Denver and The Children’s Hospital; and Director of Venous Thromboembolism Trials, the Colorado Prevention Center

ASH has played a critical part in my career development, beginning with a memorable experience early on as a medical student at McGill University. I was given a pivotal opportunity: to submit a proposal to perform a clinical research project in lieu of the “back to the classroom” module in my fourth year. The proposal was selected and involved the investigation of plasma levels of angiogenic factors and coagulation markers in cancerassociated venous thromboembolism (VTE) in adults, through a three-hospital, crosssectional study. My mentors at the time, ASH members Drs. Susan Solymoss and Susan Kahn, had me present the study to each site’s Ethics Committee, pitch it to the faculty in the relevant hospital departments, carry a study pager 24/7 for potential subjects with acute VTE, and perform study coordinator and laboratory assistant responsibilities on the study, until returning to the United States for Med/Peds residency. In 2000, I presented the findings in poster format at my first ASH meeting. The meeting was an eye-opening experience, and I immediately knew that ASH would become a professional home for me. After several rounds of revision, the manuscript was published in 2002, my first year of pediatric Hem/Onc/BMT fellowship at the University of Colorado.

Another career-defining opportunity came in the summer of 2002, when my application to the first ASH Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI) was accepted. CRTI provided access to a network of leading clinical/translational physician-scientists and committed mentors in the discipline, with whom I have maintained contact and had subsequent productive collaborations. CRTI also solidified my interest in a clinical research career in non-malignant hematology. At the same time, my mentors in fellowship, ASH members Drs. Marilyn Manco-Johnson and Bill Hathaway, impressed upon me that, despite my orientation toward a future in clinical trials in thrombosis, one must have command of the laboratory aspects of coagulation medicine in order to be a strong clinician and clinical scientist in this area. Indeed, this helped build a foundation for translational science, which can offer added value atop the basic design of observational clinical research and clinical trials.

Encouraged by CRTI faculty, in 2004 I successfully competed for an ASH Scholar Award in Clinical/Translational Research stemming from my CRTI project. The CRTI experience and the applied clinical/translational research training focus of the Scholar Award inspired me to complete a PhD in clinical science at the University of Colorado, as well as to pursue a one-year practicum in the conduct and management of clinical trials through a University of Colorado-affiliated academic research organization, the Colorado Prevention Center. The ASH CRTI and Scholar Award also provided academic currency that helped me obtain a five-year K23 Career Development Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. My K23 focuses on clinical investigation in pediatric VTE - specifically, conduct of the Kids-DOTT trial (Multicenter Evaluation of the Duration of Therapy for Thrombosis in Children) and associated translational investigation of prognostic markers in pediatric VTE.

These experiences, from initial mentoring by ASH members and exposure to the annual meeting as a medical student, to fellowship training involving CRTI participation, PhD work in clinical science, and ASH Scholar activity, have instilled in me the passion to give back to clinical research mentorship. As an assistant professor, I am now privileged to serve as a member of the CRTI faculty. Every bit as important as the training of tomorrow’s clinical investigators in hematology is the unstructured interaction, career guidance, exchange of ideas, and networking that develops among mentors and trainees. This continues to be a vibrant part of the CRTI experience, for faculty and trainees alike. Every resident or fellow interested in a career in clinical/translational research in hematology should strive to take advantage of the portfolio of ASH career-development programs, including the Research Training Award, Scholar Awards, and CRTI. The funding for and focused training in clinical investigation provided by ASH through these programs have proven instrumental in facilitating the transition toward successful, independent research in hematology for myself as well as a growing number of early-career clinical investigators in our discipline.

Allison King, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor, Program in Occupational Therapy and Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine

In 2005, I was fortunate to attend the ASH Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI) as a trainee. I was starting my third year as an instructor and was anxiously awaiting comments from the K23 application that I had submitted to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. I had earned a master’s degree in public health during my pediatric hematology and oncology fellowship and was in Dr. Michael DeBaun’s clinical research laboratory at Washington University. Despite having a strong mentor and solid training, I had never spent such an intense and focused amount of time on studying the finer points of clinical investigation. CRTI provided didactic training, small group meetings to improve a clinical research project, and the chance to develop valuable relationships with accomplished leaders and clinical investigators in ASH. The interactions and feedback from that week greatly assisted my final K23 resubmission that was eventually awarded. In addition, I formed relationships with senior members of ASH whom I probably would never have met; these people became mentors and friends.

The week of CRTI had a positive effect on my career. After CRTI, I literally pulled out slide sets from lectures on how to write a hypothesis and how to design a clinical trial as I wrote future grants. Two of my small-group leaders wrote letters of recommendation for my promotion, and I kept in contact with my new network of friends to collaborate. In fact, the project that I worked on at CRTI (a single-center, randomized educational intervention for children with sickle cell disease) evolved as part of my K23, and in 2009 I received an ASH Scholar Award to test the feasibility of completing the intervention at a second site. My collaborator, ASH member Dr. Julie Panepinto, was a faculty member at CRTI with me in 2008.

The ASH Scholar Award, which I received in 2009, is providing the funding that I need to really test the legs of the primary aim of my K23 award. While the K23 covered a large portion of my salary, I lacked the funds to gather enough preliminary data for an independent grant for that intervention. I am hopeful that we will be able to demonstrate that a second site can conduct the same intervention so that we can pursue an independent grant.

ASH is obviously a large organization with thousands of members. However, participating in the CRTI and receiving the ASH Scholar Award has allowed me to become a part of a supportive family of ASH members and staff. I have started to give back to ASH by serving on the CRTI oversight committee, serving as faculty at the CRTI, donating financially to CRTI, reviewing abstracts, and speaking at one of the educational sessions at the 2009 annual meeting. I look forward to continuing to serve ASH, so that future trainees and junior faculty can experience the same assistance that I have received.