The American Society of Hematology Selects Catherine Zander, PhD, for the New ASH Congressional Fellowship Program

(WASHINGTON, May 18, 2017) – The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has selected Catherine Zander, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, to participate in the new ASH Congressional Fellowship program.

As the ASH Congressional Fellow, Dr. Zander will spend an entire academic year in Washington, DC, working in a congressional office to contribute to health care and hematology policy, starting in September 2017. Dr. Zander will attend a week-long orientation and choose a congressional office with the aid of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellowship, which administers the program in conjunction with ASH. 

“The opportunity to participate in the ASH Congressional Fellowship program is deeply meaningful to me,” said Dr. Zander. “It will allow me to advocate not only for essential hematology research, but also for the physicians, patients, and researchers affected by this work.”

Dr. Zander brings a great deal of experience in research and advocacy to her fellowship experience. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and earned her PhD in Chemistry, with a focus in Biophysical Chemistry working with Christof Grewer, PhD, at Binghamton University in New York. Dr. Zander is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the department of pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, where she focuses on creating novel treatments for the rare blood clotting disorder thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). She is also an active member of ASH. No stranger to Capitol Hill, Dr. Zander served as a representative for the Biophysical Society’s STEM on the Hill day, meeting with several congressional offices to encourage the funding of basic science and the National Institute of Health.

The ASH Congressional Fellowship program aims to connect hematologists to the policy-making process and also to educate Congressional members and staff about issues that are important to hematologists and their patients.

“Catherine’s participation in this fellowship program provides an unparalleled opportunity to educate elected officials and their staff about hematology,” said chair of the ASH Committee on Government Affairs Alan Rosmarin, MD, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. “While my colleagues and I from the ASH Committee on Government Affairs meet with our members of Congress and congressional staff during ASH Hill Days and other ASH sponsored advocacy opportunities, Catherine will be working with these individuals for an entire year to help shape policy impacting hematology research and practice.”

The American Society of Hematology (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