Elite Panel Expands Impact with Election of Leading Experts in Blood Cancer Research
The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) welcomes three new members to their elite Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The new members represent distinct specialties that will contribute to the international impact of the Lymphoma Research Foundation.
LRF’s volunteer Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), comprised of 45 world-renowned lymphoma experts, guides the LRF’s research portfolio, seeking out the most innovative and promising lymphoma research projects for support. In addition to their charter of reviewing grant proposals and making recommendations regarding research priorities and funding to the LRF Board of Directors, the SAB evaluates the progress of on-going research projects and guides the strategic direction of the LRF’s research programs and scientific consortia.
The new members of the SAB include Jennifer Brown, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Lisa Rimsza, MD, Mayo Clinic in Arizona; and David Scott, MBChB, PhD, BC Cancer (based in British Columbia, Canada). The new members will serve as volunteer advisors under the leadership of Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Medical Director of Quality Informatics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who began the second and final year of his term as Chair of the SAB in July.
“This year’s addition of members continues to add to the prominence of our Scientific Advisory Board,” said Dr. Zelenetz. “Our new members reinforce the unique nature of the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board as the leading advisory body in lymphoma research and education in the United States and around the world.”
This year’s cycle also sees the conclusion of terms of Nancy Bartlett, MD, Washington University Medical School; and Owen O’Conner, MD, Columbia University Medical Center, both of whom have made significant contributions to the Lymphoma Research Foundation and the field of lymphoma research.
“We are honored to continue our valued partnership with these elite thought leaders in the field of blood cancer research,” said Meghan Gutierrez, Chief Executive Officer at the Lymphoma Research Foundation. “We thank our transitioning Scientific Advisory Board members for their tireless commitment to our shared mission of eradicating lymphoma and serving those touched by this disease and stand in appreciation of our new members to lead our research program moving forward.”
Additional background information regarding the newly elected Scientific Advisory Board members can be found below:
Jennifer Brown, MD (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)
Dr. Brown is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the CLL Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Her research interests focus on clinical trials for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with a particular interest in the development of novel therapies targeting recurrent somatic mutations, characterizing the genomics of specified subgroups of CLL, identifying resistance mechanisms, and genetics and heritability of familial CLL. Dr. Brown received her MD from Harvard Medical School and completed her residency at Massachusetts General Hospital before a fellowship at Dana-Farber. She received a Career Development Award from LRF in 2005, has been speaking faculty for LRF patient education teleconferences and helped to develop LRF patient education publications.
Lisa Rimsza, MD (Mayo Clinic, Arizona)
Dr. Rimsza is the Getz Family Research Professor, a Consultant in the Division of Hematopathy and a Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona; Chair of the Southwest Oncology Lymphoma Translational Medicine Subcommittee; and current principal investigator of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Molecular Profiling Project. She received her MD from the University of Arizona College of Medicine before completing her residency at the University of Arizona and fellowship at the University of New Mexico. Her research interests include clinical assay development in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), HIV-related lymphomas, and immune evasion and oncogene dysregulation in lymphomas. She is a leader in hemopathology and anatomic and clinical pathology, having received certifications in Hematology, Anatomic and Clinical Pathology from the American Board of Pathology. Dr. Rimsza is a past member of the LRF SAB (2008-2013) and a current member of the LRF Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) Consortium. She has also been a faculty member (mentor) for the 2014 and 2020 LRF Lymphoma Clinical Research Mentoring Program (LCRMP)
David Scott, MBChB, PhD (BC Cancer)
Dr. Scott is Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, Deputy Head at the Department of BC Cancer Lymphoid Cancer Research, and Clinical Director at the BC Cancer Centre for Lymphoid Cancer. He received his MBChB and PhD in from the University of Auckland in New Zealand and completed training for an FRCPA in Pathology/Hematology at the Royal College of Pathologists in Australasia as well as an FRACP in Internal Medicine/Hematology at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians before a clinical and research fellowship at BC Cancer. His research focuses on the discovery and development of clinically relevant biomarkers to improve disease classification, patient outcomes and reduce side effects, including genomic mechanisms underlying treatment failure in aggressive lymphoma and genome biology of relapsed lymphoid cancers. Dr. Scott is a past LRF grantee, having received an Adolescent/Young Adult Lymphoma Correlative Studies Award in 2015 and a Mantle Cell Lymphoma Correlative Studies Grant in 2016. He was also a visiting faculty member for the 2019 Lymphoma Clinical Research Mentoring Program (LCRMP) Workshop.
The new members will serve a five-year term beginning on July 1, 2020, while Dr. Zelenetz’s term as Chair will end June 30, 2021 in accordance with the SAB’s governing principles and standards.