General Sessions

These signature sessions are designed to be of interest to a broad and diverse audience and are spread throughout the four days of the meeting. They include the prestigious Plenary Scientific Session, Best of ASH, and the Presidential Symposium. Many of the general sessions also honor distinguished leaders in the field through awards and special lectures.

The general sessions at the 62nd ASH Annual Meeting include:

• Announcement of Awards
• ASH-EHA Joint Symposium
• Best of ASH
• Business Meeting
• E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize
• Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize
• Ham-Wasserman Lecture
• Late-Breaking Abstracts Session
• Plenary Scientific Session
• Presidential Symposium

Announcement of Awards: Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology, ASH Mentor Awards, ASH Award for Leadership in Promoting Diversity, ASH Outstanding Service Award, and ASH Public Service Award

Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology

Wallace H. Coulter was a prolific inventor, innovator, and entrepreneur. His Coulter Principle pioneered the development of flow cytometry, defined particle characterization, and made possible automated hematology, thus revolutionizing laboratory medicine. The Coulter Counter led to major breakthroughs in science, medicine, and industry. This award, in his name, recognizes an individual who has demonstrated a lasting commitment to the field of hematology through outstanding contributions to education, research, and practice.

ASH Mentor Award

The ASH Mentor Award was established to recognize hematologists who have excelled in mentoring trainees and colleagues. Each year the Society recognizes two outstanding mentors drawn from the areas of basic science, clinical investigation, education, or clinical/community care who have had a significant, positive impact on their mentees' careers and, through their mentees, have advanced research and patient care in the field of hematology.

ASH Award for Leadership in Promoting Diversity

The ASH Award for Leadership in Promoting Diversity honors hematologists who have supported the development of an inclusive hematology workforce, who have encouraged the career development of underrepresented minority trainees, or who have made the commitment to inclusiveness in contributions to the mission of ASH.

ASH Outstanding Service Award

The ASH Outstanding Service Award is presented annually to an individual who has worked tirelessly to raise public awareness and increase research funding for hematologic diseases. The 2020 recipient will be announced at the meeting.

ASH Public Service Award

The ASH Public Service Award is presented annually to an elected public official who has demonstrated unparalleled leadership on issues of importance to hematology research and/or practice. The 2020 recipient will be announced at the meeting.

Announcement of Awards: William Dameshek Prize and Henry M. Stratton Medal

William Dameshek Prize

The William Dameshek Prize, named for the late William Dameshek, MD, a past president of ASH and the original editor of Blood, recognizes an early- or mid-career individual who has made a recent outstanding contribution to the field of hematology.

Henry M. Stratton Medal

The Henry M. Stratton Medal is named after the late Henry Maurice Stratton, co-founder of Grune and Stratton, the medical publishing house that first published ASH’s journal Blood. The prize honors two senior investigators whose contributions to both basic and clinical/ translational hematology research are well recognized and have taken place over a period of several years.

ASH-EHA Joint Symposium: Failure of Targeted Cellular Immunotherapy and Hematopoietic Cell Transplant: Mechanisms and Mitigating Strategies

Rewiring of cellular metabolism is a phenomenon common to stem cell maintenance, hematopoietic stress responses, immune and inflammatory signaling, and induction and propagation of malignancy. In the 2019 ASH-EHA Joint Symposium, Drs. Emmanuelle Passegue and Brian Huntly will highlight recent translational discoveries linking specific metabolic pathways to emergency hematopoiesis, bone marrow aging, and hematologic malignancies. The session will highlight studies from their laboratories using human samples and mouse models, along with state-of-the-art technologies, such as gene editing, single cell genomics, and systems biology approaches that have identified multiple metabolic candidates and pathways with therapeutic potential for hematologic malignancies, hematopoietic aging, and transplantation.

Co-Chairs:

Stephanie J. Lee, MD, MPH
President, American Society of Hematology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Seattle, WA

John G. Gribben, MD, DSc
Barts Cancer Institute, Centre for Haemato-Oncology Queen Mary University of London
London, United Kingdom

Speakers:

Crystal Mackall, MD
Stanford University
Stanford, CA

Luca Vago, MD, PhD
IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele
Milan, Italy

Best of ASH

Before heading home, make time to attend this 90-minute session for a review of the key themes from this year's meeting. Led by the 2020 Scientific Program co-chairs, Best of ASH is your opportunity to hear about the biggest breakthroughs from the meeting's scientific presentations.

Business Meeting

At least one month prior to the annual meeting, reports on ASH's financial status, awards, and journals, Blood and Blood Advances, as well as information about the Society's leadership nominations, are made available online for review by ASH members. The Business Meeting will offer a forum for members to discuss the information presented in these documents and will conclude with the traditional passing of the gavel to the new ASH president.

E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize

Coming soon

Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize

Coming soon

Ham-Wasserman Lecture

Chair:

Stephanie J. Lee, MD, MPH
President, American Society of Hematology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Seattle, WA

Speaker:

Andrew W. Roberts, MBBS, PhD
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Camberwell, VIC, Australia
Therapeutic Development and Current Uses of BCL-2 Inhibition

Late-Breaking Abstracts Session

This highly anticipated session highlights the Program Committee's selections of the highest-impact abstracts, featuring substantive, novel, and groundbreaking data that were not available by the general abstract submission deadline and would otherwise not be presented at the ASH annual meeting.

Plenary Scientific Session

During this highlight of the annual meeting, attendees will hear the presentations of the highest-caliber scientific abstracts selected by the Program Committee from among the thousands submitted from around the world.

Presidential Symposium: Universal Donor Solutions in Hematology

Chair:

Stephanie J. Lee, MD, MPH
President, American Society of Hematology, , Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Seattle, WA

Speakers:

Gay M. Crooks, MB, BS
UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Institute, DGSOM, Departments of Pathology & Pediatrics, University of California Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Off-the-Shelf Cellular Immunotherapy

Bronwen E. Shaw, PhD, MRCP, FRCPath
Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WI
A Stem Cell Donor for Every Patient

Stella T. Chou, MD
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA
Universal Platelets and Red Cells