Global Oncohematology Summit 2023

Professor Sue Branford is the Head of the Leukaemia Unit in the Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology at SA Pathology and a Section Leader at the Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia. She was a major contributor to international collaborative initiatives that established guidelines and recommendations for producing reliable molecular data for patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia. Her research is focused on understanding the factors that predict for response to tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy and the mechanisms of drug resistance. Dr. Branford has received a number of international prizes for her research, including the 2021 International Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Foundation Rowley Prize for significant contribution to the understanding of the biology of chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Dr. Bruno Cassinat is a medical biologist who is responsible for molecular diagnostics in the Cell Biology laboratory at Saint-Louis university hospital in Paris, France. He is also a group leader in INSERM U1131 research team at IRSL. Together with diagnosis and research in acute promyelocytic leukemia, he is involved since more than 20 years in the diagnostics and translational research in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). He co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Cassinat manages the molecular diagnostics of the large cohort of MPN patients followed in Saint-Louis hospital. He is committed to the elucidation of the genotype – phenotype correlations in MPN patients, the impact of treatments on molecular response but also to the understanding of the relationship between clonal architecture and clinical evolution or response to treatment.

Jean-Michel Cayuela obtained a degree in Medical Biology in 1991 and completed his PhD in 1997. Since then, he has been a promoter of molecular diagnostics for malignant haemopathies. In this field, and on behalf of the GBMHM (French network of molecular biologists for malignant haemopathies), he has animated the French External Quality Control Program for more than 15 years. As an Assistant Professor at the Saint-Louis Hospital, Paris, he is notably committed to clinical research into CML and ALL.

Dr. Claudio Cerchione works in Hematology Unit of Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori “Dino Amadori” (IRST) IRCCS, where he is Head of Myeloma Research Group and Principal Investigator of many clinical trials company and non-company sponsored. He has spent international research experiences in Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität, Bonn, Germany, in Universitade de Coimbra, Portugal, collaborating in their clinical and research projects, and in MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA, where he has been nominated International Ambassdor of SOHO (Society of Hematologic Oncology). He is member of several international societies and President of Society of Hematologic Oncology Italy (SOHO Italy). In 2018/2019 he was nominated by EHA as one of the winners of Clinical Research Training in Hematology. He is author/co-author of more than one hundred papers in peer-reviewed international journals.

Nicola Gökbuget is member of the Department for Internal Medicine II, Hematology/Oncology of the University Hospital in Frankfurt. She is head of the Study Center of the department, head of the Study Center of the University Cancer Center (UCT), one of the Scientific Task Force Directors at the UCT and Principal Investigator of the Frankfurt Cancer Institute.

Since more than 20 years she serves as Coordinator of the German Multicenter Study Group for Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (GMALL) with more than 140 participating hospitals all over Germany. She is coordinating or principal investigator of numerous academic or industry sponsored trials in adult ALL and related diseases such as lymphoblastic lymphoma or Burkitt’s lymphoma. She has founded and established a national registry for acute lymphoblastic leukemia with an associated biobank. The GMALL study center is a national reference center for adult ALL which provides comprehensive services including advice in challenging situations of clinical management.

Dr. Heuser is a professor of medicine and holds a Chair for Molecular Therapies in Hematology at Hannover Medical School, Germany. He is the chair of the European LeukemiaNet MRD working party ELN-DAVID. His research focuses on developing improved treatments for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), on the pathogenesis of AML, and on measurable residual disease in AML patients. Dr. Heuser has been a clinical investigator in 70 clinical trials and has published more than 200 peer-reviewed publications.

My clinical mission is to improve the outcome of patients suffering from acute leukemia in general, and acute lymphocytic leukemia in particular (ALL). As a hematologist and oncologist, I face challenges and unmet needs in this field almost every day. My academic career as a clinical investigator is thus devoted to tackle these challenges.

As the section chief of ALL in the Leukemia Department at MD Anderson, I have designed more than a dozen clinical trials assessing new combinations of treatments for the management of de novo ALL, Philadelphia (Ph)-positive ALL, elderly ALL, and relapsed/refractory disease. Of note, I developed a protocol that has shown significant improvements in survival rates for patients with Ph-positive ALL.

Historically, these patients have poor outcomes, with a one-year survival rate of less than 10%. By combining H-CVAD chemotherapy with ponatinib, a new and potent TKI, the 3-year survival rate of these patients has increased to 76% and the 5-year rate to 71% (historically around 40%). This work was published in Lancet Oncology 2015 and recently updated in Lancet Hematology 2018.

Jean-Jacques Kiladjian is a Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at Université Paris Cité and a Consultant Hematologist and Head of the Clinical Investigation Center of Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris. Professor Kiladjian’s work focuses on clinical research and the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and myelodysplastic syndromes.

Professor Kiladjian is an active member of many societies, including the European Hematology Association, for which he is co-chair of the Scientific Working Group on MPN. He is also a member of the American Society of Hematology, as well as the European LeukemiaNet, for which he is secretary of the MPN Working Group, and president of the French Intergroup of Myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Dr. Rathana Kim undertook a Pharmacy course at Paris-Sud XI University, France, and then an internship in medical biology, focused on hematology. After completing his pharmacy and medical biology degrees in 2017, he was awarded a 1-year research grant and got interested into the biology of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the laboratory of Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades led by Pr. E. Macintyre (Paris, France). Specifically, he studied the involvement of the IL7-receptor signaling pathway in adult T-ALL and developed skills in cell biology and xenograft models of leukemia.

He then moved in 2018 to the department of molecular hematology led by Pr E. Clappier within the hematology laboratory of Hôpital Saint-Louis AP-HP (Paris, France) as a junior clinical biologist. He actively contributes to diagnostics and translational research activities within the referent lab for the biology of adult B-ALL within the French national cooperative Group for Research in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (GRAALL). He developed skills in high throughput genome analyses and he is actively involved in the French national plan for Genomic Medicine as an expert for acute leukemias. Currently, his main research interest is the role of clonal hematopoiesis in the biology of adult B-ALL.  

Giovanni Martinelli has been the Scientific Director of Istituto Scientifico romagnolo per lo Studio e la cura dei Tumori, IRST- IRCCS, Italy since 2018. His main research and clinical activities are in acute and chronic myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes.

He has conducted several phase I, II and III clinical trials and biological research projects on acute myeloid leukemia, ALL, myelodysplastic syndrome and chronic myeloid leukemia as Principal Investigator. His research and clinical activities are mainly devoted to translational studies on acute leukemia. These focus on the molecular characterization of acute leukemia primary samples using NGS and SNP array technologies. He is currently working on a variety of translational projects that integrate genomics data with functional analyses to identify novel genetic alterations and to evaluate them as potential targets for innovative therapies.

He has been involved in a variety of national and international projects on the diagnosis and treatment of acute leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes. He was also awarded the 2016 Investigator Grant, AIRC, Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro.

Giovanni Martinelli has published more than 500 papers in national and international journals.

Jae Park, MD is Associate Attending Physician in the Division of Hematologic Oncology, Chief of Cellular Therapy Service, and a Director of Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, New York. Dr. Park received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed an internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a hematology/oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Park has written numerous peer-reviewed articles appearing in New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Nature Medicine, Science Translational Medicine, Blood, Cancer Discovery and Journal of Clinical Oncology. His research has been recognized and funded by the ASH, AACR, ASCO, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Geoffrey Beene Research Foundation, and NCCN. His research focus is to translate and establish novel targeted and immunotherapies for patients with hematologic malignancies. He is widely recognized as one of the world experts in the field of CAR T cell therapies and ALL and is the leading principal investigator of several clinical trials in patients with ALL and CLL/NHL using CAR T, NK cell therapies, BiTEs, IDCs, targeted agents, and immunomodulators.

Mr Sharf decided to use his experience to help other CML patients by founding the Israeli CML Patient's Organization in April 2001. What began with 7 local patients at a small hospital in the city of Netanya, Israel, has since grown to support more than 550 patients from all around the country. The main goal of the patient organization is to empower patients to be active and involve partners in their disease management. 

In 2014, Mr Sharf founded a new Israeli blood cancer patient organization called "Flute of Light." The organization is a resource for patients in Israel with leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood disorders. It also helps patients deal with the psychological challenges of diagnosis and treatments.

In addition to his work with the Israeli Patient’s Organizations, Mr Sharf is a co-founder of the Leukemia Patients Advocates Foundation (LePAF). This is the host for 4 global blood cancer patient advocates networks, including CML Advocates Network, which connects 128 leukemia patient groups from 95 countries and also MPN Patients Advocates. These networks are also involved in research. Mr Sharf has led 2 global studies on adherence and TFR for CML patients, which were presented at the ASH, EHA, ESH and other meetings and were also published in scientific journals, including Leukemia Journal.

In 2022, Mr Sharf was awarded the ICMLF award for his contributions to CML patients globally.  

Albrecht Stenzinger is Professor of Molecular Tumor Pathology, Deputy Director of the Institute of Pathology (IPH), as well as the Head of the IPH Center for Molecular Pathology (CMP) and Section Head for Molecular Diagnostics and Biomarker Development at the Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany. He is holding an MD degree from the University of Giessen (Germany), completed his residency and fellowship training in pathology at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin and the University Hospital Heidelberg (Germany) and is a board-certified surgical pathologist, molecular pathologist, and senior attending. Albrecht received postdoctoral training at the University of Heidelberg, Germany and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, USA. He has broad expertise in molecular pathology and works in the field of translational research and genetics of solid tumors.

Tom Whitehead is a keynote speaker, author, and journeyman lineman for Penelec, a FirstEnergy Company. He is also the proud father of Emily, and co-founder of the Emily Whitehead Foundation, which raises funds and awareness for pediatric cancer immunotherapy research. Tom and his wife Kari founded the Emily Whitehead Foundation in honor of their daughter Emily who was diagnosed at age five with an aggressive form of leukemia that failed to respond to chemotherapy. As a last hope, Emily was enrolled in a clinical trial and became the first pediatric patient in the world to receive CAR T-cell therapy. The therapy worked and Emily is now 11 years cancer free and considered cured.