Awards That Inspire
ASH’s award programs have made an outsize impact on the careers of its awardees. The Minority Recruitment Initiative (MRI), which celebrated 20 years in 2023, has retained more students in hematology than the national average, and 97.8% of awardees in the Minority Medical Student Award Program go on to complete medical school, compared to the national average of 81.7-84.1%. Read the full MRI Impact Report.
Honorific Awards
The ASH Honorific Awards, ASH’s most prestigious awards, recognize exemplary hematologists who have made significant contributions to the field. The 2023 recipients are a group of pioneering scientists, innovative clinicians, and selfless mentors who have advanced hematology – from revolutionary achievements in stem cell transplantation and the discovery of novel blood cancer biomarkers, to strengthening the hematology workforce through dedicated mentorship of underrepresented minority trainees.
Wallace H. Coulter Award
Blanche P. Alter, MD, MPH
National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics
Dr. Alter, a renowned physician-scientist, was recognized for a lifetime of accomplishments that revolutionized research for inherited bone marrow failure syndromes.
ASH Leadership in Promoting Diversity
Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Dr. Alexis Thompson was recognized for her exemplary leadership in addressing the health care needs of an underserved population and for mentoring trainees from communities historically underrepresented in hematology.
Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize
Johnny Mahlangu, MBBCh, MMed
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
This award recognizes Dr. Mahlangu’s 20 years of involvement in the development of novel therapies for hemophilia A.
E. Donnall Thomas Lecture Prize
Katy Rezvani, MD, PhD
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Dr. Rezvani, a physician-scientist and renowned transplant immunology expert, was honored for her groundbreaking contributions to cancer research through immunotherapeutic strategies.
Henry M. Stratton Medal
James B. Bussel, MD
Weill Cornell Medicine
Dr. Bussel, the recipient of the medal for translational/clinical science, was honored for his invaluable contributions to the development of agents that increase platelet counts in patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and other conditions.
Mentor Award
Helen Heslop, MD, DSc
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Heslop was awarded for her inclusivity and commitment to helping her mentees advance in their careers. She is an exceptional physician-scientist who has made significant and lasting contributions to the field of hematology.
Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize
Takehisa Kitazawa, DVM, PhD
Chugai Pharmaceutical
This award recognizes Dr. Kitazawa’s groundbreaking development of a novel therapeutic molecule that functions instead of the deficient blood coagulation factor for hemophilia A, leading to effective hemostasis.
William Dameshek Prize
Omar Abdel-Wahab, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Abdel-Wahab was recognized for his trailblazing research characterizing the genetic mutations that drive blood cancers.
Henry M. Stratton Medal
Rodger McEver, MD
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
Dr. McEver, the recipient of the medal for basic science, was recognized for his pivotal discovery and characterization of a protein, known as P-selectin, and its ligand, PSGL-1, that play crucial roles in bridging the processes of blood clotting and inflammation.
Mentor Award
Stephen Sallan, MD
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Dr. Sallan was awarded for providing his mentees with unparalleled scholarly opportunities but also for actively and selflessly promoting his mentees and propelling them to the next stages of their careers.
Awards in Action
ASH Awards create funding, training, and mentorship opportunities and directly support the careers of future leaders in the field of hematology.
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Richa Sharma, MDBasic/Translational Scholar Awardee “I am grateful to ASH for supporting my training as a physician-scientist and funding my work in the laboratory through ASH grants since 2021.” |
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Martin Rivas, PhDBasic/Translational Junior Faculty “Receiving the Junior Faculty Scholar Award has helped me pave the way to my own career independence. This is a highly competitive award, known by everyone in the hematology field as a significant distinction and future promise. Receiving the award helped me realize that I was on the right track and that all the sacrifices made to that point had been worthy. I am humbled and honored to be an ASH Scholar.” |
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Delfim Duarte, MD, PhDGlobal Research Awardee “The ASH Global Research Award allowed me to become independent as I was starting my research group. It has a fantastic mentorship program, which gave me guidance and allowed me to establish unique collaborations. It also helped me consolidate my research program in a country where hematology is not traditionally solid.” |
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Antonella Fidanza, PhDGlobal Research Awardee “The ASH Global Research Award has given me precious time to focus on my research and support a research associate with whom I share the enthusiasm for our research daily. I have felt supported by ASH during a stage in my career that is not very often "fundable" by most of the schemes.” |
Explore the 2023 Annual Report
