(WASHINGTON, October 25, 2022) – Today, the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the world’s largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders, announced the election of four new members to its Executive Committee for terms beginning after the 2022 ASH Annual Meeting, December 10-13, 2022, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Belinda R. Avalos, MD, will serve a one-year term as vice president followed by successive terms as president-elect and president. Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, will serve a four-year term as treasurer, and Christopher R. Flowers, MD, MSc, and Charlotte M. Niemeyer, MD, MA, will each serve four-year terms as councillors.
“Drs. Avalos, Mikhael, Flowers, and Niemeyer have demonstrated immense dedication to ASH, its members, and the field of hematology. Together, they represent the future of the society and the field. I want to congratulate them on the results of the election, and I look forward to their contributions to the Society,” said current ASH President, Jane N. Winter, MD, of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University. “Under their leadership, the Society will be well-positioned to lead our field in education, cutting-edge research, and advocacy on behalf of patients with blood disorders worldwide.”
Dr. Avalos, vice president-elect, is a Professor of Medicine and a Senior Advisor to the President of Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute. As a distinguished physician-scientist, Dr. Avalos has made significant research contributions in the areas of leukemogenesis, congenital neutropenia, transplantation, and cellular therapy. She has also championed minority recruitment and retention in hematology.
Dr. Avalos has demonstrated a deep devotion to ASH’s mission through her nearly 30 years of service on a range of ASH committees and working groups. An ASH member since 1993, Dr. Avalos most recently served as an ASH councillor, and previously as a member of the Health Equity Task Force; chair of the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and editor-in-chief of ASH News Daily.
“Together we will work to build a diverse and inclusive hematology workforce. I look forward to the opportunity to lead this remarkable and distinguished Society in serving the global hematology community,” said Dr. Avalos.
Dr. Mikhael, treasurer-elect, is a professor in the Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope Cancer Center. He is also the chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council at TGen, and chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF). Additionally, he serves as a consultant hematologist and director of myeloma research at the HonorHealth Research Institute. Dr. Mikhael’s research focuses include multiple myeloma, health disparities, education, and health communications. A member of ASH for more than 20 years, he has served ASH on numerous committee and editorial boards, currently serving as associate editor of ASH Clinical News. He previously served as chair of the Communications Committee, annual meeting education program co-chair, ASH councillor, and director of the Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI).
Dr. Flowers, councillor-elect, is division head ad interim of the division of cancer medicine and a professor and chair of the department of lymphoma and myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. His research interests include clinical lymphoma; evidence-based clinical practice guidelines development; and epidemiological, translational, and outcomes research studies. Dr. Flowers has been a member of ASH since 2002 and currently serves as the chair of the committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He is also an active and supportive mentor in the ASH Minority Medical Student Award Program (MMSAP). Dr. Flowers served as co-director of the ASH Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI), education program co-chair, and member of various ASH committees, including the Program Committee. He will be honored in December as a recipient of the 2022 ASH Mentor Award.
Dr. Niemeyer, international councillor-elect, is a professor of pediatrics and director of the division of pediatric hematology and oncology in the department of pediatrics at Freiburg University Medical Center. Her research interests include diagnosis and therapy for bone marrow failure disorders, pediatric myelodysplastic syndromes, and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. An active ASH member since 1996, Dr. Niemeyer is a founding member of the European Working Group of MDS in Childhood (EWOG-MDS). She previously served as chair and vice chair of the International Members Committee, the Scientific Committee on Blood Disorders in Childhood, vice chair of the Blood Editor Search Committee, among other prominent roles in ASH committees.
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) (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 60 years, the Society has led the development of hematology as a discipline by promoting research, patient care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology. ASH’s flagship journal, Blood (www.bloodjournal.org), is the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, and Blood Advances (www.bloodadvances.org) is the Society’s online, peer-reviewed open-access journal.
Contact:
Kira Sampson, American Society of Hematology
ksampson@hematology.org; 202-499-1796