American Society of Hematology Establishes Global Award for Hematology Research
(WASHINGTON, September 4, 2018) – The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has selected eight early-career hematology researchers from across the globe as the first recipients of the new ASH Global Research Award, an award established for international members of the Society.
The ASH Global Research Award is the latest offering in the Society’s expanding global initiative, which includes training, research, and educational programs aimed at supporting the study of hematology and improving quality of care outside of North America.
The eight researchers selected represent seven countries: Tanzania, Guatemala, Brazil, Turkey, Singapore, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Their research spans the full spectrum of hematology, including projects focused on reducing incidence of stroke in children with sickle cell disease in Africa, developing a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell platform for low- and middle-income countries, and investigating targeted therapy to stimulate red blood cell development. Award recipients will receive funding for research or training, including training in the conduct of clinical trials.
To ensure that all applicants are given an equal opportunity regardless of access to resources, ASH categorizes applications using the United National Human Development Index, and applicants are only evaluated against those in their same classification. Award recipients are chosen once per year.
“Achieving a diverse, global hematology research workforce is a clear priority for ASH,” said ASH President Alexis Thompson, MD, MPH, of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “The ASH Global Research Award identifies talented hematologists who are just starting their careers after completing their training and gives them the tools to succeed right where they are. In doing so, we aim to support future leaders, increase capacity in low- and middle-resource countries, and continue to nurture hematology collaboration across borders.”
For the 2018-2019 cycle, one additional meritorious Global Research Award was entirely funded by the ASH Foundation, thanks to charitable gifts from ASH members and other donors. The ASH Foundation, a division of ASH, is dedicated to moving hematology forward through charitable support for ASH programs – allowing ASH to do more for hematologists worldwide. One hundred percent of charitable donations to the ASH Foundation directly benefit programs sponsored by ASH and are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Below is a list of the 2018-2019 recipients of the ASH Global Research Award:
| Recipient | Institution |
| Emmanuela Ambrose, MD | Bugando Medical Centre, Mwanza, Tanzania |
| Siana Nkya, PhD | Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |
| Cyntia Fabiola Valvert Gamboa, MD | Instituto Nacional Contra El Cancer, Guatemala |
| Renato Luiz Guerino Cunha, MD, PhD | Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine of São Paulo University, Brazil |
| Can Küçük, PhD | Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey |
| Alice Cheung, PhD | Singapore General Hospital, Singapore |
| Paolo Gallipoli, MD, PhD | University of Cambridge, United Kingdom |
| Antonella Nai, PhD | Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy |
Learn more about ASH’s global initiative at http://www.hematology.org/Global.
The American Society of Hematology (www.hematology.org) is the world’s largest professional society of hematologists dedicated to furthering the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting the blood. For more than 50 years, the Society has led the development of hematology as a discipline by promoting research, patient care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology. ASH publishes Blood (www.bloodjournal.org), the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, which is available weekly in print and online. In 2016, ASH launched Blood Advances (www.bloodadvances.org), an online, peer-reviewed open-access journal.
CONTACT:
Sara Khalaf, American Society of Hematology
skhalaf@hematology.org; 202-552-4925