Faculty of the Third International Patient & Physician Summit on Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia

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Born in Germany in 1944, Dr. Barlogie received his medical degree from the University of Heidelberg and a Ph.D. from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research. He also completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Muenster.

After coming to the United States in 1974, Dr. Barlogie joined the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, assigned to the Department of Developmental Therapeutics. While at M.D. Anderson, he served as a professor of Medicine in the Department of Hematology, a professor in the Department of Pathology, chief of Experimental Therapeutics and chief of the Cytometry Center for the Department of Hematology.

Dr. Barlogie came to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in 1989 to join the staff of its Arkansas Cancer Research Center, with his focus on treatment and research of multiple myeloma. In 1998, the myeloma program became an independent center of excellence and, in 2001, the program was granted the stature of an institute and was formally named the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy.

He has received two of the highest awards offered by the UAMS College of Medicine, the Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, from the College of Medicine faculty in 1995 and the Distinguished Faculty Award, bestowed by the Alumni Organization in 1997. Dr. Barlogie has also received numerous awards for his research accomplishments. These include the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in 1998, the J. Waldenström Award for Myeloma Research in 1999, the Celgene Career Achievement Award in Hematology Research in 2002 and, most recently, the International Myeloma Foundation's Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement.

Meletios A. Dimopoulos, MD is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Clinical Therapeutics at the University Athens School of Medicine, Athens, Greece. He has been also elected Vice Dean of the Medical School for the academic years 2007-2009. He obtained his medical degree from the 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 350 publications 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 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 and Myeloma and of Expert Review of Hematology . Dr. Dimopoulos serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, 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). He is a recipient of the Robert A. Kyle Award for outstanding contributions to Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia.

Prof. Michele Ghielmini is Head of the Oncology Department at the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, where he also leads the autologous stem cell transplantation program. He is Professor of Medicine at the University of Bern, Switzerland and member of the Lymphoma Section of the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK) which he has chaired for many years. Dr. Ghielmini originally studied medicine in Lausanne and Zurich, followed by post-graduate training in Bern and a research fellowship at the Christie Cancer Centre, Manchester, UK, and the University Hospital of Frankfurt, Germany.

As an expert in the treatment of malignant lymphoma, Dr. Ghielmini was an editorial board member for Annals of Oncology for many years and he is now on the editorial board for Journal of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Ghielmini has authored many publications mainly in the field of haemato-toxicology, autologous stem cell transplantation and treatment of lymphoma. His recent clinical research has focused on the treatment of lymphoma with monoclonal antibodies.

Dr. Irene Ghobrial is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. She received her MD in 1995 from Cairo University. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Wayne State University, Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, and her hematology/oncology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She joined DFCI in October, 2005. Here, her basic science and clinical work focuses on the development of novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of Waldenstrom’s and multiple myeloma, with particular interest in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. She also has a special interest in the role of chemokine receptor CXCR4 in the migration and homing of multiple myeloma and Waldenström’s. Dr. Ghobrial is the recipient of the American Society of Hematology Scholar Award, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Foundation Young Investigator Award, and a Smokler Award from the Research Fund for Waldenstrom Foundation. She is also a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society scholar and a Lymphoma Research Foundation scholar.

Currently, Dr. Ghobrial oversees the Kirsch Laboratory for Waldenstrom's, a lab within the Bing Center for Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia.

Dr. Hochberg's interests include Brain Lymphoma, gene therapy for glioma and the use of phase 1 and phase 2 agents to treat glioblastoma. He is the P.I. of an NCI-PO1 (Gene Therapy for Brain Tumors) which explores novel herpes vector systems expressing pro-drug activating transgenes. In addition he has been the PI of an NCI Consortium award to the Massachusetts General Hospital for the study of novel therapies of malignant brain tumors. Current research activities include the evaluation of risk factors for the development and progression of brain lymphoma including analyses of subtle alterations of cell-mediated immunity that might predispose to tumor development in "immunocompetent" individuals, the role of IgH rearrangement, the role of sustained EBViral infections (E. Kieff). Translational trials include therapies employing novel viral vectors (herpes, Adenoviral) expressing tk and interferon transgenes; novel phase 1 agents including camptothecins, antifols and angiogenesis inhibitors. These trials make use of novel surrogates of drug delivery including microdialysis probes and imaging of tumor blood flow, blood volume and permeability.

Zachary Hunter has been with the Bing Center for over five years and has worked on multiple organizational and scientific projects during that time. His current research involves characterizing the role of IgG and IgA deficiency in Waldenstom’s Marcoglobulinemia as well as a large study examining the characteristics and genetics of families with a history of WM and other B-cell disorders. He holds a BA in mathematics from Haverford College and is a graduate student at the Boston University department of pathology. He is doing his thesis research with the Bing Center under Drs. Steven Treon of Dana-Farber and Christopher Andry of Boston University.

Thea Ioakimidis joined the Bing Center for WM at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in late January 2007. Thea graduated with a Masters in Science from Metropolitan University in London with a focus in pharmaceutical Science and a thesis in computational chemistry. Her undergraduate degree was received from Northeastern University with a BS in biology. Thea is currently working on a familial study that will help us to gain knowledge about the genetics of this disease and will bring us closer to understanding of the cause of Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia.

Dr. Kimby is actively involved as a key investigator in several haematology trial groups.
Advisory role on the Board of European Network Mantle cell lymphoma.
Chairman of the group for indolent lymphomas within the Nordic Lymphoma Group.
Member of the EBMT CLL Working Party subcommittee.
Chairman of the Swedish CLL-group.

Main research interests in the area of haematology are indolent lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and the applications of immunotherapy.

Lecturer at several international meetings on CLL and lymphomas and has published more than 100 papers and several reviews in peer-reviewed international journals.

Dr. Kyle is Professor of Medicine, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, in Rochester, Minnesota. He served as the William H. Donner Professor of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine and was Section Head and Chairman of the Division of Hematology.

After earning a medical degree at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Dr Kyle did residency training in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic. He completed a research fellowship in hematology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, and a postdoctoral research fellowship from the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Kyle is Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board and on the Board of Directors of the International Myeloma Foundation, and is Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation (IWMF). He is a Master, American College of Physicians, and an honorary member of the Royal Society of Pathologists, London. Dr Kyle sits on the editorial boards of several journals, including Blood Reviews, Clinical Lymphoma & Myeloma, and Leukemia. With research interests in monoclonal gammopathies, multiple myeloma, macroglobulinemia, and amyloidosis, Dr Kyle has been principal investigator for numerous research studies. He was Chairman of the Myeloma Committee of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group for 12 years and served as Secretary-General of the International Society of Hematology. Dr Kyle lectures widely and has contributed more than 800 articles and book chapters as well as over 1100 abstracts to the literature.

A tireless educator, he has helped train more than 200 practicing hematologists. Dr Kyle was the first recipient of the Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Myeloma Foundation and the Robert A. Kyle Award from the IWMF, and received the Mayo Clinic’s Henry S. Plummer Distinguished Internist Award, Distinguished Clinician Award, and Distinguished Alumni Award. He was also the recipient of the David A. Karnofsky Award and Lecture from the American Society of Clinical Oncology in 2007 and the Wallace Coulter Award from the American Society of Hematology in 2008.

Dr Charalampia Kyriakou obtained her medical degree from the Aristotelion University of Thessaloniki, Greece and subsequently trained in haemato-oncology in the transplant unit at George Papanikolaou Hospital. She moved to University College London Hospital in London in 1997 where she completed a transplant followed by myeloma clinical fellowship. From 2002 to 2005 she was awarded the myeloma research fellowship and received her doctorate in mesenchymal stem cell research from Royal Free and University College London Medical School. Her basic research interest is focused on mesenchymal stem cell homing, gene transduction with anti-tumour genes and effect in in vivo lymphoma and myeloma mouse animal model together with in vitro interactions with lymphoma and myeloma cells. She is a member of the American Society of Hematology and Clinical Oncology. She is active member of the EBMT Lymphoma working party and her clinical interest is on transplantation for lymphoma and myeloma. She is currently the Lymphoma and Myeloma Lead at the North West London Hospital NHS Trust.

Dr. Landgren is a clinical investigator and Attending Physician at the Medical Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Landgren received his M.D. in 1995 from the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden). Following clinical training as a hematology/internal medicine specialist physician and receipt of a Ph.D. at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, he designed and led clinical research on lymphoproliferative malignancies and related precursors. In 2004, he joined the NCI/NIH.

Dr. Landgren is a world leading physician-scientists with a strong research focus on monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and its relation to full-blown malignancies including multiple myeloma, Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Dr. Landgren has designed and led several landmark studies focusing on MGUS and progression patterns into multiple myeloma. In the first prospective study, he has shown that all myeloma patients are preceded by a MGUS stage. Based on racial disparity patterns for MGUS and multiple myeloma among African-Americans and whites, as well as familial aggregation patterns for MGUS and multiple myeloma in Scandinavia, he has provided novel insights supporting a role for genetic and immune-related factors in myelomagenesis. Also he has led the first large African study on MGUS in Ghana. Further, he has designed and led the first prospective study showing that almost all chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients evolve through a precursor state (monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis).

Dr. Landgren is leading the clinical plasma-cell disease program at the NCI/NIH, with particular focus on MGUS and multiple myeloma. He has an extensive publication track-record in leading peer-reviewed journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Blood, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Archives of Internal Medicine, British Journal of Haematology, and Haematologica.

Dr. Maloney received his MD and PhD in cancer biology from Stanford University, his internship and residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, and a fellowship in oncology at Stanford.

While at Stanford, Dr. Maloney worked with Dr. Ronald Levy to develop monoclonal antibody treatments for lymphoma and has since participated in several clinical trials studying these agents. His current research focuses on the mechanisms of action of monoclonal antibodies and the use of non-myeloablative allogeneic transplantation for the treatment of hematologic malignancies.

Dr. Maloney is currently a member of the American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Southwest Oncology Group Lymphoma Committee and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Committee on Hodgkin’s Disease.

Throughout his career, Dr. Maloney has authored and co-authored many articles that have appeared in publications such as the Journal of Immunology, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Blood, focusing on antibody therapy, lymphoma, myeloma and transplantation.

Dr. Mary McMaster received her B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina (UNC) and her M.D. from the Wake Forest University Bowman Gray School of Medicine. She then completed training in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. During her fellowship, she became interested in cancer genetics. While at Vanderbilt, she began to study the genetics of lymphoma. She returned to North Carolina for postdoctoral training in cellular biology and genetics. She joined the National Institutes of Health in 1996. She completed a residency in Clinical Medical Genetics with the National Human Genome Research Institute before moving to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 1998. At NCI, she has pursued her long-term interest in cancer genetics. She is especially interested in understanding the basis for susceptibility to certain rare cancers, including Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia (WM) and related blood and lymph node cancers. She began the first national registry for familial WM and worked closely with Dr. Arnold Smokler, who founded the International Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation. Under her direction, the registry has grown from 3 families in 1998 to nearly 100 families as of December, 2008. She was a founding member of The International Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia Workshop. The primary goal of her research is to understand why WM sometimes occurs in multiple members of a single family. In particular, she hopes to identify genetic and/or environmental factors that may cause a person to be susceptible to WM. To achieve that goal, her studies have several components. For example, she is interested in learning whether relatives of WM patients may have features or conditions besides WM. She is also exploring potential links between environmental exposures and WM. The answers to these questions may eventually help researchers to develop better ways to diagnose, treat, and ultimately prevent WM. In her studies of WM families, she provides clinical consultation and genetic counseling for WM patients, their relatives, and caregivers.

Dr. Merlini is the Director of the Center for Research and Treatment of Systemic Amyloidosis, and of the Biotechnology Research Laboratories, Scientific Institute Policlinico San Matteo, University of Pavia, Italy. He is Professor of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Pavia, and the President of the Post-Graduate Course in Medical Biotechnology. He is also the President of the International Society of Amyloidosis and Chairman of the Committee on Plasma Proteins, International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine.

Dr. Merlini attended the Medical School of the University of Pavia as an alumnus of the Ghislieri College. After being awarded his medical degree, he trained in clinical and laboratory investigation of monoclonal gammapathies at Malmö General Hospital, Lund University, Sweden under the close guidance of Prof. Jan Waldenström. The encounter with Prof. Waldenström left a permanent imprint in Dr. Merlini’s scientific interests which have been focused since then on the investigation of the molecular mechanisms of diseases, and in particular on the biological activities of monoclonal proteins, and of the related clinical conditions. He further developed these lines of research at the Institute of Cancer Research, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York under the expert direction of Prof. Elliott Osserman and in collaboration with the immunochemist Prof. Elvin Kabat. Prof. Osserman introduced him to the realm of systemic amyloidosis, and particularly to amyloidosis caused by misfolded monoclonal immunoglobulin light chains.

Dr. Merlini’s main research interests are the pathogenesis, natural history, diagnosis and treatment of monoclonal gammapathies, in particular immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis. Recently his research has focused on the investigation of biomarkers for assessing prognosis and response to therapy and on the development of novel therapeutic agents and treatment designed in the light of advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of these diseases. He is, and has been, principal investigator for several research projects in this field funded by the European Community and national research agencies. Dr. Merlini lectures widely and has written more than 300 articles, books, book chapters and reviews. Dr. Merlini’s contribution to the field of Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia spans from the investigation of the antibody activities of the monoclonal IgMs to the definition of the prognosis and treatment guidelines, and development of new therapeutic avenues. He was instrumental in establishing an international collaboration to define a new prognostic scoring system for Waldenström s macroglobulinemia.

After being Assistant in the Service des Maladies du Sang of the University Hospital of Lille for 3 years, Pierre Morel moved as Praticien Hospitalier in the Service d’Hematologie Clinique Jean Bernard of Lens in 1992. Since that time he has conducted in several trials, especially of the Groupe d’Etude des Lymphomes de l’Adulte and he has been involved in the data management of clinical and biological data. Most of his publications reported new prognostic indexes for myelodysplastic syndrome, follicular lymphoma , primary myelofibrosis, and Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia, including the International scoring system for this disease developed with the collaboration of 7 institutions or cooperative groups. Pierre Morel focuses now on the long-term prognostic effect of clinical, biological or treatment characteristics in patients with chronic disease, especially Waldenström macroglobulinemia, in the framework of the Centre d’Etude et de Recherche en Informatique Médicale (Lille).

Dr. Enrica Morra is Head of the Division of Hematology (1994 - present) and Director of the Oncology Department (2001-present) at the Niguarda Ca’ Granda Hospital of Milan, Italy.

She received her medical degree from the University of Pavia Medical School and is board-certified in Haematology and Medical Oncology. Dr. Morra is a teacher at the Postgraduate School of Hematology at the Universities of Milan and Pavia. She has lectured at numerous international conferences and has organised several continuing medical education courses on hematologic malignancies. Her main research interests are the biological and therapeutical aspects of acute and chronic leukemias, monoclonal gammopathies, myeloproliferative disorders, myelodysplasia.

Dr. Morra is a member of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and the European Hematology Association (EHA), and currently serves as regional delegate of the Italian Society of Hematology (SIE). She is the Scientific Coordinator of the Hematology Network of the Region Lombardia, which includes all hematology centres of this area. Dr Morra has authored or co-authored 190 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Munshi is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, an Associate Director of the Jerome Lipper Myeloma Center at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, an Associate Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and an Attending Physician at Boston VA Healthcare System, all in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Munshi is also the Chairman of the Expert Panel on Myeloma for the National VA Healthcare System and a member of the Subcommittee on Growth Factors for the American Society of Hematology.

He earned his bachelor of medicine/bachelor of surgery and medical degree in Internal Medicine from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India. His research fellowship in oncology was completed at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and his haematology/oncology clinical fellowship was completed at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis. Dr. Munshi joined the staff at the Myeloma Center at the University of Arkansas in 1992 in both research and clinical roles and was promoted to Professor of Medicine and Director of the Clinical Gene Transduction Laboratory at the Arkansas Cancer Research Center in July 2000.

Dr. Munshi's current research activities are centered around developing novel therapeutic modalities including immunotherapy/vaccine approaches and molecular strategies for myeloma and its translational applications to the clinic. Several promising immunobased therapies have been developed from Dr. Munshi’s research, including vaccines using fused myeloma cells and dendritic cells that focus the innate immune response against myeloma. Additionally, he is also the principle investigator on studies evaluating the effects of a VEGF-receptor inhibitor (an anti-angiogenic agent in relapsed myeloma) and the efficacy and biological effects of anti CD-40 antibody as a third-line therapy in myeloma. He has over 150 publications and book chapters, primarily in the field of Myeloma. His grant support is substantial and has included grants from National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society and VA Research grants. He was awarded a Leukemia Society of America Scholar in Translational Research award. Dr. Munshi has been a member of numerous National Institutes of Health committees.

Owen A. O’Connor, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, is the Director of the Lymphoid Development and Malignancy Program in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University, and Chief of the Lymphoma Service in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at The New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University. His clinical and research interests focus on the discovery and development of novel small molecules for the treatment of hematologic malignancies.

Dr. O’Connor received his Ph.D. from the New York University School of Medicine in Biochemical Toxicology and Chemical Carcinogenesis, and his M.D. from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He then went on to complete a medical internship and residency at The New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center. Following his medical residency, he completed a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he was Chief Fellow from 1997-1998, and a Fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology at the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical School. During his fellowship, he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph R. Bertino studying mechanisms of drug resistance. Prior to joining the faculty at Columbia University, we was an Attending Physician in the Department of Medicine on the Lymphoma Service, and Head of the Laboratory of Experimental Therapeutics for the Lymphoproliferative Malignancies at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. O’Connor maintains a laboratory program focused on the discovery of novel small molecules for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Hodgkin Lymphoma using unique animal models of these diseases and high-throughput screening approaches. Clinically, he is focused on the conduct of Phase I and II clinical trials, with an emphasis on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies. He has a particular interest in the development of proteasome inhibitors, epigenetic therapies and Bcl-2 targeted drugs for the treatment of lymphoproliferative malignancies. To date, his efforts in conducting early phase clinical trials with bortezomib (Velcade) and SAHA (Vorinostat) have led to recent FDA approvals of these drugs for the treatment of mantle cell and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. He is now the PI of an international registration directed trial of pralatrexate in T-cell lymphoma, a drug he co-discovered and developed.

Dr. O’Connor is a member of several professional societies, including the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society for Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and the American Society for Hematology. He serves on the Lymphoma and Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (PET) Committees for the CALGB. He is a member of the Executive Committee for the Mantle Cell Lymphoma Consortium for the Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF), and serves as a member of their Scientific Advisory Board. He is a Senior Editor for Clinical Cancer Research, and is also on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Leukemia and Lymphoma. He has published nearly 100 articles in numerous journals, including Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Journal of Clinical Oncology, British Journal of Hematology, Leukemia and Lymphoma, Clinical Cancer Research, Environmental Science and Technology and Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. His research has resulted in numerous abstracts of papers presented at National and International meetings. Dr. O’Connor is the recipient of several honors and awards, including the Scholar in Clinical Research Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a Merit Award from the American Society for Clinical Oncology, the William Guy Forbeck Scholar Award, and co-recipient of the Ellen Glesby Cohen Leadership Award from the LRF for his contributions to mantle cell lymphoma.

Dr. Helga Ogmundsdottir graduated with a medical degree from the University of Iceland in 1975 and PhD in immunology from the University of Edinburgh in 1979. Following two further years in Edinburgh as a lecturer in virology and immunolgy she moved back to Iceland, first to the Department of Virology. In 1987 she was appointed by the Icelandic Cancer Society to establish a new laboratory, The Molecular and Cell Biology Research Laboratory. The laboratory was linked to the Faculty of Medicine from the beginning through teaching of medical students and supervision of research projects. Helga became a professor of cell biology in 2001. The laboratory is now part of the Faculty of Medicine (since 2007). Helga also chairs the Committee for Post-Graduate Studies at the Faculty of Medicine. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) 1998-2008, as Secretary 1998-2004.

Helga has been involved in a variety of different research projects. These include studies on various aspects of the cell biology of breast cancer, including cytogenetics of breast cancer. Also molecular changes in mucosal lesions in the mouth and oral cancer. Furthermore, projects linking the study of immunology and malignancy, studying the genetic and biological basis of B-cell-derived malignancies. In a long-standing collaboration with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences the effects of lichen-derived compounds on cancer cells have been investigated. Finally, a small project on the effect of loss of the thymus during cardiac surgery in infancy on T-cell function.

Dr. Roger Owen is a consultant haematologist and haematopathologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK. His main research interests concern the diagnosis and disease monitoring in patients with WM, multiple myeloma and MGUS. He is a co-principal investigator of the WM1 trial of primary therapy in the UK and a member of the National Cancer Research Network indolent lymphoma clinical trials group. Dr. Owen is also responsible for the flow cytomteric based assessment of minimal residual disease in multiple myeloma trials in the UK.

Dr. Ama Rohatiner is Professor of Haemato-Oncology at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. Her main research interest is the development of new treatment strategies for lymphoma, with particular reference to Follicular Lymphoma and Waldenstrom Macroglobulinaemia.

Dr. Rohatiner is also very involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education projects, both at her own medical school and abroad. She has recently completed a 5-year secondment as Director of the U.K. branch of the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research, a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation dedicated to building capacity for cancer treatment and research in developing countries.

Mathias J. Rummel, MD, PhD is the head of the Department for Hematology at the Clinic for Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Justus-Liebig University-Hospital, Gießen, Germany. Dr Rummel studied medicine at J.W. Goethe University Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany, obtaining his licence to practice medicine in 1995. Following this, he completed his doctoral degree and residency, obtained board certification in internal medicine, and was awarded his PhD from J.W. Goethe University Hospital.

Dr Rummel’s current research focuses on novel treatment approaches in hematological malignancies, most notably follicular and other indolent lymphomas as well as hairy cell leukemia and also ITP. He is the chair of the Study Group Indolent Lymphomas (StiL) and principal investigator of several on-going clinical protocols.

Dr Rummel is actively involved in a number of professional scientific societies, including the American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, the European Society for Medical Oncology, the European Haematology Association, and the German Society of Haematology and Oncology. He is also a reviewer for a number of journals such as Haematologica, Annals of Oncology, Annals of Hematology, Leukemia and Lymphoma, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Dr Rummel is principal investigator of many clinical trials in leukaemia and lymphoma, and has published several book chapters and papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Dr. Soiffer graduated from New York University School of Medicine in 1983, and trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he also was chief medical resident. He joined DFCI in 1988, after completing a medical oncology fellowship. He is currently chief of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies and codirector of the Adult Stem Cell Transplantation Program. He has served as vice president (2006), president (2007), and immediate past president (2008) of the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Our research activities focus upon modulation of the immune system in the treatment of patients with cancer, most notably leukemias and lymphomas, but also more recently, melanoma and other solid tumors. We have concentrated our efforts by clinical strategies to reduce the incidence and severity of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. We have conducted several clinical trials utilizing T12, a monoclonal antibody reactive with CD6+ T cells. We have demonstrated that CD6+ T cell depletion of donor marrow, as the sole form of immune suppression, can decrease GVHD and transplant related mortality in patients receiving grafts from both related and unrelated donors. A formal comparison of this approach toward GVHD prevention to traditional approaches will be initiated in Fall 1999. We have also developed clinical strategies to address the issue of relapse after transplantation. These have included the introduction of both cytokines (IL-2) and cellular elements (CD4+ donor cells) to both prevent and treat relapse. These studies have been the basis of laboratory investigations which have been able to identify T cells with specific repertoires emerging during the generation of both alloantigen and anti-leukemic clinical activity. Further collaboration with Dr. Ritz will hopefully lead to the identification of specific antigens which can be targeted in future clinical trials. In addition to work performed on allo-immunity, we have participated in clinical trials to induce autologous anti-tumor immunity. Working in collaboration with Dr Glenn Dranoff at DFCI, we documented the generation of tumor immunity through vaccination of melanoma patients with irradiated autologous tumor cells genetically engineered to secrete GM-CSF. As with our efforts in allo-reactivity, further clinical and laboratory work will lead to the identification of specific target and effector cells that can be utilized in future therapeutic trials.

Dr. Marvin J. Stone is a native of Columbus, Ohio and attended Ohio State University. He received the MD with Honors from the University of Chicago. He took his internal medicine residency at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis and Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. He was a clinical associate at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. Dr. Stone served as Chief of Oncology at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and Director of the Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center from 1976 until 2008. He heads the Internal Medicine Clerkship for third-year medical students and the Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at Baylor Dallas. He is also Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. In 1980, he started the first bioethics course for medical students at Southwestern.

Dr. Stone has received Outstanding Teacher Awards from the house staff at Baylor and from medical students at UT Southwestern. He is the author of over 200 articles and book chapters on various aspects of hematology, oncology, and immunology. In 1999, Baylor University Medical Center created the Marvin J. Stone Library at the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research. Dr. Stone is a Master of the American College of Physicians and received the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Chicago in 2002. He is a past president of the American Osler Society and was the first chair of the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Career Development Committee. Dr. Stone received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia in 2004. He contributed an essay on monoclonal antibodies to The Lancet’s Special Issue on Medicine and Creativity in 2006.

Dr. Steven Treon is the Director of the Bing Center for Waldenström’s Research and an attending physician for medical oncology, at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, and is the Chair of the Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Clinical Trials Group.

After earning a doctorate in tumor immunology from Boston University (BU), Dr Treon did a postgraduate fellowship in the Department of Microbiology at BU School of Medicine. Dr Treon received a medical degree from BU School of Medicine and completed an internship in medicine and a residency in internal medicine at BU Medical Center. Dr Treon also served a clinical fellowship in hematology and oncology at Mass General Hospital and a research fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He received certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1995, and in medical oncology in 1997.

Dr Treon’s main research interests focus on understanding the genetic basis and pathogenesis of Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia and the development of therapeutics for this malignancy. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Blood, Clinical Cancer Research, and The Lancet. Dr Treon is a member of several professional societies including the American Medical Association, American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, European Society of Hematology and the Massachusetts Medical Society. He has been honored with several research and academic awards from various national and international medical foundations and institutes, including the Robert A. Kyle Award for Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia.

Lian Xu received her BS in chemical engineering from East China Institute of Chemical Technology in Shanghai, China. She came to USA in 1989 as a visiting graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a focus on biochemistry and molecular biology. Xu previously worked as a senior research assistant and research coordinator in the pediatrics department of UNC-CH and Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC. She has also completed numerous graduate courses in molecular biology, cellular biology and computer science at NIH graduate school and Johns Hopkins University.

Lian is now excited to apply her molecular biology experience to the WM Program, and to help advance research in the genetic basis, pathogenesis and evaluation of novel antibody- and vaccine based immunotherapies for Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia.

Lian joined the Bing Center for Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia in 2003 and specializes in a variety of molecular and cell biology projects exclusively for Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia.

Dr. Guang Yang has joined as a research fellow with the Bing Center for Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, Dana Farber Cancer Institute this past year. His education began in Beijing, China, earning him a PhD in Biochemistry and molecular biology. Dr Yang has been with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute since 2001, and with a diverse and strong background in biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology and cell biology. He is very proficient in antibody engineering, protein expression and purification, tumor antigen gene screening, RNA splicing and cell morphology research. He is a vital contributor to the Bing Center for Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia. Dr Yang is currently working on a variety of projects for the Bing Center for Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia.