CLINICAL NEWS
On Location
American Society of Hematology’s
2018 ANNUAL MEETING INSIDE LOOK
he 2018 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, taking place
December 1-4 in San Diego, California, features a diverse
lineup of educational activities, networking opportunities, and
practice-changing science.
ASH Clinical News spoke with speakers, moderators, and chairs
for an inside look at this year’s program, including interviews
with the 2018 Mentor Award winners, a behind-the-scenes look
at ASH-a-Palooza, and an inside look at new session formats
debuting this year.
For the Love of the Lab:
Interview with John E. Dick, PhD
John E. Dick, PhD
Senior Scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto
Director, Program in Cancer Stem Cells, Ontario Institute
for Cancer Research
Toronto, ON
John E. Dick, PhD, recipient of the 2018 Mentor Award in basic science,
tells us about his career in the lab – from working at “the mecca of
stem-cell research” to learning how to foster creativity in his own lab.
Attendees gather at a previous ASH annual meeting.
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ASH Clinical News
Did you always know you wanted to
pursue a career in medical science?
Not at all, and I wasn’t exposed to any
type of biology or the notion that one
could be a medical researcher, until after
I graduated high school.
I grew up on a farm about an hour
outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba, which is in
the very center of Canada. I went to a small
elementary school – a classic one-room
schoolhouse, really – and we didn’t have
biology classes. Then I went to an equally
small high school, which also didn’t have
biology classes. I had no idea what I wanted
to do after I graduated, so I went to a com-
munity college where I ended up taking a
medical radiology technician course. That’s
where I first learned about anatomy and
physiology, and I loved it.
At the time, I was living with a bunch
of guys who were attending the Univer-
sity of Manitoba. (I won’t go into it, but it
really was like Animal House.) I saw them
and I thought, “You know what? Maybe I
could go to university for a year or two.”
So, I applied and was accepted; that’s how
I started down the path to becoming a
biomedical researcher.
As an undergraduate, I was spend-
ing time in the lab and talking with PhD
students and I again had the thought, “I
can do this.” So, I enrolled in the PhD
program and that was that.
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December 2018