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Education Program to Focus on Diverse Views, Latest Advancements in Hematologic Care

November 14, 2023

Mid-November 2023

The 65th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition will feature a diverse pool of speakers with a variety of interests and expertise in the research and treatment of hematologic disorders.

ASH Clinical News recently interviewed the 2023 annual meeting’s Education Program Co-Chairs Amy DeZern, MD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and Jean Connors, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, to gain a sneak peek into the meeting.

Brandon May

Brandon May is a medical journalist based in Detroit.

Amy DeZern, MD

Amy DeZern, MD

Jean Connors, MD

Jean Connors, MD

As co-chairs of the Education Program, what were your primary goals in designing the program?

Dr. DeZern: We sought to design a comprehensive program based on past interest in various sessions and global progress in respective fields to keep the ASH membership up to date. My half of the sessions focus on common and uncommon malignant diseases with particular emphasis on clinical challenges for refractory disease, as well as novel approaches moving into the mainstream of clinics.

Dr. Connors: As co-chair for the classical hematology education sessions, I wanted to make sure we included sessions on the diverse topics that clinicians face in practice, with updates on what is new in frequently encountered hematologic disorders that builds on standard-of-care knowledge, as well as updates and information on less commonly encountered diagnoses that require a hematologist’s input.

Can you speak about your planning process and how you collaborated to design the program?

Dr. DeZern: Some of the most fun of this awesome experience was going through it with Dr. Connors. We spoke regularly and made parallel efforts on our programs in terms of structure and diversity of topics and speakers to ensure we didn’t have overlap and the program was comprehensive for all hematologists.

Dr. Connors: I thoroughly enjoyed working with Dr. DeZern on planning the ASH 2023 Education Program. We discussed in advance our approach to working with our advisory panel of experts in the field to develop common goals, especially the instructions for the speakers. We agreed on the target audience – general practitioners, fellows, and allied health professionals – and that we needed to have engaging talks that covered current standards, new treatments, and a hint of what’s on the horizon in every session.

How does this year’s program differ from that of past annual meetings?

Dr. DeZern: This year’s program offers attendees more sessions on cellular therapy and rare diseases on the malignant hematology side and features a very diverse speaker pool.

Dr. Connors: Dr. DeZern and I like to think that we are going to have the best Education Program ever this year. We are excited by the topics with cutting-edge information on new treatments or new approaches to treatment, as well as the superb quality and diversity of speakers.

What can attendees expect to learn?

Dr. DeZern: There’s truly something for everyone. Attendees can expect to hear about standard management of hematologic malignancies but also learn about nuanced approaches and current practices with novel therapies like chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies and bispecific antibodies, as well as special considerations for the sequencing of therapies for myelodysplastic syndromes or acute myeloid leukemia.

Dr. Connors: The classical hematology sessions cover important treatments and new approaches for treating patients with sickle cell disease, acquired hemophilia A, liver disease and coagulopathy, inherited red cell disorders resulting in hemolysis, inherited bone marrow failure syndromes, and current hot topics in the selection of blood donors. We have “need-to-know” sessions on the hematologic toxicities of immunotherapies, how to handle microangiopathic emergencies in the middle of the night, getting your patient safely through the initial presentation of acute promyelocytic leukemia, approach to bleeding patients with immune thrombocytopenia, approach to managing nuanced cases of venous thromboembolism, how to treat iron deficiency effectively, and important topics for hematologists who see children or pregnant women.

How Do We Calibrate Cellular Therapy for Lymphoma in 2023?

Saturday, December 9, 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., San Diego Convention Center, Room 6CF, Upper Level

Ongoing Challenges in the Management of VTE

Saturday, December 9, 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., San Diego Convention Center, Room 29, Upper Level

Why Am I Getting Paged at 2AM? Microangiopathic Emergencies

Saturday, December 9, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., Room 29, Upper Level

How Do We Enhance Results in Rare Hematologic Malignancies?

Sunday, December 10, 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., San Diego Convention Center, Room 29, Upper Level

What sessions do you want to attend?

Dr. DeZern: All of them! But especially the rare diseases and multiple myeloma sessions.

Dr. Connors: I need to recertify for the hematology boards in 2024, so I hope to attend all the sessions either in person or on demand on the virtual platform after the meeting.

What else would you like attendees to know about the program?

Dr. DeZern: There will be lots of fabulous speakers from all over the world who are experts in a disease, but also master clinicians who treat the patients and are thus a wealth of knowledge all around.

Dr. Connors: We are excited about the ASH 2023 Education Sessions and hope to see you there!

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