Hematologists from Developing Countries Participate in 2017 ASH Visitor Training Program
(WASHINGTON, September 13, 2017) – The American Society of Hematology (ASH) today announced the names of 25 hematologists and medical professionals from developing countries selected to participate in the 2017 ASH Visitor Training Program (VTP). Participants will receive up to 12 weeks of specialized hematology training at host institutions in many different parts of the world. After the program, participants will return home to implement their newly acquired skills and knowledge to address a specific need, helping to build hematology capacity and expertise at their respective institutions.
“Participants taking part in this program will gain new insights to take home and share with their colleagues, which will ultimately help improve patient care in their countries,” said ASH President Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, of the Lebow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. “The Visitor Training Program is one of several ways ASH is working through training programs and workshops to improve hematology care of patients all over the world .”
This year’s program includes participants from 13 countries who are training at top institutions in North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Their areas of study vary from bone marrow transplantation to hematologic malignancies and the management of sickle cell disease. VTP participants will carry out their training in the clinic or laboratory of an ASH member mentor. Additionally, participants will be assigned a counselor from the ASH International Members Committee who will assist them with understanding the rigorous scientific community of ASH and evaluate the progress of both the participant and the host mentor.
The 2017 Visitor Training Participants are:
| Participant & Home Country | Training Topic | Mentor & Host Institution |
| Gunay Aliyeva, BS, MSc Baku, Azerbaijan |
Molecular assays in hemoglobinopathy and thalassemia diagnosis | Carolyn C. Hoppe, BS, MPH, MD UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, CA |
| Daniela Barbieri Buenos Aires, Argentina |
Next generation sequencing for genetic panels for epigenetic markers and mutational profiling | Maria Figueroa, MD University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Miami, FL |
| Livingstone Dogara, MBBS, FMCPath Kaduna, Nigeria |
Coagulation tests for hemophilia, thrombosis, and hemostasis | Johnny Mahlangu, MD, BS Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Nermeen Eldabah, MBCHB, MSc, MD Alexandria, Egypt |
Cytogenetic analysis for hematological disorders and malignancies | George Deeb, MD Emory University Atlanta, GA |
| Tushar Idhate, MD Jamner, India |
Management of sickle cell disease and thalassemia | Baba Inusa, MD, MRCP Guy’s & St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust London, UK |
| Raheel Iftikhar, MBBS, FCPS, FACP Rawalpindi, Pakistan |
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation | Ghulam J. Mufti, DM, FRCP, FRCPath King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust London, UK |
| Mohammad Islam, MBBS, BCS, FCPS Dhaka, Bangladesh |
Management of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in transfusion dependent thalassemia patients | Vikram Mathews, MD Christian Medical College Vellore, India |
| Olufunto Kalejaiye, MB, ChB, FMCP Lagos, Nigeria |
Morphology and interpretation of immunochemistry, blood film, and bone marrow aspiration slides | Alok Srivastava, MD Christian Medical College Vellore, India |
| Oluwatobi Lala, BS Ibadan, Nigeria |
Cell morphology and staining | George Deeb, MD Emory University Atlanta, GA |
| Levani Makhaldiani, MD Tbilsi, Georgia |
Autologous bone marrow transplantation for multiple myeloma | Daniel Weisdorf, MD University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN |
| Anali Mora-Alferez, MD Lima, Peru |
Diagnosis and management of hereditary hematological neoplasia | Lucy Godley, MD, PhD University of Chicago Chicago, IL |
| Ogechukwu Obi, BSc, MBBS Port Harcourt, Nigeria |
Management of thrombosis and hemostasis/blood clotting | Adam Cuker, MD, MS University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA |
| Veerendra Patil, MD, FNB Bengaluru, India |
Diagnosis and treatment of pediatric primary immunodeficiency disorders | Rakesh Goyal, MD, MRCP Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas City, MO |
| Mauricio Postigo MacDowall, MD Arequipa, Peru |
Peripheral blood/marrow morphology | Michael Linden, MD, PhD University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN |
| Khaliqur Rahman, MBBS, MD Lucknow, India |
Complete laboratory workup of lymphoma | Vishala Neppalli, MD Roswell Park Cancer Institute Buffalo, NY |
| Syed Raza, PhD Lucknow, India |
Molecular genetic testing and diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, minimal residual disease, and thalassemia 1 | Te-Chih Liu, MBBS, MRCP, FRCPath National University Hospital Singapore |
| Anam Sadiq, PharmD Rawalpindi, Pakistan |
Developing protocols and standard operating procedures for clinical pharmacy practice in hematology, hematology-oncology, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation | Charles Craddock, FRCP, FRCPath Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, UK |
| Yee Loong Tang, MD, DrPath Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
Flow cytometry and clinical data interpretation | George Deeb, MD Emory University Atlanta, GA |
| Selami Toprak, MD Ankara, Turkey |
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and management of transplant patients | Koen Van Besien, MD, PhD Weill Cornell University New York City, NY |
| Christiana Udo, MBBCH Abuja, Nigeria |
Diagnosis and management of bleeding disorders (hemophilia A & B, and von Willebrand disease) | Ravindra Sarode, MD UT Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, TX |
| Angela Ugwu, MBBS, FMCPath Ituku, Nigeria |
Creation and management of an efficient hospital-based blood transfusion system | Andreas Greinacher, MD Institut fur Immunologie und Transfusionmedizin Greifswald, Germany |
| Dulanie Wijesekara, MBBS Kadugannawa, Sri Lanka |
Allogeneic and autologous SCT donor recruitment, selection, optimization, conditioning and management of associated complications | Alessandro Rambaldi, MD University of Milan Milan, Italy |
| Ei Phyo Win, MBBS, MSc Yangon, Myanmar |
Flow cytometry | Joseph Khoury, MD MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX |
| Ayman Youssef, MBBCh Alexandria, Egypt |
Bone marrow transplantation | Ahmed Galal, MD Duke Cancer Center Durham, NC |
| MD Abdullah Zubayer Khan, MBBS, FCPS Dhaka, Bangladesh |
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation | Thomas Spitzer, MD Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, MA |
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.
Amanda Szabo, American Society of Hematology
[email protected]; 202-552-4914
