ASH News Daily 2017 - Issue 2 - B-30

ASH News Daily

Page B-30

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Coulter Award
«« From Page B-1

of America and the National Cancer
Institute, Dr. Lichtman studied the
alterations in the membranes of maturing granulocytes, which contributed to their functional abilities. He
did extensive research characterizing the transport of monovalent and
divalent cations and amino acids
across lymphocyte membranes, defining these systems quantitatively
and examining their contribution
to proliferation and function. Intrigued by the features of marrow
that provided a unique environment for hematopoietic stem cell
persistence and differentiation, Dr.
Lichtman and fellow researchers
used electron microscopy to study
the marrow microenvironment,
focusing on the egress of red cells,
white cells, and proplatelets from
marrow anatomically, and drawing
mechanistic inferences from these
studies. The researchers also provided quantitative evidence of the
special relationship of megakaryocytes to the marrow sinus abluminal wall and showed that invasion
of the abluminal sinus endothelial
cell wall by megakaryocyte cytoplasm was analogous to invasion of
the small vessel wall by metastatic

tumor cells, even though proplatelets released into the circulation
were a cluster of normal functional cells. Dr. Lichtman also worked
on red cell physiology and pathophysiology and on the biophysical
features of leukemic cells, focusing
on hyperleukocytic leukemias. Additionally, he studied hemoglobin
function regarding oxygen delivery
and possible ways to enhance the
efficiency of that process, developing a simplified test of measuring
hemoglobin-oxygen affinity that is
still in use today.
Considering the many clinical and research accomplishments
throughout this remarkable career,
Dr. Lichtman feels most proud of
his work as a mentor and of the opportunity he has had to train and
assist numerous clinical fellows
and more than 30 MD and PhD research fellows. With the support of
a National Institutes of Health hematology research training grant
and a Medical Scientist Training
Grant Program, as well as adequate
space and newly renovated laboratories with excellent equipment,
he feels he was able to provide an
exceptional environment in his hematology program - one that offered rigorous clinical and research
training in a warm and embracing

Supporting

awareness,
education and
care in AML
Know AML is steered by a global ambassador network
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"It was a gratifying
experience at that
point in my career to
have international
impact to support
the best minds doing
research in
hematologic
malignancies."

atmosphere where everyone was
gratified by each other's' successes
and achievements. He added of this
experience, "Great parties, too."
Dr. Lichtman also remembers his
own mentors fondly, starting with
Dr. Sandberg, with whom he published his first paper on the biosynthesis of estriol glucuronide by human liver cells. Dr. Lichtman also
highlights the important role Dr.
Robert I. Weed of Rochester University played in his training. The
late Dr. Weed, head of hematology
at Rochester when Dr. Lichtman
began his fellowship, was a brilliant
thinker and a warm and generous
man who provided guidance, technical support, and laboratory space
and equipment for Dr. Lichtman. Finally, Dr. Aser Rothstein, a yeast biologist who later studied blood cells
and Chairman of the Department
of Biophysics at the University of
Rochester, gave Dr. Lichtman a joint
appointment, laboratory space, and
access to equipment. Dr. Rothstein
was available to provide advice on
difficult problems and even invited
Dr. Lichtman to participate in his
noon tennis group at the medical
center, a hobby that this honoree has
cultivated since high school.
Dr. Lichtman's many successes do not lie purely in the clinical and research arenas; he held
several leadership positions, including president of ASH in 1989,
throughout his career. In the role
of ASH president, he helped make
a number of functional improvements to the ASH Committee on
Investment and Audit, as well as

an investment plan to deal with
the growing financial assets of the
Society. He established a special
award for non-hematologists who
made a singular contribution to
the field, thus rewarding Wallace
H. Coulter for his development of
automated particle counting and
volume determination, as well as
his early studies of cell flow analysis and sorting that formed the basis for Coulter Electronics and the
derivative improvements in these
technologies that had such a profound impact on hematologic diagnosis and therapy. Dr. Lichtman
was also involved in the Society's
purchase of the title Blood from its
publisher. He was on the American Red Cross Board of Governors,
served as chair of the American Red
Cross Advisory Committee to the
Holland Research Laboratory, and
was executive vice president of the
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society,
where he helped expand research
funding programs significantly. Dr.
Lichtman reflects, "It was a gratifying experience at that point in my
career to have international impact
to support the best minds doing
research in hematologic malignancies."
Through the lens of his rich and
accomplished career, Dr. Lichtman
expressed excitement regarding
three emerging areas - advances
in genomics and genetics, immunology, and the technical aspects of
cell analysis and genetic immunology. He strongly believes that a lot
is yet to be resolved in the laboratory and research arenas, and so he
advises those entering the field to
"develop a special area of interest
and become an expert in that area.
Stick with a subject, there is always
more to learn.
"Ernie Beutler, the first Coulter
awardee and a close colleague, cautioned that one should not be misled by the concept that we know so
much and are now just filling in the
gaps. There is much to learn by the
inquiring and committed scientist
or physician-scientist."

See Section C for:
* ASH Agenda for Hematology
* ASH Meeting on Hematologic Malignancies

www.know-aml.com

* Exhibit Hall map
* Detailed Convention Center map

Know AML currently represents 20+ Patient Organizations
& 2 Professional Societies and is proudly supported by:

* Poster Halls map
* Hotel maps

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASH News Daily 2017 - Issue 2