Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine and Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center will present blood cancer and hematology research at the American Society of Hematology’s Annual Meeting & Exposition from Dec. 6-9.
The event, which will be held in Orlando, Fla., will feature the researchers’ presentation on the newest data in those fields. During the convention, three Penn Med researchers will also be recognized with awards and elected positions at ASH.
Nancy Speck, the John W. Eckman Professor in Medical Science II, will also receive the 2025 E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize for her “pivotal work” in the processes of leukemia development and blood cell production.
The prize, named after Nobel Prize laureate and past ASH president E. Donnall Thomas, seeks to “recognize pioneering research achievements in hematology that have represented a paradigm shift or significant discovery in the field.”
“Dr. Speck’s research has provided critical knowledge to help us understand how certain blood cancers and other blood disorders develop,” Robert Vonderheide, the director of the Abramson Cancer Center, wrote in the Penn Med award announcement in June. “We are glad to have such a brilliant hematology researcher on our team and are pleased to see her recognized with one of the highest honors from ASH.”
Alison Wakoff Loren, the C. Willard Robinson Professor of Hematology-Oncology and chief of Penn Med’s division of hematology and oncology, was elected to serve as ASH’s incoming vice president. She will begin serving a one-year term following the conference’s conclusion.
“Hematology impacts every aspect of health, and we have a responsibility as hematologists to honor and advocate for all people with blood diseases,” Loren wrote in an October Penn Med release. “I look forward to serving the broad hematology community of clinicians and researchers, especially in advancing ASH’s advocacy work and funding for research and career development during times of uncertainty.”
Adam Cuker, Penn Med’s section chief of hematology and a professor of Medicine, was elected to a four-year term as councillor on the ASH Executive Committee.
Aside from the recognitions, the conference will host Penn Med experts to present updates across fields of research in classical and malignant hematology.
At the Late-Breaking Abstracts Session — which focuses on abstracts that contain particularly innovative work — there will be a presentation about Cuker’s work on treatments for immune thrombocytopenia, an autoimmune disorder that leads to “potentially life-threatening bleeding events.”
At the Plenary Scientific Session — which is set aside for the highest-level of work at the conference — there will be a presentation about professor of Medicine Alexander Perl’s work regarding chemotherapy for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia.