58th ASH Annual Meeting to Celebrate Major Advances in Hematology Research

The American Society of Hematology (ASH), the world’s largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders, will host more than 27,000 attendees from around the world to highlight groundbreaking scientific research and the latest advances in patient care at its 58th annual meeting, December 3-6, at the San Diego Convention Center. 

The 2016 ASH Annual Meeting will feature nearly 5,000 scientific abstract presentations in malignant and non-malignant blood diseases – from cutting-edge advances in genome editing and discoveries about biological processes of the blood to practice-changing breakthroughs in immunotherapies and innovative treatment combinations. The top six abstracts will be presented during the Plenary Scientific Session on Sunday, and the Late-Breaking Abstracts Session on Tuesday will feature six studies with novel data of high-impact. In addition to these signature sessions, experts will analyze abstracts in the transformative fields of genome editing and novel approaches to immunotherapy in this year’s two Featured Topic Discussions.

“The ASH Annual Meeting is internationally notable for its unparalleled educational and scientific programming and its assortment of sessions on malignant and non-malignant hematology,” said ASH President Charles S. Abrams, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania. “What is so special about this meeting is that it serves as the largest meeting place for hematologists in the world – it is our largest stage for the year’s important discoveries, and it is the place where collaborations are formed. I am honored to welcome hematologists and other health professionals from all over the world to join us in San Diego.”

Beyond the research presented in the abstract presentations, ASH is pleased to host Greg Simon, executive director of the White House Cancer Moonshot Taskforce, as the guest speaker at its annual Grassroots Network Lunch. The Grassroots Network Lunch is a forum for ASH members to learn how they can get involved in the Society’s advocacy efforts throughout the year. In addition, the ASH Annual Meeting offers programming specifically for trainees, including a half-day career-development workshop the day before the meeting.

ASH’s new open-access journal, Blood Advances, will launch at the meeting with a commemorative print copy, remarks at the start of the Plenary Scientific Session by Editor-in-Chief Robert Negrin, MD, of Stanford University, and other surprises for attendees.

Other noteworthy annual meeting offerings include the Presidential Symposium, Education and Scientific Programs, and a wide array of lectures, seminars, special symposia, and recognition of the Society’s prestigious honorific and mentor award recipients:

• The Presidential Symposium will focus on sickle cell disease and how we can harness our current knowledge of the human genome to treat a vast array of genetic disorders.
  
  
• The Education Program will offer 31 sessions on key areas of progress in hematology practice, including sessions on immunotherapy for myeloma, challenges and new directions in lymphoma, and optimizing treatments for high-risk acute lymphocytic leukemia.
  
  
• The Scientific Program will feature 16 sessions on the hottest areas of hematology research, including bone marrow failure, immunology and host defense, transfusion medicine, and lymphoid neoplasia. The 2016 program will also feature special symposia on cell of origin and leukemic transformation, genomic instability in lymphoid development, and the basic science of hemostasis and thrombosis.
  
  
• Several acclaimed hematologists will present this year’s special lectures:
  • Zhu Chen, MD, and Hugues de Thé, MD, PhD, will present the Ernest Beutler Lecture, “Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia: A Model for Precision Medicine and Cure by Targeted Therapies.”
  • David Scadden, MD, will present the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture, “Bone Marrow: Structure and Function of the Blood Cell Foundry.” 
  • Saskia Middeldorp, MD, PhD, will present the 2016 Ham-Wasserman Lecture, “Inherited Thrombophilia: How Does a Double-Edged Sword Fit into Clinical Practice?
    
    
• The Society will honor the following hematologists with individual awards for their achievements during the 2016 meeting:
  • Thalia Papayannopoulou, MD, University of Washington in Seattle – Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology
  • Charles Mullighan, MBBS (Hons), MD, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – William Dameshek Prize
  • J. Evan Sadler, MD, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Ayalew Tefferi, MD, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine – Henry M. Stratton Medal
  • Laurence Boxer, MD, University of Michigan, and Ralph Nachman, MD, Weill Cornell Medicine – ASH Mentor Award

For the complete annual meeting program and abstracts, visit www.hematology.org/annual-meeting or download ASH’s annual meeting mobile app. Up-to-the-minute meeting information can also be found by following ASH on Twitter (@ash_hematology) and the meeting hashtag #ASH16. 

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) (www.hematology.org) is the world’s largest professional society of hematologists dedicated to furthering the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting the blood. For more than 50 years, the Society has led the development of hematology as a discipline by promoting research, patient care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology. ASH publishes Blood (www.bloodjournal.org), the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, which is available weekly in print and online. In 2016, ASH launched Blood Advances (www.bloodadvances.org), an online, peer-reviewed open-access journal.

CONTACT:
Sara Khalaf, American Society of Hematology
[email protected]; 202-552-4925