It is an honor to address you in this forum as the 2010 president of ASH, with direct thanks to Nancy Berliner, MD, for the outstanding job she did as the 2009 president of ASH. We are fortunate to be members of this “class act” society. The unselfish volunteering of our members, the meaningful work done through our committee structure, and the dedicated staff at ASH Headquarters have helped our society grow in size, quality, and international stature. We work well together because we share common goals: enhancement of the field of laboratory and clinical investigation and development of practical means for the best patient care in benign and malignant hematology … both domestically and abroad. Our society, is very diverse and is composed of clinical investigators, research scientists, practicing clinicians, administrators, and those that support these efforts in academia, research institutes, hospitals, and pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Together, we have advanced and will continue to advance our field, with the beneficiaries of these efforts being patients with blood diseases and their families.
It is always exciting, if not somewhat intimidating, to attend the ASH annual meeting because of the vast number of high-quality talks and events taking place, many simultaneously. The most recent annual meeting in December 2009 was no exception. It may seem a wonder how so much that is informative and timely can be presented in one meeting. The leaders of our scientific and educational committees, along with the reviewers of the abstracts submitted for oral and poster presentations, work hard to identify the most appropriate topics and speakers in order to present state-of-the-art information to those in attendance. For those who were unable to attend the annual meeting, I urge you to consider one of the six Highlights of ASH® meetings offered this January and February in the United States and Canada or the Highlights of ASH in Latin America in May 2010.
Every decade brings with it new understanding of basic biology and clinical treatments that make life better, but it is the most recent and accelerating efforts to merge them through translational research that I find of particular interest and excitement. The rapidly evolving areas of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine are prime examples of how translational research may work. Our field was instrumental in bringing to the fore the identity and clinical utility of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from bone marrow, mobilized peripheral blood, and cord blood sources for transplantation. Our members continue to advance these areas. Toward this goal, ASH sponsored a Workshop on Regenerative Medicine, co-chaired by Executive Committee member David A. Williams, MD, and current Vice President Armand Keating, MD, held October 22, 2009, at ASH Headquarters. The objective of the workshop was to assess the field and identify priorities in regenerative medicine research in hematology. It was a successful meeting, but clearly only the start of the discussions needed to evaluate and enhance the field and its future potential implications.
ASH is also working to enhance the advancement of clinical efforts through the training of our future investigators. This includes, but is not limited to, the ASH Scholar Awards, the Minority Medical Student Award Program (MMSAP), the Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI), and the newly established Translational Research Training in Hematology (TRTH) program. TRTH is a joint effort between the European Hematology Association (EHA) and ASH. The review of applicants for the first TRTH slots took place in early November 2009 in Amsterdam, and an outstanding inaugural class has been identified.
Translational research holds promise for the future advancement of our field and requires close collaborations between laboratory and clinical investigators. Two of our members, Brian Druker, MD, from Oregon and Charles L. Sawyers, MD, of New York, were awarded the 2009 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medicine Research Award for their translational research. Our congratulations go out to them and to the 2009 and past recipients of ASH Honorific Awards, as well as to those who have made advances but have not yet been directly recognized by ASH for their efforts. We look forward with anticipation to future advances in our field.
