ASCO/EHA Meeting Review June 26, 2021 Myeloma Round Table

Myeloma survivor, patient advocate, wife, mom of 6. Believer that patients can help accelerate a cure by weighing in and participating in clinical research. Founder of the HealthTree Foundation.

Craig C. Hofmeister, MD, MPH, is Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. Board certified in internal medicine and hematology, Dr. Hofmeister’s practice focuses on plasma cell cancers, including plasmacytomas, multiple myeloma, AL amyloidosis, smoldering myeloma, and monoclonal gammopathies of renal significance. He started practicing with Emory Healthcare in 2018.

Greg Brozeit has been engaged in myeloma patient advocacy since 1998. He began working with the Myeloma Crowd in 2015. Prior to that, he consulted with Dr. Bart Barlogie at the University of Arkansas after working with the International Myeloma Foundation for 15 years, where he inaugurated the public policy advocacy program, patient support group outreach and IMF Europe, organizing more than 100 physician and patient education programs. He earned his BA in political science from Loyola University in New Orleans and lives in northeast Ohio.

Morie Gertz, MD, MACP, is the Roland Seidler, Jr. Professor of the Art of Medicine and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology. Dr. Gertz has also served as Treasurer of the International Myeloma Society and President of Mayo Staff Officers and Councilors. He was the Chair of the Mayo Personnel Committee. Currently he serves on the American Society of Hematology Training Program Committee and the American Board of Internal Medicine Hematology Board Exam Committee. Dr. Gertz has been recognized with the 2014 Jan Waldenström Medal for Medical and Scientific Achievements in Waldenström Macroglobulinemia and is a Mayo Distinguished Clinician. He has been recognized for his contributions in amyloidosis and Waldenström macroglobulinemia, has authored more than five hundred peer-reviewed publications, and is a master of the America College of Physicians. He graduated from Northwestern University with highest distinction as a Phi Beta Kappa and received his medical degree cum laude from Loyola Medical School and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society. He completed a three-year medical residency at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago and was twice voted Resident of the Year.

Faith Davies, MBBCh, MRCP, MD, FRCPath, is a member of the faculty of the Department of Medicine at New York University Langone Health and Director of the Clinical Myeloma Program at the Perlmutter Cancer Center. She is recognized internationally for her focus on innovative targeted molecular therapies and her expertise in the treatment of relapsed refractory disease. Her focus is on the biology and treatment of myeloma with an emphasis on potential new drugs and new genetic technologies and their applications to myeloma. Her laboratory work is aimed at identifying biologically based therapeutic targets in myeloma that are amenable to small molecule interventions and translating those laboratory findings into individualized treatment in the clinical setting. Prior to joining NYU Langone Health, Dr. Davies was Deputy Director of the Myeloma Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). She also served as Professor of Medicine and Director of the Phase I Clinical Trials Program for both the Myeloma Institute and the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. Dr. Davies came to UAMS in 2014 from the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital, both in London. She earned her medical degree from the College of Medicine, University of Wales. She completed her general medical training in Cardiff and Birmingham and hematology specialty training in Leeds and London.

Martin Kaiser, MD, RWTH, is a Clinician Scientist and Honorary Consultant Haematologist at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London, United Kingdom. In 2018, he became Team Leader of the Myeloma Molecular Therapy Group at the ICR. Dr. Kaiser’s main research interest is the molecular characterization of multiple myeloma with the aim of designing gentler therapies tailored to patients’ needs. His team is working on state-of-the-art genetic profiling to gain insight into the evolution of myeloma and the development of treatment resistance. He is the chief investigator of the national OPTIMUM trial, which offers tailored therapy for patients with molecular high-risk disease. He is active member of the UK NCRI group, the UK Myeloma Research Alliance (UKMRA) network and the UK Myeloma Forum and serves as principal or co-investigator for several national and international myeloma trials. Prior to moving to London, Dr. Kaiser specialized in hematology-oncology at Charité University Medicine in Berlin, Germany. He earned his medical degree at the University of Aachen, Germany, where he also obtained an MD in Pathology for research on multiple myeloma microenvironment interactions.

Niels van de Donk, MD, PhD is a full professor of hematology at Amsterdam University Medical Center, Netherlands. His specialty is multiple myeloma and he is the principal investigator of several investigator-initiated studies. Furthermore, he is involved in translational research towards finding new targets for therapy with a focus on immune therapy. He is author or co-author of a number of books and many papers published in peer-reviewed journals. He is also secretary of the HOVON multiple myeloma working party and scientific secretary of the European Myeloma Network. He has served on the EHA Scientific Program Committee since 2018. Prior to joining the Amsterdam faculty, Dr. van de Donk completed a fellowship at the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA. He has also practiced hematology at University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands.

Katja Weisel, MD, is Professor and Deputy Director of Internal Medicine and Hematology-Oncology at the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, in Hamburg, Germany.