Letter from the Editor

Dear colleagues,



I am pleased to introduce this peer-reviewed ASH 2024 Medicom Conference Report. The ASH Annual Meeting, held in San Diego, was again organised as a hybrid meeting, a format that is often used for medical conferences since the COVID pandemic. It is a great event for haematologists to look forward to, as it offers the opportunity to get informed on all aspects of haematology.

The wonderful program covered mostly clinical but also basic and translational topics. We selected several interesting abstracts from this year’s ASH that will most likely change your daily practice now or in the near future. The abstracts are summarised in a way that makes the information easy to digest in a rather short time.

The emerging role of CAR T treatment in a variety of haematological malignancies gets a lot of attention. Further deciphering of the molecular basis of malignant diseases offers more possibilities to stratify patients for treatment options. Many new drugs are discussed in phase 1 and 2 studies. Measurable residual disease becomes an important surrogate endpoint for outcomes across haematological malignancies and helps to inform treatment.

You will find snapshots of all these new developments in this report. I can imagine that these are helpful in your daily practice, and I am certain you will enjoy them.

Gert Ossenkoppele

 

Biography
Prof. Gert Ossenkoppele was appointed in 2003 as Professor of Haematology at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. He obtained his doctorate of medicine at that same University in 1977. He is board-certified in Haematology and Internal medicine (1984). The title of his PhD thesis (1990) was: “Differentiation induction in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML)”. Gert Ossenkoppele has authored over 480 publications in peer-reviewed journals and is an invited speaker at many national and international scientific meetings. His research interests are mainly translational and include the (stem cell) biology of AML/myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), leukaemic stem cell target discovery, immunotherapy, and measurable residual disease (MRD) detection using flow cytometry to inform treatment of AML/MDS. He was the PI of national and international clinical trials in myeloid malignancies. He was associate editor of HemaSphere, the official journal of EHA and the European Journal of Haematology and regularly reviewed for many high-standard haematological journals (Blood, Leukemia, JCO, Haematologica, Oncotarget, NEJM). He recently rotated off as chair of the AML working party of HOVON (Dutch-Belgian Hematology Trial Group) and is past vice-chair of the HOVON Executive Board. He rotated off in 2024 as a lead participant of the AML Work package of the European LeukemiaNet (ELN) as well as a board member of the ELN foundation. He is the key opinion leader of WP2 AML of the HARMONY project. He rotated off as a board member of the European Haematology Association (EHA) and was chair of the EHA Educational Committee. He further rotated off as chair of the Global and EU steering committee of the AMLGlobalPortal an educational portal for haematologists (www.amlglobalportal.com).

Recently he retired and now functions as emeritus Professor of Haematology at the Amsterdam University, location VUmc.

In 2022 he received the Jean Bernard Lifetime Achievement Award at the EHA Annual meeting in Vienna.

Recently he stopped most of his professional activities.

Prof. Gert Ossenkoppele has no conflicts of interest to declare.



Posted on 29 January 2025