The Society Pages
Paul Ichiro Terasaki, PhD (1929-2016)
Professor Terasaki passed away on January 25, 2016.
Prof. Terasaki was a philanthropist and pioneer in organ
transplant medicine who invented a tissue-typing test that
became an international standard for matching donors with
recipients. Prof. Terasaki’s interest was predominately in
antibody-mediated immunity and its role in transplantation
in humans. In 1964, Prof. Terasaki introduced the microcytotoxicity test at a conference at Duke University. It was
revolutionary and was quickly adopted as the international
standard for matching transplant donors and recipients.
In 1969, Prof. Terasaki established the University of
California, Los Angeles Tissue Typing Laboratory, directing
it for 30 years. For nearly 50 years, he focused on the study
of the humoral theory of transplant rejection. Following his
Douglas Graham Named Director of
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s
Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders
Center
The Aflac Cancer and Blood
Disorders Center of Children’s
Healthcare of Atlanta has appointed Douglas Graham, MD,
PhD, as its new director. Dr.
Graham also will serve as chief
of hematology, oncology, and
Douglas Graham, MD,
bone marrow transplantation
PhD
in the department of pediatrics at Emory University. He succeeds William G.
Woods, MD, who served as director of Aflac Cancer
Center for 15 years. Dr. Graham previously served
as professor of pediatrics and immunology at
University of Colorado and as co-program leader of
the hematologic malignancy program at University
of Colorado.
Source: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta news release, January 8, 2016.
National Cancer Institute Honors
Leonard Zon with Knudson Award in
Cancer Genetics
Leonard I. Zon, MD, director
of the Stem Cell Program at
Boston Children’s Hospital
and Grousbeck professor of
pediatrics at Harvard Medical
School, is the recipient of the
20th annual Alfred G. Knudson
Leonard I. Zon, MD
Award in Cancer Genetics from
the National Cancer Institute.
The award is presented annually to a scientist who
has made outstanding research contributions to
the field of cancer genetics. In addition to his positions at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard
Medical School, Dr. Zon is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (HHMI), professor of stem
cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University,
and an associate member of the Broad Institute of
Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Zon is being recognized for his work in stem
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ASH Clinical News
retirement from UCLA, he founded the Terasaki Foundation,
a research center dedicated to cancer immunotherapy and
the study of humoral immunity and transplantation.
Prof. Terasaki, despite great fame and fortune, was
always modest and approachable. He had a wry sense of
humor, an infectious laugh, and genuine affection for colleagues and co-worke rs. He loved debating colleagues and
his lectures always had an element of humor.
He is survived by his wife Hisako, an accomplished artist;
his four children, Mark, Keith, Taiji, and Emiko; six grandchildren; and his brother, Richard.
Printed with permission from Robert Peter Gale, MD, PhD, DSc(hc),
Imperial College London, London, UK, and Gerhard Opelz, MD, University
of Heidelberg, Germany.
cell biology and cancer genetics, including pioneering the use of the zebrafish for the study of human
hematopoiesis and blood disease, which led to the
discovery and development of two novel therapeutics that are now being evaluated in clinical trials
of patients with leukemia and melanoma.
Source: Boston Children’s Hospital press release, January 12, 2016.
Crystal Mackall Joins Stanford
Medicine Faculty
Crystal Mackall, MD, has joined
the Stanford University School
of Medicine as a professor of
pediatrics and a professor of
medicine. Dr. Mackall will also
serve as associate director of
the Stanford Cancer Institute
Crystal Mackall, MD
and co-medical director of the
Stanford Laboratory for Cell
and Gene Medicine. Previously, Dr. Mackall headed
the Immunology Section at the National Cancer
Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and served as
chief of the institute’s Pediatric Oncology Branch.
Dr. Mackall also serves as co-leader of Stand Up 2
Cancer’s Pediatric Cancer Dream Team, a multiinstitutional program focused on developing novel
immunotherapies for childhood cancer. At Stanford, she will lead efforts to advance clinical trials
of immune therapies for cancer.
Source: Stanford University School of Medicine press release, January 13, 2016.
IMF Appoints Rafat Abonour as
New Medical Liaison to Support
European Expansion
Rafat Abonour, MD
The International Myeloma
Foundation (IMF) has appointed
Rafat Abonour, MD, as its medical liaison. Dr. Abonour is professor of medicine, pathology, and
laboratory medicine at Indiana
University in Indianapolis, where
he also directs the multiple myeloma and plasma cell program
at Indiana University Simon Cancer Center.
Source: International Myeloma Foundation news release, January 14, 2016.
Sagar Lonial Named Winship Cancer Institute’s New Hematology and
Medical Oncology Department Chair
Sagar Lonial, MD, has been
named chair of the Department
of Hematology and Medical
Oncology within Emory University School of Medicine and
Winship Cancer Institute. Dr.
Lonial has been at Emory since
Sagar Lonial, MD
1997, serving as Winship’s chief
medical officer and as professor
of hematology and medical oncology. He previously
held the position of department executive vice chair.
His research focuses on combinations of novel agents
as therapy for myeloma and development of new targets and treatment strategies for high-risk myeloma.
Source: Winship Cancer Institute press release, February 1, 2016.
Jaclyn Biegel Appointed Director of
Personalized Medicine at Children’s
Hospital Los Angeles
Jaclyn Biegel, PhD, has been
named director of the Center for
Personalized Medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr.
Biegel will oversee the development and implementation of new
genomic tests for diagnosis and
Jaclyn Biegel, PhD
risk assessment for children and
families with a variety of genetic
disorders and cancer. Dr. Biegel will also serve as chief
of the division of genomic medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and professor of pathology at Keck
School of Medicine of University of Southern California. Previously, Dr. Biegel was director of the cancer
cytogenetics laboratory at The Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia and a professor of pediatrics in Perelman
School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania. ●
Source: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles press release, February 3, 2016.
March 2016