ASH Announces Top Trainee Abstracts of 2016 ASH Annual Meeting

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) is pleased to recognize the following trainees with the highest-scoring abstracts in the categories of undergraduate student, medical student, graduate student, resident physician, and postdoctoral fellow at the 58th ASH Annual Meeting December 3-6 in San Diego.

“I am delighted to recognize these talented early-career researchers for their outstanding contributions to the study of hematology,” said 2016 ASH President Charles S. Abrams, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania. “These individuals are shining examples of the promise of the next generation of scientists, and I am pleased that ASH provides the opportunity for rising stars to gain recognition by presenting their work in front of thousands of their distinguished colleagues from all over the world.”

The 2016 Outstanding Abstract Achievement Award recipients are:

Undergraduate Student

Ryunosuke Saiki
Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
NGS-Based Copy Number Analysis in 1,185 Patients with
Myeloid Neoplasms
Publication #955

Medical Student

Matthew Hartwell
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
An Early Biomarker Algorithm Predicts Lethal
Graft-Versus-Host Disease and Survival after Allogeneic
Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Publication #509

Graduate Student

Xiaotian Zhang
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
High Order Chromatin Structure Regulates Gene Expression in
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Erythroid
Differentiation
Publication #1033

Resident Physician

Maximilian Witzel, MD
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
SWI/SNF Protein SMARCD2 Orchestrates Transcriptional
Networks Controlling Hematopoiesis and Neutrophil
Granulocytes in Humans, Mice and Zebrafish
Publication #2

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Ly Vu, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
RNA Binding Protein Syncrip Regulates the Leukemia Stem Cell
Program
Publication #739

Giuseppe Bigi Memorial Award

The ASH Giuseppe Bigi Memorial Award was established in 2015 to recognize an Italian trainee (undergraduate student, medical student, graduate student, resident physician, or post-doctoral fellow) based at an Italian institution who has the highest-scoring abstract submitted in the field of hematopoiesis and stem cells. This annual award is made possible by a generous grant from the Giuseppe Bigi Association, named for the late Giuseppe Bigi, MD, a well-known Italian scientist. The 2016 recipient is:

Patrizia Sciancalepore, MD
University of Turin, Turin, Italy
ATP-Binding-Cassette A1 Regulates Extracellular Isopentenyl Pyrophosphate Release and Vγ9Vδ2 T-Cell Activation By Dendritic Cells
Publication #3709

Mary Rodes Gibson Memorial Award in Hemostasis and Thrombosis

The Mary Rodes Gibson Memorial Award in Hemostasis and Thrombosis was established to recognize the trainee (undergraduate student, medical student, graduate student, resident physician, or post-doctoral fellow) who is the first author and presenter of the highest-scoring abstract submitted to the ASH Annual Meeting in the field of hemostasis and thrombosis. This annual award honoring excellence in hemostasis and thrombosis is made possible by the Mary Rodes Gibson Hemostasis-Thrombosis Foundation to continue the legacy of Mary Rodes Gibson, who suffered from severe, type 3 von Willebrand disease.

This award will be presented during the invited speaker session of the Special Symposium on the Basic Science of Hemostasis and Thrombosis on Monday, December 5, from 4:30 - 6:00 p.m., in Ballroom 20BC in the San Diego Convention Center. The 2016 recipient is:

Ranjeet Kumar Sinha, PhD
The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA
Novel R41Q- and R46Q-PAR1-Modified Mice Enable Proof-of-Concept Studies for In Vivo Protective Mechanisms of Action for Activated Protein C (APC) in Sepsis and Stroke
Publication #13

Minority Graduate Student Abstract Achievement Award

Each year, ASH offers merit-based Minority Graduate Student Abstract Achievement Awards to select graduate students to acknowledge their accomplishments and to recruit and retain minority graduate students in the field of hematology through exposure to the ASH Annual Meeting.

The 2016 Minority Graduate Student Abstract Achievement Award recipients are: 

Morayo Adebiyi
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX
Sphingosine-1-Phosphate (S1P) Signaling through S1P Receptor 1 (S1PR1) in Macrophage Contributes to Pain in Sickle Cell Disease
Publication #2476

Stephanie N. Christie
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
Inhibiting SOX11-DNA Interaction in Mantle Cell Lymphoma
Publication #1840

Briana Fitch
University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Mechanism of IL-10 Protective Effect in Development of Childhood B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Publication #4075

Kamira K. Maharaj
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Combinatorial Effect of HDAC6i and Ibrutinib Therapy in CLL Murine Model
Modulation of T Cell Compartment in a Preclinical CLL Murine Model By a Selective PI3K Delta Inhibitor, TGR-1202
Publications #2035 and #3236

Katelyn Melgar
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
Molecular Analysis and In Vivo Efficacy Studies on a Novel Chemical-Series of FLT3 Inhibitors in Human FLT3-ITD AML
Publication #36

Amanda Mener
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
C3 Modulates RBC Antigen to Negatively Regulate Antibody Response
Publication #22

A complete list of Abstract Achievement Award recipients is available at http://www.hematology.org/Awards/Award-Recipients/Abstract-Achievement/6779.aspx

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. The official journal of ASH is Blood (www.bloodjournal.org), the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, which is available weekly in print and online.

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