Several hematology and oncology researchers will receive awards at the 2019 conference of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO), which takes place May 1-4.
Dr. Loretta Li
Loretta Li, MD, of Boston Children’s Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Akshay Sharma, MBBS, of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, will receive Young Investigator awards at the conference.
Dr. Akshay Sharma
Dr. Sharma is conducting research investigating the genetic regulation of fetal hemoglobin and developing transplant and gene therapy trials for patients with sickle cell disease. Dr. Li is studying the activity of JAK2 inhibitors, as well as mechanisms of response and resistance to these drugs, in leukemias.
Dr. Elliott Vichinsky
Elliott Vichinsky, MD, of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland in California, will receive ASPHO’s Distinguished Career Award. Dr. Vichinsky has helped implement newborn screening programs for blood diseases, developed techniques to make blood safer for chronically transfused patients, and conducted research that furthered the development of drugs used to treat iron overload.
Dr. Wilbur Lam
Wilbur Lam, MD, PhD, of Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center/Emory University in Atlanta, has won the Frank A. Oski Memorial Lectureship. He will present “Development and Clinical Translation of Engineered Microsystems for Hematologic Applications” on May 2.
Dr. Lam’s research has focused on using nanomechanical and microfluidic engineering approaches to study blood cells, endothelial cells, and thrombosis. Dr. Lam and his lab have created “microvasculature-on-a-chip” models of blood diseases and a smartphone app that can detect and monitor anemia.
Dr. Kenneth McClain
Kenneth McClain, MD, PhD, of Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor University in Houston, has won the 2019 George R. Buchanan Lectureship. Dr. McClain will present “An Oncogene-Driven Orphan Disease: A Short History of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis” on May 2.
Dr. McClain’s research has focused on Langerhans cell histiocytosis and related disorders. He has served as a founding member and president of the Histiocyte Society, and he organizes yearly events to provide information on Langerhans cell histiocytosis to patients and their families.
Dr. Smita Bhatia
Smita Bhatia, MD, of University of Alabama, Birmingham, has won the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Award for Excellence. Her research has focused on health‐related outcomes in cancer survivors and the pathogenesis of these outcomes. Dr. Bhatia has developed models that can identify high-risk cancer survivors and interventions that can reduce complications among cancer survivors.
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