How I Teach
A LEGACY OF MENTORSHIP
Oliver W. Press, MD, PhD
The American Society of Hematology (ASH)
will honor the late Oliver (“Ollie”) W. Press,
MD, PhD, with a 2017 Mentor Award at the 59th
ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta,
Georgia, for his tireless, outstanding commitment
to the training and development of early-career
hematologists. Dr. Press, a lymphoma physician-
scientist best known for his contributions to the
development of radioimmunotherapy, died Sep-
tember 29, 2017, from complications of glioma. He
is survived by his wife of 38 years, Nancy, and his
two children.
At the time of his death, he held the first
Giuliani/Press Endowed Chair for Cancer Re-
search at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center (FHCRC) and maintained a joint faculty
appointment as professor of medicine and adjunct
professor of bioengineering at the University of
Washington in Seattle.
Dr. Press also was an active member of ASH,
serving as an associate editor of Blood and on mul-
tiple committees, including the Program Commit-
tee and the Scientific Subcommittee on Lympho-
cytic Biology. His other leadership roles included
chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for the
Lymphoma Research Foundation and co-chair of
the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Lymphoma
Steering Committee.
He mentored more than 70 individuals since
the 1980s, including undergraduates, medical
students, PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows.
His dedication to mentorship has been recognized
with an award named in his honor, the Oliver
W. Press Distinguished MSTP Alumnus Award,
which acknowledges a graduate of the University
of Washington School of Medicine’s Medical
Scientist Training Program. He also received the
Department of Medicine Mentorship Award from
98
ASH Clinical News
the University of Washington.
An impressive number of his former trainees
have received career-development grants; he has
been the primary mentor to nine recipients of
K-series career-development awards from the
National Institutes of Health. Many have gone on
to become leaders in academic medicine and the
pharmaceutical industry.
Dr. Press was a dedicated clinician and prolific
translational researcher, his work spanned the re-
search spectrum from basic science to large-scale
clinical trials. Clinical trials he led combining ra-
dioimmunotherapy and blood stem cell transplant
have demonstrated some of the best long-term
outcomes in certain blood cancers.
He also was a pioneer in the use of monoclo-
nal antibodies to target radionuclides to tumors.
Recently, he and his mentee Brian G. Till, MD,
developed a genetically engineered immune-cell
therapy targeting CD20, which is launching its
first-in-human trial for patients with non-Hodgkin
lymphomas.
Dr. Press served as associate director of the
University of Washington Medical Scientist
Training Program from 1991 to 2006 and interacted
with more than 100 students during that period,
including Maria Corinna Palanca-Wessels,
MD, PhD, medical director at Seattle Genetics,
clinical assistant professor at the University of
Washington, and affiliate investigator at FHCRC.
Dr. Palanca-Wessels met Dr. Press in her first
year as an MD/PhD student at the University
of Washington, and she recalls his unassuming
demeanor and straightforward communication
style, as well as his engaging leukemia-lymphoma
case conferences – commonly referred to as
“Ollie rounds.” Eventually becoming a member
of his research group at FHCRC during her
hematology fellowship, Dr. Palanca-Wessels
credited his selfless support for shaping her career
as a physician- scientist and her own role as a
mentor: “I think that having had a great mentor
has inspired me to become one myself.”
Dr. Press’s mentees uniformly cite his unparal-
leled generosity and dedication as having played a
large role in advancing their careers. He often told
them, “Your success is my success.”
Ajay K. Gopal, MD, professor of medicine
at the University of Washington and one of Dr.
Press’s trainees said, “It was not uncommon for
one of my colleagues around the country to [tell]
me, ‘Ollie gave rounds at our center and presented
some of your data,’ generously giving praise to the
junior investigator when he could just as rightfully
taken full credit.”
His generosity extended to his time. Steven Y. Liu,
MD, a former trainee and junior faculty member
at the University of Washington and FHCRC,
observed the rhythms of Dr. Press’s early arrivals
(“hair still wet from his routine morning swim”)
and the sounds of his keyboard tapping as he
worked late into the night. “For a man who did
not have any extra time, he always had the energy
to make more time when needed,” Dr. Liu said.
Although Dr. Press ran a well-funded laboratory,
mentored multiple fellows and junior faculty
members, and cared for patients twice a week, he
always made time for those with whom he had
committed to work.
Dr. Press is also recognized for the value he
placed on personal connections and professional-
ism. Whether atten-ding his son’s intercollegiate
soccer games or taking an annual fishing trip to
Alaska with his family, Dr. Press led by example in
how to balance work with the rest of his life. He
also demonstrated an unwavering commitment
to his patients. In October 2015, just days after
surgery to remove a brain tumor, he returned to
the clinic because he couldn’t imagine canceling
his patients’ scheduled appointments.
“For a man who did
not have any extra
time, he always had
the energy to make
more time when
needed.”
—STEVEN Y. LIU, MD
Dr. Press kept six generations of fire-bellied
toads in his office. Fascinated by their metamor-
phosis – when their tadpole tails undergo apopto-
sis and their gills transform into lungs – he took
great care in his stewardship of the creatures.
Damian J. Green, MD, associate member of
FHCRC and associate professor at the University
of Washington, connects that innate nurturing
ability and love for creatures large and small to
Dr. Press’s success as a mentor: “A transformational
mentor identifies needs, has a vision to guide
growth, and selflessly watches mentees flourish.
Ollie transformed my life.” ●
Drs. Hoffmann and Press’s work as outstanding
mentors will be honored during the Announcement
of Awards on Sunday, December 10, at 1:30 p.m. in
the Georgia World Congress Center, Hall C2-C3.
December 2017