ASH News Daily 2015 - Day 1 - (Page A-1)
ASH NewS DAily
®
57th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology
Issue 1, Section A
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Orlando, FL
Read this issue online at
www.hematology.org/ashnewsdaily2015_saturday
Follow us on Twitter using #ASH15
SchedUle
7:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Special Scientific Symposium on Targeting
the Epigenome
Orange County Convention Center
(Hall E1)
11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Grassroots Network Lunch
Hyatt Regency Orlando
(Orlando Ballroom N)
11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
How to Get Published in a Peer-Reviewed
Journal
Orange County Convention Center
(Tangerine 1 - WF1)
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Ham-Wasserman Lecture
Orange County Convention Center
(Hall D)
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Special Symposium on Quality
Orange County Convention Center
(W304)
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Special Scientific Symposium on Precision
Medicine in Cancer Therapy: N-of-1
Orange County Convention Center
(Hall E1)
4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Special Scientific Symposium on Genomically Engineered Stem Cells: A Brave New
World for Therapeutics
Orange County Convention Center
(Hall E1)
6:30 - 9:00 p.m.
Promoting Minorities in Hematology Presentations and Reception
Hyatt Regency Orlando
(Regency Ballroom O-P, Ballroom Q)
IN THIS SECTION
Trainee Day
A-6
No Match?
A-10
Quality
A-16
Where Have All the Neutrophils Gone?
By Saad USmani, md
N
eutrophils are the foot soldiers of the innate immune
system "army" - first responders to a site of infection, laboring to keep the microbial "enemy"
in check until the adaptive immune
system kicks in. Benign variations
in neutrophil quantity are well recognized in certain populations and
are of little clinical consequence. For
example, individuals of African or
Middle Eastern descent have low
neutrophil counts (neutropenia) due
to polymorphisms in the Duffy-Antigen receptor of chemokines (DARC)
gene, which is associated with protection against malaria. However,
the congenital forms of neutropenia
(termed "severe congenital neutropenia" [SCN]) are clinically significant. First described by Dr. Rolf Kostmann in 1956, SCN not only makes
individuals prone to life-threatening
infection, it may also evolve into myelodysplastic syndrome and acute
leukemia. SCN is a heterogeneous
group of disorders characterized by
the presence of several distinct gene
mutations, the most common of
which are the autosomal-dominant
HAX1 and ELANE gene mutations.
This year's Ham-Wasserman lecture has been awarded to Dr. Ivo
Touw, and this afternoon he will
provide an overview of the progress
made in understanding SCN in a talk
titled "Game of Clones: Genomic
Evolution of Severe Congenital Neutropenia," taking place from 12:30
p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Hall D, Level 2
(Orange County Convention Center).
The Ham-Wasserman lectureship
is named after Dr. Thomas H. Ham
»» HAM-WASSERMAN Page A-21
Dr. Marieke
Essers
gives her
presentation
in the Friday
Scientific
Workshop
on Myeloid
Development.
Appetite for Invention: Why the Workshop on
Myeloid Development Is a Tasting Menu of Discovery
By aaron GerdS, md
I
n 1953, Winston Churchill intoned that "Without tradition,
art is a flock of sheep without a
shepherd. Without innovation, it is
a corpse." For more than two decades, the Workshop on Myeloid
Development has shepherded the
art of hematology research, fuel-
ing innovation with stimulating
discussions and building a yearly
tradition of collaboration and scientific discovery. "The workshop was
started by a small group of friends
who wanted to talk about myeloid
biology," co-chair Dr. Leonard Zon
recalls of the workshop's origins.
With continued growth over time,
he said, "ASH became involved and
really helped maintain it."
This year's session, held on Friday afternoon, was broken down
into several sessions by topic: stem
cells, signaling, myeloid malignancies, transcription factors, and
animal models. Co-chair Dr. Alan
Rosmarin stressed that the rules
of engagement - limiting lecturing and fostering conversation
- have proven over the years to
»» MYELOID Page A-22
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