ASH News Daily - Monday, December 12, 2011 - (Page B-31)

Monday, December 12, 2011 ASH NewS DAily oration with other researchers and marker and a potential therapeutic physician scientists, they published target. The role of RNA-binding prothat Msi2 is critical for both normal teins in leukemia and normal stem hematopoietic stem cells and is high- cells will be a central interest in his ly expressed in myeloid leukemia. laboratory. They found that patients “I am extremely exwith increased Msi2 excited and honored to pression display a worse receive the ASH Junior clinical prognosis in Faculty Scholar Award. kharan I would like to thank both blast crisis chronic myeloid leukemia and Chris Lengner, memacute myeloid leukemia bers of the Gilliland (Nature Med 2010). Dr. and Daley laboratories, Kharas hopes that their and Dr. Nancy Berlinunderstanding of the er. I would like to espeMsi2 pathway can be cially thank Drs. Gary Gilliland and George translated to the clinic as both a novel prognostic Michael G. Kharas, PhD Daley for their continu- Page B–31 ® career-development awardS ous mentorship and for providing an amazing training environment. I would like to thank ASH for the support that has been critical for my transition to an independent investigator,” Dr. Kharas said. George J. Murphy, PhD Dr. Murphy is assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Murphy undertook his undergraduate education in biology at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, where he also served as the sports trainer and nutri»» SCHOLARS Page B-33 Scholars «« From Page B-21 the University of Michigan. During her fellowship she embarked on a career in basic science research when she entered the laboratory of David Ginsburg, MD, as a postdoctoral fellow. Her primary postdoctoral project was the study of a model of von Willebrand disease, and during the course of her work she also gained broader experience in genetics, hemostasis, and animal models. Dr. Johnsen moved to her current position at the Puget Sound Blood Center and University of Washington in 2008, where she established her independent laboratory research program with a focus on glycosylation variants and their influence on hemostasis. She lives in Seattle with her husband, who is also a researcher in the life sciences, and her four-year-old daughter, who is a budding scientist, architect, singer, dancer, artist, firefighter, astronaut, biker, and superfast superhero. The ASH Scholar Award provides critical support of Dr. Johnsen in her early-stage independent research program, which seeks to characterize the molecular mechanisms underlying a variant vascular glycosylation pattern known to influence von Willebrand factor. Dr. Johnsen aspires to a lifelong career as a physician scientist focusing on basic science questions in hemostasis and vascular biology. She is extremely thankful and honored to have been selected to receive an ASH Scholar Award. Michael G. Kharas, PhD Dr. Kharas is an assistant member at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry and the Center for Cell Engineering. In 2001, he entered graduate school in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of California, Irvine. He is fascinated with the signaling mechanisms in leukemia. After receiving his PhD in 2006, he decided to continue training with Gary Gilliland, MD, PhD, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Kharas’ initial focus was on signaling in myeloproliferative diseases and studying novel self-renewal pathways. He began studying the role of an RNAbinding protein, Musashi-2 (Msi2), in both normal and leukemic stem cells. Dr. Kharas was very thankful to able to continue his research in Dr. George Daley’s laboratory. In collab- “Let’s step back and look at the big picture.” Join the NEJM 200th anniversary celebration in 2012! Learn more at booth #1523. 224903 ASH Daily News 1 10/19/11 9:02 AM 

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ASH News Daily - Monday, December 12, 2011

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