Scientific Spotlight Sessions
These sessions are designed for a smaller audience and are usually focused on a niche topic not being covered in the Scientific program. Each 75-minute spotlight session will be presented once in a small-venue format on either Sunday or Monday and will include ample time for panel discussion, audience questions and participation. These sessions are restricted to research and medical professionals only; no businesspersons or media will be admitted.
The following information is preliminary and subject to change. All times are listed in Central time.
Program Co-Chairs:
Olatoyosi Odenike, MD
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
David Garcia, MD
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Program Co-Chairs:
Olatoyosi Odenike, MD, University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
David Garcia, , University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Platelet Factor 4-Mediated Immunothrombosis: Insights from the Novel Syndrome of Vaccine-Induced Thrombosis and Thrombocytopenia (VITT)
Sunday, December 11, 2022, 4:30 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 291-292
This session will review the pathophysiology of VITT and the key role of PF4-dependent neoantigens, novel assays of platelet activation that were recently developed to confirm the diagnosis of VITT and the unique factors of the cerebral venous sinuses that promote acute thrombosis in VITT . This session is relevant to three areas of the ASH research agenda: COVID-19, infectious diseases and hematology and thrombosis and vascular biology. Understanding and managing the “new” condition of VITT was a major focus for scientists and coagulation specialists over the last 12 months, and the insights gained from these efforts will guide management of other immune-mediated procoagulant syndromes.
Co-Chairs:
Vivien M Chen, MBBS,PhD
Concord Repatriation General Hospital
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Saskia Middeldorp, MD,PhD
Radboud University Medical Center
Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Speakers:
Vivien M Chen, MBBS,PhD
University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW, Australia
PF4 Autoantibodies and Thrombosis
Jonathan M Coutinho, MD,PhD
Amsterdam University Medical Centers
Amsterdam, NLD
Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis: Risk Factors and Biology
Sowing the Seeds of Leukemia Before Birth
Monday, December 12, 2022, 2:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 271-273
The clonal trajectories to blood cancers are largely unknown. While it has been known for a while that many childhood leukemias originate before birth, it is now becoming evident that this may also be true for certain leukemias that present in adult life. What predisposes hematopoietic cells to acquire oncogenic mutations in utero, and why do only some of these preleukemic clones transform to full blown leukemia, with others not progressing? The variable latency of malignant transformation for different leukemias is also a matter of interest, as it might allow screening, monitoring and possible intervention in those born with preleukemic clones.
Dr. Anindita Roy will speak about how childhood leukemias, especially those in infants, originate before birth. In this talk she will highlight the importance of fetal specific progenitors and their molecular programs in human hematopoiesis, and how they determine the biology of MLL-AF4+ infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She will also explore whether it is possible to use this information to understand the origins and refractory nature of infant leukemia, with the aim of developing better therapeutic strategies.
Dr. Jyoti Nangalia will discuss how adult blood cancers and clonal expansions can also originate in childhood, including before birth. She will highlight what factors might determine their long clonal trajectories such that disease occurs many decades later. She will explore what is known about clonal trajectories across blood cancers and potential opportunities for earlier detection and interventional strategies.
Co-Chairs:
Anindita Roy, MD,PhD
University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom
Jyoti Nangalia, MBBChir
Wellcome Sanger Institute
Saffron Walden, ENG, United Kingdom
Speakers:
Anindita Roy, MD,PhD
University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: How Fetal-Specific Gene Expression Programs Cooperate with MLL-AF4 to Initiate and Maintain Leukemia
Jyoti Nangalia, MBBChir
Wellcome Sanger Institute
Saffron Walden, ENG, United Kingdom
Myeloproliferative Neoplasms: Adult Diseases with a Fetal Origin?