FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESTIGIOUS MEDICAL SOCIETY TO GIVE TOP HONORS TO BLOOD DISEASE CHAMPIONS
(SAN DIEGO, December 5, 2004) – The American Society of Hematology (ASH), a medical specialty society with more than 13,000 members worldwide, will honor two leaders, Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., and Bruce L. Evatt, M.D., with distinguished service awards at its 46th annual meeting.
The ASH Public Service Award is presented annually to an elected U.S. public official who has demonstrated effective leadership on issues of importance to hematology research and practice. Past recipients include Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Sen. Talent will receive the award for his congressional leadership on the Sickle Cell Treatment Act, legislation that provides access to essential treatments and quality health care for patients suffering from sickle cell disease. His determined efforts to increase the understanding of the disease on Capitol Hill and recruit bill co-sponsors were instrumental in moving the legislation to its eventual passage in October of this year.
Dr. Evatt, former Director of the Hereditary Blood Disorders Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will receive ASH’s Outstanding Lifetime Service Award in recognition of his career of distinguished service and leadership to the hematology community.
In his 26 years at the CDC, Dr. Evatt was the guiding force for the nation's Hemophilia Treatment Centers and was responsible for expanding the scope of the organization’s efforts to include thrombophilia and women’s bleeding disorders. In addition, Dr. Evatt was a strong supporter of the creation of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Transfusion Medicine-Hemostasis Clinical Research Network, which promotes a coordinated effort to evaluate novel and existing treatments and management strategies for certain blood disorders.
Dr. Evatt was also the first researcher to identify the risk for HIV transmission with blood transfusions, and he, in cooperation with colleague John Griffin, Ph.D., discovered protein C deficiency as a new cause of thrombophilia.
Sen. Talent and Dr. Evatt will be presented with their awards during today’s Plenary Policy Forum (12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. PST) at the San Diego Convention Center.
The American Society of Hematology is 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.
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