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SPECIAL INTEREST SESSIONS

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Ancestry Origins in Personalized Medicine: Advancing Biological Discovery, Population-Representative Research Design, and Translational Validity in Hematology

This session presents an integrated scientific framework for understanding how ancestry-associated genomic, epigenomic, immune, and microenvironmental variation shapes disease biology across malignant and classical hematologic disorders. Using diverse diseases as illustrative systems, it will highlight shared ancestry-driven mechanisms and population-specific determinants of hematopoietic and immune function, as well as the consequences of underrepresentation in multi-omic datasets.

Cross-cutting discussions will examine how these factors affect biologic interpretation, biomarker development, therapeutic discovery, and translational validity, alongside the methodological limitations of current computational, statistical, and AI approaches. A central emphasis is on actionable, scalable solutions—including ancestry-aware models, globally representative cohort design, functional and multi-omic strategies, and international collaborations—to improve rigor, inclusivity, reproducibility, and the fair implementation of precision medicine in hematology.

Chairs:

Ruemu Ejedafeta Birhiray, MD
Marian University Tom and Julie Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine
Indianapolis, IN

Ari Melnick, MD
Weill Cornel Medicine
Barcelona, Spain

Speakers:

Ambroise Wonkam, MD, PhD
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD
Leveraging our Common African Genomes to Improve Health Globally

Eimear Kenny, PhD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, NY
Modeling Ancestry-Informed Bias in Hematology: Duffy-null Status and Other Genotypic Determinants

Ari Melnick, MD
Weill Cornel Medicine
Barcelona, Spain
African Ancestry-Associated Mechanisms of Immune System Malignancies and Precision Therapies

ASH Clinicians in Practice Lunch - Beyond Bandwidth: Improving Workflow Efficiency in Clinical Practice through Clinical Collaborations and Artificial Intelligence

The changing landscape and expectations of clinical practice have created an increasingly challenging practice environment. Added administrative tasks, documentation, regulatory requirements, and system inefficiencies alongside workforce shortages among each of the different types of providers has contributed to strain on delivering high quality health care and on those who provide it. This session aims to show – from a systems perspective – innovative and practical approaches to improve practice efficiencies and workflows both through clinician collaboration and artificial intelligent tools. In this session, panelists will speak on, partnering with primary care to eliminate inefficiencies, optimizing clinician-APP collaboration to expand capacity, and how new AI tools are being integrated to streamline practice workflows.

Chair:

Mary-Elizabeth Percival, MD
Miami Cancer Institute , Baptist Health South Florida
Florida, TX

Speakers:

Kylee L. Martens, MD
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, OR
Partnering with Primary Care to Eliminate Inefficiencies

Camila Masias, MD, MPH
Baptist Health Medical Group
Miami, FL
Development of Clinical Collaborations with Advanced Practice Providers to Create Efficiencies

Aziz Nazha, MD
Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, PA
AI: Artificial Intelligence as a Tool to Streamline Practice Workflows

ASH-FDA Joint Symposium on Newly Approved Therapies 1

These joint sessions, co-sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will feature therapies recently approved to treat hematologic disorders. FDA product-reviewers will discuss the safety and efficacy issues for the products' clinical trials and toxicity studies. The program will also include clinicians who will discuss their perspectives on the use of the products in the real-world setting. There will be ample time for questions from the audience.

More to come...

ASH-FDA Joint Symposium on Newly Approved Therapies 2

Back to Business Breakfast

Start your Monday morning with a networking-style breakfast designed to connect innovators, investors, and leaders at the forefront of hematology. This informal reception will feature a brief introduction to ASH IGNITE, and speeches from key opinion leaders in the innovation and commercialization space. This breakfast is sponsored by the ASH Business of Innovation Task Force, the steering committee for ASH IGNITE which is the Society’s new initiative and digital platform focused on advancing the business of innovation in hematology.

Chair:

Jonathan Hoggatt, PhD
Moderna
Cambridge, MA

Blood Presents: How to Get Published in a Peer Review Journal

Peer-reviewed journals serve a crucial role in helping researchers refine and publicize their work and helping readers sort through the ever-expanding scientific literature. Yet finding the right journal for one's research and framing data properly can be a challenge. The editors of Blood will present recommended practices for writing a scientific paper and submitting it to a peer-reviewed journal. The session will include topics such as how to develop the "story" for your research, how to respond to reviewer comments, and what to do when your submission is rejected. The presentation will be followed by a period for audience questions.

Clinical Practice Guideline on the Treatment of Iron Deficiency with or without Anemia

Evidence-based recommendations related to oral versus intravenous iron therapy, including effects on clinical outcomes, patient-reported outcomes, and adverse effects will be reviewed. Speakers will highlight how these recommendations compare with common practice patterns and where changes in therapy selection may be warranted. Attention will be given to how recommendations differ across important patient populations based on clinical risk factors including underlying etiology and severity of anemia. The session will also address incorporating patient values and preferences as well as how to approach challenging clinical scenarios where evidence is limited.

By the end of the session, attendees should be able to describe the major recommendations for the treatment of iron deficiency, recognize situations in which guideline-directed care may differ from current practice, and identify concrete steps to align their clinical decision-making with these recommendations across diverse patient populations and care settings.

ASH has developed evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia. This session will focus on key recommendations and their application in everyday clinical practice, emphasizing how these guidelines can improve outcomes for pediatric patients, pregnant patients, and patients with blood loss (menstrual and other chronic blood loss) with iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia.

Chair:

Jacquelyn Powers, MD, MS
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX

Speakers:

Thomas Deloughery, MD
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, OR
Severe Anemia, Chronic Blood Loss, or Inflammation, Oh My! Recommendations For the Treatment of Adults with Iron Deficiency

Amanda Jacobson-Kelly, MD, MSc
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Columbus, OH
Indications and Approach to Iron Replacement Therapies in Children with Iron Deficiency

Jori May, MD
University of Alabama
Birmingham, AL
Menstruating and Pregnant Populations with Iron Deficiency and Iron Deficiency Anemia: Outcomes of Oral Versus Intravenous Iron Therapy

Clinical Practice Guideline on the Treatment of Light-Chain Amyloidosis

ASH has developed evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of light chain (AL) amyloidosis. This session will focus on key recommendations and their application in everyday clinical practice, emphasizing how these guidelines can improve outcomes for patients with AL amyloidosis.

Presenters will review major recommendations related to key clinical decisions including optimal first line therapy, the role of autologous stem cell transplantation, hematological and organ response/progression adapted treatment paradigms and management of relapsed/refractory disease. The session will highlight how these recommendations compare with common practice patterns and where changes in treatment may be warranted. Attention will be given to how recommendations differ across important patient subgroups, such as hematological response.

The session will also address practical considerations in implementing the recommendations, including balancing efficacy and toxicity, coordinating care across specialties and care settings, and incorporating patient values and preferences. Presenters will discuss clinical scenarios that are frequently encountered but challenging, areas where evidence is limited and clinician judgment is particularly important, and strategies for adapting recommendations in resource-constrained environments.

By the end of the session, attendees should be able to describe the major recommendations for the treatment of AL amyloidosis, recognize situations in which care may differ from current practice, and identify concrete steps to align their clinical decision-making with these recommendations across diverse patient populations and care settings.

Chair:

Vishal Kukreti, MD, MSc, FRCP
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Toronto, ON, Canada

Speakers:

Vaishali Sanchorawala, MD
Boston Medical Center and Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine
Boston, MA
Front-Line Therapy for Transplant-Eligible AL Amyloidosis

Manisha Bhutani, MD
Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute
Charlotte, NC
How Deep Is Deep Enough? Response-Guided ASCT Decisions in AL Amyloidosis

Timothy Martin Schmidt, MD
University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center
Madison,
Relapsed and Refractory AL Amyloidosis

Early Faculty Career Development Session

The theme for the 2026 Early Faculty Career Development session is “Different Strokes for Different Folks: Surviving Academia in a Changing Environment.” The topical presentations will cover how to pursue non-traditional, non-academic hematology careers and how to diversify funding sources. The panel discussion following the presentations will focus on tackling common obstacles, like managing imposter syndrome, how to say “no” to manage workload and maintain work-life balance, and how to successfully negotiate.

Chair:

Annie Im, MD
University of Pittsburgh/UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Pittsburgh, PA

Speakers:

Kamal Menghrajani, MD, MSc
Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute
Boston, MA
How to Pursue Non-Traditional Academic Careers - Part 1

Nina Shah, MD
AstraZeneca
San Francisco, CA
How to Pursue Non-Traditional Academic Careers - Part 2

Julie Panepinto, MD
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD
Diversifying Funding - Part 1

Jonathan Licht, MD
Van Andel Institute
Grand Rapids, MI
Diversifying Funding - Part 2

Michaela Liedtke, MD
Stanford University Cancer Center
Stanford, CA
Tackling Common Obstacles - Panelist 1

Jane Churpek, MD, MS
The University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
Tackling Common Obstacles - Panelist 2

Rahma Warsame, MD
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN
Tackling Common Obstacles - Panelist 3

Ifeyinwa Osunkwo, MD, MPH
Novo Nordisk
Plainsboro,
Tackling Common Obstacles - Panelist 4

Fireside Chats on Innovation in a Changing Regulatory Landscape

Hematology innovation is increasingly shaped by the intersection of regulatory expectations, investment decisions, and scientific advances. As policy priorities evolve, innovators must understand how regulatory signals influence translational planning, trial design, capital formation, and the adoption of emerging development tools.

This special-interest session will explore these issues through a series of fireside chats that build on one another. The first conversation will examine the regulatory environment affecting hematology innovation, including emerging Food and Drug Administration (FDA) priorities, common areas of misunderstanding among early-stage innovators, and the practical decisions teams should be considering now. The second conversation will focus on how investors interpret regulatory uncertainty and pipeline trends, including how these factors affect due diligence, portfolio strategy, and perceptions of fundable science. The final conversation will consider how new approach methodologies (NAMs), modeling strategies, and other translational tools may accelerate development while raising important questions about regulatory alignment and adoption.

Together, these discussions will help hematology innovators, funders, and other stakeholders better understand where regulation, investment, and science may be moving together or diverging. The session will close by identifying practical takeaways for innovators seeking to advance hematology discoveries in a changing development landscape.

Chair:

Jonathan Hoggatt, PhD
Moderna
Cambridge, MA

Speakers:

Jonathan Hoggatt, PhD
Moderna
Cambridge, MA
Opening Remarks

Tomas Ganz, MD, PhD
UCLA Medical School
Los Angeles, CA
Regulatory Environment

Meg Wood, MPH
NYBC Ventures
Boston,
Investor Perspective: The Changing Regulatory Landscape

Wilbur A. Lam, MD, PhD
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
NAMs in the New Regulatory Landscape

Jonathan Hoggatt, PhD
Moderna
Cambridge, MA
Closing Remarks

From Real-World Evidence to Real-World Impact: Translating Multiple Myeloma Data into Clinical Practice

Real-world evidence (RWE) has become an essential complement to clinical trials in multiple myeloma, offering insights into treatment effectiveness, safety, access, and outcomes across diverse patient populations and care settings. As RWE initiatives expand globally, a critical question remains: how can real-world data be translated into analyses that meaningfully inform clinical practice, research priorities, and policy

This special session will convene leaders from major international and U.S.-based RWE efforts including the International Myeloma Working Group, academic and clinical programs, and the ASH Research Collaborative Multiple Myeloma Research Network to present data-driven case studies derived from active real-world datasets. Each project will present the underlying data, the analytic approach, and the key findings, with a clear focus on what was learned and why it matters.

Through these examples, speakers will illustrate how RWE has been used to:

· Evaluate real-world treatment patterns and outcomes across lines of therapy

· Assess effectiveness and safety in populations underrepresented in clinical trials

· Identify gaps, disparities, and variations in care

· Inform guideline development, trial design, and clinical decision-making

Importantly, presenters will also address the limitations, methodological challenges, and interpretive considerations encountered in their analyses, providing a balanced view of RWE’s strengths and constraints. The session will conclude with a moderated panel discussion engaging clinicians, researchers, industry, and government stakeholders on how collaborative RWE efforts can be optimized to maximize impact in multiple myeloma research and patient care.

Chair:

Saad Z. Usmani, MD, MBA
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York,

Speakers:

Saad Z. Usmani, MD, MBA
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York,
Welcome and Opening Remarks

Yi Lin Jr, MD, PhD
Mayo Clinic
Rochester,
International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) Perspective: From Multinational Real-World Data to Global Myeloma Guidelines

Shaji Kumar, MD
Mayo Clinic
Rochester,
ASH Research Collaborative Multiple Myeloma Research Network: Building Actionable Evidence at Scale

Doris K. Hansen, MD
Moffitt Cancer Center
Tampa,
United States Experience: Real-World Evidence from U.S. Practice: Treatment Patterns, Outcomes, and Quality Improvement

Kimmo Porkka Jr, MD, PhD
University of Helsinki
Helsinki, Finland
Europe/Asia Perspective: Real-World Evidence from Diverse Health Care Systems: Treatment Patterns, Outcomes, and Quality Improvement (Part 1)

Wee-Joo Chng Jr, MD, PhD, MBBS, FRCP, FRCPath
National University of Singapore
Clementi, Singapore
Europe/Asia Perspective: Real-World Evidence from Diverse Health Care Systems: Treatment Patterns, Outcomes, and Quality Improvement (Part 2)

Saad Z. Usmani, MD, MBA
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York,
Panel Discussion, Audience Q&A, and Closing Remarks

Medical Educators' Symposium

The 2026 theme of the Medical Educators Symposium is “Teaching with Intention: Time, Technology, and Inclusion in Modern Medical Education.” The program empowers clinicians and teachers to thrive in a rapidly evolving learning environment. This year’s program focuses on practical strategies for educator time management, wellness, and creating inclusive learning spaces, while embracing innovation through AI, educational apps, and social media. Participants will gain actionable tools to teach with purpose, balance, and creativity in the digital age.

Chair:

Reshma Ramlal, MD
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
Tampa, FL

Speakers:

Torsten Haferlach, MD, PhD
MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory
Munich, Germany
General Session 1: How to Use AI for Curriculum Development

Alice Ma, MD
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Chapel Hill, NC
General Session 2: Educator Wellness

Manpreet Kochhar, MD
Brown University
Providence, RI
General Session 3: MEI project presentation

Scott Moerdler Jr, MD
Rutgers Cancer Institute
New Brunswick, NJ
Breakout 1: Best AI and Social Media Tools to Support Instruction

Rakhi P. Naik Jr, MD
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Breakout 2: Fostering Critical Thinking and a Feedback Culture

Toyosi Onwuemene, MD, MS
Duke University
Durham, NC
Breakout 3: Time Management for Educators

Rima Jubran, MD, MPH
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Break 4: Creating Engaging Environments for Learners

QI Intensive - A Practical Guide to Quality Improvement in Hematology

This interactive workshop provides a practical introduction to quality improvement (QI) principles and their application within hematology practice. Designed for hematologists, trainees, advanced practice providers, nurses, and interdisciplinary healthcare professionals, the session introduces participants to the foundational concepts of improvement science and equips them with the skills necessary to design, implement, and evaluate meaningful QI initiatives.

Through a combination of didactic teaching, case-based discussions, and interactive exercises, participants will learn how to identify gaps in care, develop effective problem and aim statements, and utilize commonly used QI tools. The workshop will emphasize the importance of measurement in QI, including the use of process, outcome, and balancing measures to determine whether changes result in true improvement. Real-world hematology examples will be used to illustrate key concepts and provide practical insights into conducting successful QI projects.

The session will also introduce participants to the American Society of Hematology’s Quality Improvement Training Institute (QITI), a comprehensive hematology-focused QI training program that supports teams in developing and disseminating impactful improvement work. By the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to apply core QI methodologies to their own clinical environments, identify meaningful measures of success, engage stakeholders effectively, and develop sustainable strategies to improve the quality, safety, equity, and patient-centeredness of hematologic care.

Chair:

Michael Keng, MD
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA

Speakers:

Menaka Pai, MD, MSc, BSc, FRCPC
McMaster University
Hamilton, Canada
Understanding the Problem and Developing Measures within Quality Improvement

Michael Keng, MD
University of Virginia
Charlottesville,
Process Analysis Tools and Introduction to Data in Quality Improvement

Real-World Data Applications in Sickle Cell Disease Trial Design

This special session will examine how real-world data, disease registries, and emerging trial designs are transforming evidence generation in sickle cell disease (SCD). Through a series of data-driven, practice-oriented presentations, speakers will present concrete examples of how registry and EHR data are being used to support contemporaneous and simulated external control arms, inform post-authorization safety studies, and address longstanding challenges in SCD clinical research where traditional placebo-controlled designs may be infeasible.

The session will highlight the ASH Research Collaborative SCD Data Hub as a real-world infrastructure for trial-aligned evidence generation, including lessons learned from constructing external control populations, assessing data readiness for trial-critical variables, and aligning registry-based outcomes with clinical trial benchmarks. Presentations will also address current debates around the use of synthetic data for control arm construction, emphasizing why high-quality registry and EHR data remain essential for preserving clinical validity, especially for safety outcomes and underrepresented?populations. One session will include a case study on defining acute sickle cell pain as a real-world data endpoint, demonstrating how structured data review, quality assessment, and endpoint definition can translate routine EHR data into meaningful, interpretable evidence.

Collectively, these talks will provide attendees with a practical and methodologically grounded framework for leveraging real-world registry data to strengthen the rigor, transparency, and regulatory credibility of clinical trials and post-market evaluation in sickle cell disease.

Chair:

Charles Abrams, MD
Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA

Speakers:

Charles Abrams, MD
Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA
Welcome and Opening Remarks

Michael Callaghan Jr, MD
Agios Pharmaceuticals
Cambridge, MA
Using the SCD Data Hub as a Contemporaneous Control Arm in a Clinical Trial

Keith Marsolo, PhD
Duke University
Durham, NC
EHR to Evidence: Defining Acute Sickle Cell Pain as a Real-World Data Endpoint

Jeremy Rupon, MD, PhD
Pfizer Inc
Philadelphia, PA
Simulating Placebo Control Arms Using Real-World Registry Data in Sickle Cell Disease Trials

Tina Hernandez-Boussard, PhD, MPH, MS
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Real World Registry Controls Versus Synthetic Data: Safeguarding Validity in Trial Design

Charles Abrams, MD
Penn Medicine
Philadelphia, PA
Panel Discussion and Q&A

Showcasing a Decade of Discoveries in Blood Advances

Blood Advances debuted at the 58th ASH Annual Meeting in 2016, making this year’s Annual Meeting the 10th anniversary of the journal. Over those 10 years, Blood Advances has published studies of major clinical and scientific impact, including clinical trial reports, foundational basic science studies, and the ASH Clinical Guidelines. The founding editor-in-chief of Blood Advances, Dr. Robert Negrin, will introduce the session, where Dr. Catherine Bollard (current Editor-in Chief) and Dr. Andrew Weyrich (Deputy Editor), will highlight a selection of the journal's most impactful publications. The presentation will be followed by a period for audience questions.

Chair:

Robert Negrin, MD
President, American Society of Hematology, Stanford University
Stanford, CA

The AI Colleague: Promise, Peril, and Practice in Hematology

This session will introduce the emerging landscape of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in hematology and explore its practical applications, evolving capabilities, and key challenges. Generative AI and large language models (LLMs) are rapidly transforming how clinicians and investigators interact with biomedical information. In hematology, these technologies have the potential to accelerate knowledge synthesis, augment clinical decision-making, automate routine analytical tasks, and enable entirely new modes of scientific discovery. At the same time, their integration into clinical and research workflows raises important questions regarding reliability, oversight, bias, and responsible deployment.

Following a brief overview of the field, three expert presentations will address complementary perspectives: the first talk will focus on practical generative AI tools for clinicians and investigators — LLM-based assistance for literature synthesis, clinical documentation, research workflows, coding, and data analysis. The second talk will examine multi-agent AI systems — how multiple AI models collaborate to perform complex reasoning, analysis, and autonomous scientific workflows. The third talk will address limitations and risks of generative AI — hallucinations, bias amplification, data governance, and strategies for responsible adoption and human oversight.

Chair:

Roni Shouval Jr, MD, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY

Speakers:

Andrew Srisuwananukorn, MD
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Columbus, OH
Practical Generative AI Tools for Clinicians and Investigators

Jan-Niklas Eckardt, MD
Else Kroener Fresenius Center for Digital Health, TUD Dresden University of Technology
Dresden, Germany
Multi-Agent AI systems

Vanessa E Kennedy, MD
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA
Limitations and Risks of Generative AI

The Future of Clinical Endpoints in Sickle Cell Disease

A key ongoing challenge in sickle cell disease (SCD) clinical trials is the field’s reliance on vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC)–based endpoints to evaluate treatment efficacy. Although VOCs are a defining feature of SCD, they are episodic, heterogeneous, and influenced by variability in care practices, access to healthcare, and reporting. These limitations complicate interpretation of study results and hinder comparability across trials. At the same time, many high-impact manifestations of SCD—such as chronic pain, organ damage, and impaired quality of life—lack standardized definitions or validated biomarkers and composite endpoints, constraining innovation in trial design and slowing regulatory progress.

This session, chaired by Dr. Alexis Thompson, will open with remarks that provide an overview and updates on the ASH Center for Sickle Cell Disease Initiatives, framing the broader context for the discussion. This will be followed by a presentation from Dr. Karina Yazdanbakhsh reviewing the current landscape and recent progress in SCD endpoints, highlighting both advances and persistent gaps.

A moderated panel discussion led by Dr. Melissa Creary will bring together multidisciplinary perspectives. Panelists include Dr. Karina Yazdanbakhsh, Dr. Nicole Verdun, Dr. Julie Panepinto, Dr. Ted Love, and Dr. Ronisha Edwards-Elliott, representing research, clinical care, regulatory science, industry, and the patient community.

Discussion will focus on identifying endpoints beyond VOCs, including the role of biomarkers, composite measures, and patient-reported outcomes that better capture disease burden and treatment benefit. Panelists will also examine whether current limitations stem from gaps in endpoint development, trial design, or alignment with precision medicine approaches.

As the therapeutic landscape expands to include gene addition therapies, gene editing, and disease-modifying agents such as hydroxyurea, defining meaningful and measurable outcomes is increasingly urgent. By highlighting diverse perspectives, this session aims to identify opportunities for alignment across stakeholders and outline next steps to advance endpoint development, improve trial design, and accelerate progress toward patient-centered outcomes in SCD research.

Chair:

Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA

Speakers:

Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA
Welcome and Opening Remarks

Karina Yazdanbakhsh, PhD
New York Blood Center Enterprises
Rye, NY
Setting the Stage: Progress and/or Current Landscape of SCD Endpoints

Melissa Creary, PhD
University of Michigan School of Public Health
Ann Arbor, MI
Advancing SCD Endpoints: Multidisciplinary Perspectives - Panel Discussion - Moderator

Nicole Verdun, MD
Food and Drug Administration
DC,
Advancing SCD Endpoints: Multidisciplinary Perspectives - Panel Discussion - Panelist 1

Julie Panepinto, MD
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD
Advancing SCD Endpoints: Multidisciplinary Perspectives - Panel Discussion - Panelist 2

Ted Love, Md
Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)
DC, DC
Advancing SCD Endpoints: Multidisciplinary Perspectives - Panel Discussion - Panelist 3

Ronisha Edwards-Elliot, BA, MA
Northern Illinois University
Dekalb, IL
Advancing SCD Endpoints: Multidisciplinary Perspectives - Panel Discussion - Panelist 4

Karina Yazdanbakhsh, PhD
New York Blood Center Enterprises
Rye, NY
Advancing SCD Endpoints: Multidisciplinary Perspectives - Panel Discussion - Panelist 5

The Predicament of Patients in Prison: A Hematology Perspective

Chair:

Alan Mast, MD, PhD
Versiti Blood Research Institute
Milwaukee, WI

Speakers:

Shira Shavit
UCSF
San Francisco, CA
Subject Matter Expert

Anjali Niyogi
Tulane University School of Medicine
New Orleans, LA
Subject Matter Expert

Michael R DeBaun, MD, MNAMS, MPH
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, TN
Hematologists

Ian Cazenave
Formerly Incarcerated Transitions (FIT) Clinic
New Orleans, LA
Lived Experience Expert Representative

Training Program Directors Workshop

In 2026, the Training Program Directors Workshop will focus on career pathways for hematologists and how to support trainees in search of research funding given the current political climate. Speakers from various stages of their career will provide insights and discuss various perspectives and will also provide a summary of ASH opportunities to support trainees. The workshop will also focus on the relevance of artificial intelligence to program directors. Participants will discuss how to use AI within medical education resources and how to develop guidelines for fellows who use AI. The last segment of this session will include a discussion on program signaling from both the program director and trainee perspectives.

Chair:

Katherine Walsh Jr, MD, MEd
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN

Speakers:

Alissa Kleinhenz, MD
UCSF
San Francisco, CA
Supporting Fellows in their Pursuit of Research Funding and Career Placement (Part 1)

Olufolake Egbujo (Adisa) Jr, MD, MSc
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
East Hanover, NJ
Supporting Fellows in their Pursuit of Research Funding and Career Placement (Part 2)

Andrew Srisuwananukorn, MD
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Columbus, OH
Artificial Intelligence for Program Directors (Part 1)

Roni Shouval Jr, MD, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY
Artificial Intelligence for Program Directors (Part 2)

Lori Rosenstein, MD
Emplify by Gundersen Health
La Crosse, WI
Insights and Experiences After One Year of Program Signaling (Part 1)

Kenneth S. Cohen Jr, MD
The University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Insights and Experiences After One Year of Program Signaling (Part 2)

Treating Fairly Rounds Lunch

The theme for the 2026 Treating Fairly Rounds Lunch will be “Challenges and Opportunities with Healthcare Reform”. The session will cover steps that the average fellow and hematologist can take to influence policy and funding changes in areas like research funding, Medicaid, and funding for hospitals. The conversation will explore the intersection of policy and inequities and what attendees can do to try to influence outcomes.

Chairs:

Urshila Durani, MD, MPH
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN

Srinivas Devarakonda, MD
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Columbus, OH

Speakers:

Deirdra Terrell Jr, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Oklahoma City, OK
Challenges and Opportunities with Healthcare Reform (Perspective 1)

Amar Harry Kelkar Jr, MD, MPH
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA
Challenges and Opportunities with Healthcare Reform (Perspective 2)

Women in Hematology Networking Dinner Event

Negotiating the Room, the Role, and the Future for the 2026. Through four concise Ted-style talks and facilitated table discussions with the speakers after, participants will leave with concrete negotiation strategies and strengthened connections within the WIH community to support ongoing, effective advocacy throughout their careers. Food will be served at the start of the event.

Moderator:

Brittany Knick Ragon, MD
Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute/Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Charlotte, NC

Speakers:

Hetty Carraway, MD, MBA
Leadership: Authority Without Penalty

Adele K. Fielding, PhD, MBBS
Centre for Blood Research, University of York
York, United Kingdom
Influence: Voice, Credibility, and Impact

Monica Guzman I, PhD
Mid-Career: Expansion Versus Stagnation

Toyosi Onwuemene, MD, MS
Duke University
Durham, NC
Difficult Conversations: Respect Under Tension

Blood Journals Studio

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How I Treat

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How I Treat: ALL

Speaker:

Rachel E. Rau, MD
Seattle Children's Hospital
Seattle, WA

How I Treat: Cold Agglutinin Disease and Related Complement-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia

Speaker:

John P Manis, MD
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston, MA

How I Treat: Follicular Lymphoma

Speaker:

Alan Skarbnik, MD
Novant Health Cancer Institute
Charlotte, NC

How I Treat: Heavy Menstrual Bleeding in Women with Bleeding Disorders

Speaker:

Tyler Buckner, MD, MSc
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Aurora, CO

How I Treat: HLH and Related Hyperinflammatory Syndromes

Speaker:

Ashish Kumar, MD
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH

How I Treat: Large B-Cell lymphoma

Speaker:

Laurie Sehn, MD
BC Cancer Center for Lymphoid Cancer
Vancouver, BC, Canada

How I Treat: MPN

Speaker:

Florian H. Heidel IV, MD
Hannover Medical School (MHH)
Hannover, Germany

How I Treat: Pediatric AML

Speaker:

Tanja Gruber, MD
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA

How I Treat: Refractory ITP Unresponsive to Steroids and Thrombopoietin Agonists

Speaker:

Elisabeth M. Battinelli, MD, PhD
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, MA

How I Treat: TTP in the Caplacizumab Era

Speaker:

Adam Cuker, MD, MS
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

Meet the Scientist

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Beyond the Niche: Systemic Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Numbers in Health and Disease

Speaker:

Kira Gritsman, MD, PhD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, NY

Building Bone Marrow in a Dish: Bioengineered Niches for Understanding and Treating Platelet Disorders

Speaker:

Alessandra Balduini, MD
Tufts University
Medford, MA

Chemoresistance in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Speaker:

Jean-Emmanuel Sarry, PhD
Cancer Research Center of Toulouse
Toulouse, France

Engineering Tolerance: CAR-Tregs and the New Era of Cell Therapy for Autoimmunity

Speaker:

Jeffery Bluestone, PhD
University of California San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

From GATA2 to SAMD9: Discovering the Genetic Architecture of Pediatric Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Bone Marrow Failure

Speaker:

Marcin W Wlodarski, MD, PhD
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis, TN

From Ribosomes to Risk Stratification: Decoding Inherited Bone Marrow Failure and Its Path to Leukemia

Speaker:

Akiko Shimamura, MD, PhD
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston, MA

From Splicing Mutations to Cancer Neoantigens: A Decade of Targeting RNA Biology in Leukemia

Speaker:

Omar Abdel-Wahab, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY

Reading the Epigenetic History of Lymphoma: From Cell of Origin to Mitotic Clocks and Clinical Outcome

Speaker:

Jose Martin-Subero, PhD
Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS)
Barcelona, Spain

Why the Mouse Matters: Building Faithful Models of Multiple Myeloma

Speaker:

Marta Chesi, PhD
Mayo Clinic Arizona
Scottsdale, AZ

αIIbβ3: One Receptor, Two Drugs, and the Long Road of Translational Platelet Biology

Speaker:

Barry Coller, MD
Rockefeller University
New York, NY

Population Health

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Scientific Spotlight

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CAR-T Manufacturing Across Nations: From Low-to-Middle-Income Academic Platforms to Frontier Innovations in Global Access

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) -T cell therapy has transformed the treatment of many hematologic malignancies, yet access remains deeply unequal worldwide, and the science of how these products are manufactured is still unevenly understood. CAR-T products directed against the same antigen can differ in vector design, T-cell composition, culture duration, and manufacturing workflow — differences that are not merely operational but biologically meaningful, shaping product phenotype, expansion, persistence, and toxicity. This session will examine CAR-T manufacturing as both a scientific variable and a determinant of global access, pairing two complementary perspectives: a cross-center view from academic programs in lower-resource settings and a high-income view on what manufacturing science must develop next to broaden access. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for weighing centralized versus decentralized manufacturing models and transferable lessons from academic programs that they can apply in their own institutions.

Dr. Fernando Gibran-Nunes will present a comparative, cross-center overview of how academic programs approach CAR-T manufacturing to broaden access to cellular therapy. Drawing on perspectives gathered from academic platforms in middle-income countries across Latin America and the Middle East, the talk synthesizes how these centers weigh centralized and decentralized models of manufacturing and the operational and biological trade-offs each entail. He will examine the challenges, priorities, and emerging solutions voiced by academic manufacturers working in lower-resource settings, and what their shared experience reveals about the science of manufacturing as a determinant of global access to CAR-T therapy.

Dr. Sarah Nikiforow will offer a perspective from a high-income setting, focusing on manufacturing innovations that could lower barriers to CAR-T access in low- and middle-income countries. She will consider what the field should prioritize next in CAR-T manufacturing science — moving from frontier development toward practical deployment — to make cellular therapies more broadly available

Speakers:

Fernando Gibran-Nunes, MD
Hospital Sirio-Libanês
São Paulo, Brazil
Centralized and Decentralized Models of CAR-T Manufacturing: Insights from a Latin American Academic Platform on the Science of Global Access

Sarah Nikiforow, MD, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA
From Frontier to Field: Manufacturing Innovations That Could Lower Barriers to CAR-T Access in LMICs

Decoding Macrophage Diversity in Lymphomas: Spatial Insights and Immunotherapeutic Implications

T cell–directed therapies have transformed the treatment of both Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, yet responses remain heterogeneous and many patients relapse. Across subtypes, the differentiation state of the T-cell compartment is emerging as a key determinant of outcome: exhausted T cells (TEX), spanning progenitor and terminally differentiated states with distinct proliferative and cytotoxic capacity, accumulate in the lymphoma microenvironment and associate with impaired response to T cell–engaging therapy. What drives T cells along this trajectory within intact tissue remains unresolved. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) have emerged as leading candidate orchestrators of this process, offering a unifying framework for microenvironment-mediated resistance. This session offers a timely lens on macrophage–T cell interplay as a central axis of immune evasion in lymphoma: attendees will learn how cutting-edge spatial biology is revealing macrophages as both a driver of immunotherapy resistance and a rich source of potential therapeutic targets in lymphoma.

Dr. Anand Jeyasekharan will discuss how macrophage heterogeneity shapes T-cell exhaustion in aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He will present a spatially resolved whole-transcriptome atlas of CD68+ macrophages across reactive lymphoid tissue and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, defining signatures that map to distinct microanatomical niches, including the germinal center dark zone, and that carry independent prognostic significance. He will then examine how dark zone–like macrophage states associate with TEX phenotypes and the composition of the surrounding immune infiltrate, extending these findings to primary central nervous system lymphoma, where TREM2+ lipid-laden macrophages emerge as a convergent immunosuppressive population.

Dr. Tomohiro Aoki will discuss macrophage– Hodgkin and Reed–Sternberg (HRS) cell crosstalk in classic Hodgkin lymphoma, where malignant cells constitute only a small fraction of the tumor mass within a highly immunosuppressive microenvironment. He will present single-cell, spatial multi-omic, and functional studies defining heterogeneous macrophage populations that support HRS cell survival, promote immune evasion, and drive resistance to chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and how these insights inform strategies to disrupt macrophage-mediated immune suppression

Speakers:

Anand Devaprasath Jeyasekharan, PhD, MBBS, MRCP
Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, National University of Singapore
Singapore, Singapore
Dark Zone Macrophages as Mediators of T-Cell Exhaustion and Immunotherapy Response in Lymphoma

Tomohiro Aoki, MD, PhD
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre - University Health Network
Toronto, ON, Canada
Macrophage–HRS Cell Crosstalk Driving Immune Evasion and Therapy Resistance in Hodgkin Lymphoma

Greasy Situations: Unraveling Lipid-Mediated Therapy Resistance

Adiposity is associated with the incidence and progression of thirteen cancers, including hematologic malignancies. Cancer cells exhibit altered, context-specific metabolism and metabolic dependencies driven, in part, by genetic alterations and microenvironmental constraints. The purpose of this session is to outline how intrinsic and extrinsic lipids influence therapy sensitivity and resistance in hematologic malignancies. Lipids within the bone marrow microenvironment promote the development and progression of multiple myeloma. Plasma lipid profiles are shaped by acute myeloid leukemia (AML) genetics, and specific lipid species are associated with AML relapse following therapy. This session will review mechanisms of lipid-driven therapy resistance, highlighting lipid-mediated metabolic and signaling pathways that modify anti-apoptotic dependencies and create targetable vulnerabilities. We will discuss translatable approaches that leverage our understanding of the lipidome and cancer metabolism to improve therapy efficacy in hematologic malignancies.

Dr. Courtney Jones will describe how the lipidome can be used to predict therapy response, drive therapy resistance, and can be targeted to overcome resistance in AML.

Dr. Mala Shanmugam will elucidate the mechanistic basis of how fatty acids alter BCL-2 dependence and sensitivity to BCL-2 targeting agents like venetoclax in multiple myeloma.

Speakers:

Courtney L. Jones, PhD
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH
Lipids Biomarkers of Therapy Relapse in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Mala Shanmugam, PhD
Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University
Atlanta, GA
Lipids and Therapy Resistance in Multiple Myeloma

Illuminating the Dark Corners in the Genomes of Lymphoid Neoplasms

Despite comprising only 2% of the human genome, protein coding regions have been the primary focus of genomic and functional characterization of somatic alterations in lymphoid neoplasms. However, a significant proportion of pathogenic variants, either germline or somatic, are non-coding and occur in patterns consistent with non-random mutational mechanisms, pointing to their important roles in disease biology. Although previously under-studied, recent discoveries have begun illuminating the key roles of non-coding variants in lymphoid neoplasms. This session will demonstrate the power of integrating genomic profiling with functional genomics to move beyond protein-coding sequence and uncover novel mechanisms of disease with potential translational relevance.

Dr. Jun Yang will explore the functional consequences of non-coding variants with a focus on acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Recent advances in functional genomics, including large-scale CRISPR-based perturbation screens, epigenomic profiling, and single-cell technologies, have made it possible to systematically interrogate the non-coding genome and define the biological consequences of regulatory variation. This talk will highlight salient examples of functional impact of non-coding variants, illustrating how they alter transcription factor binding, chromatin architecture, gene regulation, and ultimately leukemia biology.

Dr. Laura Hilton will explore the clinical relevance of non-coding variants with a focus on mature B-cell lymphomas, which arise from cells with in-built mutational mechanisms whose physiological role is to generate antibody diversity by mutating and rearranging the immunoglobulin loci. Dysfunction of these mechanisms in lymphomas is both a cause and consequence of genomic rearrangements that alter biology and clinical behavior, and patterns of non-coding variants differ between lymphomas and their subtypes, informing on gene expression patterns that belie distinct biology. This talk will cover the breadth of evidence for the importance of non-coding mutations to lymphoma biology, pathogenesis, and clinical behavior.

Speakers:

Jun J. J. Yang, PhD
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis, TN
Dissecting the Functional Consequence of Non-Coding Variants

Laura K. Hilton, PhD
BC Cancer
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Clinical Relevance of Non-Coding Mutations

Sticky Situations: Glycans in Classical and Malignant Hematopoiesis

Glycosylation is the most common post-translational modification. It occurs on more than half of all proteins and nearly all cell surface proteins yet has been poorly studied historically. With the advancement of novel mass spectrometry technologies, glycosylation research has gained traction. The goal of this session is to highlight fundamental and preclinical advances in the glyco-hematology field that are relevant to benign and malignant disorders. We hope to inspire the audience to consider the role of glycosylation on their protein or disease of interest.

Dr. Marie Hollenhorst will discuss glycobiology of hemostasis and thrombosis. She will discuss her lab's in-depth analysis of platelet glycoprotein glycosylation that has provided insight into glycoepitopes that are relevant for diseases caused by antiplatelet antibodies.

Dr. Anna Marneth will discuss how glycosylation of major hematopoietic growth factor receptors contributes to their function, the role of glycans in chemotherapy resistance and immune evasion, and proof-of-concept studies highlighting the potential avenue of targeting glycosylation in myeloid malignancies.

Speakers:

Marie Hollenhorst, MD, PhD
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, MA
Novel Insights Into the Glycobiology of Hemostasis and Thrombosis

Anna E Marneth, PhD
Radboudumc
Nijmegen, Netherlands
Glycans in the Pathogenesis and as a Therapeutic Target in Myeloid Malignancies

Scientific Symposia

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AI Models of Cell State for the Design of Next-Generation T Cell Therapies

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies have transformed outcomes in B cell and plasma cell malignancies and hold promise for other indications in hematology. Yet, response remains variable and difficult to predict, and preclinical models often fail to recapitulate patient biology. Understanding and engineering the cell states that govern therapeutic efficacy is an active area of research. This session will explore how artificial intelligence (AI) models trained on multimodal data and clinical outcomes can move cell therapy design from empirical trial-and-error toward predictive, data-driven optimization and highlights the emerging AI systems for cell design. Altogether, this session charts a path toward rationally engineered next-generation cellular therapies.

Dr. Zinaida Good will present clinically informed AI models that predict patient response directly from single-cell RNA-sequencing of CD19-targeted CAR T infusion products and/or baseline histopathology data in large B cell lymphoma. Using an attention-based multiple instance learning framework, she will show how the approach identifies beneficial transcriptional programs and simulates outcomes for in silico engineered CAR T cells, enabling optimization anchored in clinical data in parallel with experimental validation.

Dr. Yusuf Roohani will describe a platform for AI-guided biological design that engineers cell state for precision therapeutics. Combining foundation models spanning biological scales with AI agents that direct data generation, he will address representation, dynamics, and experimental agency to search hypothesis spaces beyond current experimental reach through simulating cellular systems from whole-organism perturbation atlases to patient stratification of drug response.

Dr. Rahul Satija will present scalable frameworks that turn multimodal single-cell data into predictive models of cell state, describing Seurat for modality integration, scSLIDE for sample- and patient-level representations across large cohorts, and VIPerturb-seq for perturbation-resolved training data at scale, linking molecular state, genetic perturbation, and phenotype.

Chair:

Zinaida Good, PhD
Stanford University
Stanford, CA

Speakers:

Zinaida Good, PhD
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Clinically Informed AI Models for Predicting and Engineering CAR T Cell Function

Yusuf Roohani, PhD
Arc Institute
Palo Alto, CA
State-of-the-Art Single-Cell Foundation Models for Future Cell Design

Rahul Satija, PhD
New York Genome Center
New York, NY
Scalable Frameworks for Multimodal Data Analysis and Next-Generation Cell Models

Designing Microbiome-Directed Interventional Trials in Hematologic Malignancies

This session will provide a practical framework for designing microbiome-directed interventional trials in hematologic malignancies. The gut microbiome has emerged as an important determinant of clinical outcomes, with growing evidence linking microbial composition and function to treatment response, survival, immune reconstitution, and toxicity. Although much of this evidence remains observational, advances in high-resolution sequencing, metabolomics, and immune profiling now enable integrated mechanistic studies that can move beyond correlation toward causality. While these mechanistic studies are evolving, their insights are informing therapeutic strategies.

Despite growing interest, few rigorously designed microbiome-directed interventional trials have been conducted in hematologic malignancies and their precursor conditions. This session will equip attendees with a practical framework for designing microbiome-directed clinical trials by highlighting lessons learned from completed and ongoing studies, key considerations for selecting interventions and endpoints, integrating microbiome and immune biomarkers, addressing important confounders, and identifying opportunities to develop novel microbiome therapies.

Dr. Urvi Shah will discuss dietary and prebiotic interventions as broad ecological approaches to microbiome modulation. She will review the rationale and summarize evidence linking diet, the microbiome, and clinical outcomes including NUTRIVENTION trial results. She will highlight key principles and practical challenges in designing rigorous dietary and prebiotic intervention trials.

Dr. Florent Mallard will discuss fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) as an approach to restore disrupted microbial communities. With a focus on allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT), he will review the mechanisms and clinical evidence for FMT in the prevention and treatment of graft-versus-host disease, including the pooled allogeneic fecal microbiota (MaaT013), and discuss its potential to reduce infections.

Dr. Doris Ponce will focus on defined live biotherapeutic products as targeted microbial therapeutics. She will review the rationale for using defined bacterial consortia to selectively modulate microbial communities and host–microbe interactions, present clinical data from SER-155 to reduce infections in alloHCT and discuss adaptive trial design implementation in microbiome-directed clinical development.

Chair:

Urvi A. Shah, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY

Speakers:

Urvi A. Shah, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY
Dietary and Prebiotic Intervention Strategies

Florent Malard, MD, PhD
Sorbonne University, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, AP-HP
Paris, France
Fecal Microbiota Transplant Intervention Strategies

Doris M Ponce, MD, MS
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY
Live Bacterial Therapeutic Intervention Strategies

In Vivo Gene Modification Approaches for Classical and Malignant Hematologic Disorders

This session will address viral and non-viral delivery methods and technologies (including their respective advantages and limitations) for in vivo gene therapy for classical and malignant hematological disorders. Ex vivo gene therapies are powerful treatment approaches for classical and malignant hematological disorders. Despite the clinical success of ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-based gene therapy, this procedure is costly and difficult to implement for large numbers of patients, particularly in countries with limited healthcare infrastructure. Furthermore, the gene therapy protocol (including cell culture) can affect HSC yield and engraftment, and myeloablation (required to make room for transplanted HSCs) causes short- and long-term complications. In parallel, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have revolutionized the treatment of B-cell malignancies. However, their broader use is constrained by complex ex vivo manufacturing requirements and the need for lymphodepleting chemotherapy, which limits patient access. Viral and non-viral delivery approaches of in vivo gene editing aim to substantially reduce complexity, toxicity, and costs, making gene therapies more accessible and applicable across additional clinical indications.

Chair:

Annarita Miccio, PhD
Imagine Institut, Inserm, Universite' Paris Cite'
Paris, France

Speakers:

Hans-Peter Kiem, MD, PhD
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Seattle, WA
Viral Vector-Mediated In Vivo Hematopoietic Stem Cell Gene Therapy: Targets, Delivery, and Selection

William Peranteau, MD
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA
Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) Delivery to Hematopoietic Stem Cells in Vivo

Michael Birnbaum, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
In Vivo Car T Cell Generation to Treat Cancer and Autoimmune Disorders

Lab-Grown Red Blood Cells: From Scalable Manufacturing to Clinical Translation

The production of lab-grown red blood cells has advanced rapidly, creating new opportunities to address persistent challenges in transfusion medicine. However, major barriers remain before cultured red cells can be produced reproducibly, economically, and at the scale required for routine diagnostic and therapeutic use. These include the need for robust erythroid progenitor sources, efficient differentiation and enucleation, high-density culture systems, standardized product characterization, and clinically compatible manufacturing processes. This session will examine recent progress across the translational continuum, from scalable bioprocessing to unmet clinical needs and first-in-human studies.

Dr. Eric Bouhassira will discuss the metabolic and bioprocessing constraints that limit large-scale production of lab-grown red blood cells. He will describe self-renewing erythroblasts carrying KIT and JAK2 signaling modifications that can proliferate without exogenous cytokines while retaining the capacity for terminal differentiation and enucleation. He will also present hollow-fiber and stacked-membrane bioreactors designed to support ultra-high-density erythroid culture through improved nutrient delivery, waste removal, and process control.

Dr. Stella Chou will address the unmet needs of patients with red cell alloimmunization and rare blood types, including difficulties in antibody identification and access to compatible blood. She will discuss how genetically engineered lab-grown red blood cells could provide standardized, antigen-defined reagent cells and, ultimately, customized transfusion products.

Dr. Joanne Mountford will review the clinical translation of lab-grown red blood cells, including first-in-human studies evaluating their safety, survival, and function. She will discuss manufacturing consistency, regulatory requirements, product characterization, and the early evidence supporting cultured red cells as a future transfusion product for patients with complex transfusion needs.

Chair:

Eric Bouhassira, PhD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, NY

Speakers:

Eric Bouhassira, PhD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, NY
Scalable Manufacturing of Lab-Grown Red Blood Cells: Overcoming Metabolic and Bioprocess Constraints

Stella T Chou, MD
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Unmet Needs in Transfusion Medicine: Alloimmunization, Rare Blood Types, and the Case for Lab-Grown Red Cells

Joanne Mountford, PhD
Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Clinical Translation of Lab-Grown Red Blood Cells: First-in-Human Studies and Early Outcomes

Single-Cell and Spatial Genomics Redefining the Immune Cell Landscape in AML/MDS

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic neoplasms (i.e. MDS) are increasingly recognized as diseases shaped not only by malignant clones, but also by complex and dynamic interactions with the immune microenvironment. Recent advances in single-cell and spatial genomics are providing unprecedented resolution of these interactions, enabling simultaneous characterization of cellular identity, functional states, clonal architecture, and spatial organization within the bone marrow. These approaches are revealing previously unrecognized immune cell states, disease-associated cellular programs, and specialized microenvironmental niches that contribute to immune evasion, disease persistence, and therapeutic resistance. The presentations in this session will illustrate how high-resolution genomic technologies are reshaping our understanding of the AML/MDS immune ecosystem and enabling the discovery of clinically actionable mechanisms of immune escape and therapeutic response.

Dr. Livius Penter will discuss mechanisms of immune escape that contribute to medullary and extramedullary AML relapse following chemotherapy, allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, and immunotherapy. He will highlight how single-cell approaches are defining the interplay between leukemic clonal evolution, remodeling of the immune microenvironment, and dysfunctional anti-leukemia T-cell responses, with implications for the development of next-generation immunotherapeutic strategies.

Dr. Susan de Wolf will present spatial analyses of the AML/MDS bone marrow microenvironment, integrating in situ gene expression, mutation and RNA isoform profiling, and T-cell receptor characterization. Her presentation will examine spatial interactions between malignant and immune cells, with a focus on disease-associated regulatory T-cell populations and the role of TGFβ signaling in immune escape. Computational approaches to identify disease-defining cellular niches and changes in T-cell immunity across myeloid neoplasms will also be discussed.

Dr. Hussein Abbas will discuss the phenotypic diversity, spatial organization, clonal architecture, and functional states of AML/MDS-associated T-cell populations. He will highlight how single-cell and spatial transcriptomic approaches are redefining our understanding of immune surveillance and dysfunction in AML and informing biomarker development and novel immunotherapeutic strategies

Chair:

Catherine Wu, MD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA

Speakers:

Livius Penter, MD
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Berlin, Germany
AML Immune Escape Mechanisms Driving Post-Therapy Relapse

Susan DeWolf, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY
Spatial Niches within the AML/MDS Bone Marrow Immune Microenvironment

Hussein Ali Abbas, MD, PhD
M D Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
Phenotypes and Specificities of AML/MDS-Associated T Cell Populations

Special Symposium on the Basic Science of Hemostasis and Thrombosis (SSBSHT)

This session will highlight cutting edge technologies that are poised to transform future research and therapeutic development in hemostasis, thrombosis, vascular biology, and megakaryocyte/platelet biology. By bringing together diverse, innovative approaches, the session is designed to equip investigators with conceptual and practical tools that can accelerate discovery across these interrelated fields. The invited talks will focus on (1) technologies and computational tools that enable the identification of novel, biologically relevant and potentially druggable targets; and (2) platforms and model systems designed to characterize, validate, and functionally test these targets in translationally meaningful ways, thereby directly informing drug discovery pipelines.

As is customary for this special symposium, the session will also feature a fourth presentation delivered by the winner of the Mary Rodes Gibson Award. This award recognizes the trainee with the highest scoring abstract submitted to the ASH Annual Meeting in the areas of hemostasis and thrombosis, thereby highlighting and elevating outstanding emerging science and future leaders in the field.

The session will conclude with an interactive panel discussion that integrates perspectives from all speakers. This discussion will distill key lessons from the technologies presented, explore how they can be applied or combined to address major unmet needs, and outline concrete opportunities for advancing hemostasis, thrombosis, and megakaryocyte/platelet research and therapeutic innovation. Immediately after the session will be a reception for the hemostasis and thrombosis community.

Chairs:

Mettine Bos, PhD
Leiden University Medical Center
Leiden, Netherlands

Jaehyung Cho, PhD
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO

Vivien M Chen, PhD, MBBS
The University of Sydney School of Medicine
Sydney, Australia

Speakers:

Oliver Borst, MD
University of Tuebingen
Tuebingen, Germany
Platelet Lipidomics and the Discovery of Novel Anti-Thrombotic Targets

Lindsey George, MD
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Philadelphia, PA
Rational Design of FVIII Variants for Gene Therapy: Linking Molecular Insight to Therapeutic Performance

ASH Studio

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MedEd Talks: Giving Feedback and Remediation for UME/GME

The ASH Studio hosts brief, targeted talks that focus on removing barriers to high-quality care, principles of medical education, and cutting-edge teaching techniques. The Med Ed Talks @ the ASH Studio focus on best practices within medical education, including tips and strategies for overcoming common challenges. These sessions will take place at the ASH Studio, located in ASH Central.

Dr. Alice Ma will discuss giving feedback and remediation for UME/GME.

Speaker:

Alice Ma, MD
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Chapel Hill, NC

MedEd Talks: Interactive Teaching Methods

Dr. Joanna Pierro will discuss interactive teaching methods.

Speaker:

Joanna Pierro, DO
Staten Island University Hospital - Northwell Health
Staten Island, NY

MedEd Talks: Leadership Skills and Styles in Medical Education

Dr. Leslie Kersun will discuss leadership skills and styles in medical education.

Speaker:

Leslie Kersun, MD
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA

Treating Fairly Talks: Building Infrastructure for Systemic Change in Maternal Health Outcomes

As part of our commitment to excellence through expansion and inclusion, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) is offering the ASH Treating Fairly Talks. This inclusive space is designed to help attendees recognize the drivers of differing outcomes for various populations as viewed through the hematology lens and provide tools to make changes in their institutions. These sessions will include a short expert commentary followed by facilitated conversations about actions that can be taken to drive change at your institution. The Treating Fairly Talks will take place at the ASH Studio, located in ASH Central.

Dr. Imo Akpan will present “Building Infrastructure for Systemic Change in Maternal Health Outcomes."

Speaker:

Imo Akpan I, MD
Columbia University Medical Center
New York, NY

Treating Fairly Talks: Engaging American Indians and Alaska Native Populations in Community Interventions/Research

Dr. Denise Dillard will present on engaging American Indians and Alaska Native populations in community interventions/research.

Speaker:

Denise Dillard
Washington State University
Spokane, WA

ASH Wellness Studio

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