(WASHINGTON, August 1, 2013) – The American Society of Hematology (ASH) today announced that it will recognize Nancy Andrews, MD, PhD, dean of Duke University School of Medicine, and Elaine Jaffe, MD, of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, with the 2013 Henry M. Stratton Medal for their outstanding accomplishments in the fields of iron homeostasis and erythropoiesis and lymphoma, respectively.
Each year ASH honors two senior investigators, one in basic research and the other in clinical/translational research, with the Henry M. Stratton Medal for their well-recognized contributions to hematology. The award is named after the late Henry Maurice Stratton, co-founder of Grune and Stratton, the medical publishing company that first published ASH's journal Blood.
Dean Andrews, the recipient of the 2013 Stratton Medal for Basic Research, is also Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Duke University. She is the first woman to be appointed dean of Duke's School of Medicine and is the only woman to lead one of the nation's top 10 medical schools. Dr. Andrews earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and her PhD in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After completing a residency in pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital and a pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship at Boston Children's and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Dr. Andrews made several critical discoveries early in her career central to the understanding of erythropoiesis. Following her post-doctoral training, Dr. Andrews remained at Harvard, rapidly climbing the academic ranks and eventually serving as Dean for Basic Sciences and Graduate Studies at Harvard Medical School. In 2007, she assumed her current role at Duke University School of Medicine.
Dr. Andrews is a model physician-scientist and a recognized leader in the study of molecular biology of iron metabolism. She has maintained an active National Institutes of Health-funded research laboratory dedicated to the study of genetic approaches in mice to identify key genes regulating iron balance and has created more than 30 mouse models of iron-related diseases and pathways. Her countless critical achievements in non-malignant hematology are unrivaled, and her research creativity and productivity were rewarded by her status as a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator from 1993 to 2006.
In addition to her seminal contributions to the field, Dr. Andrews has become a visible leader among her colleagues through service in professional societies and receipt of prestigious awards. She has served many different roles for ASH, including Scientific Program Committee Chair and Councillor, and received ASH's 2011 Mentor Award for Basic Science for her sustained, outstanding commitment to the training and career development of junior hematologists. She has also served as past president of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Jaffe, the recipient of the 2013 Stratton Medal for Clinical/Translational Research, is Head of the Hematopathology Section of the Laboratory of Pathology in the Intramural Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). After receiving her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completing an internship at Georgetown University, Dr. Jaffe joined the NCI as a resident in anatomic pathology. She has remained at the NCI for more than 40 years, working her way up from Senior Investigator to directing the Hematopathology Section of the Institute.
Dr. Jaffe is regarded by her peers as one of the most pre-eminent hematopathologists of her generation. She is most widely known for her work regarding the pathophysiology and prognosis of malignant lymphomas, as well as her unparalleled work to understand how they respond to treatment. She has completed intriguing work on the interrelationship between Hodgkin lymphoma and B-cell lymphomas, focusing in particular on grey zone lymphomas that appear to represent the missing link between classical Hodgkin lymphoma and other B-cell malignancies and exploring the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that cause a B cell to become a Hodgkin cell.
Dr. Jaffe's impact on hematology has been amplified by her leadership roles in ASH and other national and international societies and activities. In addition to serving as an ASH Councillor, Advisory Board member, and Awards Committee member, Dr. Jaffe has served as a past president of both the Society for Hematopathology and the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology. She currently serves on the Lymphoma Research Foundation's Scientific Advisory Board and is a former Chair of the Medical Sciences Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Jaffe led the effort to develop the World Health Organization classification of tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues published in 2001, a classification that rapidly became the international standard.
Dr. Jaffe's awards include the Fred W. Stewart Award from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Mostofi Award from the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, the Lennert Prize from the European Association for Haematopathology, and the Honoris Causa from the University of Barcelona. She was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 2008.
"It is a true privilege to award Dr. Andrews and Dr. Jaffe with the 2013 Henry M. Stratton Medal not only for their seminal research discoveries but also for the resilience, dedication, leadership, and innovation they have exhibited throughout their careers in hematology," said ASH President Janis L. Abkowitz, MD, of the University of Washington. "We deeply appreciate the profound contributions that these distinguished scientists have made to the field and their service as role models for scores of students, trainees, and colleagues."
Drs. Andrews and Jaffe will accept their awards at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday December 10, during the 55th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition in New Orleans.
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) (http://www.hematology.org) is the world's largest professional society of hematologists dedicated to furthering the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting the blood. For more than 50 years, the Society has led the development of hematology as a discipline by promoting research, patient care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology. The official journal of ASH is Blood (http://www.bloodjournal.org), the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, which is available weekly in print and online.