Faculty
Gregory A. Abel
Boston, USA
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Gregory A. Abel
I am an outcomes researcher and hematologic oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). My research aims to apply health services methods to understand the experiences of patients with cancer, and to answer questions about the effectiveness of their care. I am also interested in evaluating how intensive cancer therapy affects quality of life and developing innovations to address disparities in care. I primarily focus on the hematologic malignancies, studying the impact of these diseases and their treatment from diagnosis to the end of life. I also help run DFCI’s Older Adult Hematologic Malignancy (OHM) geriatric research program, and serve as Co-Chair of the DFCI Ethics Advisory Committee.
Lionel Adès
France
Hôpital Saint-Louis
Lionel Adès
Lionel Adès is Professor of hematology at the Hôpital Saint-Louis, and Paris Diderot University, Paris, France. He graduated in Haematology in 2001 and then undertook training in haematology at the Avicenne Hospital and the St Louis Hospital in Paris, before taking up his current position.
Pr. Adès has extensive research experience, having worked as a research fellow from 2006-2010 (INSERM, Institut Gustave Roussy) before graduated with a PhD in 2010. He is conducting several clinical and biological studies in myelodysplastic syndromes and acute leukemia. In these disorders, he has been very active in evaluating novel therapeutics and implementing clinical trials. His research has been published in numerous, well respected journals, including Journal of Clinical Oncology, New England Journal of Medicine and Blood. In addition, Lionel Adès is a member of the American Society of Hematology, the French Group of Myelodysplastic Syndromes and the AFLA Group.
Elsa Bernard
New York, USA
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Elsa Bernard
Elsa Bernard is a Research Associate in Computational Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the group of Elli Papaemmanuil. She obtained her PhD in Bioinformatics from Institut Curie in France, where she worked on the inference of alternative splicing from RNA-seq data. She then specialized in the large-scale genomic analysis of hematological malignancies. She works closely with the International Working Group for the Prognosis of MDS to incorporate molecular markers into clinical stratification schemas. Her research interests more broadly relate to predictive cancer genomics, for the development of predictive and prognostic biomarkers and models; and on the multimodal profiling of clinical cancer cohorts to study clonal evolution, genomic instability, and therapeutic resistance.
Dominique Bonnet
London, UK
Francis Crick Institute
Dominique Bonnet
Dominique Bonnet obtained her PhD degree at University of Paris VII. She then joined the group of Prof. John Dick’s laboratory in Toronto, Canada for her post-doctoral training there. Four years later, she accepted a position as Group Leader at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research, in New Jersey and became Assistant Professor, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. In 2001, she moved to London to the Cancer Research UK, London Research Institute where she became a Group Leader in 2006. Since August 2012, she is also Professor, at the University College of London, division of Biosciences, and a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Child Health. In 2016, her group move to the new Francis Crick Institute.
Her group is investigating the molecular program that regulate human normal blood stem cells and how oncogenic events impede the normal development both directly and via the stem cell microenvironment. More recently, she developed humanised niche model to further study the interaction of human HSC/LSC with the BM niche.
Thomas Cluzeau
Nice, France
Le centre hospitalier universitaire de Nice
Thomas Cluzeau
Prof. Thomas Cluzeau is MD, PhD and head of hematology department in CHU of Nice (member of Cote d’Azur University). Their main topics are myelodysplastic syndromes and acute leukemia (including myeloid and lymphoid). He performs basic and translationalsciences in Mediterranean Center of molecular medicine (INSERM U1065), and with international collaborations (including MoffittCancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida, US). He is member of several french cooperative groups and is active in clinicalresearch in French Group of myelodysplasia (GFM), Acute Leukemia French Association (ALFA) and Group for Research in AdultLymphoblastic Leukemia (GRAALL).
Maria diez Campelo
Salamanca, Spain
Hospital Clínico Universitario de Salamanca
Maria diez Campelo
After graduating from medical school in 1999, Prof. Díez Campelo started medical training in Hematology. Since 2005, she has been working at the Department of Hematology at the University Hospital of Salamanca, IBSAL in Spain. Between 2006 and 2009 she completed a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship provided by ISCII. From 2009 was responsible of the section of Morphology and Hematimetry in the Hematology Department and since 2017 Prof. Díez Campelo held a position of Associate Professor of Hematology at the University of Salamanca in Spain. Responsible of since 2016.
Since October 2016 Prof. Díez Campelo is heading the Myelodysplastic Syndromes team at the University Hospital in Salamanca.
Prof. Díez Campelo´s clinical expertise lies in hematological malignancies with a focus on MDS and AML. The main scientific interest involves the translational exploration of innovative treatment options for these patients. She is a member of the Spanish MDS group (GESMD) since 2009 and head of GESMD since 2018. She also is involved in the European Myelodysplastic Syndromes Cooperative Group (EMSCO).
Pierre Fenaux
Paris, France
Hôpital Saint-Louis
Pierre Fenaux
Pierre Fenaux trained at the University Hospital of Lille, France, where he became Professor in Hematology in 1993. Between 2002 and 2013 he founded and was head of the clinical hematology section at Hôpital Avicenne, Paris 13 University. He then moved to Hôpital St Louis, Paris 7 University to create a new clinical hematology section for myeloid disorders in the elderly, which he currently chairs. He is involved in clinical and laboratory research in the field of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (especially promyelocytic leukemia). He is a founding member and chairman of the French-speaking MDS group (Groupe Francophone des Myélodysplasies) and of the French APL group (GT-LAP). He is also a member of the board of directors of the MDS Foundation. He is the author of numerous scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Maria Figueroa
Miami, USA
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Maria Figueroa
Dr. Figueroa received her MD from Universidad del Salvador, School of Medicine in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1997 and, after completing her internal medicine residency, went on to train as a hematologist at the Institute for Hematological Research “Mariano Castex” at the National Academy of Medicine in Buenos Aires, where she later joined the Malignant Hematology Department. In 2004 Dr. Figueroa joined Dr. Ari Melnick’s laboratory in New York. During her postdoctoral training with Dr. Melnick, Dr. Figueroa’s research focused on the characterization of epigenetic deregulation in myeloid malignancies, particularly Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndromes.
In 2011 Dr. Figueroa started her independent career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Medical School, where she continued her work in the field of epigenetic regulation of normal and malignant hematopoiesis. In September 2016 she was recruited as Associate Professor to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Dept. of Human Genetics. She also serves as the Co-Leader Cancer Epigenetics Research Program and Assistant Director for Translational Research for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Throughout her career, Dr. Figueroa has been the recipient of scholar awards from the SASS Foundation for Cancer Research, the American Society of Hematology, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
The Figueroa lab studies the role of epigenetic modifications in transcriptional regulation during normal and malignant hematopoiesis. The lab’s focus is mainly on how changes in normal chromatin patterns occur during malignant transformation and how these changes may contribute to the leukemogenic process and disease phenotype. They use a combination of computational approaches based on genome-wide next generation sequencing data as well as in vitro and in vivo modeling to determine the consequences of the epigenetic abnormalities that they identify. In addition, they seek to harness the power of epigenomics for the development of molecular biomarkers predictive of therapeutic response and clinical outcome.
Michaela Fontenay
Paris, France
Hôpital Cochin
Michaela Fontenay
Michaëla Fontenay, MD, PhD, full professor in Hematology at Université de Paris.
Institut Cochin, INSERM U1016, CNRS UMR8104, Université de Paris
Assistance-Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris. Centre, Hôpital Cochin
Head manager of the laboratory of Hematology and of the Unit of clinical haemostasis of Cochin APHP. Centre University Hospital
Co-director of PhD school Hematology Oncogenesis Biotechnology, Université de Paris
Director of INSERM research team “Normal and pathological hematopoiesis” in the Department
Development, reproduction, Cancer at Institut Cochin, Paris
Past member of INSERM scientific committee, ANR scientific committee
Invited conferences: European Hematology Association, European School of Hematology, MSKCC, US
Red blood cell club, Gordon conference, Keystone symposium, Société Française d’Hématologie.
More than 140 publications in peer reviewed journals (Cell, Nature, Nat Medicine, Sci Transl Med, Blood, Leukemia, Haematologica)
Keywords: hematopoiesis, erythropoiesis, myelodysplastic syndrome, leukemia, microenvironment, innate immunity
Aristoteles Giagounidis
Düsseldorf, Germany
Marien Hospital
Aristoteles Giagounidis
Aristoteles Giagounidis is Professor of Internal Medicine and Chief Physician for Oncology/ Hematology at the Marien Hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany. After earning his medical degree in 1992 from Eberhard Karl University in Tübingen, Germany, Dr Giagounidis was house officer at the Withybush General Hospital in Haverfordwest, Wales, and at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent, UK. He then served as resident physician at the Hematology/Oncology Department of Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, where he became board certified in 1999. Due to his special expertise in hematological cytology, he later became Central Reviewer of the German MDS Study Group.
Dr Giagounidis’ research efforts have focused on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and on idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). His clinical practice focuses on hematological malignancies, including acute and chronic leukemia, MDS, myeloproliferative disorders, lymphomas, and plasmacytomas. In recent years, Dr Giagounidis has been involved in a number of phase I–III studies of several groundbreaking therapeutic approaches to MDS, ITP, and iron overload, among others.
A frequently invited speaker, Dr Giagounidis has delivered numerous lectures at local, national, and international conferences and symposia. A reviewer for several scientific journals, he has authored and co-authored various book chapters and numerous articles published in peer-reviewed journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, Leukemia, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, Annals of Hematology, and Haematology. He is a member of the advisory board of several international drug manufacturers, including Novartis and Celgene.
Silke Gloaguen
Leipzig, Germany
University of Leipzig Medical Center
Silke Gloaguen
Silke Gloaguen holds a European master’s degree in biotechnology as well as molecular & cell biology from the universities of Strasbourg (FR), Basel (CH), Karlsruhe (DE) and Freiburg (DE).
After spending more than 10 years in pharmaceutical market research positions, she returned to the academic field in Prof. Uwe Platzbecker’s group (formerly Dresden, now Leipzig, Germany) in 2014. Silke Gloaguen was substantially involved in building both the EMSCO study platform (European Myelodysplastic Syndromes Cooperative Group) as well as the German MDS study group (D-MDS).
Her main focus lies on supporting involved medical teams with the design, acquisition and preparation of clinical studies of both national and international scope. Since March 2022 she is also responsible for the coordination of the SaxoCell Clinics platform, which is an integral part of the SaxoCell Consortium – a Clusters4Future initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with the aim to promote academically driven ATMP developments in the Saxony region.
Torsten Haferlach
Munich, Germany
MLL Münchner Leukämielabor GmbH
Torsten Haferlach
Prof Dr Dr Torsten Haferlach is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of leukemia; engaging in ground breaking research, the development of new diagnostic tools as well as the link to treatment options, he has always been pushing its boundaries of his chosen field, now also introducing AI in routine workflows of leukemia diagnostics.
With an MD in medicine as well as a PhD in Germanistics, and a habilitation that already sets standards in the leukemia diagnostic field, he spent the first part of his career as a medical doctor and hematologist, first at the university clinics in Kiel and Göttingen then at the university clinic in Munich where he acted as both the senior physician at the Department of Internal Medicine and the Head of the laboratory for leukaemia diagnostics.
In 2005 he set up the Munich Leukemia Laboratory (www.mll.com) together with three colleagues from complementary disciplines. Today the lab processes with a team of 230 employees over 104,000 blood or bone marrow samples per year, his practice treats more than 4,500 patients, and he is one of the major contributors to knowledge in this area: well over 650 articles have been published in top ranking, peer-reviewed medical journals since the lab’s inception.
Prof Haferlach himself has authored and co-authored more than 630 articles over the course of his career. He is constantly contributing to the evaluation and dissemination of scientific knowledge in his chosen field: as reviewer of leading journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, Leukemia, Haematologica and The Lancet Haematology, as member of editorial boards for journals such as Leukemia, Annals of Hematology, and Leukemia Research, as sought-after speaker on medical conferences around the world, and by serving on the advisory boards of companies such as Illumina, Jazz and AWS.
Raphael Itzykson
Paris, France
Hôpital Saint-Louis
Raphael Itzykson
Hematology Department, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Université de Paris, Paris, France
INSERM U944, Saint-Louis Institute for Research
Raphael Itzykson is Professor of Hematology at Université de Paris, and member of the Hematology Department of Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris, France. His research focuses on the use of precision medicine tools in AML and on the treatment of CMML.
Pr Itzykson has published more than a hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is an active member of the GFM (Groupe Francophone des Myelodysplasies) and ALFA (Acute Leukemia French Association) cooperative groups.
Katherine King
Houston, USA
Baylor College of Medicine
Katherine King
Katherine Y. King MD PhD is Associate Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Baylor College of Medicine, where she is part of the faculty for the Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center and serves as a co-director of the BCM MSTP and Associate Vice-Chair for Research for the Department of Pediatrics. A native Houstonian, Dr. King received her BA in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University and her MD and PhD degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms by which inflammation affects blood and immune cell production by hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow. Dr. King has been the recipient of a NIH K08 mentored physician scientist training award, the March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Award, and the NHLBI R35 Emerging Investigator Award. In 2019 she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). When not seeing patients at Texas Children’s Hospital or conducting research in the lab, Dr. King enjoys running, yoga, spending time with her husband and 8-year-old daughter, and volunteering for health care advocacy.
Rami Komrokji
Tampa, USA
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research
Rami Komrokji
Dr. Komrokji is the Vice chair of the Malignant Hematology Department and the head of the Leukemia and MDS Section at the Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida.
He is a senior Member of the Malignant Hematology and Experimental Therapeutics Program at the Moffitt Cancer Center, and Professor in Medicine & Oncologic Sciences at the College of Medicine, at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.
After earning a medical degree in 1996 from the Jordan University School of Medicine, Dr. Komrokji completed an internship and residency at Case Western University, St. Vincent Program. He then completed a fellowship at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, in Hematology/Oncology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.
Dr Komrokji is expert in myeloid neoplasms where he led several clinical trials and lectured worldwide. His work paved the FDA approval for luspatercept in myelodysplastic syndromes and for Pacritinib in myelofibrosis.
He has authored or co-authored more than 290 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 20 book chapters, and more than 700 abstracts in Hematologic Malignancies. He served as member on the MDS Panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and currently member of the NIH MDS natural history study steering committee and aplastic anemia and MDS foundation board of directors. He was member of the editorial board for Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). He is peer reviewer for several medical journals including Blood Journal, JCO and Leukemia Journal.
Dr. Komrokji’s research interests are in Phase I and II Clinical Trials, and in the outcome research in hematologic malignancies with focus on myeloid neoplasms. His clinical interests are Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), Acute Myeloid Leukemias, and Myeloproliferative neoplasms.
Shahram Kordasti
London, UK
King’s College London
Shahram Kordasti
Following graduation from medical school and clinical training in Internal Medicine/ Haematology, Dr Kordasti received his MSc in Medical Immunology and PhD in Cancer Immunology from King’s College London (KCL). He established the role of Tregs in MDS and their effects on disease progression and response to treatment. He continued his work at KCL and developed an interest in the immunobiology of aplastic anaemia (AA) during this time. He has been senior lecturer at King’s College London and honorary clinical haematologist at Guy’s Hospital since May 2018 and continues to study the immunobiology of Myeloid Malignancies. His main research interest is the plasticity of CD4+ T cells, their interaction with inflammatory microenvironment and their role in the immunobiology of myeloid malignancies. Computational biology, multidimensional cytometry as well as multiomics data integration for patient stratification is another focus of his research group. His clinical interests are AA, MDS and MPN.
Anne Sophie Kubasch
Leipzig, Germany
University Hospital Leipzig
Anne Sophie Kubasch
Anne Sophie Kubasch is a fellow and clinician scientist at the Department of Hematology, Cellular Therapy and Hemostaseology at University Hospital Leipzig. In collaboration with the “Innovation Center for Computer Assisted Surgery Leipzig” (ICCAS), she is currently leading the research group “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Hematology” focusing on the development and implementation of an AI-driven diagnostic and therapeutic decision support tool in hematology (KAIT). In 2020, she received a research fellowship of the “José Carreras Leukämie Stiftung e.V.” for her project on AI-based integration of the “Immunome” into a personalized treatment approach to improve patient stratification and therapeutic outcome in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Her clinical expertise focuses on patients with MDS and AML. Within the “German MDS Study Group” (D-MDS) and the “European Myelodysplastic Syndromes Cooperative Group” (EMSCO) she is involved as PI and Co-PI in various translational clinical studies with the aim to identify new precise, personalized treatment options for patients with MDS.
Luca Malcovati
Pavia, Italy
IRCCS S. Matteo Hospital Foundation & University of Pavia
Luca Malcovati
Luca Malcovati is Associate Professor of Hematology at the Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Pavia, Medical School, and consultant physician at the Department of Hematology Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
Luca Malcovati’s research activity has been mainly focused on the study of myeloid neoplasms, and particularly of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN). His work focused on the prognosis of MDS, and allowed to identify new prognostic factors, and to develop new prognostic scoring systems in MDS and MDS/MPN. Prof. Malcovati’s research also dealt on the study molecular basis of MDS and MDS/MPN. He made a significant contributions to identify acquired mutations in splicing factor SF3B1 in myeloid neoplasms, to determine the clinical and biological implications of driver mutations in these disorders, and to identify genetically-defined disease entities. On behalf of the European LeukemiaNet and the European Hematology Association, he coordinated the development of international evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of MDS and MDS/MPN.
Luca Malcovati is member of the WHO Classification of Haematopoietic and Lymphoid Tumors Clinical Advisory Committee, of the Scientific and Strategic Board of the European Reference Network for Rare Hematologic Diseases (EuroBloodNet), of the International Working Group for Myelodysplastic Syndromes and Myelodysplastic/Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, of the Steering Committee of the European Registry of Myelodysplastic Syndromes, of the Clinical Genome Program – Myeloid Malignancies.of the Board of Directors of the Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation.
Daniel Nowak
Mannheim, Germany
Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
Daniel Nowak
Daniel Nowak studied Medicine at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany and started his scientific career in the Department of Hematology of Prof. Dieter Hoelzer, Frankfurt a.M., Germany. He began his first residency in internal Medicine and Hematology at the Charité University Hospital, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany under the supervision of Prof. Wolf-Karsten Hofmann. Subsequently, he spent a two year research fellowship in the laboratory of Prof. Philip Koeffler at the Cedars Sinai Medical Center and UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA. He then continued his clinician scientist career in the Department of Prof. Wolf-Karsten Hofmann at the Medical Faculty Mannheim of the Heidelberg University. There, he completed his board certification for Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology. Since 2017, he is full professor for Leukemia Research, clinical consultant for the MDS Center of Excellence and Head of the Molecular Tumorboard at the University Hospital Mannheim in the department of Prof. Wolf-Karsten Hofmann. His research focus is the molecular and translational characterization of myeloid hematologic neoplasms, especially MDS. He focuses on the interaction of MDS hematopoiesis with the bone marrow microenvironment and development of pre-clinical models for MDS in order to evaluate and identify novel treatment strategies. Clinically, he is working on development of precision medicine approaches for hematologic and oncologic patients.
Marc Raaijmakers
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Erasmus Medical Center Cancer Institute
Marc Raaijmakers
Prof. dr. Marc H.G.P. Raaijmakers, MD, PhD, is a professor of Hematology in the Department of Hematology at the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He completed postdoctoral research at the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, revealing a concept of niche-induced oncogenesis in the hematopoietic system. He (co)-authored papers and comments in leading journals including Nature, Cell, Cell Stem Cell, J. Exp. Med, Blood and Leukemia, served in the editorial boards of leading journals in the field of Hematology and provided numerous invited lectures at international meetings. He chairs the expertise center on Bone Marrow Failure and Leukemia Predisposition at the ErasmusMC, the EHA scientific working group on Genetic Predisposition in Hematologic Cancer and is a board member of the HOVON Leukemia Working Group. His laboratory studies microenvironmental contributions to hematopoietic disease, with an emphasis on bone marrow failure and leukemogenesis. He received scholar awards from the Dutch Cancer Society, the Dutch Society of Hematology, the Dutch Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society U.S.A. His clinical expertise is in bone marrow failure syndromes, MDS and acute myeloid leukemia.
Marie Robin
Paris, France
Hôpital Saint-Louis
Marie Robin
Marie Robin, MD, PhD
Current position:
-Assistant in Hematology-transplantation department, Saint-Louis Hospital, Paris University, Paris, France
-Responsible of the subcommittee of MDS / Chronic Malignancies Working Party of the EBMT.
-President of the French Society of transplantation and cellular therapy (SFGM-TC)
Main domains of research: myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndrome / allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Valeria Santini
Florence, Italy
University of Florence Medical School
Valeria Santini
Valeria Santini is Associate Professor of Hematology at the University of Florence, Italy. She received her medical degree from the University of Florence and became a Consultant in Haematology. She worked as fellow of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) at Dr Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center/Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She then undertook clinical training in the USA at the Leukemia Unit, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston.
Professor Santini runs the MDS Unit- Hematology- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine- AOU Careggi, University of Florence. Her interests are focused on clinical and translational research in MDS and elderly AML.
She is President of the Scientific Committee of Fondazione Italiana per lo studio delle sindromi mielodisplastiche (FISiM) and Italian Network of MDS Registries, a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Aplastic Anemia and Myelodysplastic syndromes -International Foundation (AA & MDS IF). She is one of the 3 KOL for MDS working group in the European Harmony 2020 research project. She is a member of the Education Committee of the Society of Hematological Oncology (SOHO) and member of the Executive Board of the Scientific Working Group on MDS of European Hematology Association (EHA). She has served for two terms on the executive board of the Italian Society of Haematology (SIE) and she has been Vice-president of the Italian Society of Experimental Haematology (SIES). She belongs to ASH, EHA and MDS Foundation. She is also an author of more than 200 peer-reviewed papers published in international journals, she is member of the Editorial board of Blood journal, and documented reviewer for high impact factor scientific journals. She has been an invited speaker at numerous international meetings including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO 2007: educational session on MDS), American Society of Hematology (ASH 2012, ASH 2016: educational sessions on MDS), European Haematology Association (EHA 2016, EHA 2020, EHA 2022: Educational sessions on MDS) and national haematology societies of several countries.
Mikkael Sekeres
Miami, USA
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami
Mikkael Sekeres
Dr Sekeres is Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Hematology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He earned a medical degree and a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr Sekeres completed his postgraduate training at Harvard University, finishing an internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a fellowship in hematology-oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He is chair of the medical advisory board of the Aplastic Anemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) International Foundation, and formerly chaired the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the F.D.A, the MDS Research Fund of the Dresner Foundation, and the Cleveland Clinic Enterprise Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee, where he was also Vice-chair for Clinical Research of the cancer center. An invited speaker at numerous meetings, grand rounds, and conferences, Dr Sekeres is a member of the American Society of Hematology, where he serves on the Executive Committee and chairs the Committee on Communications, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Southwest Oncology Group—Leukemia Committee. His research focuses on patients with MDS and older adults with acute myeloid leukemia, and he has been the national and international primary study investigator on dozens of phase I/II/III trials. He is the author or co-author of over 400 manuscripts and 650 abstracts published in leading journals such as NEJM, Blood, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nature Genetics, Cancer Cell, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Journal of Clinical Investigation, PLoS One, and Leukemia. He was the inaugural editor-in-chief of the ASH Clinical News magazine; he is on the editorial board of several journals; has written 60 essays for The New York Times; and has authored 8 books, including When Blood Breaks Down: Life Lessons from Leukemia (The MIT Press 2020) and Drugs and the FDA: Safety, Efficacy, and the Public’s Trust (The MIT Press 2022).
Eric Solary
Paris, France
Gustave Roussy Cancer Center
Eric Solary
Eric Solary is MD, full-Professor in Hematology at Paris-Saclay University, is teaching clinical and biological hematology as well as cell biology. He created a first Inserm Unit « Cell Death and Cancer » in 1999, which became the Inserm Research Centre “Lipids, Nutrition, Cancer” in 2007, and headed a doctoral school in life Sciences and two federative Institutes of Research. He was the Scientific Director of Gustave Roussy Cancer Center from 2011 to 2020 and presides over the Scientific Committee of Foundation ARC, a cancer research dedicated charity. His research has been dedicated initially to leukemic cell resistance to cytotoxic drugs, then to cell death mechanisms and the link between cell death and differentiation in the hematopoietic system. His current research is focused on monocyte differentiation and the pathogenesis of chronic myeloid malignancies, with a focus on chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.
Ulrike Steidl
New York, USA
Albert Einstein College of Medicine – Montefiore Health System
Ulrike Steidl
Ulrich Steidl graduated from the University of Heidelberg Medical School and the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany. He trained as a resident physician at the University of Duesseldorf Medical Center, Germany, and as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. He joined the Albert Einstein College of Medicine – Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York, in 2008, where he currently holds appointments as a tenured Professor in the Departments of Cell Biology, and of Medicine (Oncology). Ulrich Steidl is the Program Leader of the ‘Stem Cells, Differentiation and Cancer’ program of the NCI-designated Albert Einstein Cancer Center, the Associate Chair for Translational Research of the Department of Oncology at Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center, and a faculty member of the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine.
Felicitas Thol
Hannover, Germany
Hannover Medical School
Felicitas Thol
Professor Dr. Felicitas Thol is an attending physician in the Department of Hematology, Hemostasis, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at Hannover Medical School (Hannover, Germany). She studied medicine at Freiburg University (Germany) and at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (USA). Her clinical training (residency) in internal medicine was at Dartmouth Medical School (USA) as well as at Hannover Medical School (Germany) and she is board certified in Internal Medicine in the US and Germany. Furthermore, she completed her fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at Hannover Medical School. She works there now with a clinical focus on MDS and acute leukemia. She co-chairs the myeloid malignancy clinical trial center at Hannover Medical School. Furthermore, Professor Thol is Co-Leader of the molecular AMLSG diagnostic reference laboratory located in Hannover and she is active committee member of the German MDS Study Group (D-MDS). Her research interest and expertise lie in the area of molecular aberrations, clonal evolution and minimal residual disease monitoring in AML and MDS.
Joanna Wilińska-Maćkowiak
Bremen, Germany
GCP-Service International Ltd. & Co. KG
Joanna Wilińska-Maćkowiak
Dr. Joanna Wilińska-Maćkowiak is Regional Operations Manager for Poland at the Contract Research Organization (CRO) GCP-Service International Ltd. & Co. KG, which performs national and international clinical trials for medicinal products, medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics, and performed more than 130 submissions in 2021 for drug trials alone.
Following her PhD in Biochemistry at the Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany, Dr. Wilińska-Maćkowiak joined GCP-Service as Regulatory Affairs Manager and performed submissions in more than 20 international clinical trials, from phase I through phase IV and for pre- and post-market medical device trials, and was involved in more than 10 oncology trials. Dr. Wilińska-Maćkowiak helped elevate the Regulatory Affairs Department at GCP-Service to the next level, before she moved to Poland to take over responsibility for regional operations, also including local and international submissions.
She is intimately familiar with regulations of clinical trials within Poland, Germany, Netherlands and Czech Republic, as well as regulations on European level. Due to her expertise, Dr. Wilińska-Maćkowiak regularly provides key trainings for GCP-Service staff that performs submissions. As part of the Regulatory Affairs team, she also helped initiate the first submissions on the new Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) as part of the new Clinical Trials Regulation (CTR; Regulation EU No 536/2014).