Faculty
Kenneth C. Anderson
Boston, USA
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Kenneth C. Anderson
Dr. Anderson is the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School as well as Director of the LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is a Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Research Scientist and American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor. After graduating from Johns Hopkins Medical School, he trained in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and then completed hematology, medical oncology, and tumor immunology training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Over the last three decades, he has focused his laboratory and clinical research studies on multiple myeloma. He has developed laboratory and animal models of the tumor in its microenvironment which have allowed for both identification of novel targets and validation of novel targeted therapies, and has then rapidly translated these studies to clinical trials culminating in FDA approval of novel targeted therapies. His paradigm for identifying and validating targets in the tumor cell and its milieu has transformed myeloma therapy and markedly improved patient outcome.
He is the recipient of many scientific and humanitarian awards including: the International Myeloma Workshop Waldenstrom’s Award; the International Myeloma Foundation Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award; the American Association for Cancer Research Joseph H. Burchenal Award; the American Society of Hematology William Dameshek Prize; the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars; election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Colleges of Physicians and of Pathologists (UK); the American Society of Clinical Oncology David A. Karnofsky Award; the Hope Funds for Cancer Research Award of Excellence in Clinical Research; the Ron Burton Humanitarian Award; the Harvard Medical School Warren Alpert Foundation Prize; the American Cancer Society Medal of Honor; the Leonard P. Zakim Patient Advocacy Award; the Samuel Waxman Research Foundation David Workman Memorial Award; and the University of Miami Sylvester Cancer Center Annual Zubrod Memorial Award. He is a Fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and has served as President of the International Myeloma Society and President of the American Society of Hematology.
Daniel Auclair
Boston, USA
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
Daniel Auclair
Dr. Auclair has been with the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) for over a decade (2007-2010, and 2013-now) where he is now Chief Scientific Officer. In addition to being responsible for all of MMRF preclinical and translational activities, Dr. Auclair is also deeply involved in the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC), a network of 23 multiple myeloma (MM) centers of excellence through which 89 MM clinic trials have been run to date. Dr. Auclair is a lead Investigator on MMRF/C MyDRUG (NCT03732703) and MyCheckpoint (NCT04150965) studies as well as on the CureCloud Research Initiative longitudinal study (NCT03657251) and a co-investigator on MMRF CoMMpass study (NCT01454297).
After completing his graduate studies in Montreal and postdoctoral fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Cancer Center where he conducted some of the original multiple myeloma genomic work, Dr. Auclair then spent a decade in early cancer drug discovery in biotech/pharma, mostly at Bayer where he worked, among others, on overseeing the Bayer-Millennium cancer genomics drug collaboration as well as on Nexavar and Stivarga. Dr. Auclair also worked at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard where as a senior manager in the Cancer Program he was involved in a wide range of academic and industry collaborations centered around cancer genomics and precision medicine initiatives. Dr. Auclair was selected by PharmaVoice in 2017 as one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in the life-sciences industry.
Faith Davies
New York, USA
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Faith Davies
Faith E. Davies earned her medical degree from the University of Wales College of Medicine and completed her general medical training and hematology specialty training in the UK. Prior to joining the faculty of NYU Langone, New York, Dr. Davies held positions with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas, USA and the Institute of Cancer Research / Royal Marsden Hospital, in London, UK.
Her research focus for over two decades has been on the biology and treatment of multiple myeloma, in particular the examination of potential new drugs and new genetic technologies. She is recognized internationally for her work looking at prognostic and predictive biomarkers (e.g. genetic abnormalities, imaging and minimal residual disease) within the context of clinical trials. Dr. Davies laboratory work is aimed at identifying biologically based therapeutic targets in myeloma that are amenable to small molecule interventions and translating those laboratory findings into the clinical arena with a focus on individualized treatment.
Dr. Davies is a member of the American Society of Hematology, the American Association for Cancer Research, the Royal College of Physicians (UK), and the Royal College of Pathologists (UK). She is widely published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Blood, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Leukemia.
Madhav Dhodapkar
Atlanta, USA
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Madhav Dhodapkar
Dr Madhav Dhodapkar is the director of Winship Center for Cancer Immunology, Anise McDaniel Brock Chair, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Cancer Innovation and professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology in the Emory School of Medicine. He also co-leads the cancer immunology program at Winship Cancer Institute. Prior to moving to Emory in 2018, Dhodapkar served as chief of hematology, the Arthur H. and Isabel Bunker Professor of Medicine (Hematology), and professor of immunobiology at Yale University School of Medicine. An expert in cancer immunology, he also was co-director of the Cancer Immunology Program within the Yale Cancer Center. Dr Dhodapkar’s research focuses on how the immune system regulates the progression from precursor lesions to cancer as well as the mechanisms of treatment sensitivity and resistance to cancer immunotherapy and biology of dendritic cells.
Dr Dhodapkar earned his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India, and completed his fellowship in oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Prior to Yale, Dhodapkar served on the faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The Rockefeller University in New York. He is a prior recipient of several awards including the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award and the NCI Outstanding Investigator Award.
Angela Dispenzieri
Rochester, USA
Mayo Clinic
Angela Dispenzieri
Angela Dispenzieri, M.D., is a consultant in the Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic, and serves as Chair of Hematology Research. She has joint appointments in the Division of Clinical Biochemistry and Immunology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, and the Department of Molecular Medicine. Dr. Dispenzieri holds the academic rank of Professor of Medicine and of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and she is recognized with the distinction of a named professorship, the Serene M. and Frances C. Durling Professorship. She joined the staff of Mayo Clinic in 1998.
Dr. Dispenzieri earned her B.S. in biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her M.D. at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She subsequently completed a residency and a fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Dispenzieri conducts research in plasma cell disorders, including multiple myeloma, amyloidosis, POEMS syndrome and other rare plasma cell disorders. Her joint appointments in Hematology and Clinical Chemistry are conducive to clinical and translational research in these fields. She also specializes in clinical trials—with a special interest in virotherapy–and stem cell transplantation. She is the Director of the Biospecimens Core of the Mayo Clinic Myeloma SPORE. Dr. Dispenzieri is frequently invited to give presentations on her research both domestically and internationally, and she has authored numerous journal articles, book chapters, and abstracts. She has held editorial and reviewer responsibilities for several prominent publications.
In addition to her clinical and research activities, Dr. Dispenzieri is active in education and provides mentorship to many residents and fellows.
Hermann Einsele
Würzburg, Germany
University Hospital Würzburg
Hermann Einsele
Hermann Einsele, MD, FRCP, is Full Professor of Internal Medicine and has been Director of the Department of Internal Medicine II of the University Hospital Würzburg, Germany, since 2004.
Following his medical training at the Universities of Tübingen, Manchester, and London, Professor Einsele became a research fellow in the Department of Haematology, Oncology, Rheumatology, and Immunology at the University of Tübingen, Germany. He was board certified in Internal Medicine in 1991 and in Haematology/Oncology in 1996. In 1999 was promoted as an Associate Professor. He is a visiting professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA, USA, and at the City of Hope Hospital, Duarte, CA, USA.
2011-2015 Hermann Einsele was Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Würzburg, since 2015, he is Vice President of the University of Würzburg and since 2020 Chair of the German Society of Hematology and Medical Oncology (DGHO).
In 1999, he became Chairman of the German Study Group Multiple Myeloma. In 2003, he received the van Bekkum Award, the highest Annual European award for research in the field of stem cell transplantation. In 2011, he was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (London) and in 2012 Nobel Lecturer Stem Cell Biology/ Transplantation, Nobel Forum Karolinska Institute. Since 2014, he was elected as a member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz and 2017/2018/2019 as an ISI “Highly Cited Researcher” in the category Clinical Medicine.
Prof. Einsele is expert in the field of multiple myeloma, stem cell transplantation, CAR T cells, bi-specific antibodies and adoptive immunotherapy.
Francesca Gay
Turin, Italy
Azienda Ospedaliero Università Città della Salute e della Scienza
Francesca Gay
Dr. Francesca Gay is Associate Professor in the University of Torino, Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, and works as hematologist at the Myeloma Unit, Division of Hematology, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Italy. She completed her medical degree in 2004 and her fellowship in hematology in 2008 at the University of Torino, Italy. She obtained her PhD in Medicine and Experimental Therapy in 2014.
She is involved in the design, development and coordination of phase I/II/III clinical trials for the treatment of multiple myeloma in tight collaboration with the European Myeloma Network (EMN and EMN Research Italy) and the Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell’Adulto (GIMEMA). She is a member of the EMN young board. She is currently local principal investigator in several multi-center clinical trials. She worked on several international multicenter projects and data analyses.
Dr. Gay’s main research focuses on the diagnosis and the clinical and experimental treatment of patients with multiple myeloma and associated disorders, particularly of newly diagnosed patients eligible for autologous stem-cell transplantation. Her interests also include the use of new biological molecules, monoclonal antibodies, immunotherapeutic agents, CAR T Cells and stem-cell transplantation techniques.
She is a member of IMS, EMN, SIE, EHA and ASH. She is author and co-author of more than 100 papers published in peer reviewed journals, as well as reviewer for several journals including Lancet, Leukemia, Lancet Oncology, Lancet Hematology, and Haematologica. In 2019 she has been awarded the Bart Barlogie Young Investigator Award by the International Myeloma Society.
Irene Ghobrial
Boston, USA
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Irene Ghobrial
Dr. Irene Ghobrial is an Professor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA and an Associate member of the Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA. She is the Director of the Clinical Investigator research program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, co-director of the Center for Prevention of Progression (CPOP) and co-leader of the Blood Cancer Research Partnership (BCRP). She is also the director of the Michele & Stephen Kirsch Laboratory.
She received her medical degree from Cairo University School of Medicine, Egypt. She completed her internal medicine training at Wayne State University, MI, and her Hematology/Oncology subspecialty training at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, MN.
Her research focuses on understanding mechanisms of tumor progression from early precursor conditions such as monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and Smoldering disease to symptomatic Multiple Myeloma (MM) and Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (WM). She specifically focuses on the role of the malignant bone marrow niche in regulating disease progression. She is interested in the development of new molecular/genomic markers that predict progression in precursor conditions which can identify patients who should be eligible for therapeutic interventions to prevent progression or potentially cure the disease at the early stages of the disease before clonal evolution occurs.
She authored or co-authored over 250 publications and book chapters and has received funding support from the National Cancer Institute as well as multiple foundations including Stand Up-to Cancer, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and International Myeloma Foundation. She has received multiple awards including the Ken Anderson Young Investigator Award, Robert A. Kyle Award for Research in Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia, and Mentor of the Year Award at DFCI.
Jean-Luc Harousseau
Nantes, France
Hôpital Privé du Confluent
Jean-Luc Harousseau
Jean-Luc Harousseau is Professor of Hematology at the University of Nantes in France. He has been Chairman of the French National Authority for Health (HAS) from February 2011 to January 2016 and Chair of its Economic and Public Health Evaluation Committee from February 2014 to January 2016. He headed the Department of Clinical Haematology in Nantes University Hospital for 24 years and was Director of the Cancer Center René Gauducheau in Nantes from October 2008 to January 2011.He founded the Institut de Cancérologie de l’Ouest (Cancer Centers of Nantes and Angers). He is currently Advisor to the Director of Institut de Cancérologie de l’Ouest Nantes-Angers
In his previous positions, he has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the French National Cancer Institute and President of the Clinical Research in Oncology National Committee from October 2008 to January 2011. He was a founding member of the Groupe Ouest-Est Leucémies Aigues et Maladies du Sang and of the Intergroupe Français du Myélome and President of this internationally renowned cooperative group from June 2009 to January 2011.
He was member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and the International Myeloma Foundation. His areas of research interest concern the therapy of acute myeloid leukemia and for the last thirty years Multiple Myeloma. He received the 2005 Waldenström Award, the 2009 Robert Kyle Award and the HJ Khoury IACH Award for his scientific contribution in the field of Multiple Myeloma. Professor Harousseau has contributed to more than 550 peer-reviewed publications.
Bindu Kanapuru
Bethesda, USA
US Food and Drug Administration
Bindu Kanapuru
Dr. Bindu Kanapuru is a board-certified hematologist-oncologist and the Multiple Myeloma Team Lead in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies 2 (DHM2) in the Office of Oncologic Diseases (OOD) and Cross Center Team Lead for Multiple Myeloma at the US Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Kanapuru joined the FDA in 2015. Her areas of interest include disparities in clinical trials and novel trial designs. She serves as the scientific liaison for geriatric hematologic malignancies.
Dr. Kanapuru completed her fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. During her fellowship she did her research at the National Institute on Aging on mechanisms of unexplained anemia and cancer incidence in older adults, and co-authored multiple book chapters and publications.
Stefan Knop
Würzburg, Germany
University Hospital Würzburg
Stefan Knop
Dr Stefan Knop was appointed Head of the Div. of Hematology at Würzburg University Medical Center, Würzburg, Germany in 2014. He graduated from Tübingen Medical School in 1999 and was board certified in internal medicine in 2006 and in hematology and medical oncology in 2007. Dr Knop has authored several publications in peer-reviewed journals on multiple myeloma and other plasma cell dyscrasias. Dr Knop has been the Study Secretary of the German Myeloma Study Group, DSMM, since 2007and has designed and set up the study group’s seven most recent phase 2 and 3 trials. He currently works on next-generation sequencing strategies, minimal residual disease techniques and functional imaging in the context of prospective studies.
Ola Landgren
Miami, USA
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Cencer at University of Miami
Ola Landgren
Dr. Landgren is Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Myeloma Program, and Leader of the Experimental Therapeutics Program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Miami. Over the past several years, he has designed and conducted a series of studies to define biological mechanisms of transformation from myeloma precursor disease (monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance [MGUS] and smoldering myeloma) to multiple myeloma. As a logical extension, he has designed clinical trials using modern combination therapies to seek rapid and deep responses in the setting of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. Beyond traditional clinical criteria for complete response, he has developed strategies to define minimal residual disease (MRD) detection post-therapy in multiple myeloma patients using novel cell-, molecular-, and imaging-based methods. Dr. Landgren has a strong interest in the development of early drug development and he has served as principal investigator for a large number of clinical trials. He leads the clinical and research operations as well as the development of the program. He is a frequent speaker and faculty member for national and international meetings on myeloma and hematologic malignancies. I is a member of several editorial boards and he frequently serve as a reviewer for grants and high-impact journals. As a Program Member of the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant, he participates in research activities as an independent investigator, as leader of research governance committees, and multi-disciplinary research teams.
Alesandra Larocca
Turin, Italy
University of Turin
Alesandra Larocca
Alessandra Larocca, MD, PhD is a hematologist at the Myeloma Unit, Division of Hematology, University of Torino, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Italy. She studied Medicine at the University of Milano, and completed her residency in Hematology at the same institution. In 2014 she obtained her PhD in Pathology and Experimental Oncology at the University of Torino.
She is involved in the design, development and coordination of phase I/II/III clinical trials for the treatment of multiple myeloma in tight collaboration with the European Myeloma Network (EMN and EMN Research Italy) and the Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell’Adulto (GIMEMA). She is currently local principal investigator in several multi-center clinical trials.
Dr. Larocca’s main research focuses on the diagnosis and the clinical and experimental treatment of patients with multiple myeloma and associated disorders, particularly of elderly patients. Her interests also include the use of new biological molecules, monoclonal antibodies, immunotherapeutic agents, CAR T Cells and stem-cell transplantation techniques.
She is a member of EMN, EHA and ASH. She is author and co-author of several papers published in peer reviewed journals.
Xavier Leleu
Poitiers, France
Hôpital de la Miletrie
Xavier Leleu
Xavier Leleu, MD, PhD, is Professor, Head of the myeloma clinic and head of the department of Haematology at Hôpital La Mileterie, part of the academic hospital of Poitiers (CHU), France. Dr Leleu received his medical degree at the University of Bordeaux, France. He completed specialization in public healthcare and statistics at the University of Medicine of Paris, France and in haematology at the University of Medicine of Lille. Dr Leleu was the head of the Myeloma clinic in Lille under Pr T Facon mentorship for almost 15 years. He received a Master’s in cellular biology at the University of Medicine of Lille in 2001 and
completed his PhD in 2007 having done his research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. His main topic of research was the preclinical development of the novel agent and understanding mechanisms of resistance and of dormancy in Waldenström macroglobulinaemia and the clinical development of novel agents in multiple myeloma in the context of the most recent discovery in the biology of myeloma. He was trained with his mentors Dr IM Ghobrial and Dr SP Treon in Prof. Kenneth Anderson’s laboratory.
Doctor Leleu’s research is focused on the biology and treatment of multiple myeloma, Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia and amyloidosis and he has published widely in the area. He is actively involved in numerous national and international clinical trials as investigator and coordinator. Professor Leleu is a frequent speaker at national and international congresses and is a reviewer or a member of the editorial board of several hematology journals. He is actively involved in the Intergroupe Francophone du Myélome (IFM), currently the treasurer and a member of the board of director, and is also a member of a number of other national and international scientific societies.
Salomon Manier
Lille, France
Hôpital Huriez
Salomon Manier
Dr. Salomon Manier is an physician scientist working on multiple myeloma in Lille, France. He did his clinical training in Lille under the mentorship of Pr. Facon and Pr. Leleu. He spent four years at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston for his research training, in the lab of Pr. Ghobrial. He is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Hematology in Lille, an Investigator in INSERM UMR-S1277, CNRS UMR9020 and a member of the IFM group.
Maria-Victoria Mateos
Salamanca, Spain
University of Salamanca
Maria-Victoria Mateos
Dr. María-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, is Consultant Physician in the Haematology Department and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Salamanca, Spain. She is the director of the Myeloma Program and coordinates the Clinical Trials Unit in Salamanca’s University Hospital Haematology Department.
She serves as coordinator of GEM (Spanish Myeloma Group), with direct involvement in the design and development of clinical trials. She has coordinated many clinical trials especially in the smouldering myeloma setting and these trials have profoundly influenced current options for the management of these patient populations.
She has published over 250 original papers in international journals and her articles had received 29.452 citations (19268 since 2015) with a H index of 79 and 60 since 2015.
She is also a member of the IMWG (International MM Working Group), IMS (International MM Society), EHA and ASH. Among her invited presentations, she has contributed to the educational sessions of EHA 2012, ASH 2013, ASCO 2015, EHA 2016, ASCO and ASH 2017.
She has served on the ASH Scientific Committee on plasma cell diseases between 2015-2019 and on the EHA’s Scientific Program Committee and Advisory Board since 2013 until 2020 being chair of the Scientific Program Committee in 2019.
She has been Councillor on the EHA Board since 2015 for a four-year mandate, member of the Steering Committee for the Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO), member of the IMS board and member of the European School of Haematology (ESH) Scientific committee. She received the Briand Durie Award in 2019 recognizing excellence in myeloma research.
Giampaolo Merlini
Pavia, Italy
Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo
Giampaolo Merlini
Giampaolo Merlini received his medical degree and specialized in Hematology and in Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pavia. He was trained by Prof. Jan Waldenström and Prof. Elliott Osserman in the study of monoclonal gammopathies and systemic amyloidosis. He founded and was the Director of the Center for Research and Treatment of Systemic Amyloidosis until 2016, University Hospital Policlinico San Matteo, and he is now the Director of Research of the University Hospital. He is Professor of Clinical Biochemistry, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Pavia, Italy. He was President of the International Society of Amyloidosis from 2005 to 2010. He received several awards, including the Jan G. Waldenström Award from the International Workshop on Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia in 2008, the 2017 Ham-Wasserman Lecture of the American Society of Hematology, the Robert Kyle Award from the International Workshop on Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia in 2018, and the Jan G. Waldenström Award from the International Myeloma Society in 2019.
Dr. Merlini’s research interests include the pathogenesis, natural history, diagnosis and treatment of monoclonal gammopathies, in particular immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis. His recent research focuses on the investigation of molecular mechanisms of cardiac damage, on biomarkers for assessing prognosis and response to therapy and on the development of novel therapeutic agents and treatment designed in the light of advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of these diseases. He is principal investigator for several research projects in this field.
Philippe Moreau
Nantes, France
CHU de Nantes
Philippe Moreau
Philippe Moreau, MD, serves as Professor of Clinical Hematology and head of the translational research program in hematology and oncology, at the University Hospital of Nantes, France. Professor Moreau’s clinical interests are focused on multiple myeloma and its treatment with high-dose therapy and novel agents.
Professor Moreau is the chairman of the Intergroupe Francophone du Myélome (IFM).
He is vice-president of International Myeloma Society (IMS) since 2019, and he is a member of the steering committee of the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) since 2013. He has served as the principal investigator or co-PI of many international randomized phase 3 clinical trials: Tourmaline (Ixazomib for relapsed myeloma), Aspire (Carfilzomib for relapsed myeloma), Endeavor (Carfilzomib for relapsed myeloma), Stratus (Pomalidomide for relapsed myeloma), Pollux (Daratumumab for relapsed myeloma), Arrow (weekly versus biweekly Carfilzomib for relapsed myeloma), Cassiopeia (Daratumumab for frontline therapy in transplant eligible patients) or Ikema (Isatuximab for relapsed myeloma).
He was a member of the organizing committee for the 2011 International Myeloma Workshop in Paris.
His research is widely published. Professor Moreau has authored or coauthored more than 300 peer-reviewed articles that have appeared in high impact factor journals including, the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, The Lancet, The Lancet Oncology, and Blood. He is a member of the editorial boards of Blood, and Blood Cancer Journal and is frequently invited to speak at international hematologic oncology meetings.
Professor Moreau received in 2018 the Robert A. Kyle lifetime achievement award.
Nikhil Munshi
Boston, USA
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Nikhil Munshi
Nikhil C. Munshi, MD is the Kraft Family Chair and Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and the Director of Basic and Correlative Science, and Associate Director of the Jerome Lipper Myeloma Center at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He is an attending physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Munshi received his medical degree from the S.S.G. Hospital and M.S. University, Baroda India. He completed a Research Fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and a clinical fellowship in hematology/oncology at the Indiana University Medical Center. Prior to joining Dana Farber, Dr. Munshi was Professor of Medicine and Director of the Clinical Gene Transduction Laboratory at the University of Arkansas.
Dr. Munshi’s research focus spans both basic sciences to understand genomic changes in myeloma and elucidate molecular mechanisms driving the genomic instability in cancer, to translational approaches directed at improving diagnosis and prognosis as well as therapeutics. Dr Munshi’s clinical interests include CAR T-cell therapy in multiple myeloma and developing novel targeted therapeutics including novel antigen-directed and immune effector cell therapy/vaccine approaches.
He has over 500 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. Dr Munshi has mentored over 70 junior faculty, post-doctoral fellows, medical residents, as well as medical and undergraduate students. A number of them are now independent scientists, physicians, and professionals. His grant support has included Program Project and SPORE grants from National Institutes of Health, and VA Research grants. He is the current President of the International Myeloma Society. He has received number of Awards including a Leukemia Society of America Scholar in Translational Research Award, the Dr. B.C. Roy National Award by the president of India in 2016 and the prestigious “Waldenstrom’s Award” for Most Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in Myeloma Research in 2013.
Cristina Nanni
Bologna, Italy
University of Bologna
Cristina Nanni
Dr. Cristina Nanni is a Nuclear Medicine Physician working at the PET Centre in Bologna (ITALY) since 2007.
She got her residency in Nuclear Medicine at the University Bologna (2000 to 2004) and in Radiology in 2012. She worked in the field of pre-clinical PET imaging in 2005 and 2006. Now she is responsible for new radiotracers applications and integration of morphological and functional imaging (PET/ceCT and PET/CT guided biopsy) in the clinical practice.
Recently she has worked particularly on the role of FDG PET/CT in Multiple Myeloma and on the application of FACBC as an alternative tracer beside Choline in prostate cancer patients.
She is author and co-author more than 200 clinical and pre-clinical papers published in international journals and more than 200 abstracts presented at national and international congresses as posters and oral presentations.
Inger Nijhof
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
VU University Medical Centre
Inger Nijhof
Inger Nijhof is a Hematologist at the AmsterdamUMC, location VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She treats patients with a variety of hematological malignancies but has a special interest in the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. Dr Nijhof is involved in translational and clinical research, aimed at finding new targets for therapy, with a focus on immune therapy. Part of Dr Nijhof time is dedicated to teaching medical students, residents, and colleagues about hematological diseases with an emphasis on multiple myeloma, supportive care, and immune therapy, especially CAR T therapy.
Enrique Ocio
Santander, Spain
Hospital Universitario Marques de Valdecilla
Enrique Ocio
Dr. Enrique M. Ocio, MD, PhD, is the Head of the Hematology Department of the University Hospital “Marqués de Valdecilla” and is the responsible for the Hematology Research group at the IDIVAL Biomedical Research Institute in Santander (Cantabria-Spain).
He graduated in Medicine in the University of Salamanca and completed his residency in Haematology and obtained the PhD in the University Hospital of Salamanca. Later on, he enjoyed a one-year post-doctoral stay in Dana Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard University, Boston, MA. USA), working in the development of novel drugs for multiple myeloma. For more than 20 years, he combined his tasks as a physician in Salamanca, coordinating the Clinical Trials Unit of the department and the Phase I Trials Unit of the hospital, with his research work in the Cancer Research Center of the University of Salamanca as the responsible of the New Drugs Development Unit in Hematologic Malignancies. He has published over 100 original papers in international journals.
His main areas of interest are the study of the biology of multiple myeloma and other haematological malignancies such as acute myeloid leukemia or B lymphoproliferative disorders; and the development of novel antitumoral drugs from the preclinical setting to early phases clinical trials. Among these he has focused on the study of the activity and mechanism of action and resistance of several drugs such as proteasome inhibitors, IMIDs or deacetylase inhibitors, and the study of the immune system and the evaluation of novel immunotherapeutic strategies.
Charlotte Pawlyn
London, United Kingdom
Institute of Cancer Research
Charlotte Pawlyn
Charlotte Pawlyn is a CRUK Clinician Scientist and Team Leader at The Institute of Cancer Research and an Honorary Consultant Haematologist at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, UK. She received her degrees in Pharmacology and Medicine from St John’s College, Cambridge University, UK. She completed initial medical training in the East Anglian and North London deaneries and Haematology specialty training at the Royal Marsden Hospital and The Institute of Cancer Research, London. In 2016 Charlotte completed a Wellcome Trust funded PhD Fellowship, undertaking laboratory research to identify novel epigenetic targets for myeloma therapy. Her current laboratory research focusses on identifying therapeutic targets to improve outcomes for patients with immunomodulatory drug resistant and high-risk myeloma. In addition to her laboratory studies Charlotte is actively involved in the Trial Management Groups of several clinical trials as part of the UK Myeloma Research Alliance including the large national frontline studies, Myeloma XI and Myeloma XIV. She has published numerous peer-reviewed research papers and is a member of the Research Advisory Group for Myeloma UK.
Karthik Ramasamy
Oxford, United Kingdom
Oxford Cancer and Haematology Centre
Karthik Ramasamy
Karthik Ramasamy is a Consultant Haematologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and Associate Professor of Haematology, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Oxford University, UK. Dr Ramasamy is the Director of the Oxford Myeloma Translational Research Centre, and a Lead Clinician for myeloma and other plasma cell dyscrasias at the Thames Valley Cancer Alliance Group. He is the Divisional Lead for Cancer research for National Institute for Health Research, Clinical Research Network Thames Valley and South Midlands, UK. He is an executive member of the UK Myeloma Forum and is an active member of UK Myeloma Research Alliance. Karthik serves on the Myeloma UK Board, a patient charity exclusively dealing with myeloma advocacy and research.
Dr Ramasamy completed his haematology training in London. Following this, he completed three years as a clinical research fellow working on bone marrow microenvironment in myeloma at King’s College London.
Dr Ramasamy is a Chief Investigator of myeloma studies and his translational research interests are early diagnosis of myeloma, myeloma renal, bone disease and myeloma drug resistance mechanisms. Karthik has published over 75 papers and authored textbooks/ chapters on myeloma.
Leo Rasche
Würzburg, Germany
University Hospital Würzburg
Leo Rasche
Leo Rasche, MD, attended medical school at the University of Würzburg in Germany and earned his MD in 2009, with the focus on experimental pathology, where he subsequently completed his residency in internal medicine and was a consulting specialist in internal medicine and hematology/oncology. Between 2016 and 2018 he has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Myeloma Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, where he studied medical imaging, tumor genomics, tumor evolution, and immunotherapy approaches for treating multiple myeloma. In 2018 he was appointed an assistant professor of research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. In summer 2018, Dr. Rasche returned to Germany where he serves as an attending physician on the myeloma service at the University hospital of Würzburg.
Dr. Rasche has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature Medicine, Nature Communications, Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, Blood, and Leukemia. He presented his findings at national and international conferences, and serves as reviewer for prominent journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Rasche holds membership with several professional organizations, including the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG).
Paula Rodriguez-Otero
Pamplona, Spain
Clinica Universidad de Navarra
Paula Rodriguez-Otero
Dr. Paula Rodríguez-Otero studied medicine at the University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. Subsequently she completed her residency training program in hematology at the Clinic of the University of Navarra and became faculty at the department of the same institution. After completing her PhD she focused her clinical interest in the management and biology of allogeneic stem cell transplant, which brought her to perform a clinical fellowship in the bone marrow transplant division at the Hôpital Saint-Louis, in Paris. In 2011 she joined back the Department of Hematology at the University of Navarra, where she has become a member of the Myeloma Unit and leads the clinical trials and immunotherapy program under the direction of Professor Jesus San Miguel.
Frederik Schjesvold
Oslo, Norway
Oslo Myeloma Center
Frederik Schjesvold
Fredrik Schjesvold is Head of Oslo Myeloma Center, in Oslo, Norway. He is head of the Norwegian myeloma association, president elect of the Nordic Myeloma Study Group and a member of the European Myeloma Network young board. He is national investigator of 36 clinical trials in multiple myeloma, and principal investigator for 4 academic studies. He is a co-author of ESMO and IMWG guidelines, as well as lead author of the Norwegian myeloma guidelines. He is peer reviewer of several international journals, and co-editor of the journal Bloods. He is an international expert on myeloma and has given talks in Europe, America and Asia.
Nina Shah
San Francisco, USA
University of California San Francisco
Nina Shah
Dr. Shah is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology at University of California San Francisco. Her research focuses on multiple myeloma clinical trials, specifically immunotherapy and cellular therapy. She performed the first-in-human clinical trial of umbilical cord blood-derived natural killer cell therapy for myeloma and is one of the lead principal investigators for the multi-center BMT CTN 1401 dendritic cell vaccine trial for myeloma patients. Additionally, she is the institutional PI for numerous cellular therapy and immunotherapy protocols.
Dr. Shah is also interested in outcomes research for myeloma patients undergoing autologous transplantation and led a randomized trial to determine the impact of stem cell dose on symptoms in this patient population. She has published on the link between patient reported outcomes and physical testing in this clinical context and is conducting a study to investigate digital life coaching during transplant recovery. She is heavily involved in the myeloma research community and led the effort to define myeloma-transplant practice guidelines for the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplant (ASBMT). She also serves as a Co-Chair for the Plasma Cell Disorders and Adult Solid Tumors Working Committee at the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) and is a member of the American Society of Hematology Scientific Committee on Plasma Cell Neoplasia.
Eric Smith
New York, USA
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Eric Smith
Dr. Smith earned his MD and PhD (Genetics and Genomic Sciences) from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he also trained as a research track resident in internal medicine. He then moved to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) for medical oncology fellowship and further research training. Post-fellowship he stayed on at MSKCC serving as faculty in the Center for Cell Engineering, Cellular Therapeutics Center, and the Myeloma Service before joining Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where he currently serves as Director of Translational Research, Immune Effector Cell Therapies, and PI of a synthetic biology/cellular engineering pre-clinical discovery laboratory. CAR vectors for the treatment of MM stemming from Dr. Smith’s work are being investigated in 7 separate clinical trials.
Niels Van de Donk
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
VU University Medical Centre
Niels Van de Donk
Niels van de Donk, MD, PhD is working as a hematologist in Amsterdam University Medical Center, where he was appointed as full professor in February 2020. He specialized in hematology at the University Medical Center Utrecht. Following a fellowship at the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, he assumed his current post in Amsterdam.
Niels van de Donk’s special interest is the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. He is the principal investigator of several investigator-initiated studies. Furthermore, he is involved in translational research towards finding new targets for therapy with a focus on immune therapy. He is author or co-author of a number of books and many papers published in peer-reviewed journals. He is also secretary of the HOVON multiple myeloma working party and scientific secretary of the European Myeloma Network. He is serving on the EHA Scientific Program Committee since 2018.
Josephine Vos
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Amsterdam UMC
Josephine Vos
Dr Vos works as a hematologist at the Amsterdam UMC/LYMMCARE. She specializes in B-cel Non-Hodgkin lymphoma particularly Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia (WM) and auto-immune phenomena secondary to paraproteins (often of the IgM type – IgM related disorders including neuropathies, nefropathies, complement mediated AIHA etcetera). She is chair of the national WM working group and the recently updated Dutch national guideline as well as member of the latest International Workshop for Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (IWWM-10) consensus panel recommendations.
Elena Zamagni
Bologna, Italy
University of Bologna
Elena Zamagni
Elena Zamagni MD, PHD, is Assistant Professor of Hematology at the University of Bologna, Italy. She received her medical degree from University of Bologna, where she also served her residency in haematology. She got PHD in Clinical Hematology at the University of Bologna in May 2005.
Her research interests include areas related to multiple myeloma, in particular on the role of high dose therapy with stem cell support , of prognostic factors and of imaging techniques.
She has published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals, mainly in the field of plasma cell dyscrasia. She has contributed to the educational session of the Italian Society of Haematology (SIE) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). She is abstracts reviewer for SIE, EHA and ASH. She is part of the editorial board of Frontiers in Oncology since 2019. She is an active member of the board of the GIMEMA and European Myeloma Network (EMN) working party and she has cooperated in the Scientific secretary and as principal investigator in several national randomized trials in multiple myeloma. She is a member of the Italian Society of Haematology and of the International Myeloma Working Group. She is serving on the EHA’s Scientific Program Committee since 2017. She is responsible for the career development committee within the International Myeloma Society since 2019.
Sonja Zweegman
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
VU University Medical Centre
Sonja Zweegman
Sonja Zweegman, MD, PhD, is head of the Department of Hematology, Amsterdam UMC in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is vice-chaiman of the HOVON Myeloma Working Group.
Her clinical research is focused on the improvement of the treatment of patients with Multiple Myeloma. She is the principal investigator of several (inter)national clinical trials in the elderly aiming at personalized treatment based on the level of frailty. In order to reach that goal, she investigates whether functional geriatric assessments and biological markers of frailty, such as senescence and sarcopenia, are better predictors for the feasibility of therapy. Furthermore, she co-leads the myeloma translational research group, which is embedded within the Department of Hematology, in order to integrate scientific research with care. The research is dedicated to improve immune therapy of Multiple Myeloma. Firstly, by investigating the mechanism of action of immune therapy, being exemplified by revealing the long term immune-regulatory effects of anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies, and the biological background of immune therapy resistance. Secondly, by developing novel treatment strategies, such as dual CAR-T cell therapy. She is a co-author of more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and several book chapters.