ASH Announces 2010 Scholar Award Winners

WASHINGTON, March 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Society of Hematology (ASH) announces the 2010 recipients of its Scholar Awards. The program is designed to support hematologists who have chosen a career in research by providing partial salary or other support during that critical period required for completion of training and achievement of status as an independent investigator.

The awards are made possible through grants from the corporate community, individual donors, foundations, and funds committed by the Society. The awards are for two years at $50,000 per year for fellows and $75,000 per year for junior faculty.

The 2010 Scholar Award recipients are:

Gabrielle's Angel Foundation Scholar Award

The Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research is named for Gabrielle Rich Aouad, who passed away in 1996 at the age of 27 after a long struggle against acute myelogenous leukemia.  It was Gabrielle's wish that a Foundation be created to help spare others the suffering that she endured. Upon her passing, her mother, Denise Rich established the Foundation to support blood cancer research. The Foundation has joined ASH in support of research by funding a 2010 Junior Faculty Scholar Award, and we are pleased to have their support. This year's recipient is Dr. Jennifer R. Brown from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, whose research will focus on using genomic technology to explore the pathogenesis of familial and sporadic chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and, ultimately, to identify genes that predispose a patient to acquiring CLL.

ASH welcomes the Foundation as a new supporter of the Scholars.

Joanne Levy, MD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement

The Joanne Levy, MD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement is given to the current ASH Scholar with the highest scoring abstract for the ASH annual meeting as determined by the appointed abstract reviewers. ASH is honored to offer this award, made possible by the Levy family to continue the legacy of their daughter Joanne, a past ASH Scholar Award recipient and distinguished Society member who passed away in 2004.

This year's recipient is Simon Mendez-Ferrer, Ph.D., of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Dr. Mendez-Ferrer was recently appointed assistant professor at the Tisch Cancer Institute, Department of Medicine, at Mount Sinai. His recent studies have identified, using nestin expression, the cells targeted by the sympathetic nervous system in the bone marrow (BM) regulating hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) traffic as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), suggesting a heterotypic association of HSC-MSCs in the BM niche. The award will provide funding for Dr. Mendez-Ferrer to continue this research.

In both 2007 and 2008, Dr. Mendez-Ferrer was honored with the ASH Merit Award for his research. Dr. Mendez-Ferrer's abstract, "Coordinated Regulation of Hematopoietic and Mesenchymal Stem Cells in a Bone Marrow Niche" was presented during the Plenary Session at the 2009 ASH annual meeting.

For more information, contact Patrick C. Irelan at 202-776-0544 or [email protected].

The American Society of Hematology (www.hematology.org) is the world's largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders. Its mission is to further the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting blood, bone marrow, and the immunologic, hemostatic, and vascular systems, by promoting research, clinical care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology. ASH provides Blood: The Vital Connection (www.bloodthevitalconnection.org), a credible online resource addressing bleeding and clotting disorders, anemia, and cancer. The official journal of ASH is Blood (www.bloodjournal.org), the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, which is available weekly in print and online.

SOURCE American Society of Hematology