ASH Clinical News ACN_4.3_FULL-ISSUE-DIGITAL | Page 13

UP FRONT ASH Directions Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH, Begins Term as 2018 ASH President Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH, a world-renowned expert in sickle cell disease and thalassemia, will serve as president of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) for a year-long term through December 2018. Dr. Thompson is the head of the hematology section of the Division of Hematology Oncology Transplanta- tion and director of the Comprehensive Thalassemia Program at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where she also serves as the A. Watson and Sarah Armour Endowed Chair for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders. She is also an associate direc- tor of Equity and Minority Health at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago. During her more than 20 years of in- volvement with ASH, Dr. Thompson has served in a variety of volunteer roles, including a four-year term as an ASH councillor from 2010 to 2014, a co-chair of the ASH Annual Meeting Education Program, a reviewer for Blood, and a mentor for the Minority Medical Student Award Program for more than 10 years. Dr. Thompson is also a member of the ASH Sickle Cell Task Force. As the Society’s new president, Dr. Thompson is interested in enhancing the trainee pipeline in hematology, particularly in non-malignant hematology. She also seeks to focus on ASH’s global strategy to promote the best science and patient care throughout the world and to foster international collaborations in hematology, including expansion into regions with unmet scientific and medical needs. Free ASH Course on Biosimilars Biosimilars are increasingly enter- ing hematology clinical practice. In this two-part, audio-guided online course, “Biosimilars: A New Era of Hematology/Oncol- ogy Management Considerations,” experts present key information on biosimilars, including the FDA ap- proval process, safety, and appropri- ate use. Participants then apply what they have learned through evaluation of three case-based scenarios. Visit programs.ashacademy.org/biosimilars to access the entire course. Faculty and course list are as follows: Jeffrey Crawford, MD, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC • FDA Criteria for Biosimilar Approval • Patients With Newly Diagnosed Diffuse Large B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: Considering Biosimilars (with Dr. Lyman) Gary H. Lyman, MD, MPH, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA • Why Biosimilars, Why Now? • Interchangeability and Pharmacy-Level Substitution • Patients With Relapsed Large Cell Lymphoma: Reference Product or Biosimilar? (with Dr. Zelenetz) Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Ketteri