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Bio subsequently conducted the first successful
and ongoing human trials for gene therapy for the
hemoglobinopathies.
Ron recruited to Einstein over 20 faculty
members and fostered research in many additional aspects of SCD, Hb C disease and malaria.
He was a true Renaissance man and additional
interests included history, poetry, arts, and gastronomy. He is fondly remembered for his intelligence, encyclopedic memory, his wit, and for the
many dinners that he either cooked and hosted, or
organized at highly sought-after restaurants.
–Submitted by Eric E. Bouhassira, PhD; Henny
H. Billett, MD; Mary E. Fabry, PhD; Rhoda E.
Hirsch, PhD; and Rajagopal Krishnamoorthy,
MSc, PhD, DSc
Ronald L. Nagel, MD
(1936–2016)
Ronald (Ron) L. Nagel, MD, was born in Santiago and graduated from the University of Chile
Medical School in 1960. After three years of
post-graduate training in medicine, physics, and
mathematics, he moved to the United States as a
postdoctoral fellow at the Albert Einstein College
of Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. Helen
Ranney.
Ron’s first major findings, in collaboration
with Robert M. Bookchin, involved understanding
the molecular basis of polymerization of hemoglobin S, the mutant hemoglobin that causes
sickle cell disease (SCD), through the study of
naturally occurring mutants.
As techniques evolved, Ron, then chief of
hematology at Einstein, studied SCD at the DNA
haplotype level. It is through his work with Dominique Labie that our understanding of regional
variations in SCD severity evolved. For example,
SCD patients from parts of India, Saudi Arabia,
and Senegal exhibit a milder form of the disease
than patients from the Bantu ethnic group. These
studies were also the precur sor of larger, international projects to map the haplotype structure
of the entire human genome, which has revealed
the influence of genetic variation on human
health and disease.
As it became possible to engineer mouse
models of human diseases, Ron worked with
Mary Fabry, Eric Bouhassira, Dan K. Kaul, and
others to create transgenic sickle mice with a
variety of phenotypes and elucidated important
pathophysiologic issues in SCD, which continue to
be used in many laboratories.
Excited by the development of viral vectors
able to infect hematopoietic stem cells, Ron
organized a multidisciplinary team that included
Eric Bouhassira and Mary Fabry from Einstein, Irving London and Phillipe Leboulch from Harvard/
MIT, and Connie Eaves and Keith Humphries from
the University of British Columbia to bring gene
therapy to the bedside. These studies included
the first proof of principle of gene therapy for SCD
in the mouse. Phillipe Leboulch and later BlueBird
14
ASH Clinical News
Dr. Nagel was an active member of ASH, serving on several committees. He was a part of the
Ad Hoc Committee on International Outreach
(AHCIO), the Scientific Committee on Red Cell Biology, chairperson of the AHCIO Subcommittee on
Africa, and was a Grassroots Network volunteer.
NCCN Elects New Board of Directors Chairman,
Officers
Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, director of the Alvin J.
Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, has been elected chairman of the National
Comprehensive Cancer Network’s (NCCN) Board
of Directors. Dr. Eberlein previously served as vice
chair of the board and succeeds Samuel M. Silver,
Timothy J.
Eiberlein, MD
MD, PhD, as chairman. Throughout his tenure
with NCCN, Dr. Eberlein has held leadership roles
on a number of committees, including the Executive Committee,
Governance Committee, and NCCN Guidelines Steering Committee.
The following members of the NCCN Board were also elected to
new offices:
• Vice Chair: Jan C. Buckner, MD, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center,
Rochester, MN
• Secretary: Lori C. Pickens, MHA, Duke Cancer Institute, Cary, NC
• Treasurer: Dorothy E. Puhy, MBA, Dana-Farber/Brigham and
Women’s Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA
Source: NCCN press release, April 4, 2016.
Jennifer Pietenpol Named Vanderbilt University’s
Executive Vice President of Research
Runqing Lu, PhD
(1968–2016)
Runqing Lu, PhD, an associate professor in
the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and
Anatomy at the University of Nebraska Medical
Center (UNMC), passed away in late March. Dr.
Lu was a native of Zibo, China, and joined UNMC
in 2004. In 2008, he received a New Investigator Award at the Distinguished Scientist Award
ceremony at UNMC. His research focused on
understanding how B cells are generated in
disorders such as autoimmunity, leukemia, and
lymphoma. Dr. Lu was a member of the Fred &
Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and of ASH.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of
Dr. Lu,” said UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold,
MD. “He was a trusted peer, a valued mentor,
and a caring friend to many.” Vimla Band, PhD,
chair of the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology,
and Anatomy at UNMC, said that Dr. Lu was a
kind-hearted person and brilliant researcher and
mentor. “He cared deeply for his students and
fellows, as well as for his colleagues in the department and UNMC as a whole,” Dr. Band said.
Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, has been appointed
executive vice president for research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Pietenpol will
continue to serve as director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, a position she has held since
2007. In her new position, Dr. Pietenpol will take
on some of the responsibilities held by Lawrence
Jennifer Pietenpol,
MD
“Larry” Marnett, PhD, associate vice chancellor for research and senior associate dean for
biomedical sciences, as Dr. Marnett will transition to the newly created position of dean of basic sciences in the school of medicine.
Source: Vanderbilt University press release, April 14, 2016.
City of Hope’s Steven Rosen Awarded $2.3
Million Grant from NCI for AML Research
Steven T. Rosen, MD, provost and chief scientific
officer at City of Hope, has been awarded a $2.3
million Research Project Grant (R01) from the
National Cancer Institute (NCI) to fund studies associated with a phase I/II clinical trial of a
new therapy in relapsed/refractory adult acute
Steven T. Rosen, MD myeloid leukemia. The Rising Tide Foundation
is funding the clinical trial, which will evaluate
the safety and efficacy of 8-chloro-adenosine (a therapeutic small
molecule that has shown anti-cancer activity against patientderived leukemia cells), while the NCI grant will fund correlative
studies in genomic profiling, the drug’s mechanism of action, and
any potential cytotoxic effects.
Source: City of Hope press release, April 7, 2016.
July 2016