The American Society of Hematology (ASH), the world's largest professional society of blood specialists, will honor six scientists who have made significant contributions to the understanding and treatment of hematologic diseases. These awards will be presented at the 52nd ASH Annual Meeting taking place December 4-7 in Orlando.
Volker Diehl, MD, of the University of Cologne in Cologne, Germany, will be presented with the 2010 Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology for his pioneering research on Hodgkin lymphoma for more than 40 years. His scientific achievements include the discovery of the causative role of the Epstein-Barr virus in infectious mononucleosis and the study of its association with Hodgkin lymphoma. He also cultured the first notoriously fragile Hodgkin cell lines and led the development of BEACOPP, a chemotherapy regimen for the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma. Dr. Diehl also founded the Competence Network Malignant Lymphomas in Germany, which has transformed the way patients with lymphoma are treated within the German health insurance system. Dr. Diehl has devoted his scientific life to the understanding and treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma, and his career is a great example of excellence in translational and clinical research.
Sanford Shattil, MD, of the University of California - San Diego, San Diego, CA, will be presented with the 2010 Stratton Medal for his remarkable achievements in the area of platelet cell biology and signal transduction. Dr. Shattil led the way in defining the roles of numerous kinases, scaffold proteins, small G-proteins, and exchange factors in outside-in integrin signaling platelets. He has often been the first to introduce cutting-edge approaches into the platelet field, including live cell imaging and pioneering the technique of deriving megakaryocytes from mouse bone marrow or human stem cells to use as a molecularly tractable model of platelet signaling.