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American Society of Hematology Selects Five Resident Physicians for Minority Resident Hematology Award Program

(WASHINGTON, October 2, 2018) – The American Society of Hematology (ASH) today announced the names of five resident physicians selected to take part in the 2018 ASH Minority Resident Hematology Award Program (MRHAP). This program is designed to provide support for underrepresented minority residents to conduct hematology-focused research with the intended outcome of increasing interest in hematology research and choice of fellowship. 

Program participants will receive a total support amount of $7,000, which will help cover their research projects and travel expenses to the 60th ASH Annual Meeting in December, where they will present the results of their projects at the Promoting Minorities in Hematology Reception. In addition, each resident is paired with two ASH mentors: A research mentor who will oversee the research project and a career-development mentor who will guide the participant throughout his or her MRHAP experience and beyond. They will also receive complimentary ASH membership throughout residency.

The MRHAP is one of four programs under ASH’s Minority Recruitment Initiative, a series of programs committed to increasing the number of underrepresented minorities training in hematology-related fields and the number of minority hematologists with academic and research appointments.

The 2018 MRHAP participants and their research topics include:

Recipient Project Title Research Mentor Career-Development Mentor

Jesse Cobell, MD 
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Intrapatient molecular heterogeneity in lymphoma Javier Munoz, MD, MS
Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center
Gilbert, AZ
Leon Bernal-Mizrachi, MD
Emory Winship Cancer Institute
Atlanta, GA
Omayra Gonzalez Pagan, MD, PhD
UT Houston - McGovern Medical School
Houston, TX
The effect of platelets on complement activation and cancer cell proliferation

Vahid Afshar-Kharghan, MD
The University of Texas
MD Anderson
Houston, TX

Modupe Idowu, MD
UT Houston - McGovern Medical School
Houston, TX
Ismanie Guillaume, MD
Christiana Care Health System
Wilmington, DE
Identifying disparities in primary and secondary stroke prevention between pediatric and adult sickle cell populations

Kim Smith-Whitley, MD 
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA

Deepika Darbari, MD
Children’s National Health System
Washington, DC
Olubusola Oluwole, MD
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Pittsburgh, PA
Impact of hydroxyurea use on cognitive performance of Ghanaian children with sickle cell disease Enrico Novelli, MD, MS
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Pittsburgh, PA
Amma Owusu-Ansah, MD, MBBS
Vascular Medicine Institute
Pittsburgh, PA
Elisa Quiroz, MD
Beaumont Health
Royal Oak, MI
Variations in microRNA expression in Latin American patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Dan Douer, MD
University of Southern California
Keck School of Medicine
Los Angeles, CA

Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

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

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