UP FRONT
ASH Directions
Bylaws Amendments Expand Role of International
Members in Society’s Governance
On December 8, 2015, ASH Active members in good
standing passed two bylaws amendments during a historic in-person vote at the 57th ASH Annual Meeting to
recognize the increasing role that non-North-American
hematologists play in contributing to ASH’s success. The
first gives International members the right to vote and
hold Councillor positions, while the second creates a new
membership category for international trainees that will
allow them to enjoy a benefits package similar to Associate members in North America.
With roughly half of all annual meeting attendees,
scientific abstracts, and Blood manuscripts coming
from outside of North America, the Society’s leadership recognized the importance of providing this
group with a greater voice in the decisions that will
have an impact on the Society’s future.
As 2015 ASH President Dr. David Williams wrote
in his President’s Column in the July/August 2015 issue of The Hematologist, “For ASH to attract the best
science to the annual meeting and Blood, improve the
care of patients with blood diseases around the world,
and promote international research collaborations, the
officers and Executive Committee feel that it is critical
for the Society to evolve as a global society. By that I
mean that the context in which we develop, deliver,
and evaluate our programs and services need to reflect
the reality of our global strengths.” At the same time
he reiterated the leadership’s commitment that “funding for current programs, including all our advocacy
and educational efforts in North America, will not be
Translational Research Training in Hematology
2015 Class Announced
Translational Research Training in Hematology
(TRTH) provides junior researchers with a unique,
year-long training and mentoring experience. The
program is a joint effort of the European Hematology Association (EHA) and the American Society
of Hematology (ASH) and is focused on helping
early-career scientists build successful careers in
hematologic translational research. It is a year-long
course, beginning with an intensive week-long course
held in the spring.
The 2015 spring course will be held from
March 11-18, 2016 in the Southern part of Europe.
Mornings are dedicated to didactic and interactive
sessions which further trainees understanding of
translational research methodology and regulatory requirements. Afternoons are devoted to small
group sessions in which trainees meet with their
TRTH mentors, peers, and faculty to refine their
individual research proposals. Informal presentations by leaders in hematology, designed to illustrate
the variety of pathways to a successful career in
hematology research, take place in the evenings.
Twenty early-career scientists are selected each
year to participate in this rigorous training program. The TRTH faculty is made up of international leaders in hematology who cover biostatistics
and biomarkers, genetics and molecular biology,
ethics, and phase I clinical study design. The list of
20 participants are below.
• Elliot Stieglitz, MD
University of California, San Francisco
• Chun-Wei Chen, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Bas Wouters, MD, PhD
Erasmus Medical Center
• Gregory Behbehani, MD, PhD
The Ohio State University
10
ASH Clinical News
• Raphael Itzykson, MD, PhD
Hopital Saint-Louis, Université Paris Diderot
• Chun Yew Fong, MD
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
• Dalia Elgamal, PhD
The Ohio State University
• Iris Uras, PhD
Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna
• Jyoti Nangalia, MBBChir
University of Cambridge
• Alexander Höllein, MD
Technical University Munich
• Kate Markey, MBBS, PhD
The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
• Mark Murakami, MD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Karen De Ceunynck, PhD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Janghee Woo, MD, PhD
University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center
• Elodie Pronier, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Robert Kridel, MD
BC Cancer Agency
• Melinda Biernacki, MD
University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center
• Mireya Paulina Velasquez, MD
Baylor College of Medicine
• Suthesh Sivapalaratnam, MD
University of Cambridge
• Elisa ten Hacken, PhD
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer
Center
reduced in order to fund new international programs
or member benefits.”
The new International Associate member category
provides a discounted rate for hematologists in training
outside of North America. You are eligible to apply if
you are a post-doctoral fellow with an MD or equivalent
medical degree, reside outside of Canada, Mexico, or the
United States, and are enrolled in an approved hematology or oncology training program or medical school, or
are a student who has a PhD or its equivalent, resides outside of Canada, Mexico, or the United States of America,
and are in a post-doctoral position or training pro gram in
a hematology and/or hematology-oncology related field.
The annual membership fee is $55. For more information,
go to www.hematology.org/Membership/4660.aspx.
Introducing ASH Compass
ASH Compass is a new training program for biopharmaceutical representatives that benefits the Society’s members
and the corporate community. The program is designed to
educate sales representatives and medical science liaisons
(MSLs) about hematologic disorders so they are better prepared to answer clinicians’ questions about the hematology
products they represent. While pharmaceutical representatives and MSLs are well trained internally about their
products, they may lack insight into physicians’ concerns
and their patients’ questions about treatment options.
“The goal is to get the right drug to the right patient for the
right indication, and this new program will help facilitate this
by educating pharmaceutical representatives about the field of
hematology and raising the level of discourse that can occur
between clinicians and pharmaceutical companies,” Richard
Larson, MD, head of the ASH Compass Working Group,
which has governance responsibility for the program, said.
The training program includes a pre-test and post-test
to assess knowledge gained with a passing score earning an ASH completion indicia that may be used by the
learner on a business card. ASH will promote the value of
program completion to its members and create measurements of the program’s effectiveness with ASH members.
Program Highlights:
• Live customized unbranded program framed around the
patient journey from diagnosis to disease management
• Clinical thought leaders and subject matter experts
create and deliver the training
• Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and consensus statements
• An interactive experiential learning format including
case studies and role playing
• Training results that are tracked and measured
Look for more information in the coming months. ●
January 2016