Antoine Adamantidis
Switzerland
Lior Appelbaum
Israel
Chiara Baglioni Bio
She studied at the ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome where she obtained her Master Degree in Clinical Psychology in 2004 and her PhD in Clinical Psychophysiology in 2008. In 2009, she won a European Community Marie Curie Action Grant for Intra-European Fellowship-IEF within the Seventh Framework Program. From 2009 to 2020 she conducted research activity at the Sleep Clinic and Laboratory of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Freiburg in Germany. In 2013 she obtained the Italian title for Psychotherapist.
She has published over 70 original research articles in international journals, many of which as first or last author. She presented her work in several international congresses, in many as invited speaker or organizer of symposia, and she is author and co-author of more than 50 conference proceedings published as abstract in scientific journals with peer-review process. She is currently member of the Steering Committee of the European Academy for Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy for Insomnia Disorder, a Task Force of the European Insomnia Network and of the European Sleep Research Society. Within the activities of the Academy, she recently worked as Editor of a Clinical Manual on Treatment for Insomnia Disorder published in 2022 by Blackwell Wiley.
Chiara Baglioni Abstract
Sleep health, insomnia and mental health in the life-span.
Sleep health is defined through distinct, but related, dimensions of sleep-wake pattern, including: satisfaction with sleep; alertness; sleep timing; sleep efficiency; sleep duration; and in paediatric populations pre-sleep behaviours. Poor sleep health enhances vulnerability for psychological symptoms, and attention to specific populations in which sleep may be challenged from diverse psychophysiological factors should be increased. Insomnia is the most frequent sleep disorder, which mainly reflects impairment in the sleep health dimensions of satisfaction and efficiency. Meta-analyses of longitudinal studies linked insomnia to higher risk for several mental disorders. Stable and dynamic aspects of emotional regulatory processes may be impaired in patients with insomnia compared to good sleepers, and may play an important role in the strict association between the disorder and psychopathology. These results are reflected also in advances in clinical research.
Meral Beksac
Turkey
Meral Beksac
Meral Beksaç MD is a Professor in the Department of Hematology at Ankara University, Turkey. Her current administrative position is Director of the Unrelated Donor Registry and the recently FACT/NETCORD accredited Cord Blood Bank. She has been actively involved in investigator initiated or pharma sponsored Phase II-III clinical trials since 1992, initially within the auspices of EORTC-LCG and most recently in collaboration with European Myeloma Network.
She received her medical and postgraduate training mainly in Ankara, Turkey, She has been visiting scientist or clinician in various Institutions including Divisions of Hematology / Bone Marrow Transplantation at the Karolinska Hospital, Sweden (1983-1984), Heidelberg University, Royal Marsden Hospital, University College Hospital and various institutions in USA. Apart from the pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, her field of research is focused on immune-genetics of plasma cell disorders and expansion of HSC or NK cells from cord blood.
Dr Beksaç is an active member of Turkish Society of Hematology as well as international hematological societies, including EHA, ASH, EBMT, ASBMT and International Myeloma Foundation. She is currently the president of the ”Turkish Bone Marrow Transplantation Foundation” has chaired “Myeloma” and “Immunohematology Subcommittees of the Turkish Society of Hematology”. She has pioneered the collaboration between Clinical teams, publishing the first Turkish prospective randomized trials in AML and Myeloma in Turkey. She has recently been elected as the vice-chair of the “Balkan Myeloma Study Group” and also the Plasma Cell Disorders Subcommittee of EBMT-CMWP.
Dr Beksaç is also a member of the editorial board of scientific journals and has published many book chapters and more than 200 original papers in peer-reviewed journals with more than 23000 citations (H index:55 ). Professor Beksaç is editor and author of the book Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplantation, published by Springer in 2007 (first ed) and 2014(second ed). She has been an elected member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences following its foundation in 1994. Meral Beksac has served in the EHA Scientific Program Committee, for a term (2013-2016).
Michele Cavo
Italy
Michele Cavo
Michele Cavo, MD, is Full Professor of Haematology at the University of Bologna, Faculty of Medicine and
Surgery, Bologna, Italy, and Head of the “Seràgnoli” Institute of Haematology in Bologna. He received his
medical degree cum laude from the University of Bologna, where he was also awarded his postgraduate
degree in haematology. In 1991 he became Assistant Professor of Haematology, and in 1998 he was
appointed Professor of Haematology at Bologna University School of Medicine. From January 2000 to June
2005 and from April 2017 to date Professor Cavo has served as Director of Postgraduate Residency in
Haematology at the University School of Medicine in Bologna. He was a member of the board of the Italian
Society of Haematology from 2004 to 2009 and from 2017 to date, and has served as Treasurer of the
Society. He is also co-Chair of the Italian Myeloma Network GIMEMA. Main research interests of Professor
Cavo focus on multiple myeloma and plasma cell dyscrasias. Professor Cavo has been the Principal
Investigator of many academic phase III Italian and European studies for newly diagnosed myeloma
patients and has authored many papers published in peer-reviewed journals, including the New England
Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Leukemia, British Journal of
Haematology, Haematologica, and others. He has been a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of
Clinical Oncology and Haematologica.
Ajai Chari
USA
Ajai Chari
Dr. Chari completed his medical degree at the UCLA School of Medicine. His clinical focus is on patients with multiple myeloma and other plasma cell disorders, and he has also published and lectured extensively on topics relating to these diseases. Dr Chari is involved in several clinical trials investigating new drug regimens, and he oversees a program that played a pivotal role in the approval of the five newest drugs used for the treatment of multiple myeloma.
Dr. Chari is Professor of Medicine, Director of Clinical Research in the Multiple Myeloma Program, and Associate Director of Clinical Research at the Mt. Sinai Cancer Clinical Trials Office in New York, New York.
Jill Corre
France
Jill Corre
Jill Corre, PharmD, PdD, is professor in Hematology Laboratory of the University Cancer Institute of Toulouse Oncopole (France). She also works in the Unit for Genomics in Myeloma, directed by Pr Hervé Avet- Loiseau. She is a member of the International Myeloma Society and the Intergroupe Francophone du Myélome.
Luciano Costa
USA
Luciano Costa
Dr. Luciano Costa, obtained MD and PhD degrees from Univesity of Sao Paulo, Brazil and subsequently trained at University of Colorado and Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. Dr. Costa leads the hematologic malignancies working group and the clinical trials office at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Comprehensive Cancer Center. His primary interest is on cellular therapy and development of new agents and strategies to manage multiple myeloma. Dr. Costa leads pivotal projects exploring MRD response-adapted therapy and inovative immunotherapeutic approaches in MM.
Michel Delforge
Belgium
Michel Delforge
Michel Delforge, MD, PhD, is a professor of medicine in the Department of Haematology at the University of Leuven, in Leuven, Belgium. He studied medicine at the University of Leuven, where he obtained a doctoral degree in biomedical sciences. He continued his medical training as a research fellow at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, and subsequently undertook a clinical fellowship at the University of Leuven, with specific interests in plasma cell diseases.
Professor Delforge is currently chairman of the KU Leuven Cancer Institute and Clinical Head of the Department of Haematology at the University Hospital Leuven, where he directs the plasma cell dyscrasia unit. He is a senior clinical investigator and a member of the Executive Committee of the Leuven Stem Cell Institute.
Professor Delforge has been chairman of the Myeloma Committee of the Belgian Hematology Society since 2018, and is an active member of the Intergroupe Francophone du Myélome, HOVON (Haemato-Oncology Foundation for Adults in the Netherlands), and the International Myeloma Working Group. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and several book chapters in the field of haematology.
Meletios Dimopoulos
Greece
Meletios A. Dimopoulos
Meletios A. Dimopoulos, MD is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Clinical Therapeutics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens School of Medicine, Athens, Greece. He has been elected Vice Dean of the Medical School for the academic years 2007-2011 and Dean for the academic years 2011-2015. In February 2015 he was elected Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens for a 4-year term. He obtained his medical degree from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 1985, completed a residency in internal medicine at the Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Canada and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Dr. Dimopoulos is a member of numerous scientific societies and has authored more than 1113 publications (November 2020) in peer-reviewed journals, as well as numerous abstracts and several textbook chapters primarily focusing on plasma cell dyscrasias and genitourinary and gynecologic cancers. He has more than 72000 citations and his h-index is 119 (Scopus) and more than 59000 citations and an h-index 109 (ISI). He is a journal reviewer for several journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Haematologica, Leukemia, Cancer, European Journal of Haematology, Leukemia and Lymphoma etc. Dr. Dimopoulos was Associate Editor of the European Journal of Internal Medicine (2001-2007), is an Associate Editor of Current Hematologic Malignancy Reports and is an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2005-2008), of Haematologica, of Leukemia and Lymphoma, of Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia (2018), of Expert Review of Hematology and of Blood Advances. Dr. Dimopoulos was an elected member of the Board of the International Myeloma Society (2013-2017).
Dr. Dimopoulos serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the International Myeloma Foundation, of the International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation and he is a member of the Board of the European Myeloma Network. Dr. Dimopoulos organized the XIth International Myeloma Workshop and the IVrth International Workshop on Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia (Kos Island, Greece June 2007). In March 2013 Dr. Dimopoulos was elected as a member of the Board of the International Myeloma Society. Currently he is the chairman of the Greek Myeloma Study Group and of the Balkan Myeloma Study Group.
He is a recipient of the Robert A. Kyle Award for outstanding contributions to Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia (May 2003), a recipient of Waldenstrom’s award for Myeloma Research of the International Myeloma Society (March 2017), recipient of the CoMy Excellence Award (May 2017) and of the Robert Kyle Life Achievement Award (June 2019). In August 2017 he was given the title “Officier dans l’ Ordre des Palmes academiques” (Republique Francaise, Ministere de l’ Education Nationale). In May 2018 he was elected as membre associe etranger of the National Academy of Medecine of France. In January 2020 he received the MD Anderson Distinguished Alumnus Award. In February 2020 he was awarded by the President of the Hellenic Republic with the medal of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Phoenix.
Currently he is the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation of “Julia and Alexander N. Diomedes Botanic Garden” and he is a member of the Board of the National Greek Committee for UNESCO.
Hermann Einsele
Germany
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.
Thierry Facon
France
Thierry Facon
Thierry Facon, MD, is Professor of Haematology in the Department of Haematology, Lille University Hospital, Lille, France, a position he has held since 2000. Professor Facon received his MD at Lille University School of Medicine in 1987 and became Assistant Professor of Haematology at Lille University Hospital in 1989.
Professor Facon was President of the Intergroupe Francophone du Myélome (IFM) between 2003 and 2006, Vice-President of the French Society of Haematology between 2005 and 2013. Professor Facon has presented at several international congresses, including the Plenary session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in 2006, the Plenary sessions at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in 2013 and 2018 the Educational Session of European Haematology Association (EHA) in 2008 and 2014, and the Educational session of ASH in 2015 and 2018. He co-organized the XIIIth International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) in Paris in 2011, and is a member of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG), the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF). He is a founder member and administrator of the Fondation Française pour la Recherche contre le Myélome et les Gammapathies (FFRMG) under the aegis of the Fondation de France whose main objective is to enable scientists and students to carry out research programs in host laboratories in France or abroad.
He has presented the “Pierre Stryckmans Memorial Lecture” of the Belgian Hematological Society in 2015 and received the Joseph Michaeli Award from Weill Cornell Medicine, New York USA for his contributions to the treatment of Myeloma Research in 2017 and the International Myeloma Foundation Robert A. Kyle Life Time Achievement Award in 2020. He is an Honorary Professor at the Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, China since 2015. Professor Facon is author and co-author of a number of articles and has published his work in various prestigious international journals including, as first or senior author, The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine.
Francesca Gay
Italy
Francesca Gay
Dr. Francesca Gay is Associate Professor in the Univeristy of Torino, 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 90 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
USA
Irene Ghobrial
Dr. Ghobrial received her M.D. from Cairo University and her residency in Internal Medicine at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and then moved to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in to train as a Hematology/Oncology fellow.
She is currently a Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School and the Lavine Family Chair for Preventative Cancer Therapies. She is also an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard. She is the Director of the Clinical Investigator Research Program at DFCI, Director of Translational Research in the Department of Multiple Myeloma, and Director of the Center for Prevention of Progression diseases (CPOP) and co-leader of the Dana-Farber Harvard Cancer Center Lymphoma and Myeloma Program. She is the recipient of the Kyle Award for Waldenstrom, the Ken Anderson Young Investigator Award and the Mentor of the year award at DFCI.
Her laboratory and clinical studies thus focus on identifying and developing effective therapeutic interventions for precursor conditions of myeloma (Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance and Smoldering Multiple Myeloma, MGUS and SMM). This can only be achieved by defining genomic and epigenomic markers that are associated with disease progression, microenvironmental changes that affect tumor progression to myeloma, and mechanisms of immune evasion in disease progression. The focus of her research is to identify novel biomarkers of disease progression and help develop potentially curative therapies in the pre-malignant phase that exploit the immune microenvironment in the bone marrow. She developed a large, patient-empowering observational study for these precursor conditions (the PCROWD study) and recruited over 3,000 patients,. She is also the PI of the first screening study for multiple myeloma in the US, the PROMISE study. This study is currently screening 30,000 individuals at high risk of developing myeloma, including those of African-American descent or those with first-degree relatives with myeloma.
Dr. Ghobrial is a well-funded investigator who received continuous NIH funding over the last 12 years and foundation collaborative grants including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) SCOR program and Stand Up 2 Cancer grants (SU2C) dream team. She has over 250 publications in many prestigious journals and has presented and led many national and international meetings on myeloma.
Jean-Luc Harousseau
France
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 Medical and Scientific Advisor at International Myeloma Foudation and 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 2018 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.
Graham Jackson
UK
Graham Jackson
Professor Jackson is a Consultant haematologist at Newcastle Hospitals trust, Newcastle upon Tyne and is a Professor of Haematology at Newcastle University.
Throughout his career, Professor Jackson has received a number of awards. He has served as President of the BSH (2013-2014) and BSBMT (2011-2012). He is a director of Myeloma UK and Scientific director of the UK myeloma forum.
He has been C.I. on UK MRC Myeloma IX, XI and XI+ trials as well as the up-coming Myeloma XIV trial.
He has led the Newcastle myeloma clinic for over 20 years.
Professor Jackson has written a number of book chapters and has been on author of over 200 peer reviewed papers. He referees papers for a number of highly respected journals.
Martin Kaiser
UK
Martin Kaiser
Dr Martin Kaiser is a haematology consultant at the Royal Marsden Hospital with specialisation in multiple myeloma and related plasma cell dyscrasias and a research team leader at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London. His research is focused on the genetics of and molecularly guided therapy for multiple myeloma, especially for high-risk disease. He is vice chair of the UK national myeloma trials group and is actively involved in policy and advocacy work aiming to improve patient access to diagnostics and therapy.
Sigurdur Kristinsson
Iceland
Sigurdur Kristinsson
Dr. Sigurdur Yngvi Kristinsson is a professor of Hematology at the University of Iceland. He serves as the principal investigator for the Iceland Screens, Treats, or Prevents Multiple Myeloma (iStopMM®) study, a population-based MGUS and multiple myeloma screening study. The iStopMM study is the largest myeloma study in the world in which over 80,000 individuals provided their written informed consent to participate.
In 2009, Dr. Kristinsson PhD thesis on risk factors and prognosis in patients with monoclonal gammopathies (Karolinska Institute) was named the best thesis in hematology in Sweden. He has written more than 120 research papers on hematological diseases. He has led several large population-based myeloma studies in collaboration with major research centers in Sweden, US and Iceland and is a frequent speaker at international hematology conferences, including the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and the European Hematology Association Congress. His prior research has shed light on several risk factors (such as family history and prior autoimmune disease), complications and outcomes of patients with MM and its precursor (such as thrombosis, fractures, bone disease, infections, and secondary malignancies).
Dr. Kristinsson has obtained a number of grants for research on plasma cell disease, for example from Marie-Curie reintegration grant (EU), ERC starting grant, Black Swan Research Initiative, the Swedish Cancer Society, the Karolinska Institutet Foundations, Swedish Hematology Association, and the Icelandic Centre for Research (RANNIS). He is also the first recipient of the Brian Durie Outstanding Achievement Award, issued by the IMWG (International Myeloma Working Group) in 2018.
Dr. Kristinsson current research group includes 4 PhD-students, a lab with 5 biologists, three postdocs, 6 research nurses, two statistician, one data manager, a project manager, a grant writer, and three support staff.
Shaji Kumar
USA
Shaji K. Kumar
Shaji K. Kumar, MD, is Consultant in the Division of Hematology and Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Rochester, Minnesota. He serves as Medical Director for the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Clinical Research Office and Vice Chair for research in the Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Kumar received his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. His postdoctoral training included a residency in internal medicine from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, followed by an internal medicine residency and a hematology/oncology fellowship at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota.
Dr. Kumar’s research focuses on the development of novel drugs and drug combinations for the treatment of myeloma. His laboratory focuses on understanding the role of bone marrow microenvironment in the development and progression of myeloma.
Dr. Kumar serves as Co-Chair of the NCI Myeloma Steering Committee as Chair of the NCCN Multiple Myeloma Guidelines Panel.
Alessandra Larocca
Italy
Alessandra 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/frail 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
France
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, Waldenstrom’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 in the board of directors, and is also a member of a number of other national and international scientific societies.
Sagar Lonial
USA
Sagar Lonial
Dr. Lonial is the department chair for Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University, and is the
myeloma editor for Clinical Lymphoma and Myeloma and on the editorial board for the Journal of
Clinical Oncology He is also an ad hoc reviewer for Blood, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research,
Haematologica, Leukemia, and other journals. He has authored or co-authored over 200 papers and
abstracts. He serves as Vice Chair of the Myeloma Committee in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology
Group and as Chair of the Steering Committee for the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium.
Additionally, he is on the board of directors for the International Myeloma Society and on the scientific
Advisory Board for the International Myeloma Foundation.
Dr. Lonial has worked in the field of immunotherapy and cancer, and has spent time developing the Bcell
malignancy program with respect to novel targeted agents in laboratory models as well as early
clinical trials. Dr. Lonial’s previous laboratory work has focused on evaluating the impact of purified
dendritic cell subsets on the nature of immune responses against antigen. Most recently, Dr. Lonial has
focused on combinations of novel agents as therapy for myeloma and lymphoma, particularly evaluating
combinations that may result in synergistic inhibition of the PI3-K/Akt pathway and the role of 14-3-3 in
proteasome function.
Heinz Ludwig
Austria
Heinz Ludwig
Heinz Ludwig, MD, is Professor of Internal Medicine and Haemato-Oncology and chairs the Wilhelminen Cancer Research Institute at the Department of Medicine I, Centre for Oncology and Haematology, Wilhelminenspital, Vienna, Austria. Areas of specific research and interests: Professor Ludwig’s research interests span the field of therapeutics in haematology and medical oncology. His research focuses on the biological and clinical aspects of multiple myeloma (MM), as well as on the analysis of factors associated with anaemia and the treatment of anaemia in cancer patients.
In the early days of his research activities, he was able to show a significant activity of erythropoietin in treating anemia in myeloma. He led several investigator sponsored clinical trails in MM and participated in many studies organized by research-oriented pharmaceutical industry. Within the International Myeloma Working Group he has contributed to several position papers and in some of them as lead researcher. Presently, his team is evalutaing the role of certain signal transduction molecule inhibitors in MM cell lines and in MM bearing mice. Furthermore, he is running academic trials with Ixazomib- and others with Carfilzomib-combination regimen and is participating in several international studies.
Other activities: Professor Ludwig serves as peer reviewer of several international journals and has published a large number of scientific articles. He is a strong supporter of patient’s interests and patient’s rights. Under his initiative an international charter of cancer patient’s rights has been published under the auspicies of ASCO, the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CISCO), and ESMO.
Contibutions to scientific organisations: Prof. Ludwig has served as President of ESMO and on the board of international directors of ASCO. At present, Prof. Ludwig is a member of the board of the International Myeloma Foundation and President of the Austrian Forum Against Cancer.
Awards: For his scientific contributions he has been honoured with the Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award, the Otto Kahler Award, the Golden Cross of Merit from the Republic of Austria, and the Golden Cross of Merit from the City of Vienna.
Salomon Manier
France
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 and an Investigator in INSERM UMR-S1277, CNRS UMR9020.
Maria-Victoria Mateos
Spain
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, and.
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
Italy
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 was the founder and director of the Center for Research and Treatment of Systemic Amyloidosis, and the Director of Research of the Scientific Institute Policlinico San Matteo, University of Pavia, Italy until March 31st 2021.
Dr. Merlini’s main research interests include the pathogenesis, natural history, diagnosis, and treatment of monoclonal gammopathies, with particular focus on the biological activities of monoclonal proteins and on immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis (AL). His recent research focuses on the investigation of biomarkers for early diagnosis, assessing prognosis and response to therapy and on the development of novel therapeutic agents and treatments designed in the light of advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of AL amyloidosis. He is principal investigator for several clinical trials and national and international research projects. He was President of the International Society of Amyloidosis from 2005 to 2010.
Mohamad Mohty
France
Mohamad Mohty
Mohamad Mohty is full Professor of Hematology and head of the Hematology and cellular therapy Department at the Saint-Antoine Hospital and Sorbonne University (Paris, France).
Professor Mohty obtained his medical degree from the University of Montpellier, France, and his PhD from the University of Marseille, France. He also undertook post-doctoral work at the Hematology Department, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.
Professor Mohty’s is also head of a translational research team (INSERM team N°7) at the Saint-Antoine Research centre in Paris and his research is focused on the pathophysiology and immunobiology of normal and pathological antigen-presenting cells, especially the impact of novel immunomodulatory agents such as proteasome inhibitors, IMiDs and hypomethylating agents.
He has a special clinical focus on the development of reduced-toxicity conditioning regimens, immunotherapy and different aspects of therapy of acute leukemia and multiple myeloma.
Professor Mohty is past-president of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), and the current chairman of the Acute Leukemia Working Party of EBMT. He is also the founder and chairman of the “International Academy for Clinical Hematology (IACH; http://clinical-hematology.org/). He serves on the board of the EBMT, and the “Intergroupe Francophone du Myelome” (IFM). He is a member of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, European Hematology Association (EHA), and EBMT.
Professor Mohty has published more than 600 peer-reviewed articles (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=MOHTY+M) in the field of stem cell transplantation, leukemia and myeloma, in different hematology and immunology journals.
He also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journals Bone Marrow Transplantation and Clinical Hematology International, as Associate Editor for Leukemia, European Journal of Haematology and Blood Cancer Journal, as member of the editorial board of Haematologica, and as a regular reviewer in different immunology, hematology, and cancer journals such as the New Engl. J Med, Blood, J Clin Oncol, The Lancet, Lancet Oncology, Lancet Haematology, Nature Reviews, etc.
Philippe Moreau
France
Philippe Moreau
Philippe Moreau, MD, serves as Professor of Clinical Hematology and head of the translational research program, 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 a member of the administration council of the Intergroupe Francophone du Myélome (IFM), which he chaired from 2006 through 2009.
He was a member of the organizing committee for the 2011 International Myeloma Workshop in Paris.
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 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) or Cassiopeia (Daratumumab for frontline therapy in transplant eligible patients).
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 the Journal of Clinical Oncology, 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.
Gareth Morgan
USA
Gareth J. Morgan
Director, Multiple Myeloma Research, Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU Langone Health
Professor, Department of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Education & Training
PhD, University of London (1991)
MD, University of Wales (1981)
Residency, Welsh National School of Medicine and Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London (1981-1985)
Fellowship, University of Wales and Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London (1985-1993)
Who is Gareth J. Morgan?
- Morgan joined Perlmutter Cancer Center in February 2019 as director of multiple myeloma research.
- He previously served as the director of the Myeloma Institute, deputy director of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, and professor of hematology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he directed numerous clinical and translational research studies investigating the treatment, genetics and biology of myeloma.
- He has pioneered studies investigating the genetic basis and treatment of multiple myeloma.
- He has been a major contributor to the Myeloma Genome Project, a collaboration to segment and individualize therapy for subgroups of the myeloma.
Areas of Expertise
- Able to speak to many aspects of research and treatment of multiple myeloma including disease prevention and the treatment of patients with high-risk and relapsed refractory disease.
- Pre-myeloma conditions, including smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS).
- Related disorders including Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia and amyloidosis.
Research
- Morgan’s research focuses on the genetics and biology of multiple myeloma.
- His laboratory research has identified a number of important genetic prognostic factors, that have been used to developed molecular staging systems for multiple myeloma and smoldering multiple myeloma.
- He leads clinical trials and studies the molecular mechanisms leading to multiple myeloma with the aim of developing targeted novel treatments and cellular therapies that can improve patient survival.
- He has developed and served as principal investigator on a number of large Phase III clinical studies, that have substantially changed the clinical approach to the treatment of multiple myeloma and were among the largest myeloma studies ever conducted.
- The results of these studies set the standard for the management of bone disease, introduced and expanded the use of autologous transplantation, and led to the uptake of maintenance therapies using immunomodulatory drugs and proteasome inhibitors for multiple myeloma.
Nikhil Munshi
USA
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, the prestigious “Waldenstrom’s Award” for Most Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in Myeloma Research in 2013 and the COMy “Multiple Myeloma Excellence Award for Translational Research” in 2019.
Arnon Nagler
Israel
Arnon Nagler
Professor Arnon Nagler, MD, MSc
Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel
- Director of the Division of Hematology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel
- Director of Bone Marrow transplantation and Cord Blood Bank, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Israel
- Professor of Medicine at the Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- One of the pioneers of the non-myeloablative and reduced intensity/toxicity allogeneic transplantations for both malignant and non-malignant disorders (Blood 1998)
- Established the first public cord blood bank and performed the first cord blood transplanataion in Israel
- Leader of the Alternative donor subcommittee of the ALWP of the EBMT from 2008-2010
- Leader of the RIC subcommittee of the ALWP of the EBMT – since 2010
- Serves on the Editorial Board of several BMT and Hematology Journals and is a Section Editor for Leukemia
- Chair of the Acute Leukemia Working Party (ALWP) of the EBMT
Dr Nagler received his medical training at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel; he then carried out a Postdoctoral research fellowship in hematology and bone marrow transplantation at “Stanford University Hospital” Palo Alto, CA, in the USA, from 1986 to 1990.
Dr Nagler serves on the Board of Directors of Netcord organization of cord blood banks and was the Netcord Threasurer from 2010-2013.
Dr Nagler has received several awards including the best scientific abstract award of the ASBMT/CIBMR Tandem meeting (2004) and the best clinical abstract award of the NMDP Council Meeting (2004). In addition, Dr Nagler is a popular speaker and has made numerous, invited, international presentations and many Oral presentations on almost annual basis in all international transplantation and hematology meetings – ASH,ASBMT/CIBMTR, EBMT, EHA, Exp Hematology (including a presentation at the presidential symposium) and invited presentation at the Gordon conference (Boston USA).
Paola Neri
Canada
Paola Neri
Dr. Paola Neri, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor of Medicine, attending physician in the Hematology division at University of Calgary and member of the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute. Since January 2019 she is the Scientific Director of the Precision Oncology Hub, Translational Research Laboratory, at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre (TBCC) in Calgary.
Dr. Neri received her medical degree at Magna Græcia University, Catanzaro, Italy in 2000. She completed her specialty in Medical Oncology at Magna Græcia University, Catanzaro, Italy in 2005 and received a PhD in Molecular Oncology and Experimental Immunology in 2011. From 2003-2006 she was Research Associate at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA under the mentorship of Dr. Kenneth Anderson. In June 2008, she joined the University of Calgary.
The main focus of her research is the study of multiple myeloma (MM) with a particular interest in drug development and genomic studies with the goal of discovering novel therapeutic targets for this incurable disease. As such she has investigated the genome signature associated with MM cell response or resistance to anti-MM agents to identify druggable therapeutic targets in MM and new biomarkers of response to novel agents.
Dr. Neri is well published in the field and received national and international grants from several agencies including Myeloma Canada, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR).
She is currently member of the American Society of Hematology and the scientific board of Myeloma Canada, very active both in preclinical and clinical trial research in Myeloma.
Enrique Ocio
Spain
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 is also Associate Professor of Medicine in the University of Cantabria.
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. 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 120 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.
Bruno Paiva
Spain
Bruno Paiva
Dr Bruno Paiva, PharmD, PhD, is a research fellow of the Departments of Haematology and Immunology at the Clinica Universidad de Navarra and CIMA, Pamplona, Spain. He is also the Director of the Flow Cytometry Core of the University of Navarra.
Dr Paiva’s main area of expertise is the multidimensional flow cytometry analysis of haematological malignancies. His research focuses on immunogenomics to improve differential diagnosis, risk stratification, and monitoring of patients with monoclonal gammopathies and myeloid malignancies. He is an author or co-author of hundreds of publications in peer-reviewed journals and has been recognized with numerous awards.
Torben Plesner
Denmark
Torben Plesner
Torben Plesner, M.D., Doc. Med. Sci., Professor of Hematology
Lifeline:
Born on 28. February 1947.
Medical Degree: University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
First part: 1968. Second part: 1972.
Certified as clinical chemistry (MD) Specialist in Denmark, 1981.
Certified as internal medicine Specialist in Denmark, 1989.
Certified as hematology Specialist in Denmark, 1990.
1. March 1993 – 30. September 2000: Consultant of Hematology, Herlev Hospital, University Hospital, Copenhagen.
From 1. October 2000: Consultant of Hematology, Section of Internal Medicine, Vejle Hospital, and from 1. March 2009 Professor of Hematology,
University of Southern Denmark, Institute of Regional Health Science.
Scientific profile:
I have published 135 scientific articles that are indexed in PubMed.
ISI Web of Science has 123 hits for scientific articles with 6749 citations giving an average of 54 citations per item and an “H-index” of 43.
See also: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ShMcuGEAAAAJ.
Thesis accepted by University of Copenhagen July 1981 in fulfillment of Doctor of Medical Sciences degree.
Thesis title: “Immunochemical Studies of Human β2-Microglobulin. A Review of Recent Methodological Progress and Clinical Applications”.
Lines of research, GCP training and experience from Clinical Trials:
– Immunochemical Studies of Human β2-Microglobulin with development of the first radioimmunoassay of β2-Microglobulin.
– Development of monoclonal antibodies to human leukocyte antigens and participation in the Clusters of Differentiation (CD) Workshops and development program.
– Development of a diagnostic test for Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH) by flow cytometry and studies of the Urokinase-type Plasminogen Activator Receptor (UPAR) in PNH.
– Development of new therapies of multiple myeloma with a focus on immunotherapy. Dosed the first myeloma patient with Daratumumab in March 2008.
– Biannual GCP training latest March 2020. Clinical Trial experience according to
Marc Raab
Germany
Marc S. Raab
Marc S. Raab is a physician-scientist and Professor of Medicine at the Heidelberg University Medical Center (HUMC) and a Group Leader at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). He trained in internal medicine and then specialized in hematology/oncology before spending more than three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, in Boston. He returned to Heidelberg as an attending physician in 2008 and his main research focus is on translational research and early clinical trials. In 2010, he was appointed head of the Max-Eder Unit – ‘Experimental Therapies for Hematologic Malignancies’ – at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). He is also Clinical Director of the Multiple Myeloma Center in Heidelberg and Head of the associated early clinical trial program. His current scientific focus is on exploring new avenues for targeted therapies as well as resistance mechanisms in refractory myeloma to facilitate personalized treatment approaches for these patients.
Noopur Raje
USA
Noopur Raje
Dr. Noopur Raje is a physician scientist with a focus on the development of innovative therapies for multiple myeloma. As Director of the Center for Multiple Myeloma at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Dr. Raje leads a dedicated clinical team engaged in investigator-initiated, multicenter national and international clinical trials, all aimed at developing new promising therapies for this disease. She also leads translational efforts at MGH with her laboratory’s efforts focused on identifying cellular signaling pathways that contribute to the survival and proliferation of myeloma cells in the bone environment, and whose targeting may result in improved therapeutic outcomes. Dr. Raje received her medical degree from B.J. Medical College, Pune University in India, trained in Internal Medicine at Mass General and subsequently completed a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology in the joint Mass General-Brigham & Women’s-Dana-Farber program. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Rita M Kelley Chair in Oncology at Mass General. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Multiple Myeloma Senior Research Award, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Clinical Scholar Award and the Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award.
Vincent Rajkumar
USA
Vincent Rajkumar
S. Vincent Rajkumar, M.D., is the Editor in Chief of Blood Cancer Journal, and the Edward W. and Betty Knight Scripps Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. His academic career was profiled by The Lancet: Nov 26th 2011 issue. He is co-chair of the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG), and Chair of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) myeloma committee. He also serves as the Associate Editor for: Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Leukemia, and European Journal of Hematology. Dr. Rajkumar has received several awards including the Giants of Cancer Care Award (2019) from OncLive, the Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF), and the Jan Waldenstrom Award (2021) from the International Myeloma Society. He was named Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator in 2018. He serves on the board of directors for the International Myeloma Foundation and is a member of the National Institutes of Health’s Multiple Myeloma Steering Committee. Dr. Rajkumar has over 700 publications, including over 400 peer-reviewed original research papers, and over 200 reviews and book chapters.
Paul Richardson
USA
Paul Richardson
After certification in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, as well as working in Cancer Pharmacology from 1994 onwards at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Dr. Paul Richardson joined the Jerome Lipper Myeloma Center in 1999, was appointed Clinical Director in 2001, and led the development of several first-generation novel drugs including bortezomib, lenalidomide and pomalidomide for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Subsequent studies have focused on next generation novel drugs including panobinostat and second-generation proteasome inhibitors including ixazomib. More recently, his clinical innovations have been in the development of the breakthrough monoclonal antibodies elotuzumab and daratumumab for the treatment of both untreated and relapsed myeloma, as well as isatuximab and more broadly, antibody drug conjugates including belantamab mafodotin, as well as other immunotherapeutic strategies. In addition to these agents, he is leading the development of melflufen, a targeted cytotoxic and a first-in-class small molecule inhibitor selinexor, which inhibits XPO-1, a key nuclear export protein, as well as first-in-human studies of cereblon E3 ligase modulators (so called CELMoDs) for the treatment of relapsed and refractory myeloma.
Over the last decade, his major effort has been focused on the development of lenalidomide, bortezomib and dexamethasone (so-called RVD), and its incorporation as part of the Intergroup Francophone Myelome (IFM)/DFCI clinical trial in newly diagnosed patients eligible for stem cell transplant treated with RVD. This regimen has generated an unprecedented response rate, leading to its adoption in this international study, as well as others in the United States and elsewhere. This particular trial incorporates genomic and proteomic evaluation to establish a future platform for tailored therapy and the optimal positioning of stem cell transplant, with results anticipated in 2021-22. Furthermore, RVD has been established as a backbone to which next generation agents are being added, including elotuzumab, daratumumab and isatuximab, as well as panobinostat.
He has published extensively, having authored or co-authored over 400 original articles and 330 reviews, chapters, and editorials in peer-reviewed journals. In addition to holding positions on the Editorial Boards of leading journals, he is prior Chairman of the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC), Clinical Trials Core, a position held for 5 years as part of a rotating tenure, and for which he continues as a member of the Steering and Project Review Committee. He was also a member of ASCO Hematologic Malignancies Subcommittee for the required one-year term, and then for one year on the ASCO Internet Cancer Information Committee during 2017. He was appointed Chair of the Alliance Myeloma Committee in 2011 and continues in this role.
Honors include the George Canellos Award for Excellence in Clinical Research and Patient Care, and The Tisch Outstanding Achievement Award for Clinical Research, as well an honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (UK), given in recognition for international contributions in multiple myeloma and stem cell transplantation. He was a co-recipient of the prestigious Warren Alpert Foundation Prize in recognition of the successful therapeutic targeting of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in 2012. He was also a co-recipient of the Accelerator Award for contributions to clinical research and patient enrollment in MMRC studies, as well as for the Research Center of the Year Award in 2009, followed by a second award for Center of the Year in 2017. He was ranked by Thomson Reuters Science Watch amongst the top 19 investigators at DFCI for the most highly cited research in 2016. He was the co-recipient of the ASH Ernest Beutler Prize for clinical science and translational research in the development of proteasome inhibition as an effective treatment strategy for multiple myeloma in 2015; the COMY Award for MM research (Paris, France) in 2016, and the prestigious IMF Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, and the Morse Research Award in 2019.
Jesús San Miguel
Spain
Jesús San Miguel
Jesús San-Miguel, MD, PhD, is a professor of medicine-hematology and Director of Clinical and Translational Medicine at the University of Navarra in Spain. Previously, he was director of the Hematology Department of the University Hospital of Salamanca, Spain, for more than 2 decades; also was President of the International Myeloma Society since from 2012 until 2019.
Prof. San-Miguel has published over 905 original papers (827 in international journals) and have an H index of 110. He has made important contributions to myeloma cell biology in areas such as immunephenotyping, risk of progression from monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance or smouldering MM into active MM, and minimal residual disease, as well as, making important contributions in the area of therapeutics, including studies for new antimyeloma drugs at the preclinical and clinical levels, including proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs, and histone deacetylases.
He is member of the Academy of Pharmacy of Castilla Leon and Honorary member to the Royal Academy of Medicine of Salamanca, as well as member of the Advisory Board of the International Myeloma Foundation, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, Carreras Foundation and board member of the Spanish Hematology and Genome Foundations. He has been Associate Editor of Blood and Haematologica and is member of the editorial board of several scientific journals. He has served as Director of the Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca (Spain) and Vice Director of the Cancer Research Center (Salamanca). Also was Chairman of the Spanish Myeloma Group (GEM), Board Councillor for the European Association, Chairman of the Scientific Committee for the IXth Congress (2004), President of the 15th European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress and organizer of the IXth International Myeloma Workshop held in Salamanca (2003).
Pieter Sonneveld
The Netherlands
Pieter Sonneveld
Pieter Sonneveld, MD, Ph.D. was born in The Netherlands. He received his medical degree from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands in 1977. In 1980 he completed a Ph.D. thesis on the pharmacology of Adriamycin in Acute Leukemia at the University of Leiden (DW van Bekkum & HM Pinedo, promotores). He received a Fogarty Fellowship and worked for several years at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA.
Dr. Sonneveld is Professor of Hematology at the Erasmus MC and Erasmus University Rotterdam and has occupied the Chair of the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute in Rotterdam for 8 years. From 2011 to 2017 he has been the head of the department of Hematology. His research focus is on clinical and translational aspects of diagnostics and drug therapy in multiple myeloma. The myeloma research group in Erasmus MC has been very active in molecular diagnostics and prognostic systems.
He is chairman of the HOVON Myeloma Working Group and he coordinates HOVON and EMN clinical trials for multiple myeloma. Dr. Sonneveld helped to found the European Myeloma Network EMN and has been its chairman since 2005. Within EMN, he coordinates a cooperative network for independent clinical trials in Europe and initiates efforts to create international standards for diagnostics and patient care. EMN currently runs 12 international trials, several of which are independent registration trials for novel treatments.
He has been Board member (2011- ) and President (2017-2019) of the European Hematology Association EHA, and occupies the chair of its Scientific Working Group Committee. He has chaired the Scientific Program Committee of the 19th EHA congress in Milan 2014 and of the EMN Myeloma meetings in 2018 and 2020.
He serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the IMF and MMRF and is a member of the International Myeloma Working Group. Dr Sonneveld has been a member of the Editorial Boards of Blood, Leukemia, Eur J Cancer and Haematologica. Dr Sonneveld has authored more than 500 peer reviewed scientific publications and several book chapters (H-factor 95). He has received numerous grants for his research.
In 2015 he was awarded the prestigious international Robert Kyle life time achievements Award in Multiple Myeloma. In 2019 he received the Hubertus Wald Award for Cancer Research from Germany.
Andrew Spencer
Australia
Andrew Spencer
Professor Andrew Spencer is Head, Myeloma Research Group (MRG), Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University; Head, Malignant Haematology and Stem Cell Transplantation Service, Department of Clinical Haematology, Alfred Health; Head, Haematology Clinical Research Unit (CRU), Alfred Health; and, Adjunct Professor of Haematology, Department of Clinical Haematology, Monash University. He is the Principal Co-ordinating Investigator for the Australia and New Zealand Myeloma and Related Diseases Registry (MRDR) which he established in 2013 and the companion APAC MRDR established in 2018.
Evangelos Terpos
Greece
Evangelos Terpos
Evangelos Terpos, MD, PhD is a Professor of Hematology and Director of Stem Cell Transplantation Unit in the Department of Clinical Therapeutics of the University of Athens, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.
His main research interest is the biology of plasma cell dyscrasias and especially the biology of bone disease in multiple myeloma (MM). In more than 560 papers in peer-reviewed journals, Dr Terpos has reported the significant role of RANKL and osteoprotegerin axis, CCL-3 (MIP-1a), Wnt and TGF-beta signalling in myeloma bone disease and myeloma cell growth. He has studied the predictive value of markers of bone remodelling and osteoclast function in myeloma progression and patients’ survival. He has evaluated the effect of bisphosphonates, denosumab and different anti-myeloma therapies including ASCT, IMiDs- and bortezomib-based regimens on bone metabolism. He has studied the biology and prevalence of osteonecrosis of the jaw in myeloma patients who receive bisphosphonates and denosumab.
Dr Terpos also works on the role of modern imaging (including whole-body low-dose CT and MRI) for MM, of renal impairment in MM and on the efficacy of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in myeloma patients. In the clinical research era, Dr Terpos participates in all important clinical trials with novel agents in the field of multiple myeloma.
Dr Terpos is co-chairing the Bone Sub-committee of the International Myeloma Working Group, and is a member of the educational committee of the International Myeloma Society and of the Guideline Subgroup of the European Myeloma Network. Dr Terpos has given lectures at ASH, ASCO & EHA meetings, International Myeloma Workshops, International Meetings on Cancer-Induced Bone Disease and in several national meetings. He is reviewer of scientific papers in more than 50 medical journals and has reviewed abstracts for ASH, EHA & EBMT meetings. He is an Associate Editor of HemaSphere for myeloma and member of the editorial board of Blood Cancer Journal and Haematologica.
Cyril Touzeau
France
Cyrille Touzeau
Dr Cyrille Touzeau is a hematologist in the Hematology Department from the University Hospital of Nantes, France. He specializes in clinical hematology, with a particular focus on multiple myeloma and its treatment. His PhD was mainly focused on the activity of BH3 mimetics in multiple myeloma. Dr Touzeau is currently a member of the Intergroupe Francophone du Myélome (IFM). Dr Touzeau published more than 80 peer-reviewed publications dedicated to multiple myeloma.
Steven Treon
USA
Steven Treon
Dr. Treon is the Director of the Bing Center for Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Chair of the WM Clinical Trials Group. Dr. Treon earned a BA (Biology), MS (Biochemistry), PhD (Cancer Immunology), and MD with honors from Boston University, and MA from Harvard Medical School. He completed an Internal Medicine residency at Boston University Medical Center, Hematology/Medical Oncology Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, and post-doctoral training at DFCI. In 1999, Dr. Treon initiated a WM clinic at DFCI which cares for nearly 2,500 WM patients annually. Using whole-genome sequencing, Dr. Treon’s laboratory first identified highly recurring activating mutations in MYD88 and CXCR4 in WM patients and was the first to report that Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) was a downstream target of the MYD88 L265 mutation, resulting in a study leading to the first-ever approval of a drug (ibrutinib) for WM. Dr. Treon has published extensively on topics in WM and related disorders, with over 300 peer-reviewed original reports, reviews, editorials, and chapters in high-impact journals and textbooks. He has been the principal organizer of the biennial International Workshops on WM since 2000 and the International Patient and Physician Summits since 2003. His scientific work in WM has earned “Best of the American Society of Hematology” designations at the 2011 and 2013 Annual Meetings of the American Society of Hematology. In 2017, Dr. Treon was elected as a fellow to the Royal College of Physicians in London, and in 2018, as a fellow to the American College of Physicians. Currently, he is spear-heading large clinical trials within the United States directed at COVID-19 with BTK inhibitors.
Suzanne Trudel
Canada
Suzan Trudel
Dr. Trudel received her MD degree from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and subsequently completed subspecialty training in Hematology at the University of Toronto affiliated hospitals. This was followed by a research fellowship at Weil Medical College of Cornell in New York City. Dr. Trudel returned to Toronto as a consultant in the Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and currently appointed as Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Tridel is also a Faculty Member of the Department of Medical Biophysics and Scientist at Ontario Cancer Institute.
Dr. Trudel is an active member of several professional organizations. For the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC), Dr. Trudel has previously served as a member of the Steering Committee. She is a member of the Myeloma Canada advisory board and the Subcommittee on Correlative sciences for the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group. For the American Society of Hematology, Dr. Trudel has formally served as a member of Ad Hoc Scientific Committee Plasma Cell Biology and has previously been the recipient of as ASH Scholar Award.
An active researcher, Dr. Trudel has been a principal investigator on several industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated clinical trials for relapsed multiple myeloma. Her research focus has been in the areas of drug development and precision medicine for multiple myeloma.
Saad Usmani
USA
Saad Usmani
Saad Zafar Usmani received his medical education at Allama Iqbal Medical College in Lahore, Pakistan. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Sinai-Grace Hospital/Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut. Dr. Usmani joined the faculty of the Levine Cancer Institute in July 2013; he also currently holds an academic appointment as Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. Previously, Dr. Usmani served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas and Director of Developmental Therapeutics at the Myeloma Institute for Research & Therapy.
Dr. Usmani is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology, and he is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. He holds membership in several professional societies, including the International Myeloma Working Group, the SWOG Myeloma Committee, the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the American Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation. Dr. Usmani has served as the Track Leader on the ASCO Scientific Committee on Lymphoma and Plasma Cell Disorders, and he is the Chair of the ASH Committee on Plasma Cell Neoplasia and a member of the National Cancer Institute Myeloma Steering Committee. Dr. Usmani is on the editorial review board of numerous medical journals, has authored/co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed research manuscripts and 200 abstracts at national and international meetings. Active in clinical and translational research, Dr. Usmani has research interests focus on plasma cell disorders—in particular, high-risk multiple myeloma.
Niels van de Donk
The Netherlands
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.
Katja Weisel
Germany
Katja Christina Weisel
Katja Christina Weisel
Katja Weisel, MD, is Deputy Director and associate professor of Hematology/Oncology in the
Department of Oncology, Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation with Section of
Pneumology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg Germany. Prof Weisel
received her medical degree from the Medical School of the University of Ulm, Germany, and did her
clinical residency in internal medicine at the University of Tübingen. She did a postdoctoral research
fellowship in the laboratory of Developmental Hematopoiesis at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center in New York, NY, USA. She completed her medical fellowship in internal medicine and
hematology, oncology at the University of Tübingen. Since 2006, Prof Weisel has been leading the
Tübingen myeloma program before she recently moved in 2019 to Hamburg, where she serves as the
deputy director of the department, the co-director of the University Cancer Center Hamburg and is
leading the myeloma and lymphoma program. Her myeloma research interests focus on treatment
optimisation for high-risk myeloma, renally-impaired myeloma patients, refractory myeloma patients
and radiographic methods for disease monitoring of myeloma. She is a member of the German
Speaking Myeloma Multicenter Group (GMMG) steering committee. Prof Weisel is co-investigator in
all GMMG trials and is the lead investigator of three GMMG trials, including the GMMG-CONCEPT
trial. Furthermore, she was the principle investigator in several national and international phase I-III
trials. Prof Weisel has contributed to more than 100 publications on multiple myeloma treatment and
biology.
Kwee Yong
UK
Kwee Yong
Kwee Yong is Professor of Haematology at University College London. She was educated at Oxford and University College London. She completed her PhD in haemopoietic growth factors, and returned to UCL as Senior Lecturer in 1999. She leads the multiple myeloma programme at UCL. She is an executive member of the UK Myeloma Research Alliance, a member of the National Cancer Research Institute Haematology-Oncology Clinical Studies Group, and past chair of the UK Myeloma Forum Executive committee. She is CI on several National Cancer Research Network trials in myeloma, employing novel risk stratified strategies, and immunotherapy. Professor Yong runs a laboratory programme working on aspects of myeloma biology, immune environment and translational strategies including CAR-T therapies. A particular focus is the contribution of immune dysfunction to clinical outcomes including progression from precursor disease. The programme receives funding from the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK and Blood Cancer UK. Professor Yong has published over 150 original papers in peer-reviewed journals, and is a reviewer for international journals and grant-awarding bodies.
Elena Zamagni
Italy
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
The Netherlands
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.
