Marquee Sessions and Lectures

Announcement of Awards: J. Evan Sadler Award for Mentorship and Bernard Forget Award for Mentorship

These two awards are named after the late J. Evan Sadler, MD, PhD, and the late Bernard Forget, MD, who were two long-standing members and volunteer leaders of the Society. The awards recognize the value and influence of ASH members who have made a positive difference in the hematology community through mentoring. Each year, these awards honor two outstanding mentors drawn from any of the different branches of hematology including adult or pediatric hematologists; academic or community practitioners; basic, clinical, or translational researchers; hematopathologists; transfusion medicine specialists; educators; and individuals working in industry or government. 

J. EVAN SADLER AWARD FOR MENTORSHIP

Dr. Roy Silverstein, 2019 ASH President and a classical hematologist focused on platelet biology and vascular disease, is being recognized for the profound impact his mentorship has had in preparing emerging hematologists for success. Throughout his career, he has guided trainees at various career stages — including undergraduates, PhD candidates, and fellows — with mentorship marked by generosity, accessibility, and teaching by example. Dr. Silverstein believes that every opportunity to connect with mentees matters, even if it is just 15 minutes shared over a cup of coffee between meetings. Because of his support, his mentees have gone on to secure competitive awards and appointments, provide exceptional care to their patients, produce groundbreaking research, and contribute to the advancement of the field through leadership roles in academia, community practices, and industry.

BERNARD FORGET AWARD FOR MENTORSHIP

Dr. Laura De Castro is being honored for her commitment to lifelong, hands-on mentorship for the next generation of classical hematologists, especially those passionate about improving care for individuals living with sickle cell disease. Her interest in mentorship began when she was a high school student and tutored members of her community in the Dominican Republic. Guided by the support of her own mentors and role models — including her parents, who both worked in medicine, and Bernard Forget, MD — Dr. De Castro developed a mentorship philosophy grounded in advocacy, professional ethics, and work-life balance. Her mentees have gone on to establish fulfilling careers, make meaningful contributions to the field of hematology, and improve care and health outcomes for patients worldwide.

Chair:

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

Speakers:

Roy Silverstein, MD

Laura DeCastro, MD, MSc

Announcement of Awards: William Dameshek Prize, Janet Rowley Basic Science Medal, and Helen M. Ranney Clinical and Translational Science 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 (50 years or younger) who has made recent outstanding contributions leading to a critical new understanding of hematology. These contributions can include basic, translational, and clinical research dealing with patients, health disparities, and outcomes research.

Dr. Stella Chou, a classical hematologist and clinician-scientist, is being recognized for her outstanding contributions to transfusion medicine and alloimmunization (immune system reactions to blood transfusions) in individuals living with sickle cell disease. She spearheaded research demonstrating that variant Rh antigens on the red blood cells of individuals with sickle cell disease are a major driver of alloimmunization, leading to new insights that have improved transfusion safety. She has also pioneered work on the development of lab-grown “designer” red blood cells to enable precise detection of challenging Rh antibodies, improving donor-recipient matching, and led the development of ASH clinical practice guidelines on transfusion support for sickle cell disease. Together, her research and advocacy have been practice-changing, advancing precise transfusion through innovative diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Her many contributions to the field have advanced safer, more effective transfusion practices and improved care for individuals with blood disorders.

JANET ROWLEY BASIC SCIENCE MEDAL

This medal is named after the late Janet Rowley, MD, who received the National Medal of Science and the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her pioneering work in leukemia research. The medal honors a senior investigator with a years-long and well-recognized history of contributions to basic hematology research.

Dr. Benjamin Levine Ebert, a clinician-scientist, is being honored for transformative contributions to the understanding and treatment of blood cancers and precancers. His research identified the mechanism of action for thalidomide, lenalidomide, and related molecules for multiple myeloma and a subtype of myelodysplastic syndromes. This work paved the way for drugs that act as molecular glues to target proteins for degradation, enabling a new suite of therapeutics under development. Dr. Ebert led efforts to discover and characterize a key gene, RPS14, as the driver of a subtype of myelodysplastic syndromes. He also characterized the genetics and clinical significance of clonal hematopoiesis (overproduction of cloned, genetically mutated blood cells), showing that it is not only a common precancer state linked to blood cancers, but also a driver of cardiovascular disease and inflammatory diseases. His foundational discoveries have directly translated into significant clinical advances for patients, reshaping the field of hematology.

HELEN M. RANNEY CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE MEDAL

This medal is named after the late Helen M. Ranney, MD, recipient of the Martin Luther King Medical Achievement Award, the first woman to chair a department of medicine at a major academic institution, and the first female president of ASH. The medal honors a senior investigator with a years-long and well-recognized history of contributions to clinical/translational hematology research.

Dr. Andrew Roberts, a physician-scientist and editor-in-chief of Blood, is being honored for his transformative research contributions to the understanding and treatment of leukemias and lymphomas. He was at the forefront of developing BH3 mimetics (a class of cancer cells that target cell death) for clinical practice, providing some of the earliest evidence demonstrating the potential of targeting the protein BCL2 to treat hematologic malignancies. Building upon this work, he codeveloped and led clinical trials on BH3 mimetics, including the first in-human clinical trial of venetoclax and first venetoclax combination trials for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and lymphoma. His pioneering research established a novel class of targeted therapies, BCL2 inhibitors, which have fundamentally reshaped the treatment landscape for patients with hematologic malignancies.

Chair:

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

Speakers:

Stella T Chou, MD

Benjamin Ebert, MD, PhD

Andrew Roberts, PhD, MBBS
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Melbourne, Australia

Announcement of Awards: Roland B. Scott-Charles Drew Excellence in Equity Award and Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology

ROLAND B. SCOTT-CHARLES DREW EXCELLENCE IN EQUITY AWARD

This award is named after the late Roland B. Scott, MD, and the late Charles Drew, MD, CM, MDSc, who exemplified the qualities that this award honors: support for the development of an inclusive hematology workforce, career development of trainees from communities underrepresented in hematology, a commitment to inclusiveness in contributions to the mission of ASH, and/or a record of accomplishments in helping to eliminate health disparities in the care of hematology patients.

Dr. Leon Bernal-Mizrachi, a physician-scientist, is being celebrated for his longstanding dedication to recruiting and supporting the next generation of hematologists from historically disadvantaged groups and improving access to high-quality care in underserved patient communities. For nearly a decade, he served as an integral member of ASH’s Committee on Advancing Excellence and Population Health, where he founded and chaired the ASH Ambassador Program, which seeks to spark medical students’ interest in hematology. Dr. Bernal-Mizrachi has contributed extensively to initiatives focused on strengthening inclusion in medicine, including efforts to improve clinical trial diversity in lymphoma and myeloma research. He brings a global perspective to his work and believes that a medical community reflecting different backgrounds and experiences is essential to driving novel, transformative thinking and innovation that improve outcomes for all patients.

WALLACE H. COULTER AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN HEMATOLOGY

The Society's highest honor, the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology, recognizes an individual who has demonstrated a lasting commitment to the field of hematology through outstanding contributions to education, research, and practice. The prize is named for the late Wallace Coulter, an engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur who applied engineering principles to solving biomedical problems. It commemorates Mr. Coulter's important innovations in diagnostic and investigative medicine in the 20th century and his impact on the disciplines of cell biology, hematology, immunology, and oncology, as well as on industrial processes.

Dr. Elliott Vichinsky, a physician-scientist, is being recognized for his work transforming the care, understanding, and treatment of hemoglobin disorders, including sickle cell disease and thalassemia. He has been a pioneer in the field for more than 40 years, and his contributions have fundamentally altered clinical practice and public health policy to improve patient outcomes worldwide.

Dr. Vichinsky’s commitment to sickle cell disease began during his training in the late 1970s, when he witnessed the profound disparities in care faced by individuals living with the disease. Determined to improve outcomes, he established one of the nation’s earliest comprehensive lifespan sickle cell disease programs. His dedication to improving care continued at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals in Oakland, California, where he and his colleagues developed the Hemoglobinopathy Reference Laboratory, which has become one of the largest and most comprehensive newborn screening and diagnostic programs for hemoglobin disorders. Dr. Vichinsky played a key role in establishing California’s universal newborn screening program for sickle cell disease and the nation’s first statewide universal screening program for alpha thalassemia.

Dr. Vichinsky has an extensive research portfolio and has made many significant contributions to the understanding and treatment of sickle cell disease and alpha thalassemia. Among these accomplishments, he demonstrated progressive neurocognitive decline in asymptomatic individuals living with sickle cell disease; played a leading role in the development of disease-modifying therapies, including L-glutamine and voxelotor for sickle cell disease and pyruvate kinase activators for alpha thalassemia; and developed prenatal and fetal therapeutic approaches to alpha thalassemia major.

One of his most notable scientific contributions is defining the causes, natural history, and clinical outcomes for acute chest syndrome, a leading cause of mortality in sickle cell disease. He built much of the clinical and research infrastructure that supports modern hemoglobinopathy investigation.

Throughout his career, Dr. Vichinsky has been a fierce advocate for patients with hemoglobin disorders and health equity, as well as a dedicated mentor to the next generation of hematologists. He remains actively engaged in research, including studies of long-term outcomes associated with sickle cell trait, iron overload and chelation therapy in alpha thalassemia major, and novel approaches to improve bone health in sickle cell disease.

Co-Chairs:

Robert Negrin, MD

Robert Negrin, MD

Speakers:

Leon Bernal-Mizrachi, MD

Elliott P. Vichinsky, MD

ASH-EHA Joint Symposium: Novel Approaches to Cell Engineering in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

A deeper understanding of the biology of immune mechanisms has resulted in a number of approaches to engineer the hematopoietic graft to improve outcomes for patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. In this session we will review different strategies employed throughout the world examining biological mechanisms, strategies, and clinical outcomes. These approaches offer the possibility of reduced complications such as non-relapse mortality and graft vs host disease with less toxicity. Additional approaches to reduce relapse and improve immune reconstitution are under development and will be discussed.

Co-Chairs:

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

Konstanze Döhner, MD
President, European Hematology Association, Ulm University
Ulm, Germany

Speakers:

Everett Meyer, MD, PhD
University of Colorado
Aurora, CO
Immune Regulatory Mechanisms to Improve Outcomes following HSCT

Antonio Pierini, MD, PhD
University of Perugia
Perugia, Italy
Strategies to Improve Outcomes following Haploidentical Transplantation

Best of ASH

Co-Chairs:

Ami Bhatt, MD, PhD
University of Colorado
Aurora, CO

Saar Gill, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize

This lectureship and prize — named after the late Nobel Prize Laureate and past president of ASH E. Donnall Thomas, MD — recognizes pioneering research achievements in hematology that have represented a paradigm shift or significant discovery in the field.

Since the cloning of the MLL/KMT2A gene in the early 1990s and subsequent demonstration that the KMT2A complex regulates gene expression via chromatin-based mechanisms, much work has defined the specific gene expression program driven by KMT2A-fusion proteins and the hematopoietic cells that can be transformed. This, combined with detailed biochemical characterization, set the stage for the development of novel therapeutic hypotheses, including targeting chromatin-associated complexes. These concepts have progressed to the discovery and development of small molecules that directly target the KMT2A complex via disruption of the KMT2A-menin interaction, ultimately leading to approval of menin inhibitors for KMT2A-rearranged and NPM1c-mutant leukemias. Furthermore, these therapeutic concepts are being assessed in other cancers.   

Menin inhibitors may benefit up to 50% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia, but resistance is a significant concern. Combination approaches with standard-of-care therapies may reduce the development of resistance. However, a more rational approach to targeting multiple components of chromatin regulatory complexes may also significantly improve therapeutic options.

The lecture will focus on our understanding of chromatin and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that control leukemia development driven by specific oncoproteins in the context of different cells of origin. Current and future novel therapeutic approaches, including menin inhibition, will be discussed, with a focus on leveraging recent biological insight for the development of even more efficacious and less toxic therapies for patients with leukemia and other cancers.

Dr. Scott Armstrong, a physician-scientist, is being celebrated for transformative contributions to the understanding and treatment of leukemias. His seminal research demonstrated that MLL(KMT2A)-rearranged leukemias exhibit a unique gene expression signature and defined the cells of origin and epigenetic mechanisms that drive development of multiple leukemia subtypes. This work enabled identification of new therapeutic approaches for KMT2A-rearranged, NUP98-rearranged, and NPM1-mutant leukemias, including menin inhibitors (a targeted cancer therapy that turns off genetic signals driving cancer growth). His extensive research directly led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of menin inhibitors for KMT2A-rearranged and NPM1-mutant leukemias, representing a novel cancer therapy class and expanding treatment options for countless patients.

Chair:

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

Speaker:

Scott Armstrong, MD, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA
Leveraging the Biology of the MLL (KMT2A) Complex to Discover New Therapies for Leukemia

Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize

The Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize — named for the late Ernest Beutler, MD, a past president of ASH and physician-scientist for more than 50 years — is a two-part lectureship that recognizes major translational advances related to a single topic. This award honors two individuals, one recognized for enabling advances in basic science, and the other recognized for using clinical science or translational research to improve patient care.

This lecture and prize recognizes the outstanding efforts of Drs. Cory and Konopleva in advancing the understanding and treatment of leukemias and lymphomas. 

Chair:

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

Speakers:

Suzanne Cory, PhD
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Harnessing the Apoptotic Machinery for Highly Effective Antileukemic Therapeutics

Marina Konopleva, MD, PhD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, NY
Harnessing the Apoptotic Machinery for Highly Effective Antileukemic Therapeutics

Ham-Wasserman Lecture

CAR T cell therapy has become a transformational treatment for patients with B cell malignancies and multiple myeloma. However, CAR T cell-based therapies for T cell malignancies has been more challenging. CD7-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy represents a novel immunotherapeutic approach for relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (T-ALL/LBL) which are aggressive malignancies with poor outcomes despite conventional salvage treatments. CD7, a transmembrane glycoprotein expressed in over 95% of T-ALL/LBL cases, constitutes an ideal therapeutic target; however, its expression on normal T cells necessitates innovative engineering strategies to overcome CAR-T cell fratricide. Dr. Lu will discuss the very encouraging results including autologous naturally selected constructs, donor-derived products, and universal “off-the-shelf” products that could make a CAR T cell therapy for T cell disease a therapeutic reality. Across all platforms, CD7 CAR-T therapy demonstrated potent initial antileukemic activity, achieving complete remission (CR) rates of 80–95%. Nevertheless, durable disease control remains critically dependent on consolidative allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Notably, CD7-negative relapse accounted for 30–60% of treatment failures, emphasizing antigen escape as a primary resistance mechanism. Dr. Lu will discuss hallenges and future directions with the hope that global availability of CD7 CAR-T therapies will be available in the near future for this high-risk patient population.

Chair:

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

Speaker:

Peihua (Peggy) Lu, MD
Beijing Lu Daopei Hospital
Beijing, China
CD7 CAR-T Therapy in T-cell Acute Leukemia/Lymphoma: Past, Present and Future

Presidential Symposium

Peripheral immune tolerance is an active state of unresponsiveness to antigens that should elicit an adaptive immune response. Suppression of fetus-specific cytotoxic T cells during pregnancy and suppression of self-reactive T cells that escape central tolerance and might otherwise cause autoimmune disease are classic examples of such tolerance.  Cancers can induce tumor-specific immune tolerance and thereby evade immune attack. The critical importance of immune tolerance was recently acknowledged in the awarding of the Nobel Prize for the discovery of FoxP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) and their requisite role in peripheral tolerance. Surprisingly, the mechanism responsible for inducing such tolerance has remained elusive.  Recently, Dr. Engleman identified an unexpected role erythropoietin (EPO) acting through EPO receptors (EPOR) on conventional Type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) and macrophages to promote their tolerogenic maturation and activation of antigen-specific Tregs. EPOR signaling in these dendritic cells induces tolerance to allogeneic organ transplants and fetuses and ameliorates graft versus host disease in mice. On the other hand, blockade of EPOR on these cells results in the loss of tolerance and induction of a cytotoxic T cell response that can cause regression of tumors. These findings suggest that antagonists and agonists targeting EPOR on cDC1s and macrophages may prove useful in the treatment of disorders ranging from cancer and infection to autoimmune disease and allograft rejection.

The thymus which was thought to involute and become non-functional over the course of one’s lifetime has become the focus of new inquiry challenging this conventional teaching. Recent findings indicate that thymic function has significant impact on health and disease throughout life representing a novel paradigm of immune function. In this session Dr. Scadden will discuss how the thymus may affect the outcome of hematologic malignancies, alter sensitivity to immunologic therapies and review current efforts to improve thymus function. 

Dr Fyodor Urnov will describe the use of platform approaches to engineer CRISPR-gene editing based ex vivo and in vivo therapies on-demand for severe pediatric inborn errors of immunity. The development of gene therapy approaches to treat some of the most challenging genetic disorders represents a culmination of decades of research on the biology, pathophysiology and creative application of basic scientific concepts to the treatment of complex diseases. The hope that these may be addressed using therapies developed in the body of the patient represent a truly transformational approach that could have broad applicability.

Chair:

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

Speakers:

Edgar G Engleman, MD
Stanford University School of Medicine
Palo Alto, CA
Role of EPO/EPOR in Tolerance Induction

David T Scadden, MD
Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Cambridge, MA
Role of the Adult Thymus in Health and Disease

Fyodor Urnov, PhD
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Novel Approaches to in vivo Therapy