It is my pleasure to host ASH’s 51st annual meeting in New Orleans, where we celebrate the start of the “next 50 years” of ASH. In the wake of its ongoing recovery from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans offers attendees a wealth of new attractions, a variety of charming hotels and restaurants, and a completely renovated convention center. We look forward to our return to this vibrant city and to an informative and enjoyable meeting.
This year’s Education Program, chaired by Armand Keating, MD, and Alexis A. Thompson, MD, will offer nearly 30 sessions covering the breadth of hematology, including a number of other intriguing, less traditional topics such as nanotechnology, complementary medicine, and the impact of health-care disparities on patient outcomes based on factors such as race, socioeconomic status, geography, and age. Attendees may find the education session on emergency preparedness particularly apropos, which will include a talk by Cindy A. Leissinger, MD, from New Orleans’ Tulane University School of Medicine, on "Lessons From Katrina and Response to Natural Disasters."
The Education Program will also offer two sessions of particular interest to hematology trainees: "How to Write a Grant" and "Junior-Faculty Development: Pursuing an Academic Job, Promotion, and Tenure 101." Additionally, it’s important to note that this year is the 25th anniversary of the ASH Scholar Awards program; a historical brochure reflecting on this achievement will be available at the meeting.
In 2009, the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth as well as the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book, On theOrigin of Species, will be reflected upon in the Ham-Wasserman Lecture. The speaker, Melvyn F. Greaves, PhD, will focus on the development of leukemia from a Darwinian perspective and the relevance of evolutionary biology to medicine.
John E. Dick, PhD, will present the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture on stem cell biology in cancer research. Those interested in this topic may also wish to hear the scientific committee session entitled,"Leukemia Stem Cells: Definition and Clinical Relevance," in which Dr. Dick will also present at a session that includes Michael L. Cleary, MD, and Craig T. Jordan, PhD. This year’s Scientific Program, chaired by Joel Anne Chasis, MD, and Richard A. Van Etten, MD, PhD, will include this and 16 other sessions on a wide range of topics presented by each of ASH’s scientific committees.
I am pleased to announce a new addition to the program for 2009: the Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize, a two-part lectureship named for a past president of ASH. Ernest Beutler, MD, made many important contributions to the field in a career spanning more than 50 years and was honored for his work with the inaugural Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology in 2007. The new lecture is intended to recognize major translational advances related to a single topic and is to be awarded annually to two individuals – one who has enabled advances in basic science and another who has made achievements in clinical science or translational research. The inaugural Ernest Beutler Lecture, on the topic of thalassemia, will be given by Thomas Maniatis, PhD, and Yuet Wai Kan, MD.
Another new offering will be a special symposium presented by the Quality of Care Subcommittee (of the Committee on Practice) that will focus on efforts to improve the national blood supply and on forces that will have an impact on this important health resource.
Back for its fourth year, the Special Symposium on the Basic Science of Hemostasis and Thrombosis, presented on Tuesday by the Scientific Committees on Hemostasis, Platelets, and Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, will highlight seminal research advances made this year in the areas of thrombosis, blood coagulation and fibrinolysis, and platelet biology.
Also on the last day of the meeting, the Presidential Symposium will focus on novel genomic approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of hematologic malignancies. Louis M. Staudt, MD, PhD, from the National Cancer Institute, and this year’s Dameshek Prize winner, will be a featured speaker, along with Timothy Ley, MD, from Washington University in St. Louis, and Todd Golub, MD, from the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Dr. Staudt will receive his award directly before the symposium, along with Connie Eaves, PhD, who is this year’s Stratton Medal winner. On Sunday afternoon, before the Plenary Scientific Session, I look forward to honoring H. Franklin Bunn, MD, by presenting him with the Society’s highest award – the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology.
All in all, I think we can look forward to another outstanding program this year, and I hope you will join us in New Orleans!
Cheers,
Nancy Berliner, MD
President
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