Drs. Stephen D. Nimer and Charles A. Schiffer Receive 2024 ASH Mentor Awards
Each year, ASH honors two outstanding hematologists for their sustained commitment to mentorship across the domains of intellectual growth, career development, professional guidance, advocacy, and positive role modeling. Recipients of the ASH Mentor Award exert a significant positive impact on their mentees, helping them not only to advance research and/or patient care in their respective fields but also to navigate the inevitable personal and professional challenges that arise along the way.
Stephen D. Nimer, MD
“I am delighted to have made my career in the field of hematology. Scientifically, we are collaborative and competitive, constantly challenging each other to do more, ask more complex questions, and ultimately improve the lives of our patients.”
Dr. Nimer, a physician-scientist specializing in myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, is being recognized for his impact on more than 100 hematology trainees through tailored, encouraging, and community-focused mentorship. He serves as a role model for trainees and instills in them the importance of thinking critically and embracing challenges.
“I learned early on that medicine is a lot like an apprenticeship,” Dr. Nimer said. “When you're a medical student, you get taught by interns and residents, and then attendings. When you become an intern yourself, you turn around and teach the students — and so on as you advance. There's a lot of passing knowledge on, which is part of being a mentor.”
Over the years, Dr. Nimer’s willingness to provide feedback, dedication to seizing growth opportunities, and catchy “Nimer-isms” have all helped propel his mentees into thriving careers, with many going on to receive career development awards from foundations and federal agencies. A hallmark of his mentorship is the sense of community he creates, demonstrated by more than 20 years of annual Nimer lab breakfasts at the ASH annual meeting, during which, even long after leaving his lab, mentees share their progress and seek Dr. Nimer’s advice.
Dr. Nimer credits a few key experiences during his time at the University of Chicago School of Medicine as the inspiration for pursuing a career in hematology and oncology. They include the opportunity to study with the late Janet Rowley, MD, a pioneering geneticist whose breakthrough work on the Philadelphia chromosome expanded the scientific community’s understanding and future treatment of leukemia and other cancers.
“As a third-year medical student on the hematology rotation, I realized that you could look at a drop of blood from a patient under the microscope and make a diagnosis,” he added. “And I thought that was the coolest thing in the world.”
Dr. Nimer currently serves as director of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, as well as executive dean for research and professor of medicine, biochemistry, and molecular biology at the university’s Miller School of Medicine. He also serves as chairman of both Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research and the Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation.
“My colleagues from across the nation and the world have become my lifelong friends, and I am honored and humbled to work alongside them in the pursuit of better treatments and cures,” Dr. Nimer said. “Being a doctor is an incredible privilege; being a hematologist is even more special.”
Dr. Nimer previously held several positions during his nearly 20-year tenure at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, including the Alfred P. Sloan Chair in Cancer Research, head of the Division of Hematologic Oncology, vice chairman for faculty development, and chief of the Hematology Service.
Dr. Nimer’s many academic roles have included assistant professor of hematology and oncology at UCLA School of Medicine and professor of medicine and pharmacology at Cornell University’s Weill Medical College. Dr. Nimer has also long been a proponent of underrepresented populations, serving as a member of the University of Miami’s Diversity Task Force and ASH’s Subcommittee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Fun Fact: “I originally went to MIT so I could play ice hockey.”
Charles A. Schiffer, MD
“It’s important to find someone who thinks it's part of their job to make you succeed — and who is also fun. In terms of how to be a good doctor, there's an instinctive skill — only some of which is teachable — in interacting with people and families. It's a privilege, not a chore.”
Dr. Schiffer, an expert in platelet transfusion therapy and the treatment of adult leukemias, leads by example and challenges trainees to remain curious, seize opportunities, and think creatively. His mentees have described him as a one-of-a-kind generational teacher and a “mentor of mentors.”
Known for his open-door approach and fine-tuned ability to provide clinical care with rigor, bright humor, and compassion, Dr. Schiffer has trained large numbers of successful clinical investigators whose contributions have gone on to substantially influence leukemia and cancer research and improve patient outcomes.
A graduate of the New York University School of Medicine, Dr. Schiffer completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at Bellevue Hospital. His interest in hematology began during his residency and later solidified at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) while developing a transfusion service for patients with leukemia.
“My first mentor was Dr. Peter Wiernik, who was director of the Baltimore Cancer Research Center, which was part of NCI at the time,” Dr. Schiffer said. "I went there in 1972, when oncology was in its infancy. And it was an extraordinary environment in terms of doing clinical research. I was able to do a fair amount of lab work with platelets and granulocytes and I also got involved in leukemia care, eventually going on to direct that program and to chair the Leukemia Committee of the Cancer and Acute Leukemia Group B.”
Dr. Schiffer also served as chief of the Division of Hematology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, as well as chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Director of Clinical Research at Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Karmanos Cancer Institute. Now retired, he most recently served as head of the Multidisciplinary Leukemia/Lymphoma Team at Karmanos.
“It never occurred to me that this could be the kind of career that I would wind up with,” said Dr. Schiffer. “As an academic hematologist, you have the opportunity to do clinical trials and research that can affect hundreds, if not thousands, of people.”
Dr. Schiffer also cherishes the many personal and professional connections he has developed throughout his career, including “the friends I’ve been able to make from all over the world.”
As an academic, Dr. Schiffer has received an extensive list of honors, including multiple college teaching awards from Wayne State. He also chaired the Food and Drug Administration Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee. Dr. Schiffer received the Dr. John J. Kenny Award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in 2005 and the Celgene Career Achievement Award in Clinical Hematology Research in 2007. He was elected to the Academy of Scholars, the highest recognition accorded to faculty at Wayne State.
“For those interested in clinical research, I think you should try to be at a place which has a tradition of valuing collaborative research, an adequate numbers of patients, and good clinical trials and grant offices, the latter critical to improving efficiency and, hence, your quality of life,” Dr. Schiffer said.
Fun Fact: “I played freshman basketball at Brandeis University, but quickly recognized that I was likely to die without ever dunking the ball or being called for goal tending. Hence, medicine and hematology.”
