TOPICS/FACULTY

Chairpersons

• Ruemu E. Birhiray, MD - Chair
  Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation,
  St.Vincent Hospital

  Partner and Vice President,
  Hematology Oncology of Indiana
  Indianapolis

• Michael C. Wiemann, MD, FACP - Co-Chair
  President, Providence Hospital
  

  Executive Vice President, St. John Health West Region;
  President, Providence Hospital/St. John Health
  Southfield, Michigan
  

Agenda

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Please select a name below to view more information.

• Kenneth C. Anderson, MD

  Kraft Family Professor of Medicine,
  Harvard Medical School
  

  Director of the Lebow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper Center for Multiple Myeloma
  

  Chief, Division of Hematologic Neoplasia
  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
  Boston, Massachusetts

  Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, graduated summa cum laude from Boston University and received his MD from Johns Hopkins Medical School. Thereafter he trained in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital; and completed hematology, medical oncology, and tumor immunology training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Lebow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper Center for Multiple Myeloma, as well as vice chair of the Joint Program in Transfusion Medicine, at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

  Over the past three decades, Dr. Anderson has focused his laboratory and clinical research studies on multiple myeloma. He has developed laboratory and animal models of the tumor in its microenvironment, which has allowed for both identification of novel targets and validation of novel targeted therapies, then rapidly translated these studies to clinical trials. Highlights of his contributions to science and medicine include: discovery of the first plasma cell reactive monoclonal antibodies; development of an immunophenotyping model for diagnosis and treatment of B-cell malignancies; pioneering novel methods to improve safety and efficacy of autografting and allografting in myeloma; characterizing the signaling cascades whereby cytokines mediate myeloma cell growth, survival, and Dr.ug resistance in the bone marrow microenvironment; using oncogenomics and developing in vitro and in vivo models to both identify novel targets and validate therapies targeting the myeloma cell and its bone marrow milieu; translating these preclinical studies to the bedside in derived phase I-III clinical trials; and establishing a new treatment paradigm using novel therapies targeting the tumor cell, tumor-host bone marrow interaction, and bone marrow microenvironment to overcome drug resistance and improve patient outcome in myeloma. Most importantly, his team led both preclinical and clinical trials of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib and the immunomodulatory drug lenalidomide, culminating in the rapid FDA approval of these agents for treatment of myeloma and markedly improving patient outcome. His paradigm for identifying and validating targets in the tumor cell and its milieu has already provided novel therapies that have transformed myeloma therapy, and offers great promise to improve patient outcome in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors as well.

  Dr. Anderson serves as chair of the NCCN Multiple Myeloma Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee; as a Cancer and Leukemia Group B principal investigator; on the board of scientific advisors of the International Myeloma Foundation; on the board of directors and chair of the Scientific and Technology Advisory Board of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation; as well as on the board of directors and chair of the Steering Committee of the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium. He has had long-term RO-1, PO-1, and SPORE NIH funding. His numerous awards include: the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Research Scientist Award in 1999; the 2001 Charles C. Lund Award of the American Red Cross Blood Services; the 2003 Waldenstroem's Award for research in plasma cell dyscrasias; the 2004 Johnson & Johnson Focused Giving Award for Setting New Directions in Science and Technology; the 2005 Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award; the 2007 American Association for Cancer Research Joseph H. Burchenal Award for Clinical Research; the 2007 ROFEH Distinguished Service Award for providing compassionate patient care internationally; and a 2007 Champion in Advocacy Award from the American Society of Hematology. He was named editor in chief of Clinical Cancer Research in 2007. In 2008 he received the Dameshek Prize for Outstanding Contributions to Hematology from the American Society of Hematology and the Celgene Award for Career Achievements in Clinical Hematology. He was inducted into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Athens, both in 2009. In 2010 he was named an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor and was elected into the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, as well as the Royal College of Physicians (UK).

• Ruemu E. Birhiray, MD

  Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation
  St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital
  

  Partner and Vice President, Hematology Oncology of Indiana, PC
  Indianapolis, Indiana

  Ruemu E. Birhiray, MD, is an attending physician in medical oncology, hematology, and hematopoietic cell transplantation at Hematology Oncology of Indiana and director of Bone Marrow Transplantation at St.Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. Dr. Birhiray received his medical degree from the University of Benin in Benin City, Nigeria. After completing his internal medicine residency at Columbus Hospital in Chicago, he was a postgraduate fellow in bone marrow transplant at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

  Current projects for which Dr. Birhiray is principal investigator include reduced intensity allogeneic transplantation in hematologic malignancies, and a trial of interferon A, CHOP, and rituximab therapy in advanced-stage follicular lymphoma.

  A member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, and the American Medical Association, Dr. Birhiray has published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Leukemia, Gene Therapy, and Therapeutic Apheresis.

• Richard W. Childs, MD, CMDR, USPHS

  Senior Clinical Investigator
  Hematology Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  National Institutes of Health
  Bethesda, Maryland

  No biography at this time.

• Myron S. Czuczman, MD

  Professor of Medicine
  Chief, Lymphoma/Myeloma Service
  Head, Lymphoma Transitional Research Laboratory
  Roswell Park Cancer Institute
  Buffalo, New York

  Myron S. Czuczman, MD, is professor of medicine, chief of the Lymphoma/Myeloma Service, and head of the Lymphoma Transitional Research Laboratory at Roswell Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. Dr. Czuczman earned his medical degree from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency training at Cornell's North Shore University Hospital/Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Program in Manhasset, New York and completed a fellowship in medical oncology/hematology and a senior research fellowship in hematopoietic cancer immunochemistry at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.

  Dr. Czuczman's research interests focus on monoclonal antibodies either alone or in combination with other agents in the treatment of lymphoma, evaluating novel target-specific molecules active against lymphoma in the clinic and laboratory, and studying the mechanisms-of-action and resistance pathways involving monoclonal antibodies currently used in lymphoma therapy.

  Dr. Czuczman is a member of the American Association of Cancer Research, the American Society of Hematology, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He also serves on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Lymphoma Guidelines Panel, the NCCN non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Outcomes Database Panel, and is a cadre member of the Lymphoma Committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) national cooperative group.

  Dr. Czuczman has authored or coauthored more than 350 journal publications, book chapters and abstracts. He is a journal reviewer for the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer, Clinical Cancer Research, Blood, Cancer Investigation, Annals of Hematology, Cancer Research, and American Journal of Hematology.

• Richard I. Fisher, MD

  Samuel E. Durand Professor of Medicine
  Director, James P. Wilmot Cancer Center
  Director, University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group
  Vice President, University of Rochester Medical Center
  Rochester, New York
  

  Richard I. Fisher, MD, is the Samuel E. Durand professor of medicine, director of the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, Director of the University of Rochester medical faculty group, senior associate dean for clinical affairs, and vice president of the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York. He earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and completed his internship and residency in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Fisher served as clinical associate in the immunology branch of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., where he completed an oncology fellowship in medicine.
  

  Dr. Fisher's research centers on the biology and treatment of lymphoma, cancers derived from white blood cells. He has led national and international studies on Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
  

  Dr. Fisher has served as chairman of the lymphoma committee of the Southwest Oncology Group and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Hematology, American Joint Committee on Cancer's Lymphoma Task Force, American Association of Immunologists, Clinical Immunology Society, Central Society for Clinical Cancer Research and the American College of Physician Executives. He has authored more than 300 publications and chapters in national and international publications.

• Michael J. Keating, MB, BS

  Professor of Medicine, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine
  MD Anderson Cancer Center
  The University of Texas
  Houston, Texas

  Michael J. Keating, MB, BS, is a professor of medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) in Houston, Texas. He has been a member of the faculty of MDACC since 1977 and works as a physician in the Department of Leukemia. Dr. Keating is a graduate of the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He completed his internship and residency at St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne and a fellowship at MDACC. He is board certified in hematology.

  Dr. Keating's research has focused on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) since the mid-1980s, and his major pursuits at the present time are to develop new potentially curative therapies for CLL and rational combinations of new agents in the treatment of all leukemias and other hematologic malignancies.
  
  Dr. Keating's career has been devoted to the delivery of effective and compassionate care to patients suffering from leukemia. In 1988, Dr. Keating won the Service to Mankind Award from the Leukemia Society of America, and in 1996 he was voted one of the "Best Doctors in America" by American Health magazine. In 2002 he was awarded the Charles A. LeMaistre Outstanding Achievement Award in Cancer, and the Rai and Binet Award at the International Workshop on CLL. In 2007 he was awarded the Gerald P. Bodey, Sr. Distinguished Professorship at MDACC, and in 2008 the Rofeh Yedid (Physician and Dear Friend) Award from the Aishel House. He has published more than 600 articles in peer-reviewed journals, along with more than 600 published abstracts, books, and book chapters.

• Craig S. Kitchens, M.D., M.A.C.P.

  Professor of Medicine
  Division of Hematology/Oncology
  University of Florida
  Gainesville, Florida

  Craig S. Kitchens, MD, MACP, graduated from college and medical school at the University of Florida. He completed Internal Medicine training at Duke University in North Carolina followed by residency and hematology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He returned to the University of Florida as Chief Medical Resident in 1975-1976. He has been employed at The University of Florida for the last thirty-five years, serving more than 25 years as program director for the Internal Medicine training program at The University of Florida Department of Medicine.
  From 2002-2006, he served as Governor of the Florida Chapter of the American College of Physicians, representing the interests of Florida's15, 000 internal medicine doctors.

  Dr. Kitchens has published more 150 articles and book chapters on hematology. He is author of the text Consultative Hemostasis and Thrombosis, which is now entering into its third edition.

  Dr. Kitchens' primary interests have been in the area of hematology, particularly the mechanisms governing bleeding and thrombosis. He has published extensively in these areas and has edited the second edition of the leading textbook in consultative hemostasis and thrombosis. He has been very active in graduate medical education and in leading courses in continuing medical education for internal medicine physicians.

  Dr. Kitchens' primary clinical efforts are directed toward the myriad hemostatic and thrombotic manifestations encountered in tertiary medical centers due to the complexity of transplant medicine, level I trauma, and cancer medicine as well as the rapidly advancing area of clinical thrombosis and hypercoagulability.

• Charles A. Schiffer, MD

  Professor of Medicine and Oncology
  Director of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Multidisciplinary Program
  Wayne State University School of Medicine
  Karmanos Cancer Institute
  Detroit, Michigan

  Charles A. Schiffer, MD, is professor of medicine and oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, Michigan and director of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Multidisciplinary Program. Dr. Schiffer earned his BA cum laude at Brandeis University and his MD at New York University School of Medicine. He completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at Bellevue Hospital under the auspices of New York University School of Medicine and had subsequent training and positions at the Baltimore Cancer Research Institute, National Cancer Institute, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine where he served as chief of the Division of Hematology.

  Dr. Schiffer has authored and coauthored more than 270 articles and 75 book chapters on topics concerning the treatment of leukemia in adults, platelet transfusion, and granulocyte transfusion therapy, among others. He has served on the editorial boards for Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, International Journal of Hematology, Transfusion Medicine Reviews, and Transfusion. He also reviews articles for multiple journals. Committee memberships have included chairman of the Leukemia Committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, chairman of the Food and Dr.ug Administration Oncologic Dr.ug Advisory Committee, and grant reviews for the NCI and Leukemia/Lymphoma Society of America. Dr. Schiffer has been named among American Health magazine's and Castle Connelly's "Best Doctors in America" and Good Housekeeping magazine's "Best Cancer Specialists" in the US. In 2006, he received the Dr. John J. Kenney Award from the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society of America and the Celgene Award for Career Achievement in Hematology.

• Richard M. Stone, MD

  Director, Adult Leukemia Program
  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
  Attending Physician
  Brigham and Women's Hospital
  

  Professor of Medicine
  Harvard Medical School
  Boston, Massachusetts

  Richard M. Stone, MD, is director of the Adult Leukemia Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an attending physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Dr. Stone earned his BA at Harvard Medical College in Cambridge, Mass., and his MD at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He completed his internship and residencies in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where he was designated chief medical resident. Dr. Stone trained as a fellow in medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

  Dr. Stone cares for patients with acute and chronic leukemias, myelodysplasia, and myeloproliferative disorders. Dr. Stone conducts clinical and translational research with the goal of deriving better outcomes for patients with these disorders. His laboratory research focuses on the mechanism of leukemic cell differentiation, with the ultimate goal of producing new cancer therapies.

  Dr. Stone's articles, which are primarily devoted to leukemia and related topics, are published in prestigious journals such as Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nature Genetics, and the New England Journal of Medicine, among others. He serves as vice-chair of the Leukemia Committee of the National Cancer Cooperative Trials Group, CALGB. Dr. Stone is the chair-elect of the Medical Oncology Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine and serves as chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for the International Aplastic Anemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome Foundation, a patient advocacy group. He is a recipient of the American Cancer Society Clinical Career Development Award, the National Institutes of Health Clinical Investigator Award, Upjohn Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research, and the NIH FIRST Award.

• Martin S.Tallman

  Chief, Leukemia Service
  Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
  Weill Cornell Medical College
  New York, New York

  Martin S. Tallman, MD, serves as Chief of the Leukemia Service in the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. He is a renowned expert in the management and development of new treatments for patients with both acute and chronic leukemia. He has been at the forefront of several key clinical trials that have led to new standards of care.

  In addition to his significant contributions to clinical research, Dr. Tallman has held various leadership roles in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, where he chairs the Leukemia Committee; the National Comprehensive Cancer Network; the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry; the National Bone Marrow Program; and the Leukemia Research Foundation. In addition, he serves as one of 13 associate editors for the journal Blood.
  

  Prior to his appointment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Dr. Tallman served as a tenured Professor of Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Associate Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Northwestern University.

  Dr. Tallman received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Medical School. After completing house staff training in internal medicine at Northwestern University, Dr. Tallman held a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington.

• Ayalew Tefferi, MD

  Professor of Hematology and Internal Medicine
  Mayo Clinic
  Rochester, Minnesota

  Ayalew Tefferi, MD, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and migrated to the United States in 1982 after completing his medical school education at the University of Athens in Greece. Dr. Tefferi received his hematology training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., before joining the staff at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, division of hematology in the department of medicine. He is currently a full professor in hematology and internal medicine.

  Dr. Tefferi is primarily engaged in direct patient care. His clinical and laboratory interests focus on myeloid disorders including polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, myelofibrosis, chronic myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, acute leukemia, and the atypical myeloproliferative disorders including hypereosinophilic syndrome and systemic mastocytosis. His academic and research achievements have been copious and include more than 800 publications, books, book chapters, original articles, reviews, editorials, letters, and abstracts. He serves as an associate or section editor for the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Leukemia, American Journal of Hematology, and European Journal of Hematology. He also participates in the editorial board of several journals including Blood, Cancer, Leukemia Research, Acta Haematologica, and Leukemia and Lymphoma. Dr. Tefferi has given more than 500 national and international invited lectureships and serves as faculty for the annual Hematology and Oncology Board review courses at George Washington University in Washington, DC, Harvard in Boston, and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas.

• Michael C. Wiemann, MD, FACP

  Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
  Providence Hospital/St. John Health
  Warren, Michigan

  Michael C. Wiemann, MD, FACP, is the president of Providence Hospital and the executive vice president of the West Region of the St. John Providence Health System in Warren, Mich. He was previously the senior vice president and chief medical officer of St.Vincent Hospital and Healthcare Center in Indianapolis. After receiving his medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport, he completed his internship and residency and served as chief resident in internal medicine at LSU Medical Center and the Veterans Administration Hospital in Shreveport. He then became a fellow in medical oncology at Roger Williams General Hospital at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. After completion of his fellowship, he joined the faculty of Brown University School of Medicine. Among other leadership positions, he served as the associate director of Brown's NCI-designated cancer center. He was subsequently recruited to St. Vincent to serve as its first medical director of oncology. During his more than 20 years in this position, he oversaw the construction of the St.Vincent inpatient hospice and the Oncology Center and established the bone marrow transplant program. He also was the principal investigator for the Ascension Health/St. Vincent National Community Cancer Center Program.

  Dr. Wiemann's publications reflect his research interests in bone marrow transplant and immunotherapeutics for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma and metastatic melanoma. He is widely published in peer-reviewed journals including Blood, Cancer Research, Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals, Cancer, European Journal of Gynaecological Oncology, and Gynecologic Oncology. He has contributed numerous invited reviews and book chapters and delivered presentations both nationally and internationally. In 2002, Dr. Wiemann received the Healing Spirit Award of the Wellness Community of Central Indiana.

LOCATION

Conrad Indianapolis Hotel
50 West Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204

For hotel reservations, please visit ConradIndianapolis.com and enter the group code of "SVH" or call 1-800-688-9416 and mention "Hematology Review" for a discounted rate of $225.00 plus tax. The block of discounted rooms will be released Feb. 20.

Covered Valet Parking is available at The Conrad Hotel.
Valet parking charges - $18 (daily), $33 (overnight)*

Maps and Directions

Google Map of the hotel
The Conrad Hotel is 7 miles from the Indianapolis Airport and located just one block from Monument Circle, in the heart of the city's downtown, adjacent to the Artsgarden. The Conrad Indianapolis is also connected by a sky bridge system to the Indiana Convention Center, RCA Dome, and Circle Centre Mall.

For attractions in Indianapolis and a calendar of events, visit Indy.org
*Prices subject to change

CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION

Disclosure Statement

As a sponsor accredited by the Indiana State Medical Association, St. Vincent Hospital and Health Care Center Inc. must ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all sponsored educational programs. All faculty participating in these programs must complete a disclosure statement indicating any real or apparent conflict(s) of interest that may have a direct bearing on the subject matter of the continuing education program. This pertains to relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or other corporations whose products or services are related to the subject matter of the presentation topic.

Planning Committee

• Ruemu Birhiray, MD, Director, Bone Marrow Transplantation, St.Vincent Cancer Care; Partner and Vice President, Hematology Oncology of Indiana, PC
• Leslie Flowers, Outreach and Communications Liaison, St.Vincent Cancer Care
• Thalia Hammond, Physician Programs and Development, St.Vincent Health
• Tiffany Harazinova, CME Consultant, St.Vincent Hospital and Health Care Center Inc.
• Tammy McClelland, Executive Assistant, St.Vincent Cancer Care
• Andy Zirkle, Grants and Research Manager, St.Vincent Foundation

Accreditation Statement

St. Vincent Hospital and Health Care Center Inc. is accredited by the Indiana State Medical Association to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Designation Statement

St.Vincent Hospital and Health Care Center Inc. designates this live educational activity for a maximum of 5.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s) ™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

St. Vincent Hospital and Health Care Center, Inc., Indianapolis, IN (ISNA # CNEP10-10, 12/1/13) is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Indiana State Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. This program will provide the participant with 6.50 Continuing Nursing Education contact hours.

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