International Myeloma Society Presents Awards at 21st Annual Meeting

The International Myeloma Society (IMS) presented annual awards to three multiple myeloma (MM) clinicians and researchers during the 21st Annual Meeting held September 25-28 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Waldenström Lifetime Achievement Award

Thierry Facon, MD, a Professor of Hematology in the Department of Hematology at Lille University Hospital, received the Waldenström Lifetime Achievement Award for his long-term research contributions to the field of MM.

Dr. Facon’s recent research focuses on quadruplet therapy regimens for MM. He is also a founder, member, and administrator of the Fondation Française pour la Recherche contre le Myélome et les Gammapathies, which enables scientists and students to conduct research programs in laboratories in France or abroad, according to the European Multiple Myeloma Academy.

Since 1989, the award has honored the late Jan Waldenström (1906-1996), who the IMS describes as “a pioneer in treating blood cancers”. Dr. Waldenström served as Professor of Practical Medicine at the University of Lund and Physician-in-Chief at Malmö General Hospital. He is known for creating “concepts of monoclonal and polyclonal hypergamma globulinemia as a term for malignant and for numerous infectious and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases,” according to his biography at Lund University.

Past award recipients include Sundar Jagannath, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2023; Peter Sonneveld, MD, PhD, of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam in 2022; and S. Vincent Rajkumar, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 2021.

Ken Anderson Basic and Translational Research Award

Hermann Einsele, MD, FRCP, a Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Department of Internal Medicine II at the University Hospital Würzburg, Germany, received the Ken Anderson Basic and Translational Research Award. Dr. Einsele’s recent research foc

Photo Courtesy of @Myeloma_Society on X

uses on chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy and immunotherapy for MM.

The award honors the contributions of Ken Anderson, MD, Program Director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, to translational MM research. His research is credited for identifying and validating targets in the tumor cell, leading to US Food and Drug Administration approval of novel targeted and immune MM therapies, according to his faculty profile at Dana-Farber.

“I am proud to receive the award named after Ken Anderson, who in the last four decades has focused his research in the lab and in the clinic on [MM],” Dr. Einsele said. “What always impressed me about Ken Anderson’s work was that he always aimed to benefit the patients by not only improving the treatment of [MM], but also by making treatments better tolerable for patients to allow them to experience a good quality of life.”

Past award recipients include Hervé Avet-Loiseau, MD, PhD, of the University Cancer Center of Toulouse in 2023; Noopur Raje, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in 2022; and Paola Neri, PhD, MD, of the University of Calgary in 2021.

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Bart Barlogie Clinical Investigator Award

Sagar Lonial, MD, FACP, Chief Medical Officer of the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, received the Bart Barlogie Clinical Investigator Award for his outstanding research in MM. The award honors Bart Barlogie, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Lonial’s research interests include immunotherapy, plasma cell disorders, and evaluating novel combinations in MM and lymphoma, according to his faculty profile at Emory University. He is also a lead member of the bone marrow transplantation team and clinical trials team.

“Receiving the Bart Barlogie Clinical Investigator Award is a tremendous honor given the huge number of contributions Dr. Barlogie made to the field,” Dr. Lonial said. “I am grateful for all the support and guidance from our team as well as many in the global myeloma community who are constantly partnering together to make advances for our patients.”

Dr. Barlogie introduced the multidrug regimen Total Therapy, the first curative therapy for MM, and founded the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute’s University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Myeloma Center Program in 1989.

Past award recipients include Shaji Kumar, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 2023; María-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, of the University of Salamanca, Spain, in 2022; and Saad Usmani, MD, of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, in 2021.