Media Experts Subcommittee
Committee Roster
Chair
Surbhi Sidana, MD
('26)
Appointed Members
Janis L. Abkowitz, MD
('25)
Charles S. Abrams, MD
('25)
Juan Pablo Alderuccio, MD
('25)
Belinda Avalos, MD
('25)
Nancy Berliner, MD
('25)
Catherine M. Bollard, MD
('25)
Robert A. Brodsky, MD
('26)
Jennifer R. Brown, MD, PhD
('28)
Nathan T. Connell, MD, MPH
('25)
Jorge Cortes, MD
('27)
Mark Crowther, MD
('25)
Catherine S Diefenbach, MD
('27)
Cynthia E. Dunbar, MD
('27)
Peter D. Emanuel, MD
('25)
Titilope Adenike Fasipe, MD, PhD
('27)
Willem E. Fibbe, MD, PhD
('27)
Christopher R. Flowers, MD, MSc
('25)
Jonathan Friedberg, MD
('27)
Patrick G. Gallagher, MD
('27)
Aaron T. Gerds, MD, MS
('27)
Irene M. Ghobrial, MD
('25)
Lisa Hicks, MD, MSc
('27)
Jonathan Hoggatt, PhD
('25)
Jennifer Holter-Chakrabarty, MD
('27)
Brad Kahl, MD
('25)
Armand Keating, MD
('25)
Richard Larson, MD
('25)
Stephanie J. Lee, MD, MPH
('26)
Jonathan Licht, MD
('26)
Ariela L. Marshall, MD
('27)
Keith R. McCrae, MD
('26)
Lauren E Merz, MD, MSc
('26)
Ruben A. Mesa, MD
('25)
Laura Michaelis, MD
('25)
Joseph R. Mikhael, MD
('26)
Charles G. Mullighan, MD
('25)
Rakhi P. Naik, MD
('25)
Mohandas Narla, DSc
('27)
Robert Negrin, MD
('26)
Sarah H. O'Brien, MD, MSc
('27)
Margaret Ragni, MD, MPH
('25)
Kanti R. Rai, MD
('25)
Andrew W. Roberts, MBBS, PhD
('27)
Bethany Samuelson Bannow, MD, PhD
('27)
Gary J. Schiller, MD
('25)
Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD
('27)
Roy L. Silverstein, MD
('25)
David Peter Steensma, MD
('25)
Wendy Stock, MD
('25)
Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH
('25)
Angela C Weyand, MD
('27)
Kirsten Williams, MD
('25)
Jane N. Winter, MD
('25)
Alisa S. Wolberg, PhD
('25)
Liaisons
Adam Cuker, MD, MS
('25)
-
Mary-Elizabeth M. Percival, MD
('25)
-
Bart Scott, MD
('26)
-
Alison R. Walker, MD, MBA, MPH
('26)
-
Staff Liaison
Melissa McGue
Committee Mandate
The Media Experts Subcommittee, a subcommittee of the Committee on Communications, is a group of ASH-approved spokespersons on both scientific and policy matters who are media trained by ASH to talk about issues that advance the Society’s agenda. Having a group of trained speakers on call allows ASH to be proactive and nimble in reaching out and responding to media on timely issues and helps fulfill part of the Committee on Communications’ mandate to increase the society’s media coverage.
The Committee on Communications works with staff to identify scientific topics that are strategically important to ASH. The Communications staff also collaborate with the staff liaisons to the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Committee on Government Affairs; Committee on Practice; and Committee on Quality to identify the top policy issues (including quality-of-care initiatives) for ASH and develop appropriate messaging.
The Media Experts Subcommittee is composed of scientific experts in selected key topic areas and spokespersons knowledgeable about ASH policy issues who will represent the society in media interviews to help advance ASH’s strategic goals and priorities. While individuals who are employed with industry (biomedical, pharmaceutical, or medical device companies) are eligible to serve on the subcommittee, they are not permitted to serve as ASH spokespersons. They may be called upon to give their own expert opinion, but they cannot be positioned as speaking on behalf of ASH. It is expected that all members of the subcommittee disclose their conflicts of interest when speaking with reporters.
The chair of the Committee on Communications chairs the Media Experts Subcommittee. The ASH Officers serve as appointed members. The chairs of the Committee on Advancing Excellence and Population Health; Committee on Government Affairs; Committee on Practice; and Committee on Quality serve as liaison members for terms congruent to their service on the parent committee. Members of the Media Experts Subcommittee serve three-year, renewable terms (unless otherwise indicated).
Members of the Media Experts Subcommittee participate in mandatory media training at least once during their service on the subcommittee and are authorized to speak on ASH’s behalf and to be referenced as an “ASH spokesperson” in media coverage. Since these individuals have media training and a strong knowledge of ASH’s key messages and priorities in addition to their scientific expertise, they may also be asked to serve as moderators for press briefings at the ASH annual meeting and provide expert commentary and/or assist staff in developing/reviewing the press releases on Blood journals manuscripts and annual meeting abstracts.
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