The American Society of Hematology Honors Emmanuelle Passegué, PhD, with the 2019 William Dameshek Prize
Published on: July 12, 2019
(WASHINGTON,
July 12, 2019) – The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will present the 2019
William Dameshek Prize to Emmanuelle Passegué, PhD, of Columbia University
Irving Medical Center in New York City for her outstanding contributions to the
understanding of hematopoietic stem cells.
“I am
delighted to be recognized for such a prestigious award as the William Dameshek
Prize and humbled by its significance and broad renown,” said Dr. Passegue. “This
is a rewarding recognition of my work from my peers.”
The
William Dameshek Prize is awarded to an early- or mid-career hematologist who
has made a recent outstanding contribution to the field of hematology. This
prize is named after the late William Dameshek, MD, a past president of ASH and
the original editor of the Society’s flagship journal, Blood. ASH
President Roy Silverstein, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee
will present this award to Dr. Passegué on Tuesday, December 10, during the 61st
ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando.
Dr.
Passegué, director of Columbia Stem Cell Initiative at Columbia University
Irving Medical Center and Alumni
Professor of Genetics and Development at Columbia University Vagelos College of
Physicians and Surgeons, is an outstanding scientist who has made seminal
contributions to the understanding of the biology of blood-forming stem cells. Her
work focuses on changes that happen to stem cells in the contexts of myeloid malignancies
and physiological aging. Notably, she discovered a potential strategy for
correcting impaired blood production in the elderly by identifying specific
biological mechanisms that are altered when stem cells age and become dysfunctional.
Dr. Passegué’s
other discoveries have implications for blood cancers and bone marrow failure
syndromes. She defined the unique susceptibility of stem cells to certain
types of DNA damage, from such sources as ultra-violet rays and x-ray machines,
and described how these cells’ specific repair mechanisms can render them
vulnerable to disease-causing mutations.
Dr.
Passegué’s scientific contributions have been previously recognized with an ASH
Scholar Award and an NHLBI Outstanding Investigator R35 grant. She has served
as vice-chair and chair of the ASH Scientific Committee on Myeloid Biology and
as an abstract and award study section reviewer.
“Dr.
Passegué is an impressive investigator who has clearly accomplished so much,
all within 10 years of starting her own laboratory,” said Dr. Silverstein. “Her
discoveries have illuminated this field of hematology research, and I am
honored to present Dr. Passegué with the William Dameshek Prize.”
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 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 publishes Blood (www.bloodjournal.org), the
most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, which is available weekly in
print and online, as well as the newly launched, online, peer-reviewed
open-access journal, Blood Advances (www.bloodadvances.org).
Contact:
Sara Khalaf, American Society of Hematology
skhalaf@hematology.org; 202-552-4925
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