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The Society Pages
Remembering Past ASH President
George Stamatoyannopoulos (1934 - 2018)
George Stamatoyannopoulos,
MD, DrSci, a professor of medi-
cal genetics at the University of
Washington who pioneered the
study of specific blood diseases,
died June 16, 2018.
Born in Athens, Greece, Dr.
George
Stamatoyannopoulos, Stamatoyannopoulos entered
MD, DrSci
medical school at age 17 and
began his research on inherited
blood disorders, focusing on anemias, after
completing his medical training. His research
accomplishments included performing the first
large-scale molecular geographic survey of a
genetic trait, which ultimately revealed the as-
sociation between malaria and both thalassemia
and sickle-cell traits.
He also discovered that fetal hemoglobin was
reawakened in some patients with thalassemia
and could ameliorate the disease’s effects; this
finding has supported international efforts to
cure these disorders. His research brought him
to the University of Washington in 1964, where
he had served as a full professor since 1973. Dr.
Stamatoyannopoulos also founded the univer-
sity’s Markey Molecular Medicine Center and was
chief of medical genetics from 1989 to 2005.
Dr. Stamatoyannopoulos received many honorary
degrees and awards, including the American
Society of Hematology’s (ASH’s) Henry M. Stratton
Medal and the William Dameshek Prize. He
also served as president of ASH in 1992 and was
elected to numerous honorary organizations and
academies.
He is survived by his wife and close collaborator
of more than 50 years, Thalia Papayannoupoulou,
MD, DrSci, a professor of medicine and interna-
tionally recognized hematologist; two sons, one
of whom is a professor of genome sciences and
medicine and was a scientific collaborator in recent
years; and three grandchildren.
Source: UW Medicine press release, June 21, 2018.
Remembering Joan C. Gill (1943 - 2018)
Joan C. Gill, MD, a pioneering
researcher in pediatric hematol-
ogy, died on May 9, 2018, after a
year-long battle with cancer.
After graduating from
medical school in 1976, Dr. Gill
Joan C. Gill, MD
began her long research career in
non-malignant hematology. She
led a research team that was the first to identify
the immune abnormalities in patients with
hemophilia that ultimately became recognized
as AIDS. She was the principal investigator for
the first National Institutes of Health (NIH)–
funded grant focusing on AIDS in patients with
hemophilia, and her work also provided important
insights into the diagnosis and treatment of von
Willebrand disease.
Most recently, Dr. Gill was professor of pediat-
rics and medicine at the Medical College of Wiscon-
sin, investigator at the Blood Research Institute
at BloodCenter of Wisconsin, and director of the
Comprehensive Center for Bleeding Disorders in
American Cancer Society Awards $2.6 Million to Study
Immunotherapy Side Effects
The American Cancer Society (ACS) selected
the first group of scientists to receive newly
established research grants to investigate seri-
ous adverse events associated with checkpoint
inhibitors like ipilimumab and nivolumab. The
multi-year grants are jointly funded by ACS and
the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) and went
into effect on July 1.
Two researchers were granted the first ACS-
MRA Multidisciplinary Team Awards:
• Kai Wucherpfennig, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute, will study the optimal treatment
for patients’ ipilimumab-induced colitis.
• David Gerber, MD, University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center, will study
whether autoimmunity increases the risk
of immune-related adverse events to
immunotherapy.
ASHClinicalNews.org
Three researchers were granted the first ACS-
MRA Pilot Awards:
• Suephy Chen, MD, Emory University, will focus
on improving the understanding of cutaneous
immunotherapy-related skin side effects in
patients with melanoma.
• Betina Yanez, PhD, Northwestern University,
will evaluate the feasibility of an evidence-
based, web-delivered oncology program
(“OncoLink”) to improve the management of
immune checkpoint inhibitor side effects.
• Bianca Santomasso, MD, PhD, Memorial
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, will focus on
neurologic immune-related adverse events
or neurotoxicities associated with immune
checkpoint inhibitors.
Milwaukee. She also treated patients at Children’s
Hospital of Wisconsin for nearly three decades and
was a founding member of the Hemostasis and
Thrombosis Research Society – which named an
ann