The American Society of Hematology (ASH) announced the seven scientists who have received 2013 Honorific Awards for their significant contributions to the understanding and treatment of hematologic diseases. The Honorific Awards are the Society’s most prestigious awards. This year’s awards will be presented at the 55th ASH Annual Meeting, which will take place December 7–10, 2013, in New Orleans.
Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology
ASH will present the Society’s highest honor, the 2013 Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology, to Professor Sir David Weatherall, MD, of the University of Oxford for his more than 50-year career in hematology combining seminal discoveries, visionary translational research leadership, and a passion for global health initiatives that have together helped improve clinical care for thousands throughout the developing world.
Sir David has paved the way for other physicians and scientists in refining the understanding of inherited blood disorders, particularly thalassemias and tropical diseases. In a groundbreaking 1965 report, Sir David and colleague John Clegg identified imbalanced globin chain production as the cause of thalassemia, a discovery that was essential to developing improved treatments and designing disease prevention efforts.
Henry M. Stratton Medal
The Society will recognize Nancy Andrews, MD, PhD, Dean of Duke University School of Medicine, and Elaine Jaffe, MD, of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, with the 2013 Henry M. Stratton Medal.
Dr. Andrews, the recipient of the 2013 Stratton Medal for Basic Research, is also Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Duke University. She is recognized as a leader in the study of molecular biology of iron metabolism and made several critical discoveries early in her career central to the understanding of erythropoiesis.
Dr. Jaffe, the recipient of the 2013 Stratton Medal for Clinical/Translational Research, is Head of the Hematopathology Section of the Laboratory of Pathology in the Intramural Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Jaffe is widely known for her work regarding the pathophysiology and prognosis of malignant lymphomas.
William Dameshak Prize
ASH will present the 2013 William Dameshek Prize to Andrew S. Weyrich, PhD, of The University of Utah for his research on the cellular and molecular causes of blood clots.
Dr. Weyrich is Professor of Pathology and Internal Medicine at The University of Utah. Among his major contributions to platelet biology research, Dr. Weyrich has successfully identified the mRNA splicing and translational mechanisms that allow platelets to respond to environmental changes.
E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize
ASH will honor Katherine A. High, MD, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia with the 2013 E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize for her unparalleled work to identify the molecular basis of hemophilia and to develop novel genetic therapies to treat the disorder.
Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize
ASH will honor Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, of Stony Brook University and David J. Kuter, MD, DPhil, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center with the 2013 Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize for their significant advances in the discovery of thrombopoietin.
Dr. Kaushansky, the recipient of the 2013 Ernest Beutler Prize in Basic Science, is Senior Vice President of Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. His research focuses on hematopoiesis, cloning, and characterizing many of the growth factor receptors that drive basic blood cell production.
Dr. Kuter, the recipient of the 2013 Ernest Beutler Prize in Translational Research and Clinical Science, is the Director of the Mass General Cancer Hospital Center for Hematology and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kuter is renowned for translating the understanding of cytokine signaling in megakaryopoiesis into clinical practice. ■
