ASH AWARDS THE 2019 WILLIAM DAMESHEK PRIZE

  • MPNRF | April 6, 2021

    The American Society of Hematology presented Emmanuelle Passegué, Ph.D., of Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City with the 2019 William Dameshek Prize for her outstanding contribution to the field of hematology.

    “Dr. Passegué, director of Columbia Stem Cell Initiative at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Alumni Professor of Genetics and Development at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, is an outstanding scientist who has made seminal contributions to the understanding of the biology of blood-forming stem cells. Her work focuses on changes that happen to stem cells in the contexts of myeloid malignancies and physiological aging. Notably, she discovered a potential strategy for correcting impaired blood production in the elderly by identifying specific biological mechanisms that are altered when stem cells age and become dysfunctional.

    Dr. Passegué’s other discoveries have implications for blood cancers and bone marrow failure syndromes. She defined the unique susceptibility of stem cells to certain types of DNA damage, from such sources as ultra-violet rays and x-ray machines, and described how these cells’ specific repair mechanisms can render them vulnerable to disease-causing mutations.”

    Click here to read the full press release.