International Speakers

Dr. Sattva S. Neelapu is a tenured Professor and Deputy Chair in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. He completed medical school at JIPMER, India, Internal Medicine residency in New York, and clinical fellowship in Medical Oncology and postdoctoral fellowship in tumor immunology and immunotherapy at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland. As a physician-scientist at MD Anderson, his research is focused on clinical and translational development of novel immunotherapies for B-cell malignancies. His work on the pivotal clinical trial of axicabtagene ciloleucel CD19 CAR T-cell therapy in aggressive B-cell lymphomas led to its FDA approval as the first CAR T-cell therapy for lymphoma. His laboratory is focused on developing CAR T-cell therapies against novel targets, understanding mechanisms of resistance to CAR T-cell therapy, and developing allogeneic cell therapy approaches. He is nationally and internationally recognized for his expertise in CAR T-cell therapy in B-cell malignancies and management of toxicities associated with CAR T-cell therapy. He has authored or co-authored over 300 publications and is a recipient of numerous awards for his clinical and translational research.

Katy Rezvani, MD, PhD is a professor of medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she serves as the Vice President & Head, Cell Therapy Institute for Discovery and Innovation, Sally Cooper Murray Chair in Cancer Research, and medical director of the GMP Facility. She leads a research lab with a focus on NK cell biology and developing novel NK cell engineering strategies for cancer, with the aim of translating these discoveries to the clinic. Dr. Rezvani completed her medical training at University College London, England and her PhD at Imperial College London. She completed her training in immunology and transplantation biology at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. In addition, she has co-authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications and received multiple prizes and awards, including the American Society of Hematology E. Donnall Thomas award.

Dr Laurie Sehn is currently Clinical Professor with the BC Cancer Centre for Lymphoid Cancer and The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. She has been a medical oncologist and clinical investigator at BC Cancer since 1998, and is currently the Provincial Chair of the Lymphoma Tumour Group. Dr Sehn graduated from McGill Medical School, Montreal, Canada and received her training in Internal Medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Columbia University, New York, USA. She completed a fellowship in Haematology-Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University, Boston, and received a Masters of Public Health degree from Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University. Prior to returning to Canada, she spent a year as faculty at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute with the Bone Marrow Transplantation service. Dr. Sehn’s research interests include population-based outcomes analyses, identification of prognostic factors and predictive biomarkers, and development of novel therapies in lymphoma. Dr Sehn is Chair of the medical advisory board for the International Lymphoma Coalition. She has also served as a member of the editorial board of Journal of Clinical Oncology and Leukemia Lymphoma, and as an Associate Editor for Blood and is currently a Podcast Editor for Blood. Dr. Sehn has also served as co-chair of the Lymphoma Site of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group and co-chair of the Lunenburg Lymphoma Biomarker Consortium.

George Vassiliou is Professor of Haematological Medicine and co-lead of the Haematological Malignancies Virtual Institute at the University of Cambridge, UK. He is also Senior Faculty at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and Consultant Haematologist at Cambridge University Hospitals. 

His team studies the pre-clinical evolution, molecular pathogenesis and treatment of myeloid malignancies.

Highlights of their work include the co-discovery of the phenomenon of clonal haematopoiesis, the description of its natural history, the mapping of its causes and consequences and the development of multiparameter predictive tools for quantifying individual risk of progression to myeloid neoplasia (MN-Predict). They contributed to our understanding of the pathogenesis of myeloid cancers, including through the development and study of bespoke murine models (including for NPM1, SF3B1, IDH1, DNMT3A and UTX mutations) and identified many novel vulnerabilities of acute myeloid leukaemia through the first genome-wide CRISPR screen in a human cancer, including several for which inhibitors have been developed or entered clinical studies (e.g. METTL3, SRPK1, KAT2A and KAT7). The team also developed the first genomic diagnostic tools for myeloid cancers based on DNA (Karyogene) and RNA (RNAmut) sequencing.

Work in the Vassiliou lab is funded by Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, European Research Council, Leukaemia Lymphoma Society, Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research, Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund, B lood Cancer UK, EMBO, Astrazeneca and the NIH-OxCam Scholars Program.

Bio coming soon.

Bio coming soon.  

Dr. Jill Storry is an Adjunct Professor at the Division of Haematology & Transfusion Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Sweden, and responsible for the Immunohematology laboratories within the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Lund.

Her interests are the study of human blood group systems, both from a clinical perspective in the provision of providing blood to alloimmunised patients and also their role in health and disease. Her research focuses on the investigation and characterisation of erythrocyte membrane glycoproteins carrying blood group polymorphisms.

Jill was inaugurated to the National Blood Foundation’s Hall of Fame in 2015 for the characterisation of the Vel blood group system. Other awards include the Margaret Kenwright and Race & Sanger Awards (British Blood Transfusion Society), as well as the AABB Sally Frank Award. She has authored over 100 original papers, reviews and textbooks related to serological and molecular aspects of blood groups, and given numerous talks at international and national conferences and courses.

Jill is a member of the Editorial Boards of Blood, Transfusion and Immunohematology, Section Editor for Vox Sanguinis and a peer reviewer for these and other scientific journals. She is senior Vice-President of the ISBT, and a member of the ISBT Working Party on Red Cell Immunogenetics and Red Cell Nomenclature. 

Bio coming soon.

Frank Leebeek obtained his medical degree and PhD degree at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam The Netherlands in 1990. He subsequently worked as a post-doctoral fellow for 2 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. He was trained as a haematologist at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, where he became a staff member and was appointed full professor in 2009. He is chair of the Department of Haematology since 2017. He is coordinating a research team on haemostasis and thrombosis with several research topics, mainly inherited bleeding disorders, including von Willebrand disease and haemophilia. He is steering committee member of several studies on new treatments for patients with bleedings disorders, including gene therapy. He is also the principal investigator of the Willebrand in the Netherlands (WiN) study and the WiN-Pro study.He has been secretary of the Dutch Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, chairman of the Dutch Hemophilia Doctor’s Organisation, and board member of the Dutch Society of Haematology. He is currently board member of the European Hematology Association. He has been co-chair of the Scientific and Standardization Committee on von Willebrand Factor of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Dr Leebeek has (co-)authored over 460 scientific publications listed on PubMed, 20 book chapters and contributed to national and international treatment guidelines on haemophilia, von Willebrand’s disease and venous thrombosis.

Mary Steinbach is a board-certified Nurse Practitioner in the Division of Hematology and Hematologic Malignancies at the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Loyola University Chicago and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the University of Utah. She is a PhD Candidate in the College of Nursing at the University of Utah.

Mary’s clinical interests focus on providing care for patients with multiple myeloma. Most importantly, evidence-based, whole-person care that considers her patients' physical, emotional, and psychological needs. She actively stays current on the latest research and best practices, ensuring that the most up-to-date knowledge informs each patient's care plan. By addressing medical and psychosocial needs, Mary aims to create a comprehensive care experience that empowers patients and improves their quality of life throughout their cancer journey.

She is an active member of the International Myeloma Foundation’s Nurse Leadership Board (NLB), contributing to improving nursing care and self-care for patients with myeloma.

Mary's research interests include exploring and addressing cancer care access barriers for rural patients. Through her work, Mary seeks to build a bridge between clinical care and research, striving to enhance outcomes and the everyday experiences of patients living with cancer.