Every month, Valeria Santini, MD or Michael Savona, MD and one clinical expert will have a 30 min debate to dive deep into a hot topic in MDS/MPN Overlap Syndromes.
The one-of-a-kind clinical Roadmap will feature a live debate across the Atlantic, between EU and US speakers.
Valeria Santini, MD ( Chair )
Valeria Santini is Associate Professor of Hematology at the University of Florence, Italy. She runs the MDS Unit- Hematology- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine- AOU Careggi, University of Florence and she is Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Italian MDS group FISiM. She graduated at the University of Florence and became a Consultant in Haematology. She worked for European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) at Dr Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center/Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She also undertook clinical training at the Leukemia Unit, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston. She is author of more than 200 peer-reviewed papers published in international journals focused on clinical and translational research in MDS
and elderly AML.
Michael Savona, MD ( Chair )
Michael Savona is the Beverly and George Rawlings Director of Hematology Research, Head of Hematology, Cellular Therapy and Stem Cell Transplantation, and Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is founder and leader of the MDS/MPN International Working Group and chair of ABNL MARRO, the first international cooperative trial testing new agents for MDS/MPN overlap syndromes. In the laboratory, he studies clonal hematopoiesis, the inflammatory changes that lead to the progression to chronic myeloid disorders and vascular disorders, and therapeutic vulnerabilities. His clinical focus and leadership in chronic myeloproliferative and myelodysplastic disease has led to the development of new therapies for these diseases.
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Eric Solary, MD, full-Professor in Hematology at Université Paris-Saclay, is teaching clinical and biological hematology as well as cell biology. His clinical activity is done in the department of Hematology and his research in INSERM U1287, both in Gustave Roussy Cancer Center, Villejuif, France. A Scientific Director of Gustave Roussy from 2011 to 2020, Eric Solary also presides over the Scientific Committee of Foundation ARC. His research has been dedicated initially to leukemic cell resistance to cytotoxic drugs, then to cell death mechanisms and the link between cell death and differentiation in the hematopoietic system. In the last 15 years, he focused on monocyte differentiation and the pathogenesis of chronic myeloid malignancies, with a special interest in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.
Blanca Xicoy is an attending physician in the Clinical Department of Hematology at the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO)- Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital and mainly attends patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative disorders.
Dr. Patnaik is a physician scientist with the Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Minnesota. He is the chair of the Acute Leukemia and Myeloid Neoplasms group in Rochester and is also the Scientific Director of the Epigenetics Developmental Laboratory and the Epigenomics Program.
Francesco Onida is Associate Professor of Hematology at the University of Milan in the Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology and Transplant Program Director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Foundation, Milan, Italy. He received his medical degree in 1995 from the University of Milan and obtained the Italian Hematology Board Certification in 1999. From 1999 to 2002 he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, at the Leukemia Dept, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. In 2006 he obtained the Italian Board Certification in Oncology and was hired as Assistant Professor of Hematology at the University of Milan, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health. Active member in the American Society of Hematology (ASH), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), European Hematology Association (EHA), Italian Society of Hematology (SIE), Italian Society of Experimental Hematology (SIES), professor Onida is also active member within the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) Chronic Malignancies Working Party, within the MDS/MPN International Working Group, within the Italian Foundation for the study of Myelodysplastic Syndromes (FISM), The Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation, inc. (MDS Foundation) and within the Italian Group for Bone Marrow and Hemopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and for Cellular Therapy (GITMO). Professor Onida has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international meetings, including the EBMT and ASCO annual meetings. He is author of numerous peer-reviewed papers published in peer reviewed international journals.
Dr Daniel Wiseman is an Honorary Consultant Haematologist at The Christie and a Clinician Scientist with a research group based at the CRUK Manchester Institute/Manchester Cancer Research Centre. He qualified in medicine from the University of Manchester in 2003 and completed general medical, then specialist haematology training at various hospitals in the North West of England, acceding to the Specialist Register in 2012. In 2016 he completed a PhD at the CRUK Manchester Institute, during which he researched the role of isocitrate dehydrogenase mutations in acute myeloid leukaemia.
Charlotte Niemeyer, MD, graduated from the University of Freiburg in 1980. She then specialized in Pediatrics at the University of Kiel and in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital/Dana Farber Cancer Institute (1983-88), Hannover Medical School (1988-1990) and Freiburg University (since 1990) where she is a Full Professor in Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (since 2001). Prof. Niemeyer’s main scientific interest is translational research in the field of myelodysplastic syndromes in young individuals, bone marrow failure disorders and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. She is a founding member of the European Working Group of MDS in Childhood (EWOG-MDS) and chairs the Coordinating Study Center of this group at her institution. With her research group, she contributed to the identification and description of genetic syndromes with predisposition to myeloid neoplasia and to the identification of effective treatments. She was honored with the election to the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldia (2010), the Deutscher Krebspreis (2021), and the Jean Bernard Lifetime Achievement Award by the European Hematology Association (2018).
Carlo Gambacorti-Passerini is an Italian oncologist and hematologist known for his contributions to cancer research. He is presently Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Milan Bicoccain Italy and Director of the Clinical Research Unit at S. Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy. Previously he was Senior Investigator and Head of the Oncogenic Fusion Proteins Unit at the National Cancer Institute, Milan Italy (1990-2003), Professor of Oncology and Hematology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada (2004-2007).
Dr. Komrokji is the Vice chair of the Malignant Hematology Department and the head of the Leukemia and MDS Section at the Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida.
Dr. Odenike is Professor of Medicine, and Director of the Leukemia Program at the University of Chicago Medicine. Dr. Odenike’s research and medical practice is focused on myeloid malignancies, including acute and chronic leukemias, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). She has a particular interest in new drug development in these diseases. She has served as the Principal Investigator of several clinical/translational trials including NCI sponsored clinical trials. She is co-Director of the University of Chicago Personalized Cancer Care Consortium, and serves on the Alliance Leukemia Core Committee. She has authored/co-authored over 100 peer reviewed articles, has served in editorial and scientific review committees for various journals and organizations including the National Institutes of Health, American Society of Clinical Oncology and American Society of Hematology.
Dr. Eric Padron is an associate member in the in the Department of Malignant Hematology, and the Cancer Biology and Molecular Medicine Programs. In addition, Dr. Padron is the Scientific Director of Malignant Hematology. Following completion of his hematology-oncology fellowship at Moffitt/USF, Dr. Padron’s research has developed a national and international reputation in the biology and treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes, with an emphasis on chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). Dr. Padron’s lab primarily investigates different approaches to treating patients with leukemia, focusing on one sub-type of leukemia called chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). Dr. Padron’s clinical interests are the care and treatment of patients with adult myeloid malignancies including MDS, AML and Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPs) with a specific interest in the Myeloproliferative/Myelodysplastic (MDS/MPN) syndromes of which CMML is a member. His area of interest in bone marrow failure disease is focused on CMML, which is related to MDS. Dr. Padron has been the recipient of multiple awards and grants, including an ASH Scholar Award, Moffitt Cancer Center Junior Faculty Research Award, and the Celgene Young Investigator Award. His translational research success is evidenced by over 100 publications and multiple active grants, including an NIH-R01 to develop patient-derived xenograft models in CMML, an NIH-R21 grant studying MALAT1 depletion in CMML, and an ACS Research Scholar Grant. Dr. Padron focuses his efforts on developing “bench-to-bedside” research through partnership with clinical investigators and high-level laboratory science, and fostering team science.