Newsletter May 2012 - European Hematology Association

Two new councilors
appointed to the EHA Board
Members of the EHA Board, also called councilors, are thanked and appointed during the Business Meeting that takes
place on the final day of congress. This year Radek Skoda rotated off, after joining the Board in 2006 and fulfilling the role
of Secretary from 2009­2012. Tony Green has succeeded him.
> Two new councilors were
welcomed to the Board: Gert Ossenkoppele
from The Netherlands
and Andreas Engert from Germany.
By way of introduction to these
two hematologists, their past
achievements and vision on their
role as EHA councilor are presented
below.
Andreas Engert
Andreas Engert M.D. is Professor for Internal
Medicine, Hematology and Oncology
at the University of Cologne. He received
his medical degree at the
University of Hannover and had his medical
training at the University of Hannover
and the University Hospital of Cologne.
Between 1988 and 1990 he
worked at the Imperial Cancer Research
Fund in London on new immunotherapeutic
approaches for cancer. After returning
to Cologne, he and his group focused
on developing antibody-based
immunotherapy for patients with malignant
lymphoma, resulting in a number of
experimental phase I/II clinical trials. He
finished his postdoctoral qualification in
1995, was appointed consultant and was
head of staff between 1996 and 2000. He
was appointed coordinating editor of
the Cochrane Hematological Malignancies
Group (CHMG) in 2000,
served as Secretary of the German
Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG) between
1999 and 2006 and was elected
GHSG chairman in 2007. He has
received numerous awards for his
scientific work, including the Ludwig-Heilmeyer-Medal,
the Arthur-
Pappenheim Award, and the Research
Award of the University of
Cologne, as well as the German
Cancer Society Prize 2011.
The major clinical focus of his work
is the German Hodgkin Study Group
(GHSG) with all of its different facets,
including planning and conduct-
The current composition of the Executive Board is:
Ulrich Jäger, President
Christine Chomienne, President Elect
Robin Foà, Past President
Tony Green, Secretary
Jorge Sierra, Treasurer
ing clinical trials of all phases. The
GHSG has conducted more than 20 randomized
studies with more than 20.000
patients overall registered and is also involved
in early clinical trials evaluating
new drugs for patients with Hodgkin
Lymphoma. Most of the GHSG studies included
centers from other European
countries such as Switzerland, The
Czech Republic, Austria and parts of the
Netherlands. In addition, studies such as
HDR2 performed in relapsed Hodgkin
patients were truly European projects
with study groups such as the EORTC
and the GELTAMO actively contributing.
As councilor of the EHA Board, Professor
Engert will contribute to EHA’s goal of
excellence, both in clinical trials and basic
research, as well as further collaborations
with developing countries.
Andreas Engert
Gert Ossenkoppele
Gert Ossenkoppele is Professor
of Hematology at the VU University
Medical Center in Amsterdam
where he also obtained
his doctorate of
medicine in 1977. The title of
his PhD thesis (1990) was: “Differentiation
induction in AML”.
His research interests are mainly translational
and include stem cell biology,
immunotherapy and minimal residual
disease (MRD) detection using flow cytometry
to direct treatment of myeloid
malignancies. He is a board member of
the Dutch Society of Hematology and
chief editor of the Dutch Journal of Hematology.
He chairs the AML working
party of HOVON (Dutch-Belgian Hematology
Oncology Trial Group) and is a
leading participant of the AML Work
package of the European LeukemiaNet
(ELN) as well as an ELN board member,
a member of the scientific board of the
Dutch Cancer foundation (KWF) and a
member of the Curriculum Committee of
EHA.
He bridges clinical practice and fundamental
research in his discipline in a
unique way, both through his own work
and by connecting hematologists
with scientists within his department,
nationally and internationally.
This has generated the translational
research facilities and high impact
research output within the department
as well as novel therapy, such
as an AML vaccination programme
and the risk-adapted therapy currently
being implemented in international
AML treatment protocols.
He plays a major role in teaching
young hematologists in training in
his department, enthusing them to
explore fundamental research,
helping to generate a new generation
of hematologists with an eye for
translational research.
Members of EHA Committees and Units
Executive Board
U Jäger, Austria (President)
C Chomienne, France
(President Elect)
R Foà, Italy (Past President)
J Sierra, Spain (Treasurer)
T Green, United Kingdom
(Secretary)
Gert Ossenkoppele
He has an international reputation in
clinical studies in AML, CML and MDS.
He is a principal investigator in numerous
European and global AML and CML
clinical studies and is especially recognized
as an expert in elderly AML (2011:
6 invited presentations all over Europe,
including EHA). He has authored over
300 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
He very much embraces the mission
statement of EHA and was involved in
the development and implementation of
the European Curriculum for specialist
training in hematology in Europe. As
councillor he is a strong supporter of
such educational activities and will act
as an advocate for translational research
in malignant as well as benign hematology,
believing that the “bridge between
bed and bench” should be as accessible
as possible.
Councilors
A Borkhardt, Germany
A Brand, the Netherlands
D Bron, Belgium
J Cools, Belgium
A Engert, Germany
A Falanga, Italy
T Green, United Kingdom
D Grimwade, United Kingdom
L Malcovati, Italy
G Ossenkoppele, the
Netherlands
P Sonneveld, the Netherlands
Advocacy & Political
Affairs Committee
U Jäger, Austria (Chair)
D Bron, Belgium
C Chomienne, France
W Fibbe, the Netherlands
R Foà, Italy
A Hagenbeek, the Netherlands
CME Unit
M Udvardy, Hungary (Chair)
C Camaschella, Italy
D Loukopoulos, Greece
J Musial, Poland
A Parreira, Portugal
A Prentice, United Kingdom
I Roberts, United Kingdom
A Tichelli, Switzerland
Communication
Committee
C Chomienne, France (Chair)
J Cools, Belgium
A Hagenbeek, The
Netherlands
A Green, United Kingdom
M Guenova, Bulgaria
C Lacombe, France
S McCann, Ireland
I Roberts, United Kingdom
Corporate Sponsor
Committee
A Falanga, Italy (Chair)
P Sonneveld, the Netherlands
G Saglio, Italy
R Foà, Italy
Curriculum Committee
C-H Toh, United Kingdom
(Chair)
A Almeida, Portugal
P Fenaux, France
E Hellström-Lindberg,
Sweden (ex-officio)
S Modok, Hungary
G Ossenkoppele, the
Netherlands
Education Committee
F Lo Coco, Italy (Chair)
M Arat, Turkey
D Bron, Belgium
C Chomienne, France
R Foà, Italy
U Jäger, Austria
S McCann, Ireland
I Peake, United Kingdom
H Serve, Germany
S-L Thein, United Kingdom
C-H Toh, United Kingdom
M Udvardy, Hungary
EHATOL UNIT
S McCann, Ireland (Chair)
G Zini, Italy (Advisor)
B Bain, United Kingdom
O Ozer, Turkey
M de Montalembert, France
M Holmström, Sweden
J O’Riordan, Ireland
H Serve, Germany
Fellowships and Grants
Committee
T Green, United Kingdom
(Chair)
D Grimwade, United Kingdom
S Izraeli, Israel
V Sexl, Austria
I Touw, the Netherlands
Good Governance
Committee
W Fibbe, the Netherlands
(Chair)
T Barbui, Italy
A Borkhardt, Germany
L Degos, France
L Malcovati, Italy
Membership Committee
A Borkhardt, Germany (Chair)
J Čermák, Czech Republic
S Fröhling, Germany
F Prosper Cardoso, Spain
Nomination Committee
I Roberts, United Kingdom
(Chair)
N Borregaard, Denmark
C Mecucci, Italy
G Salles, France
I Touw, the Netherlands
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