Today the field of hematology is more international than ever before, and both ASH and the European Society of Hematology (EHA) recognize the importance of building stronger ties between the North American and European scientific communities. It is in this spirit of collaboration that ASH and EHA recently created the EHA-ASH International Fellowship Award Program. This program provides hematologists in training or early in their careers the opportunity to conduct research in another country. The intent of the program is to give both clinical and laboratory-based researchers an opportunity to establish new collaborations and experience research in a different environment. At this time, we are delighted to announce the EHA-ASH International Fellowship Award inaugural recipients: Marta Crespo, PhD, and Giovanni Roti, MD.
A Barcelona native, Dr. Marta Crespo earned her bachelor's degree in biology and her doctorate in biopathology medicine at the University of Barcelona. She has spent the past five years working in the Hematology Department of the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain. She recently obtained her PhD after publishing two papers under the guidance of her mentor, Dr. Francesc Bosch. Dr. Bosch describes her with passion saying “From the first day the enthusiasm and desire to learn were some of the most remarkable characteristics of this young investigator.” In July, Dr. Crespo will take her experience to the Institute for Cancer Genetics at Columbia University. There, under the direction of 2006 William Dameshek Prize recipient, Dr. Riccardo Dalla-Favera, Dr. Crespo will develop her research project Zap-70 and c-Cbl protein interactions in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
Dr. Giovanni Roti is a resident in the Department of Hematology at Perugia University in Perugia, Italy. Dr. Roti’s research project is entitled Modulating Notch1 with Signature-based Small Molecule Library Screening and he will be working at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass., under host mentor Kimberly Stegmaier, MD, a current ASH Scholar. In his application Dr. Roti writes “As a European scientist, I have always admired the American academic model and aspired to train in this environment…This opportunity will broaden my exposure to new genomic models of scientific discovery and deepen my knowledge about a field of research not accessible in my current laboratory in Italy.”
ASH and EHA are pleased to support the research of these promising young investigators through this unique new award. We extend our sincere congratulations to Drs. Crespo and Roti.
